CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Austin Watson and Shai Buium each bagged a pair of assists, as the Grand Rapids Griffins secured a 5-2 victory over the Charlotte Checkers in their last game before the all-star break on Saturday at Bojangles Coliseum. 

With a 35-7-2-1 record (73 pts.), Grand Rapids tied the 2005-06 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (34-6-3-2) for the second-best start in the AHL’s 90-year history through 45 games, and improved to 18-2-1-1 on the road. Antti Tuomisto tallied the game-winner on the power play for his seventh of the season, while Sebastian Cossa recorded his 20th win of the campaign to go along with 38 saves (20-4-2). 

Alex Doucet walked in and snapped the puck in from the left hashmarks to open the scoring for the Griffins at 4:37 in the first period. Charlotte evened it with 12:41 to go when William Skoog knocked one across the slot to Robert Mastrosimone on a 2-on-1 and he potted the one-timer. With 40 seconds left, Grand Rapids reclaimed a one-goal lead. Buium carried the disc into the left circle, centered it to Ondrej Becher across the slot and he ripped it past Kirill Gerasimyuk.

The Griffins grabbed a 3-1 advantage while on the power play in the second frame when Buium passed one to Tuomisto at the blue line, and he sniped it in with 4:31 to go. Riese Gaber forced a turnover and pushed himself out front to sweep the puck past Cossa, putting the Checkers back within one at 17:57. 

Cossa made a tremendous save 2:40 into the final slate when Jake Livingstone cracked one at him from the left circle, it trickled behind the netminder, and he reached back to pull it off the goal line with his stick. The Checkers yanked Gerasimyuk with 2:02 to play, and Nate Danielson popped in the first of two empty-netters with 1:45 on the clock, followed by Sheldon Dries 63 seconds later, who flipped the puck in from the neutral zone to claim the 5-2 win.

Notes

• Ian Mitchell skated in his 300th game as a pro.
• The Griffins improved to 26-0 when notching the game’s first goal.
• Grand Rapids went 3-for-3 on its league-leading penalty kill. 

Box Score

Grand Rapids 2 1 2 - 5

Charlotte 1 1 0 - 2

1st Period-1, Grand Rapids, Doucet 5 (Brandsegg-Nygård, Lombardi), 4:37. 2, Charlotte, Mastrosimone 9 (Skoog, Carrick), 7:19. 3, Grand Rapids, Becher 6 (Buium, Watson), 19:20. Penalties-Watson Gr (roughing), 5:21; Foote Clt (roughing), 5:21; Seger Gr (holding), 9:49; Mitchell Gr (delay of game), 13:01; Carrick Clt (roughing), 17:05.

2nd Period-4, Grand Rapids, Tuomisto 7 (Buium, Watson), 15:29 (PP). 5, Charlotte, Gaber 8   17:57. Penalties-Skoog Clt (closing hand on puck), 13:44; Tuomisto Gr (cross-checking), 19:40.

3rd Period-6, Grand Rapids, Danielson 3 (Rychlovský), 18:15 (EN). 7, Grand Rapids, Dries 17   19:18 (EN). Penalties-Watson Gr (misconduct), 18:15.

Shots on Goal-Grand Rapids 8-6-7-21. Charlotte 8-15-17-40.

Power Play Opportunities-Grand Rapids 1 / 2; Charlotte 0 / 3.

Goalies-Grand Rapids, Cossa 20-4-2 (40 shots-38 saves). Charlotte, Gerasimyuk 4-5-1 (19 shots-16 saves).

A-8,142

Three Stars

1. GR Tuomisto (game-winner) 2. GR Cossa (W, 38 saves) 3. CLT Gaber (goal)

Record/Next Game

Grand Rapids: 35-7-2-1 (73 pts.) / Fri., Feb. 13 vs. Texas 7 p.m.

Charlotte: 26-15-3-0 (55 pts.) / Sat., Feb. 14 vs. Hartford 4 p.m.

Photo by Charlotte Checkers