Griffins Game #31 * Road Game #15 * AHL Game #491

Season Series: 2-0-0-1 Home Series: 1-0-0-0 Road Series: 1-0-0-1
All-Time Series: 106-91-2-8-6 All-Time Home Series: 52-40-2-6-4 All-Time Road Series: 54-51-0-2-2

Griffins at Wolves
Fourth of 10 meetings overall, third of five at Allstate Arena…Chicago is one of the three teams to defeat the Griffins this season, as they claimed a 4-3 shootout victory over Grand Rapids on Nov. 9...All three meetings this season have been decided by a shootout...Grand Rapids has faced Chicago 213 times in the regular season dating back to their IHL days, the second-most of any Griffins opponent (Milwaukee, 231)…Grand Rapids has lost six of the last 10 games against Chicago (4-5-0-1)...The Wolves are 9-3-2-2 at home this season compared to 5-4-2-2 on the road...The Griffins are 14-1-1-0 at home and 13-0-0-1 on the road, which are both franchise records to begin a season...The Griffins are on a 17-game point streak (16-0-1-0), which is the third-longest in franchise history, and are 9-0-1-0 in their last 10 games...Chicago is 5-1-1-3 in its last 10 outings...In the last five seasons since 2021-22, Grand Rapids is just 16-20-2-3 (.451) against the Wolves and has been outscored 139-116. Also since the 2021-22 season, the Griffins are 8-12-0-1 (.405) against the Wolves at Allstate Arena and have been outscored 80-57...The Wolves are tied for 27th with a power-play percentage of 14.6%, while their penalty kill ranks 25th at 78.7%...Chicago ranks 19th on the circuit with 2.93 goals scored per game and 10th with 2.79 goals against per game...Chicago’s Yanick Turcotte is tied for ninth in the AHL in penalty minutes (72). Domenick Fensore is tied for fifth among defensemen in points (20). Bryce Montgomery is tied for 10th among defensemen in penalty minutes (43)...Former Griffins assistant coach Spiros Anastas (2012-14) was named the interim head coach of the Wolves on Dec. 12...Defenseman William Lagesson competed for Chicago during the 2022-23 season and posted a career-high 32 points (10-22—32) in 65 games.  

Last Time Out
Sebastian Cossa recorded a career-high 47 saves and shut down both attempts in the shootout, en route to the Griffins’ 3-2 victory over the Chicago Wolves at Van Andel Arena on Friday. His career-high saves tied Jared Coreau’s franchise record for stops on home ice, while he faced a career-high 49 shots. Improving to 27-1-1-1, the Griffins’ 56 points stood as the best in the AHL’s 90-year history through 30 games, previously held by the 2005-06 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (24-3-2-1, 51 pts.), and their 17-game point streak became the third-longest in franchise history. Michael Brandsegg-Nygard potted a goal to extend his point streak to six games, while Antti Tuomisto set an AHL-career high in goals (6) with the game-tying tally.

This Date in Griffins History
2014: Tom McCollum makes 27 saves and contributes to a strong specialty teams performance as the Griffins kicks off the 2014 portion of their slate with a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Wolves at Van Andel Arena.

Going Back to Back
On Friday, Sebastian Cossa was selected as the AHL Goaltender of the Month for December. Cossa also won the award for November, becoming the first netminder in franchise history to receive the honor twice in the same season and the first AHL goalie to win consecutive awards since Henderson’s Logan Thompson in Feb.-March 2021. The 23-year-old also became just the third goaltender in team history to win the award twice in any fashion, joining Jared Coreau (Feb. 2018, Dec. 2015) and Jimmy Howard (Dec. 2007, March 2006). In December, Cossa went 7-0-1 with two shutouts to go along with a 1.76 GAA and a .929 save percentage. He went 7-0 from Dec. 3-27 with two shutouts, a 1.59 GAA and a .937 save percentage. In addition, Cossa held opponents to two goals or less in six of his eight appearances. Cossa enjoyed a career-high 10-game win streak from Nov. 25-Dec. 27, showing a 1.51 GAA and a .939 save percentage, and is currently on a 12-game point streak (11-0-1). With the Griffins this season, Cossa is 16-1-1 with four shutouts, a 1.67 GAA and a .938 save percentage in 18 appearances. 

A Happy New Year
The Griffins have continued their league-record start with a 27-1-1-1 ledger and 56 points through 30 games, surpassing the 2005-06 W-B/Scranton Penguins (24-3-2-1, 51 pts.) as the best team in the AHL’s 90-year history through 30 outings. Grand Rapids also reached 50 points three games faster than any team in the AHL’s 90-year history. The team saw its franchise-record tying 15-game win streak from Nov. 22-Dec. 27 come to an end in overtime on Wednesday, which also tied for the sixth-longest run in AHL history. The Griffins remain on a 17-game point streak from Nov. 22-Jan. 2 (16-0-1-0), which is the third-longest run in franchise history (see table). The Griffins are 13-0-0-1 on the road and 14-1-1-0 at home, which both are franchise records to begin a season. Grand Rapids ranks first in the AHL in points (56), has a 20-point cushion over Chicago for first place in the Central Division, and is 30 points up on a playoff spot.

The Brick Wall
Sebastian Cossa, the 15th overall pick in 2021, collected his fourth shutout of the season last Saturday at Milwaukee in just his 16th game. His four shutouts are the most by a Griffin since 2016-17 (Eddie Pasquale). He then showed a career-high 47 saves on last night against Chicago, which tied Jared Coreau’s franchise record for saves in a home game. Cossa has a 16-1-1 record with a 1.67 goals-against average and a .938 save percentage. He enjoyed a career-high 10-game win streak from Nov. 25-Dec. 27, showing a 1.51 GAA and a .939 save percentage. In addition, Cossa’s seven-career shutouts tie Petr Mrazek for seventh on the team’s all-time list. In the AHL rankings, Cossa ranks first in GAA, first in save percentage, first in shutouts and first in wins. Last season, Cossa was named to his first AHL All-Star Classic and ranked among the AHL regular-season leaders in games played (41, T8th), minutes played (2,424:37, 7th), GAA (2.45, 11th), save percentage (.911, T13th), and wins (21, T10th). In parts of four seasons with Grand Rapids since 2022-23, Cossa has notched a 60-26-15 mark with seven shutouts to go along with a 2.37 GAA and a .914 save percentage in 102 outings, becoming just the sixth netminder to reach the century mark with the team.   

The Well is not Dry
Sheldon Dries had two points in four straight games from Dec. 17-27 (3-5—8) and was selected as the Howies Hockey Tape/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending Dec. 21 when he logged six points (2-4—6) and a plus-eight rating in three games. The Macomb, Michigan, native ranks third on the roster with 24 points (10-14—24) in 24 games, while also placing second in assists and fourth in goals. In addition, his career-high plus-16 rating is tied for sixth on the team and tied for 11th in the AHL. Throughout his nine-year AHL career, Dries has 268 points (148-120—268), 259 penalty minutes and a plus-43 rating in 363 games. 

FYI, He’s Back
On Tuesday, the Detroit Red Wings reassigned left wing John Leonard to the Griffins after he logged four points (2-2—4) in seven games with the team. Leonard has 31 points and 20 goals in 22 games with the Griffins this season to go along with two penalty minutes, seven game-winners and a plus-14 rating. In the AHL rankings, the sixth-year veteran is tied for ninth in points, tied for first in goals and first in game-winners. He was named the Fortune Tires “Expect More” AHL Player of the Month for November with 16 points (9-7—16) in 10 games and became just the third player in franchise history to win the award, joining Riley Barber (April 2022) and Chris Minard (Feb. 2012). Leonard’s career-best 10-game point streak from Oct. 10-Nov. 19 set a franchise record to begin both a season and a Griffins career. His career-high six-game goal streak from Oct. 11-Nov. 2 tied with teammate Austin Watson, Jiri Hudler, Kip Miller and Pavol Demitra for the third-longest run in franchise history. Throughout parts of six AHL seasons since 2020-21, Leonard has 202 points (103-99—202) in 271 games. 

Leaders of the Pack
The Griffins currently lead the Central Division and are 20 points above second-place Chicago and 30 points up on a playoff spot. Grand Rapids is 20-0-1-1 against its division rivals and has outscored them 90-41. Last season, it took the Griffins 38 games to reach 19 wins against the division (19-15-3-1) compared to 20 games this season. Thirty-four of the remaining 42 games for Grand Rapids will be against the Central Division (81.0%), which includes the next nine contests. The Griffins will see the most games against the Milwaukee Admirals (9) followed by the Chicago Wolves (7).   

What’s the Password?
The Griffins’ defense is the best in the AHL, as it ranks first with 1.77 goals allowed per contest. Providence is the closest to Grand Rapids with 2.07 goals allowed per game. Grand Rapids shut out its opponent in two straight games from Dec. 21-27 for the first time since Feb. 15-17, 2018. The Griffins have allowed more than two goals just four times in their last 24 games and have averaged just 1.25 goals allowed in their last eight outings, which includes three shutouts. In fact, the team has allowed more than two goals just six times all season (20.0%). In addition, the team’s penalty kill is first in the AHL at 87.0% (80-for-92). In net, Sebastian Cossa sports a 1.67 GAA with a .938 save percentage, while first-year netminder Michal Postava possesses a 2.15 GAA and a .936 save percentage. Grand Rapids also has five of the top 10 plus-minus ratings in the AHL and four of the top five ratings among defensemen. The Griffins have four defensemen who have played at least 100 games in the NHL in Erik Gustafsson (516), Justin Holl (396), Ian Mitchell (110), and William Lagesson (107), totaling 1,129 appearances.

Veteran Presence 
Erik Gustafsson, a 15-year veteran, has 20 points (2-18—20) and a plus-20 rating in 19 games with Grand Rapids. He also has 11 points (2-9—11) and a plus-11 rating in his last seven games with the Griffins. Among AHL defensemen, Gustafsson is tied for fifth in points, fifth in assists, and first in plus-minus rating. He has competed in 516 NHL games since 2015-16 after being selected with the 93rd overall pick by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. In his NHL career, Gustafsson has notched 240 points (47-193—240) and 163 penalty minutes in 516 regular-season games, adding 12 points (2-10—12) and 10 penalty minutes in 49 Stanley Cup Playoff outings. Prior to this season, the Nynashamn, Sweden, native last played in the AHL during the 2017-18 campaign with the Rockford IceHogs. In his four-year AHL career, Gustafsson has 78 points (13-65—78) and 117 penalty minutes in 139 outings. 

Fill Up the Tank
Grand Rapids has 64 goals in its last 16 contests (4.00 per game) and ranks first in the AHL with 3.90 goals per game. The team has outscored its opponents 117-53 and is 20-0 when scoring the game’s first goal. Last season, it took Grand Rapids 36 games to eclipse 100 goals compared to just 26 outings this campaign. The Griffins have outscored their opponents 55-25 at home, while possessing a 62-28 advantage on the road. Grand Rapids has its largest scoring margin against its opponents in the third period (47-19). In addition to ranking first in goals, the Griffins are 15th in shots per game (29.0). John Leonard leads the team and is tied for first in the AHL with 20 goals, Dominik Shine places second on the roster with 14, and Eduards Tralmaks ranks third with 13. 

Be Like Mike
Michael Brandsegg-Nygard was one of three rookies to make the Detroit Red Wings’ opening-night roster out of training camp. The 15th overall pick in 2024 showed one assist in nine games with Detroit before being assigned to the Griffins on Oct. 27. The Oslo, Norway, native is currently on a six-game point streak (3-4—7), which is an AHL career high. Brandsegg-Nygard has 21 points (8-13—21) and a plus-17 rating in 27 AHL games this season. Among AHL rookies, he is tied for 11th in points, tied for seventh in assists, and first in plus-minus. Last year, Brandsegg-Nygard tied for the team lead with three points (2-1—3) in three Calder Cup Playoff games, following his SHL season with Skelleftea. The 20-year-old has also competed with Team Norway in the last two World Championships, totaling a combined nine points (3-6—9) in 12 outings. 

Shine On, Captain 
On Dec. 7 at Toronto, Dominik Shine became just the third player in franchise history to reach 500 games with the team, scoring a goal in the process. He is in his 10th season with Grand Rapids, becoming just the third player in team history to reach the milestone (Brian Lashoff 14, Travis Richards 10). On Dec. 21 against Cleveland, Shine passed Kip Miller for the fourth-most points in franchise history (210) and on Dec. 17 at Iowa, he surpassed Tomas Tatar for the fourth-most goals in team history (88). He has 10 points (4-6—10) in his last 10 outings, is tied for eighth in the AHL with 14 goals, and ranks second on the team with 27 points (14-13—27) in 25 games. On the all-time regular-season franchise leaderboard, Shine ranks third in games played (508), fourth in goals (89), seventh in assists (122), fourth in points (211), fifth in penalty minutes (577), tied for fifth in shorthanded goals (6), tied for fourth in game-winners (14), tied for first in unassisted goals (10), and third in shots (861).  

AHL Leaderboard Tracker
Michael Brandsegg-Nygard—Tied for eighth in plus-minus (+17), third in game-winners (5), tied for 13th among rookies in goals (8), tied for seventh among rookies in assists (13), tied for 11th among rookies in points (21), first among rookies in plus-minus (+17), first among rookies in game-winners (5)
Sebastian Cossa—First in GAA (1.67), first in save percentage (.938), first in shutouts (4), first in wins (16)
Sheldon Dries—Tied for 11th in plus-minus (+16)
Erik Gustafsson—Third in plus-minus (+20), tied for fifth among defensemen in points (20), fifth among defensemen in assists (18), first among defensemen in plus-minus (+20)
Justin Holl—Tied for fourth in plus-minus (+19), second among defensemen in plus-minus (+19)
William Lagesson—Tied for eighth in plus-minus (+17), fourth among defensemen in plus-minus (+17)
John Leonard—Tied for first in goals (20), tied for ninth in points (31), tied for first in shorthanded goals (3), first in game-winners (7)
Ian Mitchell—Tied for 11th in plus-minus (+16), tied for 14th among defensemen in goals (4), fifth among defensemen in plus-minus (+16)
Dominik Shine—Tied for eighth in goals (14), tied for sixth in plus-minus (+18)
Eduards Tralmaks—Tied for 13th in goals (13)
Antti Tuomisto—Tied for fourth among defensemen in goals (6), 14th among defensemen in points (17), tied for seventh among defensemen in plus-minus (+14)
William Wallinder—Tied for 11th among defensemen in plus-minus (+12) 

Milestones 
Last Saturday at Milwaukee, Dan Watson collected his 100th win as a Griffin and goaltender Sebastian Cossa appeared in his 100th game as a Griffin.   
Sheldon Dries—Six points from 300 as a pro, two goals from 150 in the AHL
William Lagesson—Four assists from 100 as a pro
John Leonard—One assist from 100 in the AHL
Dominik Shine—One unassisted goal from claiming sole possession of the franchise record of 11
Austin Watson—Two goals from 100 in the AHL 

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins