GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Amadeus Lombardi tallied two goals, and became the 22nd fastest player in franchise history to reach 100 points, as the Grand Rapids Griffins defeated the Iowa Wild 6-2 at Van Andel Arena on Saturday.

Lombardi extended his point streak to five (5-5—10), while Michael Brandsegg-Nygard (2-1—3) potted his fifth goal in three games. Grand Rapids boosted its league-best record to 41-8-3-1 through 53 contests (86 pts.), and recorded its 30th victory (30-0) when potting the first goal. Sebastian Cossa (20 saves) extended his point streak to seven (6-0-1) and improved to 24-4-3, and 13 Griffins tallied at least a point in the outing. 

The Griffins opened scoring at 6:39 in the first period when Antti Tuomisto’s wrister from the blue line deflected off Jakub Rychlovsky’s stick and over Samuel Hlavaj’s glove. Just 1:09 later, Shai Buium ripped the puck from the far point and Sheldon Dries tipped it in at the net to claim a two-goal lead. William Lagesson centered one across the slot to Lombardi on the left dot, and he let it fly past a diving Hlavaj at 15:42. With 78 seconds to go, Brandsegg-Nygard powered into the zone and sent a wrist shot in from the high slot while on the power play to make it 4-0.

The Wild tallied the only goal of the second with 11:45 on the clock when Rasmus Kumpulainen passed it through traffic to Mark Liwiski at the right hashes, and he knocked it past Cossa. Grand Rapids was outshot by Iowa 9-5 in the slate.

On a 2-on-1 chance in the final frame, Brandsegg-Nygard skated into the left circle and clipped it off the top of Hlavaj’s pad at 9:06 to put Grand Rapids up 5-1. With 6:49 left, Nicolas Aube-Kubel ripped one from the bottom of the left circle into the top right corner, cutting Iowa’s deficit to three. Lombardi had the final answer when he grabbed the puck behind the goal line, pushed out front, and flipped it in on his backhand at 15:08, ultimately giving the Griffins a 6-2 win.

Notes

• The Griffins improved to 22-6-2-0 at home.
• Grand Rapids saw its fourth sell-out crowd of the season with 10,834 in attendance.
• Cossa recorded his second assist of the campaign.
• Buium extended his point streak to three.

Box Score

Iowa 0 1 1 - 2

Grand Rapids 4 0 2 - 6

1st Period-1, Grand Rapids, Rychlovský 5 (Tuomisto, Wallinder), 6:39. 2, Grand Rapids, Dries 19 (Tralmaks, Buium), 7:48. 3, Grand Rapids, Lombardi 10 (Lagesson, Holl), 15:42. 4, Grand Rapids, Brandsegg-Nygård 14 (Mitchell, Cossa), 18:42 (PP). Penalties-Kumpulainen Ia (boarding), 8:14; Marek Ia (fighting), 8:14; Kannok Leipert Gr (fighting), 8:14; Kumpulainen Ia (hooking), 18:01.

2nd Period-5, Iowa, Liwiski 4 (Kumpulainen, Peart), 8:15. Penalties-Doucet Gr (hooking), 0:16.

3rd Period-6, Grand Rapids, Brandsegg-Nygård 15   9:06. 7, Iowa, Aubé-Kubel 11 (Heidt, Katchouk), 13:11. 8, Grand Rapids, Lombardi 11 (Brandsegg-Nygård, Doucet), 15:08. Penalties-Olausson Ia (roughing), 8:03; Tuomisto Gr (slashing), 8:03; Bantle Gr (roughing), 11:09.

Shots on Goal-Iowa 5-10-7-22. Grand Rapids 10-5-11-26.

Power Play Opportunities-Iowa 0 / 2; Grand Rapids 1 / 2.

Goalies-Iowa, Hlavaj 5-10-4 (26 shots-20 saves). Grand Rapids, Cossa 24-4-3 (22 shots-20 saves).

A-10,834

Three Stars

1. GR Lombardi (two goals) 2. GR Brandsegg-Nygard (two goals, assist) 3. GR Mitchell (assist)

Record/Next Game

Grand Rapids: 41-8-3-1 (86 pts.) / Wed., March 4 vs. Rockford 7 p.m.

Iowa: 17-30-4-1 (39 pts.) / Fri., March 6 at Springfield 6:05 p.m. CST

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins