Griffins Game #60 * Road Game #31 * AHL Game #918

Season Series: 3-2-0-0 Home Series: 2-1-0-0 Road Series: 1-1-0-0
All-Time Series: 70-49-11-11 All-Time Home Series: 42-18-6-5 All-Time Road Series: 28-31-5-6

Griffins at IceHogs
Sixth of 12 meetings overall, third of six at the BMO Center…Tonight’s game will mark the first of three straight against Rockford for the Griffins...Grand Rapids will play Rockford seven times in the final 13 games of the season...The Griffins are 22-14-4-1 (.598) since the 2020-21 season against Rockford and have a plus-eight scoring margin (114-106). On the road since 2020-21, Grand Rapids is 12-8-0-0 (.600) against Rockford with a plus-two scoring margin (58-56)...Rockford is Grand Rapids’ third-most frequent opponent, as tonight’s game marks the 142nd meeting between the two franchises...The IceHogs are 7-3-0-0 in their last 10 games and are on a four-game win streak...Rockford is 14-11-1-0 at home compared to 11-14-4-1 on the road...The Griffins are 5-3-1-1 in their last 10 games...Grand Rapids is 16-12-2-0 on the road compared to 15-10-2-2 at home...Rockford’s power play places eighth at 20.1% and its penalty kill ranks third at 85.3%...Rockford is tied for 22nd with 2.93 goals per game and tied for 17th with 3.07 goals against...IceHogs’ Cole Guttman leads the team in points (51), goals (21), and assists (30). He is also tied for seventh in the AHL in points and tied for 15th in goals...Former Griffin Andreas Athanasiou (2013-16) is featured on Rockford’s roster. Athanasiou helped Grand Rapids claim a division title in 2014-15 and totaled 51 points (25-26—51) in 83 regular-season games with the Griffins.  

Last Time Out
In the third round of a shootout, rookie Nate Danielson found the back of the net, increasing the Griffins’ home point streak to five (3-0-1-1) with a 3-2 shootout win over the Milwaukee Admirals on Friday at Van Andel Arena. The Griffins collected their seventh shootout victory of the season (7-2), good for the most in the AHL. Former Admiral Austin Watson scored early in the outing, extending his goal streak to three straight games and his point streak to four (3-1—4). Sheldon Dries also cashed in during regulation, claiming his 20th goal of the year while tying a team-high in tallies with Joe Snively. Dries’ strike came courtesy of a helper from Amadeus Lombardi who raised his assist streak to three (0-4—4). For the second straight game, Sebastian Cossa stood tall in the crease, saving 16 shots alongside three more in the shootout to increase his point streak to a season-high six (4-0-2). 

This Date in Griffins History
2014: Andrej Nestrasil scores twice on the power play with assists from Mitch Callahan on both goals to carry the Griffins to a 4-3 win over the Oklahoma City Barons at the Cox Convention Center.

Continuing to Battle
After going 3-7-1-0 in the month of February, the Griffins have started March with a 3-2-0-1 mark. This stretch of games has seen the team fall to third place in the Central Division after being in first or a tie for first from Nov. 8-Feb. 7. However, the team now has points in seven of its last 10 games (5-3-1-1) and is just two points out of first place in the division. The Griffins have averaged 2.39 goals in their last 18 contests while allowing 3.56 tallies. In the last 10 games, Grand Rapids has averaged 3.10 goals while allowing 3.40. Scoring at least three goals has been key for Grand Rapids, as it has a 25-2-0-1 mark (.911) when reaching at least three goals and a 6-20-4-1 (.274) record when it fails to do so. The defense, a usual strong spot for the Griffins, has allowed 3.04 goals per game since the start of the calendar year but is still ninth overall with 2.78 goals allowed per game this season. In addition to falling into third place in the division, Grand Rapids is now tied for sixth in the Western Conference and tied for 13th in the AHL with a 31-22-4-2 record and 68 points through 59 games. At the start of February, the Griffins were first in the division, second in the conference and fifth in the AHL. 

No Ordinary Joe
As the team deals with a cold stretch and loss of offensive production, Joe Snively has been a bright spot for the squad as of late. Snively registered two points (1-1—2) in three games last week and now has five points (2-3—5) in his last eight games. With a tally last Wednesday, Snively secured his first-career 20-goal season, beating out his previous career high of 15 in 2021-22 with the Hershey Bears. In addition to his career-best 20 goals, the 29-year-old has also bagged a career-high seven power-play goals. Snively (20-17—37 in 59 GP) ranks among the team leaders in points (T1st), assists (6th), goals (T1st), power-play goals (1st), and power-play assists (T5th). Snively is in search of his third straight Calder Cup, which would put him in rare company, as only 11 players in league history have won three consecutive cups in the AHL and no one has reached this feat since the 1978 season. 

Criss-Cross Applesauce
After being held without a goal in 21 straight games from Dec. 17-Feb. 15, Cross Hanas broke his drought on Feb. 25 at Texas and now has three goals in his last eight games. He also enjoyed a career-high four-game point streak (2-2—4) from March 4-12. Through 53 appearances this season, the third-year pro has tied his career high of 17 points (9-8—17) with 26 penalty minutes and a plus-three rating. Hanas, selected with the 55th overall pick by the Detroit Red Wings in 2020, has 50 points (26-24—50) in 141 pro games with Grand Rapids. Prior to turning pro, the 23-year-old spent parts of four seasons in the Western Hockey League with the Portland Winterhawks from 2018-22, showing a combined 161 points (58-103—161) in 196 regular-season outings. 

Nate The Great
Nate Danielson, the ninth overall pick by Detroit in 2023, tied his season high of a four-game point streak from Feb. 14-21 and now has nine points (4-5—9) in his last 13 games. He has had a promising rookie season with 31 points (8-23—31), 31 penalty minutes and a plus-three rating in 58 appearances. In addition to ranking fourth in points and second in assists on the team, Danielson is tied for 11th among AHL rookies in assists (23) and is tied for the league lead in short-handed assists (4). Prior to turning pro, the 20-year-old spent four seasons in the WHL with Brandon (2020-24) and Portland (2023-24), producing a combined 217 points (83-134—217) in 199 career games.   

Seabass Fishing
Netminder Sebastian Cossa is on a season-high six-game point streak (4-0-2) and has points in seven of his last eight appearances (5-1-2) from Feb. 14-March 14. Through 34 games this season, the 6-foot-7 goaltender has a 19-10-5 record with a 2.31 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage. Cossa, the 15th overall pick in 2021 by Detroit, ranks among the league leaders in games played (T5th), minutes played (2030:16, 5th), GAA (8th), wins (T6th), and save percentage (T6th). 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). 

A Few Loose Ends
Despite allowing 4.00 goals per game in the month of February, the Griffins’ defense has been a bright spot for the team this season. Grand Rapids ranks ninth in the AHL with 2.78 goals allowed per contest but has averaged 3.04 goals against since the start of the calendar year, as it allowed 2.55 goals per game from Oct.-Dec. At the start of February, the Griffins ranked first in the AHL with 2.43 goals allowed per game. Sebastian Cossa has shown a 2.31 GAA and .915 save percentage through 34 games, and Jack Campbell has a 3.01 GAA and an .882 save percentage in 11 appearances. 

Power Outage
Grand Rapids is 7-for-74 (9.5%) on the man-advantage in its last 19 games. However, the power play has scored in four of the last eight games (4-for-31, 12.9%) and is 6-for-43 in its last 10 outings (14.0%). The power play has quickly fallen into 29th place on the circuit at 15.8% (33-for-209) after being ranked 10th at the beginning of February (18.7%). If you break it down further, Grand Rapids’ home power play is 16-for-95 (16.8%, 24th) and its road power play is 17-for-114 (14.9%, 29th). The Griffins have given up eight short-handed goals, which is tied for the eighth most. The Griffins’ penalty kill has gone 20-for-24 (83.3%) in its last eight games but has allowed a power-play goal in 11 of the previous 18 games (44-for-59 on PK, 74.6%) and in 17 of its last 27 outings (71-for-92 on PK, 77.2%). The Griffins have the third-fewest penalty minutes this season at 608 ahead of just Hershey (603) and Coachella Valley (601). The penalty kill ranks 15th at 82.4% after starting the month of February in seventh place at 85.1%. Grand Rapids has scored seven short-handed tallies, which is tied for 12th in the AHL. When scoring on the power play, the Griffins are 18-5-2-2 and 12-14-2-1 when they allow a power-play goal. 

AHL Leaderboard Tracker 
Shai Buium—Tied for fourth among rookie defensemen in assists (20), tied for 11th among rookie defensemen in points (21), tied for 10th among rookie defensemen in power-play assists (6)
Sebastian Cossa—Fifth in minutes played (2,030:16), tied for fifth in games played (34), eighth in GAA (2.31), tied for sixth in wins (19), tied for sixth in save percentage (.915)
Nate Danielson—Tied for 11th among rookies in assists (23), tied for first in short-handed assists (4), first among rookies in short-handed assists (4), tied for 15th among rookies in shots (107)
Josiah Didier—Tied for fifth in short-handed assists (2), tied for second among defensemen in short-handed assists (2)
Alex Doucet—Tied for second among rookies in short-handed goals (2) 
Sheldon Dries—Tied for sixth in game-winners (6)
Austin Watson—First in major penalties (10) 

Milestones 
Last Saturday at Chicago, William Wallinder competed in his 300th pro game and Sheldon Dries registered his 100th assist in the AHL.   
Jack Campbell—One game from 450 as a pro 
Sheldon Dries—One goal from 150 as a pro
x Dominik Shine—One unassisted goal from claiming the franchise record of 11 in a career, one goal from moving into a tie for ninth place in the franchise’s all-time goals scored list (Derek King, 73) 

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins