Griffins Game #59 * Home Game #29 * AHL Game #904

Season Series: 3-4-0-0 Home Series: 2-1-0-0 Road Series: 1-3-0-0
All-Time Series: 116-87-7-9-8 All-Time Home Series: 63-40-2-3-3 All-Time Road Series: 53-47-5-6-5

Admirals at Griffins
Eighth of eight meetings overall, fourth of four at Van Andel Arena…Grand Rapids is 14-19-2-0 (.429) against Milwaukee since the 2020-21 campaign...Dating back to the 2020-21 season, the Griffins are 10-7-1-0 (.583) against the Admirals at Van Andel Arena...Grand Rapids has faced Milwaukee more than any other opponent – 228th meeting tonight – and the Griffins’ 116 victories against the Admirals are the most against any foe…Grand Rapid is on a four-game losing streak to the Admirals with a minus-10 scoring margin (15-5)...Milwaukee is 5-3-1-1 in its last 10 games and 12-11-1-3 on the road...The Griffins are 4-4-1-1 in their last 10 games and 14-10-2-2 at home...Milwaukee’s power play ranks 21st at 18.0%, and its penalty kill ranks second at 85.5%...Grand Rapids is tied for 27th on the power play at 16.1% and tied for 12th on the penalty kill at 82.7%...Milwaukee ranks sixth in the AHL with 2.70 goals allowed per game and 17th in goals scored per game (3.05)...The Admirals rank last in the AHL with 26.2 shots per game and 21st with 30.2 shots allowed...Milwaukee head coach Karl Taylor enters his sixth season as head boss. Taylor has a 234-129-35-18 record (.626) with the Admirals that includes two division titles and three 40-plus win seasons, in addition to never finishing worse than third place in the Central Division...Austin Watson spent nine seasons within Nashville’s organization and logged 132 points (73-59—132) in 234 games with the Admirals...Milwaukee’s Kyle Marino ranks fourth in the AHL with 127 penalty minutes. Admirals’ goaltender Matthew Murray is fourth in GAA (2.25), tied for fifth in wins (19), and third in save percentage (.926).

Last Time Out
Austin Watson scored a 5-on-3 power-play goal with 2:03 remaining to lead the Griffins past the Hartford Wolf Pack 2-1 on Wednesday at Van Andel Arena. Watson’s tally earned him his 14th goal of the season and increased his point streak to three (2-1—3). Rookie Ondrej Becher secured the other Grand Rapids goal, good for his seventh of the year with a helper from Cross Hanas. The assist improved Hanas’ point streak to a career-high four games (2-2—4), while marking his 50th professional point with Grand Rapids. Meanwhile, on the defensive end, goaltender Sebastian Cossa saved 33 shots en route to his 18th win of the season (18-10-5). The victory extended Cossa’s point streak to five (3-0-2), dating back to Feb. 23. Recently acquired defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov made his Griffins debut. The Griffins improved to a four-game point streak at home (2-0-1-1). 

This Date in Griffins History
2007: Ben Simon and Ryan Oulahen both score shorthanded goals for an AHL-leading, 20 on the season and bring the Griffins within one of the franchise record for a single season. 

Continuing to Battle
After going 3-7-1-0 in the month of February, the Griffins have started March with a 2-2-0-1 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 six of its last nine games (4-3-1-1) and is just three points out of first place in the division. The Griffins have averaged 2.35 goals in their last 17 contests while allowing 3.65 tallies. In the last nine games, Grand Rapids has averaged 3.11 goals while allowing 3.55. Scoring at least three goals has been key for Grand Rapids, as it has a 24-2-0-1 mark (.907) 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 3.07 goals per game since the start of the calendar year but is still ninth overall with 2.79 goals allowed per game this season. In addition to falling into third place in the division, Grand Rapids is now seventh in the Western Conference and tied for 14th in the AHL with a 30-22-4-2 record and 66 points through 58 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 seven 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 58 GP) ranks among the team leaders in points (T1st), assists (6th), goals (1st), 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 seven games. He is also on a career-high four-game point streak (2-2—4) from March 4-12. Through 52 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 140 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 eight points (4-4—8) in his last 12 games. He has had a promising rookie season with 30 points (8-22—30), 31 penalty minutes and a plus-three rating in 57 appearances. In addition to ranking fourth in points and tied for second in assists on the team, Danielson is tied for 11th among AHL rookies in assists (22) 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.   

Home Cooking
The Griffins are on a four-game point streak at home (2-0-1-1), but have been outscored 28-14 in their last eight home outings (2-4-1-1). Grand Rapids is 14-10-2-2 inside Van Andel Arena this year with a minus-one scoring margin (76-75). 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, which runs from March 12-April 4. 

If You Build It, They Will Come
The Griffins enjoyed their third consecutive sellout on March 1, which marked the first time the team sold out three straight games in a single season since 2008-09, when they saw four straight capacity crowds at Van Andel Arena from March 15-April 10, 2009. The Griffins have five sell outs this season and rank sixth in the AHL with an average attendance of 7,636. 

Seabass Fishing
Netminder Sebastian Cossa is on a season-high five-game point streak (3-0-2) and has points in six of his last seven appearances (4-1-2) from Feb. 14-March 12. Through 33 games this season, the 6-foot-7 goaltender has an 18-10-5 record with a 2.32 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage. Cossa, the 15th overall pick in 2021 by Detroit, ranks among the league leaders in games played (T6th), minutes played (1965:33, 6th), GAA (8th), wins (T8th), 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 2.79 goals allowed per contest but has averaged 3.07 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 2.32 GAA and .916 save percentage through 33 games, and Jack Campbell has a 3.01 GAA and an .882 save percentage in 11 appearances. Dating back to last season, Grand Rapids has allowed 79 goals in its last 31 regular-season games at Van Andel Arena (2.55 GA per game). 

Power Outage
Grand Rapids is 7-for-70 (10.0%) on the man-advantage in its last 18 games. However, the power play has scored in four of the last seven games (4-for-27, 14.8%) and is 6-for-39 in its last nine outings (15.4%). The power play has quickly fallen into a tie for 27th place on the circuit at 16.1% (33-for-205) 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-91 (17.6%, 20th) 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 19-for-22 (86.4%) in its last seven games but has allowed a power-play goal in 10 of the previous 17 games (43-for-57 on PK, 75.4%) and in 16 of its last 26 outings (70-for-90 on PK, 77.8%). The Griffins have the third-fewest penalty minutes this season at 604 ahead of just Hershey (603) and Coachella Valley (591). The penalty kill is tied for 12th at 82.7% after starting the month of February in seventh place at 85.1%. Grand Rapids has scored seven short-handed tallies, which is tied for 11th in the AHL. When scoring on the power play, the Griffins are 18-5-2-2 and 11-14-2-1 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—Sixth in minutes played (1,965:33), tied for sixth in games played (33), eighth in GAA (2.32), tied for eighth in wins (18), tied for sixth in save percentage (.916)
Nate Danielson—Tied for 11th among rookies in assists (22), tied for first in short-handed assists (4), first among rookies in short-handed assists (4), tied for 14th among rookies in shots (106)
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 
On 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—Two goals 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 Milwaukee Admirals