Griffins Game #19 * Road Game #10 * AHL Game #282

Season Series: 1-0-0-0 Home Series: 1-0-0-0 Road Series: 0-0-0-0
All-Time Series: 102-86-2-8-5 All-Time Home Series: 50-38-2-6-4 All-Time Road Series: 52-48-0-2-1

Griffins at Wolves
Second of eight meetings overall, first of four at Allstate Arena…Grand Rapids has faced Chicago 203 times in the regular season dating back to their IHL days, the second-most of any Griffins opponent (Milwaukee, 222)…The Griffins have strung together back-to-back winning seasons against Chicago (10-5-1-2, .639) for the first time since 2015-17 (14-3-1-0, .806)...The Wolves 1-5-0-0 at home compared to 4-3-1-0 on the road this year...The Griffins are 6-2-1-0 on the road this season and have won three straight in foreign territory...Since the 2020-21 season, Grand Rapids is just 15-22-2-2 (.415) against the Wolves and has been outscored 149-111. Also since the 2020-21 season, the Griffins are 7-13-0-0 (.350) against the Wolves in Chicago and have been outscored 80-52...The Wolves rank 29th in the AHL with a power-play percentage of 10.6%, while their penalty kill is tied for 25th at 77.8%...Chicago ranks 31st on the circuit with 2.27 goals scored per game and 13th with 2.87 goals against per game...The Wolves allow the fewest shots per game in the AHL at 25.7 and produce the 11th best shot rate at 29.9. 

Last Time Out
In the 10th round of the shootout, Cross Hanas sealed a 3-2 victory for the Griffins against the Milwaukee Admirals on Friday at Van Andel Arena in a battle between the top two teams in the Central Division. The Griffins claimed their second shootout win of the season, their first coming on Oct. 27 against Lehigh Valley when they prevailed 4-3. Amadeus Lombardi tallied his 13th point in the last 13 games (7-6—13) and extended his point streak to three (3-1—4). Austin Watson scored his second power-play goal of the year while Tim Gettinger skated in his first game for the Griffins this season and cashed in during the shootout. Sebastian Cossa earned his eighth win of the campaign (8-4-1-0) and turned away 25 shots alongside eight in the shootout. The Teddy Bear Toss saw 4,000 stuffed animals thrown on the ice and donated to the Billy Bear Hug Foundation.

This Date in Griffins History
2008: Daniel Larsson makes 29 saves to record his second shutout of the season, leading the Griffins to a 1-0 win over the Chicago Wolves at Allstate Arena. The win was the Griffins’ third in as many days, earning them a three-game sweep of the weekend.

Keep The Good Times Rolling 
With a 13-4-1-0 record and 27 points through 18 games, the Griffins rank first in the Central Division, second in the Western Conference and tied for fourth in the AHL. In 29 seasons, this was the fourth Griffins team to win at least 10 of its first 14 games, and the first since 2009-10. The Griffins have won with defense, as they have allowed two goals or less in 12 of the 18 contests and have scored an average of 3.06 goals per game (16th). 

Let’s Show Some Love to the Defense
The Griffins rank first in the AHL with just 2.17 goals allowed per game, as the 39 goals surrendered rank second in the AHL. For comparison, Grand Rapids ceded 56 goals in the opening 18 games last year and 73 in 2022-23. Dating back to last season, Grand Rapids has allowed just 20 goals in its last 12 regular-season games at Van Andel Arena (1.67 GA per game). 

Busy Bodies
The Griffins are in the midst of playing back-to-back three games in three days during the next two weeks. Grand Rapids began with Milwaukee, and will conclude the weekend against Chicago and Cleveland. The Griffins went 3-0-0-0 in their first 3-in-3 from Oct. 25-27, defeating Springfield and Lehigh Valley (twice). This marked the first time since April 5-7, 2002 that Grand Rapids went undefeated while playing three games in three days. 

He Shoots, He Scores
Through the first 10 games of the season, the Griffins scored more than two goals just three times and averaged 2.20 goals per game, which ranked 29th in the AHL as of Nov. 4. Since then, Grand Rapids has scored at least four goals in six of the last eight contests, averaging 4.13 goals per game. The Griffins now rank 16th on the circuit with 3.06 goals per outing while placing first in goals against per game (2.17). 

One, Two Punch
Sebastian Cossa, the 15th overall pick by the Detroit Red Wings in 2021, is off to a strong start through the opening 13 games of his season, showing an 8-4-1 mark with one shutout, a 2.06 goals-against average, and a .930 save percentage. The 22-year-old ranks among the league leaders in minutes played (756:02, 3rd), shutouts (T5th), GAA (5th), wins (3rd), and save percentage (T5th). Ville Husso has also gotten off to a fast start with the Griffins, as he has a 4-0-0 ledger with one shutout to go along with a 1.58 goals-against average and a .944 save percentage in five appearances. Through six career games with Grand Rapids, Husso has a 5-0-0 record with two shutouts, a 1.29 goals-against average and a .953 save percentage. Jack Campbell joined the goaltending room last week when he was assigned by the Red Wings. Campbell, the 11th overall pick by Dallas in 2010, has appeared in 438 games since 2011-12 and possesses a 229-141-47 ledger with 32 shutouts to go along with a 2.67 goals-against average. Last season, the 32-year-old showed an 18-13-1 record, a 2.63 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage in 33 games with the Bakersfield Condors. Husso was recalled by Detroit on Wednesday.

Czech Mates
Jakub Rychlovsky and Ondrej Becher, who both hail from Czechia, are starting to find their footing in the AHL. Rychlovsky, who paced the Tipsport Extraliga in goals last year (26) and is in his first season of pro hockey in North America, has three points (2-1—3) in his last four games. Rychlovsky had just three points (1-2—3) in his first 12 AHL games. First-year pro Becher has two points (1-1—2) in his last four outings, scoring his first AHL goal last Sunday against Iowa. Becher, selected with the 80th pick by Detroit in 2024, made his AHL debut on Nov. 3 at Cleveland and became just the 25th player to make his Griffins debut the season after he was drafted. The 20-year-old also became the eighth player to make his debut during the first month of the following season and just the fifth Red Wings pick to do so, joining Donovan Sebrango, Moritz Seider, Tomas Tatar, and Filip Zadina. 

Loaded Ammo
Second-year pro Amadeus Lombardi has 13 points (7-6—13) in his last 13 games after having two points (0-2—2) in his first five appearances. Lombardi ranks first on the team in points (9-6—15) and goals (9) in 18 contests. Through the opening 10 games, Lombardi matched his career high with five goals, as he lit the lamp five times in 70 contests last year. The 21-year-old collected his fourth multi-point game of the season last Sunday against Iowa (1-1—2), which already beat his career high of three in 70 outings last year. The Aurora, Ontario, native has 42 points (14-28—42), 16 penalty minutes and a plus-five rating through 90 career appearances.   

Alexander The Great
Alex Doucet enjoyed a career-high three-game point streak (2-2—4) from Nov. 13-16 and has seven points (3-4—7) in his last eight contests. The rookie had just one point in the first eight games of the campaign, securing his first AHL assist on Oct. 25 at Springfield. He later bagged his first AHL goal on Nov. 7 at Iowa and his first two-assist game last Sunday against Iowa. Doucet’s two short-handed goals on the year are tied for first among rookies and tied for second among all skaters. Last season, the 22-year-old showed 41 points (19-22—41) in 52 regular-season games with the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye in addition to suiting up for six games with Grand Rapids. 

No Ordinary Joe
Newcomer Joe Snively enjoyed team-high four-game goal streak from Nov. 13-22 and has six points (5-1—6) in his last eight outings. Snively ranks fourth on the roster in points (6-6—12) and tied for second in goals (6) through 18 appearances. The Herndon, Virginia, native joined the Griffins after a historic run with the Hershey Bears the last two seasons. Snively won the last two Calder Cups with the Bears and showed a combined 33 points (6-27—33) in 40 games during the postseason with a 28-12 record in the past two playoffs. Snively also aided Hershey to a regular-season title last year with a 53-14-0-5 mark (111 pts., .771), the second-best regular-season record in AHL history and the most wins by an AHL team in a 72-game season. The 28-year-old is in search of his third straight Calder Cup, as only 11 players in league history have won three consecutive cups in the AHL and no one has achieved this feat since the 1978 season.   

Shoot Your Shot
On Nov. 15 against Chicago, the Griffins outshot their opponent for the first time in the opening 14 games of the season and have now outshot their opponent just three times in the first 18 contests. The Griffins have averaged 24.9 shots per game, which ranks last in the AHL. Grand Rapids has been held to under 20 shots three times and has exceeded 30 shots three times. On the flip side, the Griffins’ opponents have averaged 29.8 shots per game (20th in AHL) and have been held to under 30 shots seven times. The third period has given the Griffins the most problems, as they are being outshot 174-119 compared to being outshot 176-171 in the second and 175-149 in the first. However, Grand Rapids has a 9-2-1-0 ledger when recording 20-29 shots and an 8-2-1-0 mark when allowing 30-39 shots. 

If You Ain’t First, You’re Last
Starting the game off on the right foot has been imperative for the Griffins early this season. Grand Rapids is 10-1-1-0 when scoring the game’s first goal and 11-1-1-0 when either tied or leading after the first period. When the roles are reversed, the Griffins are just 3-3-0-0, and they are 1-3-0-0 when trailing after two periods. 

Regain Power
The Griffins’ power play struggled out of the gate but has now converted four of its last 10 opportunities on the man-advantage (40.0%). However, the power play ranks 17th on the circuit at 16.9% (10-for-59). If you break it down further, Grand Rapids’ home power play is 4-for-24 (16.7%, T15th) and its road power play is 6-for-35 (17.1%, T17th). The Griffins’ penalty kill is tied for first in the AHL at 90.2% and their four short-handed goals are tied for third. Grand Rapids recorded two short-handed goals in 3:24 of game time on Nov. 7 at Iowa, which equaled the number of short-handed tallies it had in 72 games last season. The last time the Griffins had scored two short-handed goals in a game was in a 5-3 win over Ontario on Feb. 5, 2022. With three short-handed goals through the first 13 games, Grand Rapids had already exceeded its short-handed goal count from last season of two. 

AHL Leaderboard Tracker
Sebastian Cossa—Third in minutes played (756:02), tied for fifth in shutouts (1), fifth in GAA (2.06), third in wins (8), and tied for fifth in save percentage (.930)
Nate Danielson—Tied for first in short-handed assists (2), tied for ninth among rookies in assists (8)
Alex Doucet—Tied for second in short-handed goals (2), tied for first among rookies in short-handed goals (2)
William Lagesson—Tied for 10th among defensemen in plus-minus rating (+9)
Amadeus Lombardi—Tied for first in game-winners (4)
Austin Watson—First in major penalties (6) 

Milestones
On Sunday, equipment manager Brad “Dogg” Thompson participated in his 2,000th game in the pro ranks and Austin Watson scored a goal in his 250th game in the AHL.  
Tory Dello—Three games from 200 in the AHL and as a pro, one point from 50 in the AHL and as a pro
Alex Doucet—One point from 50 as a pro
William Lagesson—One game from 350 as a pro
Elmer Soderblom—One game from 100 as a Griffin and in the AHL, three points from 100 as a pro 

Photo by Chicago Wolves