This Week’s Games

GRIFFINS (32-25-4-2) vs. Chicago Wolves (32-28-4-0) // Wed., April 2 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM & 1300 AM at 6:45 p.m.

Watch: AHLTV on FloHockey 

Season Series: 3-4-0-0 Overall, 2-1-0-0 Home. Eighth of eight meetings overall, fourth of four at Van Andel Arena

All-Time Series: 104-90-2-8-5 Overall, 51-39-2-6-4 Home

NHL Affiliation: Carolina Hurricanes

Noteworthy: The third-place Griffins will host the fourth-place Chicago Wolves in a crucial game to determine which three Central Division teams will earn first-round byes. The Griffins currently have a two-point lead over Chicago with a game in hand.  

GRIFFINS vs. Rockford IceHogs (28-28-6-2) // Fri., April 4 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
GRIFFINS at Rockford IceHogs // Sat., April 5 // 8 p.m. EDT // BMO Center

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM & 1300 AM at 6:45 p.m. on Friday and at 7:45 p.m. EDT on Saturday

Watch: AHLTV on FloHockey 

Season Series: 4-4-0-0 Overall, 2-3-0-0 Home, 2-1-0-0 Road. Ninth and 10th of 12 meetings overall, sixth of six at Van Andel Arena, fourth of six at the BMO Center

All-Time Series: 71-51-11-11 Overall, 42-20-6-5 Home, 29-31-5-6 Road

NHL Affiliation: Chicago Blackhawks

Noteworthy: Four of the final nine games for the Griffins will be against the IceHogs. Entering the week, Rockford held the final playoff position in the division with a 13-point gap between it and Manitoba.              

Win Some, Lose Some: After going on a three-game win streak from March 12-15, the Griffins have since dropped three straight from March 21-26, scoring just two total goals in the three contests. Grand Rapids finished March with a 4-5-0-1 mark and is now 7-12-1-1 (.381) since February after going 25-13-3-1 (.643) from Oct.-Jan. The Griffins are in a battle for the final first-round bye in the division, as they are two points ahead of fourth-place Chicago with a game in hand. In the past six games, the Griffins have held their opponents to just 2.33 goals but have scored only 1.67 goals on average. Scoring at least three goals has been key for Grand Rapids, as it has a 26-2-0-1 mark (.914) when reaching at least three goals and a 6-23-4-1 (.250) record when it fails to do so. The defense, a usual strong spot for the Griffins, has allowed 3.00 goals per game since the start of the calendar year but is still ninth overall with 2.78 goals allowed per game this season. 

Playoff Picture: The Griffins have clinched their spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs with nine games remaining. Grand Rapids currently holds the final first-round bye position in the Central Division and are two points ahead of fourth-place Chicago with a game in hand. Five teams make the playoffs, with the top three receiving a first-round bye into the Central Division Semifinals.

The Lombardi Trophy: Second-year pro Amadeus Lombardi enjoyed a career-high four-game assist streak from March 8-15 (0-5—5) and now has points in five of the last seven outings (1-5—6). Lombardi was sidelined for 28 games due to rehabbing an upper-body injury from Dec. 6-Feb. 15. Since his return, the Aurora, Ontario, native has 12 points (4-8—12) in 15 outings, which includes two career-best four-game point streaks. Through 35 appearances, Lombardi has a career-high 27 points (13-14—27) after showing 26 points (5-21—26) in 70 games as a rookie last season. Despite his limited games, Lombardi still ranks among the team leaders in points (6th), assists (T7th) and goals (4th). The 21-year-old was selected 113th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.

Seabass Fishing: Netminder Sebastian Cossa enjoyed a season-high six-game point streak (4-0-2) from Feb. 23-March 14 and has points in seven of his last nine appearances (5-2-2) from Feb. 14-March 21. Through 35 games this season, the 6-foot-7 goaltender has a 19-11-5 record with a 2.38 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage. Cossa, the 15th overall pick in 2021 by Detroit, ranks among the league leaders in games played (14th), minutes played (2070:16, 14th), GAA (10th), wins (T8th), and save percentage (T11th). As a rookie last year, he set a franchise record with a 19-game point streak overall from Jan. 19-April 5 (13-0-6). He also tied the franchise records for the longest home point streak (9-0-4, Jan. 24-April 5) and road point streak (8-0-2, Dec. 27-April 17).

Droughts Come and Go: The Griffins, who have struggled to put the puck in the net this season, are in another scoring drought, as they have just 0.67 goals on average in their last three games. In the previous four games from March 8-15, Grand Rapids averaged 3.00 goals per outing. The Griffins have gone on cold stretches where they struggle to score more than two goals a game, none more prevalent than being shut out in a franchise-record three consecutive contests from Jan. 31-Feb. 7. Grand Rapids has scored one goal or been shut out in 17 games this season (27.0% of its games). Scoring at least three goals has been key for Grand Rapids, as it has a 26-2-0-1 mark (.914) when reaching at least three goals and a 6-23-4-1 (.250) record when it fails to do so. 

Need Some Home Renovations: The Griffins enjoyed a five-game point streak at home (3-0-1-1) from Feb. 21-March 14 but have since dropped the past three home outings with a minus-eight scoring margin (10-2). Grand Rapids is 15-13-2-2 inside Van Andel Arena this year with a minus-eight scoring margin (88-80). Last season, the team finished with a 23-7-4-2 mark at home with a plus-31 scoring margin (111-80), which included a franchise-record 19-game home point streak (14-0-3-2) from Jan. 13-April 5. Grand Rapids is in a stretch that will see it play seven of eight games at Van Andel Arena, running from March 12-April 4. Two of the remaining four home games of the regular season will be against first-place Texas. 

Winning Skills: The Griffins are 7-2 during shootouts this season, as the seven wins are tied for the league lead with Ontario (7-1). The last time Grand Rapids won at least seven games in the skills competition was back in 2006-07 (8-5), and it has not had a winning season in a shootout since 2018-19 (6-4). The Griffins are 125-129 all time during the shootout. Cross Hanas (2-for-2), Ondrej Becher (1-for-2) and Nate Danielson (3-for-6) lead the way for Grand Rapids. In net, Sebastian Cossa is 17-for-22 (77.3%) this season and 31-for-40 (77.5%) all time as a Griffin in the shootout, which ranks fifth in franchise history. 

Lock it Down: The Griffins’ defense has allowed just 2.33 goals per game in its last six outings and 2.63 goals in its previous eight contests. Grand Rapids allowed 2.90 goals per game in the month of March and have now allowed 3.00 goals since the start of the calendar year. The Griffins are still ninth in the AHL with 2.78. At the start of February, the Griffins ranked first in the AHL with 2.43 goals allowed per game. Sebastian Cossa has shown a 2.38 GAA and .913 save percentage through 35 games, and Jack Campbell has a 3.01 GAA and an .882 save percentage in 11 appearances.

Power Struggle: The Griffins exploded for a season-high three power-play goals on March 15 at Rockford (3-for-6) and are now 4-for-12 (33.3%) on the man-advantage in their last four games. The power play has also scored in six of the last 12 games (8-for-43, 18.6%) and is 10-for-55 in its last 14 outings (18.2%). However, Grand Rapids is 11-for-86 (12.8%) on the man-advantage in its last 23 games. The power play has quickly fallen into a tie for 26th place on the circuit at 16.7% (37-for-221) after being ranked 10th at the beginning of February (18.7%). If you break it down further, Grand Rapids’ home power play is 17-for-101 (16.8%, 25th) and its road power play is 20-for-120 (16.7%, T22nd). The Griffins have given up nine short-handed goals, which is tied for the ninth most. The Griffins’ penalty kill has gone 29-for-34 (85.3%) in its last 12 games and 9-for-10 in the last four contests. The team has allowed a power-play goal in 12 of the previous 22 games (53-for-69 on PK, 76.8%) and in 18 of its last 31 outings (80-for-102 on PK, 78.4%). The Griffins have the fewest penalty minutes in the AHL this season at 635, 39 minutes less than Coachella Valley and Hershey (674). The penalty kill ranks 12th at 82.8% after starting the month of February in seventh place at 85.1%. The Griffins are 19-6-2-2 when scoring on the power play and 12-15-2-1 when they allow a power-play goal. 

AHL Leaderboard Tracker:
Shai Buium—Tied for seventh among rookie defensemen in assists (21), tied for 11th among rookie defensemen in points (23), tied for sixth among rookie defensemen in power-play goals (2), tied for ninth among rookie defensemen in power-play assists (7), tied for 12th among rookie defensemen in shots (72)
Sebastian Cossa—14th in minutes played (2,070:16), 14th in games played (35), 10th in GAA (2.38), tied for eighth in wins (19), tied for 11th in save percentage (.913)
Nate Danielson—Tied for 13th among rookies in assists (23), second in short-handed assists (4), first among rookies in short-handed assists (4)
Josiah Didier—Tied for seventh in short-handed assists (2), tied for third among defensemen in short-handed assists (2)
Alex Doucet—Tied for third among rookies in short-handed goals (2) 
Sheldon Dries—Tied for eighth in game-winners (6)
x Austin Watson—Tied for first in major penalties (10) 

Milestones:
On March 26 vs. Texas, Tim Gettinger skated in his 100th game as a Griffin. 
Jack Campbell—One game from 450 as a pro 
Sheldon Dries—One goal from 150 as a pro

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins