Griffins Game #72 * Road Game #36 * AHL Game #1,142

Season Series: 3-2-1-1 Home Series: 1-1-1-1 Road Series: 2-1-0-0
All-Time Series: 53-26-6-4 All-Time Home Series: 26-11-5-3 All-Time Road Series: 27-15-1-1

Griffins at Wild
Eighth of eight meetings overall, fourth of four at Wells Fargo Arena...The Griffins have won 10 of the past 15 meetings against Iowa with a plus-12 scoring margin...The previous four meetings have been deciding by just one goal and the last three meetings have finished with a 3-2 scoreline...The Griffins are 20-12-3-2 (.608) overall since the 2020-21 season against the Wild and have a minus-one scoring margin (114-113)...Grand Rapids is 10-7-0-1 (.583) on the road against Iowa since the 2020-21 season with a minus-three scoring margin (63-60)...The Griffins have won five of the last seven meetings in Iowa with a plus-seven scoring margin (23-16)...The Wild are 14-17-3-1 at home this season, while Grand Rapids is 19-14-2-0 on the road...The Wild are 5-4-1-0 in their last 10 games and the Griffins are 4-6-0-0 in their last 10...The Wild’s power play is the worst on the circuit at 14.0% and their penalty kill also ranks last in the AHL at 72.6%...Iowa is tied for 25th with 2.82 goals per game and 31st with 3.51 goals allowed per contest…The Wild produce the third-most shots per game at 31.4 and allow 30.1 shots, which ranks 21st...Former Griffins head coach Ben Simon (2018-23) is an assistant coach for the Wild.

Last Time Out
In the conclusion of their 12-game regular-season series, the Griffins fell 4-1 against the Rockford IceHogs on Friday at the BMO Center. With just one game remaining in the regular season, the Griffins’ playoff seeding will come down to their final outing against Iowa tomorrow. Sporting a two-point lead over the fourth-place Chicago Wolves, Grand Rapids’ magic number for the third seed and a first-round bye is one. Amadeus Lombardi scored the lone tally for the Griffins, his 19th of the season and his seventh in the last 10 games. Joe Snively earned an assist, marking his 12th point in 12 games against Rockford this year (1-11—12), while Axel Sandin-Pellikka secured his first AHL point in his debut with the primary helper. Grand Rapids also inserted Michael Brandsegg-Nygard into the lineup for his AHL debut. 

This Date in Griffins History
2013: For the first time since 2006, the Griffins are division champions. The Griffins don the Midwest Division’s crown with a 3-1 victory over the Peoria Rivermen at Van Andel Arena, earning the sixth division title in their history and their fourth as members of the American Hockey League.

Shine Bright
Since returning from the Red Wings on April 4, Dominik Shine has eight points (3-5—8) in seven games, collecting three multi-point outings. Through 60 games, the veteran has career-high totals in assists (31), points (45), power-play goals (5), game-winners (4), and multi-point outings (11). He is also three goals from tying his career best of 17 set in 2021-22. Shine ranks among the franchise leaders in games played (482, 3rd), goals (75, T7th), assists (108, 10th), points (183, 9th), penalty minutes (553, 6th), short-handed goals (5, T8th), game-winners (12, T7th), and unassisted goals (10, T1st). With Shine out of the lineup, the Griffins are just 4-7-0-0 (.364). On Jan. 27, Shine signed his first NHL contract, a two-year deal with the Detroit Red Wings. Later that evening, he made his NHL debut against the Los Angeles Kings. Shine, 31, became the oldest skater to make his NHL debut since defenseman Evgeny Medvedev did it with the Philadelphia Flyers at 33 on Oct. 8, 2015, and the oldest Red Wings player to make his NHL debut since center Vaclav Nedomansky did it at 33 on Nov. 18, 1977. Shine later bagged his first NHL point with an assist on Feb. 1 at Calgary and finished the NHL season with one assist and 15 penalty minutes in nine outings. 

Playoff Picture
The Griffins clinched their spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs on March 29. With one game remaining, Grand Rapids is currently two points ahead of Chicago for the final first-round bye position in the Central Division. Grand Rapids will play Iowa to finish the regular season while Chicago will face Rockford. The Griffins can clinch the final bye position tonight with a win at Iowa or a OTL/SOL at Iowa or a Chicago lose in any fashion against Rockford. Five teams make the playoffs, with the top three receiving a first-round bye into the Central Division Semifinals. 

Welcome to America
The Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday reassigned forward Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and defenseman Axel Sandin-Pellikka from the SHL’s Skelleftea to the Griffins. Brandsegg-Nygard, selected 15th overall by Detroit in 2024, became the first-ever Norwegian to be chosen in the first round of the NHL draft. As a pro between the SHL, Allsvenskan and Eliteserien (Norway’s top pro league), the 19-year-old has 32 points (14-18—32), 76 penalty minutes and a plus-three rating in 102 regular-season games. Brandsegg-Nygard was named a top three player on Team Norway at the 2024 World Junior Championship and later that summer competed for Team Norway at the World Championship. Sandin-Pellikka, the 17th overall pick by Detroit in 2023, set SHL records for most goals in a single season by a U20 defenseman with 12 this year and the record for most SHL goals in a career by a U20 defenseman with 24. The 20-year-old was named the 2024-25 Swedish Junior Hockey Player of the Year when he paced all U20 SHL players in points (29), assists (17), and goals (12). In 2023-24, Sandin-Pellikka won the SHL’s Salming Trophy as the best Swedish-born defenseman as an 18-year-old rookie in addition to winning the SHL title with Skelleftea. At the international level, Sandin-Pellikka has been named the Best Defenseman at the last two World Junior Championships (2025, 2024), serving as captain for Team Sweden in 2025. He was also named the U18 World Junior Championship Best Defenseman in 2023 and garnered a spot on the All-Star Team when he helped Sweden win a silver medal. The duo made their AHL debuts last night in Rockford with Sandin Pellikka collecting his first point with an assist. 
 

The Lombardi Trophy 
Second-year pro Amadeus Lombardi recorded three straight multi-point games for the first time in his career from April 2-5, securing seven points (5-2—7) in three outings. Lombardi enjoyed a career-high five-game point streak (5-5—10) from April 2-11 and also has seven goals in the last 10 games (7-6—13). He posted a career-high four-game assist streak from March 8-15 (0-5—5) and now has points in 12 of the last 15 outings (7-11—18). 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 24 points (10-14—24) in 23 outings. Through 43 appearances, Lombardi has a career-high 39 points (19-20—39) 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 (T4th), assists (7th) and goals (T3rd). 

Damn Daniel, Back At It Again  
Rookie Nate Danielson registered three points in consecutive games against Rockford from April 4-5 (2-4—6). This marked the second and third times this season that the 20-year-old has produced three points in a game (0-3—3 on Dec. 28 at CLE). On April 4 versus Rockford, Danielson bagged his first two-goal game as a pro. He has eight multi-point outings this season, including three assists on April 5 at Rockford and Dec. 28 at Cleveland. Danielson now has seven points (3-4—7) in his last seven games since April 4. The ninth overall pick by Detroit in 2023 has 39 points (12-27—39), 33 penalty minutes and a plus-four rating in his rookie campaign. He ranks among the team leaders in points (T4th), assists (2nd), and goals (6th). Danielson also places among the AHL rookie leaders in assists (T9th), points (T13th), and short-handed assists (4, 1st). 

He’s Back! 
After missing eight of the last 10 games, Austin Watson returned to the Griffins on Thursday following the conclusion of the NHL season with the Red Wings. Watson showed three straight multi-point outings with the Griffins from March 15-April 5 (4-3—7) and enjoyed a career-high seven-game point streak from March 5-April 5 (7-4—11). He also registered a career-best six-game goal streak from March 8-April 5. Watson’s goal run was the longest by a Griffin in more than 10 years, since Teemu Pulkkinen’s eight-game run from Dec. 19-Jan. 7, 2014 that tied Donald MacLean’s franchise record. He ranks among the team leaders in points (3rd), assists (T5th), goals (T3rd), plus-minus rating (T2nd), and penalty minutes (1st). With Watson out of the lineup, the Griffins are just 3-7-2-0 (.333). 

Just Keep Shooting 
Among players who have played at least 40 games, Amadeus Lombardi is tied for second with a shooting percentage of 24.4%, as he has 19 goals on 78 shots. Lombardi’s shooting percentage is also the best in franchise history among players with at least 24 shots in a single season. From April 2-5, Lombardi posted five goals on just seven shots (71.4%). In addition, Gabriel Seger is tied for seventh among players with at least 40 games played with a shooting percentage of 21.7%. Seger has 10 goals on 46 shots, showing two goals in his last three shots (66.7%) since April 11.

Not Your Average Joe
Joe Snively registered five assists in two games from April 4-5 and tied his single-game career-high three helpers on April 4 against Rockford. The five assists in two games marked a career high for most assists in a two-game span for Snively and the five points also tied his career-best two games (three previous times. MR: Oct. 28-29, 2023: 2-3—5). Snively now has eight points (1-7—8) in his last seven games. Snively has 47 points (21-26—47), 26 penalty minutes and a minus-eight rating in 71 games with the Griffins. He has already notched a career-high 21 goals, beating his previous best of 15 in 2021-22 with Hershey. The 29-year-old ranks among the team leaders in points (1st), assists (3rd), and goals (2nd). Throughout 291 AHL regular-season contests, Snively has 219 points (79-140—219) and a plus-49 rating, adding 33 points (6-27—33) in 43 playoff outings. 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.

New Faces Producing 
Emmitt Finnie secured his first pro point with an assist on April 4 against Rockford and collected his first pro goal the following night at Rockford. The 19-year-old logged a three-game point streak (1-2—3) from April 4-9 and now has five points (1-4—5) in his last seven games. Finnie showed 84 points (37-47—84) in 55 games as captain for the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers this season. Defenseman Anton Johansson registered his first AHL point during a three-assist night on April 5 at Rockford. He later bagged two assists on April 11 against Texas and now has five helpers in his previous six contests. The 20-year-old recently joined the Griffins following the conclusion of his SHL season with Leksands IF where he posted 10 points (5-5—10) in 46 appearances.    

Power Surge
The Griffins exploded for a season-high three power-play goals on March 15 at Rockford and are now 11-for-42 (26.2%) on the man-advantage in their last 12 games, which includes a 7-for-27 mark (25.9%) in the last seven outings. The power play has also scored in 11 of the last 22 games (15-for-73, 20.5%). The power play has moved into a tie for 22nd place on the circuit at 17.5% (44-for-251) after being ranked 10th at the beginning of February (18.7%). If you break it down further, Grand Rapids’ home power play is 20-for-113 (17.7%, 21st) and its road power play is 24-for-138 (17.4%, 21st). The Griffins have given up 10 short-handed goals, which is tied for the sixth most. The Griffins’ penalty kill has gone 58-for-70 (82.9%) in its last 22 games and 29-for-35 (82.8%) in the last 12 contests. The team has allowed a power-play goal in five of the last eight games (20-for-25 on PK, 80.0%) and in 17 of the previous 31 games (73-for-94 on PK, 77.7%). The Griffins have the third-fewest penalty minutes in the AHL this season at 763, more than only Hershey (739) and Coachella Valley (738). The penalty kill ranks 17th at 81.9% after starting the month of February in seventh place at 85.1%. The Griffins are 23-7-2-2 when scoring on the power play and 15-17-2-1 when they allow a power-play goal. 

Batten Down the Hatches 
The Griffins’ defense has allowed 3.36 goals per game in its last 11 games. Grand Rapids allowed 2.90 goals per game in the month of March and has now allowed 3.08 goals since the start of the calendar year. The Griffins have dropped into a tie for 11th in the AHL with 2.85 goals allowed after starting February ranked first with 2.43 goals allowed. Sebastian Cossa has shown a 2.45 GAA and .911 save percentage through 41 games, and Jack Campbell has a 3.08 GAA and an .886 save percentage in 13 appearances. Scoring at least three goals has been key for Grand Rapids, as it has a 29-4-0-1 mark (.868) when reaching at least three goals and a 7-25-4-1 (.257) record when it fails to do so. 

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 this is the first 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. 

AHL Leaderboard Tracker
Shai Buium—Tied for sixth among rookie defensemen in assists (23), tied for 11th among rookie defensemen in points (25), tied for sixth among rookie defensemen in power-play goals (2), sixth among rookie defensemen in power-play assists (9), 12th among rookie defensemen in shots (80)
Sebastian Cossa—Fifth in minutes played (2,424:37), tied for seventh in games played (41), tied for 11th in GAA (2.45), tied for 10th in wins (21), tied for 13th in save percentage (.911)
Nate Danielson—Tied for ninth among rookies in assists (27), tied for 13th among rookies in points (39), 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 fourth in game-winners (7)
Dominik Shine—Tied for seventh in short-handed assists (2)
Austin Watson—Tied for first in major penalties (10), tied for seventh in short-handed goals (3) 

Milestones 
Last night, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Axel Sandin-Pellikka made their AHL debuts.  
Brogan Rafferty—Two points from 50 as a Griffin
Dominik Shine—Three goals from moving into a tie for sixth place on the franchise’s all-time goals scored list (Jamie Tardif 78), one assist from moving into a tie for ninth on the franchise’s all-time assist list (Tomas Tatar 109), one unassisted goal from claiming the franchise record of 11 

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins