Griffins Game #65 * Home Game #34 * AHL Game #1,042

Season Series: 4-4-0-0 Home Series: 2-3-0-0 Road Series: 2-1-0-0
All-Time Series: 71-51-11-11 All-Time Home Series: 42-20-6-5 All-Time Road Series: 29-31-5-6

IceHogs at Griffins
Ninth of 12 meetings overall, sixth of six at Van Andel Arena…Grand Rapids will play Rockford four times in the remaining eight games of the regular season...Grand Rapids has wins in four of the last six games against Rockford and have held the IceHogs to an average of 2.00 goals per game in the last six meetings...The Griffins are 23-16-4-1 (.580) since the 2020-21 season against Rockford and have a plus-six scoring margin (119-113). At home since 2020-21, Grand Rapids is 10-8-4-1 (.543) against Rockford with a plus-two scoring margin (58-56)...Rockford is Grand Rapids’ third-most frequent opponent, as tonight’s game marks the 145th meeting between the two franchises...The IceHogs are 5-3-1-1 in their last 10 games...Rockford is 15-13-2-1 at home compared to 13-15-4-1 on the road...The Griffins are 4-6-0-0 in their last 10 games...Grand Rapids is 17-12-2-0 on the road compared to 15-14-2-2 at home...Rockford’s power play places 17th at 18.2% and its penalty kill ranks 14th at 82.7%...Rockford ranks 21st with 2.88 goals per game and tied for 13th with 2.98 goals against...IceHogs’ Cole Guttman leads the team in points (54), goals (22), and assists (32). He is also tied for 15th in the AHL in points...Rockford’s goaltender Drew Commesso is tied for fifth with four shutouts...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...Rockford’s Gerry Mayhew has been trouble for the Griffins throughout his career, as he has 25 points (16-9—25) and a plus-eight rating in 30 games against Grand Rapids between Iowa (2017-21) and Rockford (2024-25). 

Last Time Out
Amadeus Lombardi secured two tallies for Grand Rapids, but the Chicago Wolves scored three goals within three minutes in the third period to defeat the Griffins 4-3 on Wednesday at Van Andel Arena. Alongside Lombardi’s two-goal game, Sheldon Dries (0-2—2) earned assists on both tallies, marking his 10th point in eight matchups against Chicago this season (3-7—10). Tim Gettinger kicked off the scoring for Grand Rapids, claiming his fifth goal of the season. Following a brief stint in Detroit, goaltender Sebastian Cossa returned to the crease for the Griffins, saving 34 shots in his 36th start (19-12-5). 

This Date in Griffins History
2012: Joakim Andersson’s first career hat trick powers Grand Rapids to a crucial 4-2 victory over the Texas Stars at Van Andel Arena, pulling the Griffins within four points of the Western Conference’s final playoff spot with six games to play.

Win Some, Lose Some
After going on a three-game win streak from March 12-15, the Griffins have since dropped four straight from March 21-April 2, scoring five total goals in the four contests. Grand Rapids finished March with a 4-5-0-1 mark and is now 7-13-1-1 (.364) since February after going 25-13-3-1 (.643) from Oct.-Jan. The Griffins are in a battle for the final first-round bye in the division, as they are tied with Chicago with a game in hand. In the past seven games, the Griffins have held their opponents to just 2.57 goals but have scored only 1.86 goals on average. Scoring at least three goals has been key for Grand Rapids, as it has a 26-3-0-1 mark (.883) when reaching at least three goals and a 6-23-4-1 (.250) record when it fails to do so. The defense, a usual strong spot for the Griffins, has allowed 3.03 goals per game since the start of the calendar year but is still ninth overall with 2.80 goals allowed per game this season. 

Playoff Picture
The Griffins have clinched their spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs with eight games remaining. Grand Rapids is currently in a tie with Chicago for the final first-round bye position in the Central Division with a game in hand. Five teams make the playoffs, with the top three receiving a first-round bye into the Central Division Semifinals. 

The Lombardi Trophy 
Second-year pro Amadeus Lombardi enjoyed a career-high four-game assist streak from March 8-15 (0-5—5) and now has points in six of the last eight outings (3-5—8). 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 14 points (6-8—14) in 16 outings, which includes two career-best four-game point streaks. Through 36 appearances, Lombardi has a career-high 29 points (15-14—29) 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 (6th), assists (8th) and goals (4th). The 21-year-old was selected 113th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. 

Seabass Fishing 
Netminder Sebastian Cossa enjoyed a season-high six-game point streak (4-0-2) from Feb. 23-March 14 and has points in seven of his last 10 appearances (5-3-2) from Feb. 14-April 2. Through 36 games this season, the 6-foot-7 goaltender has a 19-12-5 record with a 2.42 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage. Cossa, the 15th overall pick in 2021 by Detroit, ranks among the league leaders in games played (T13th), minutes played (2128:07, 14th), GAA (T10th), wins (T9th), and save percentage (12th). 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). 

Droughts Come and Go 
The Griffins, who have struggled to put the puck in the net this season, are in another scoring drought, as they have just 1.25 goals on average in their last four games. In the previous four games from March 8-15, Grand Rapids averaged 3.00 goals per outing. The Griffins have gone on cold stretches where they struggle to score more than two goals a game, none more prevalent than being shut out in a franchise-record three consecutive contests from Jan. 31-Feb. 7. Grand Rapids has scored one goal or been shut out in 17 games this season (26.6% of its games). Scoring at least three goals has been key for Grand Rapids, as it has a 26-3-0-1 mark (.883) when reaching at least three goals and a 6-23-4-1 (.250) record when it fails to do so. 

Need Some Home Renovations 
The Griffins enjoyed a five-game point streak at home (3-0-1-1) from Feb. 21-March 14 but have since dropped the past four home outings with a minus-nine scoring margin (14-5). Grand Rapids is 15-14-2-2 inside Van Andel Arena this year with a minus-nine scoring margin (92-83). 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, running from March 12-April 4. Two of the remaining three home games of the regular season will be against first-place Texas. 

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 it has not had a 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. 

Lock it Down
The Griffins’ defense has allowed just 2.57 goals per game in its last seven outings and 2.78 goals in its previous nine contests. Grand Rapids allowed 2.90 goals per game in the month of March and have now allowed 3.03 goals since the start of the calendar year. The Griffins are still ninth in the AHL with 2.80. At the start of February, the Griffins ranked first in the AHL with 2.43 goals allowed per game. Sebastian Cossa has shown a 2.42 GAA and .912 save percentage through 36 games, and Jack Campbell has a 3.01 GAA and an .882 save percentage in 11 appearances. 

Power Struggle
The Griffins exploded for a season-high three power-play goals on March 15 at Rockford (3-for-6) and are now 4-for-15 (26.7%) on the man-advantage in their last five games. The power play has also scored in six of the last 13 games (8-for-46, 17.4%) and is 10-for-58 in its last 15 outings (17.2%). However, Grand Rapids is 11-for-89 (12.6%) on the man-advantage in its last 24 games. The power play has quickly fallen into 27th place on the circuit at 16.5% (37-for-224) after being ranked 10th at the beginning of February (18.7%). If you break it down further, Grand Rapids’ home power play is 17-for-104 (16.3%, 25th) and its road power play is 20-for-120 (16.7%, T23rd). The Griffins have given up nine short-handed goals, which is tied for the ninth most. The Griffins’ penalty kill has gone 30-for-36 (83.3%) in its last 13 games and 10-for-12 in the last five contests. The team has allowed a power-play goal in 13 of the previous 23 games (54-for-71 on PK, 76.1%) and in 19 of its last 32 outings (81-for-104 on PK, 77.9%). The Griffins have the fewest penalty minutes in the AHL this season at 639, 35 minutes less than Hershey (674). The penalty kill is tied for 15th at 82.5% after starting the month of February in seventh place at 85.1%. The Griffins are 19-6-2-2 when scoring on the power play and 12-16-2-1 when they allow a power-play goal. 

AHL Leaderboard Tracker
Shai Buium—Tied for eighth among rookie defensemen in assists (21), 12th among rookie defensemen in points (23), tied for sixth among rookie defensemen in power-play goals (2), tied for ninth among rookie defensemen in power-play assists (7), 12th among rookie defensemen in shots (74)
Sebastian Cossa—14th in minutes played (2,128:07), tied for 13th in games played (36), tied for 10th in GAA (2.42), tied for ninth in wins (19), 12th in save percentage (.912)
Nate Danielson—Tied for 14th among rookies in assists (23), 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 ninth in game-winners (6)
x Austin Watson—Tied for first in major penalties (10) 

Milestones
On March 26 vs. Texas, Tim Gettinger skated in his 100th game as a Griffin. 
Jack Campbell—One game from 450 as a pro 
Sheldon Dries—One goal from 150 as a pro 

Photo by Mark Newman/Griffins