Griffins Game #20 * Home Game #10 * AHL Game #295

Season Series: 0-1-0-0 Home Series: 0-0-0-0 Road Series: 0-1-0-0
All-Time Series: 73-40-9-13 All-Time Home Series: 31-22-5-10 All-Time Road Series: 42-18-4-3

Monsters at Griffins
Second of eight meetings overall, first of four at Van Andel Arena…Grand Rapids has points in 20 out of the last 26 games overall (13-6-4-3, .635) against Cleveland...Since the 2020-21 season, the Griffins are 19-9-4-3 (.643) against Cleveland and have outscored them 109-87. At home during that span, Grand Rapids is 11-2-3-1 (.765) against the Monsters with a plus-20 scoring margin (57-37)...The Monsters are on a franchise-record 10-game win streak...The Griffins are 7-3-0-0 in their last 10 games….Cleveland’s power play ranks eighth in the AHL at 21.3% and its penalty kill places 10th at 84.7%...Cleveland is 8-3-0-0 on the road this year and the Griffins are 7-2-0-0 at home...The Monsters are the fourth-most frequent opponent of the Griffins, as this game marks the 136th meeting between the two franchises...Right wing Trey Fix-Wolansky is tied for eighth in the AHL with 20 points (10-10—20) in 19 games, Rocco Grimaldi ranks second with 23 points (6-17—23) in 15 outings, and Denton Mateychuk is tied for fifth with 21 points (6-15—21) in 19 contests. All-time against Grand Rapids, Fix-Wolansky has 29 points (11-18—29) in 28 games, which includes 23 points (7-16—23) in his last 16 meetings against the Griffins. Since the 2021-22 season, Grimaldi has posted 27 points (9-18—27) in his last 22 games against the Griffins...Head coach Dan Watson suited up for the Cleveland Barons from 2002-04 and calls Cleveland home during the offseason. 

Last Time Out
The Griffins fell 5-2 to the Chicago Wolves behind a hat trick from Scott Morrow on Saturday at Allstate Arena. Sheldon Dries scored his seventh goal of the year and earned two points in the game (1-1—2). Dominik Shine cashed in the Griffins’ third power-play goal in the last three outings and goaltender Carter Gylander made his second start of the season, saving 33 shots. 

This Date in Griffins History
2006: Darryl Bootland scores a goal in the Griffins 4-2 triumph over the Rochester Americans to become just the eighth player in franchise history to notch 60 goals, while Kip Miller assisted to record his 700th as a pro. 

Keep The Good Times Rolling
With a 13-5-1-0 record and 27 points through 19 games, the Griffins rank first in the Central Division, second in the Western Conference and tied for fourth in the AHL. This marks the first time that Grand Rapids has been atop the division in December or later since the 2018-29 season, when it held a share of first place as late as March 8. When Dec. 1 dawned last season, the Griffins were tied for fourth place with a 6-8-1-1 record. 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 19 contests and have scored an average of 3.00 goals per game (T15th). 

Best Versus Best
Grand Rapids and Cleveland are two of the top four teams in the AHL, as the Griffins are tied for fourth and the Monsters tied for second. Both teams also rank second in their respective conferences. The Griffins are off to one of their best starts in franchise history and the Monsters enter the contest riding a franchise-record 10-game win streak. 

Let’s Show Some Love to the Defense
The Griffins rank first in the AHL with just 2.32 goals allowed per game, as the 44 goals surrendered rank fourth in the AHL. For comparison, Grand Rapids ceded 61 goals in the opening 19 games last year and 77 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 Chicago, and will finish with Cleveland today. 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 nine contests, averaging 3.89 goals per game. The Griffins are now tied for 15th on the circuit with 3.00 goals per outing while placing first in goals against per game (2.32). 

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 .929 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 (6th). 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 and Carter Gylander was reassigned from Toledo to Grand Rapids by Detroit on Thursday.

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 five 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 five 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 14 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 19 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-one rating through 91 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 nine 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 seven points (5-2—7) in his last nine outings. Snively is tied for third on the roster in points (6-7—13) and third in goals (6) through 19 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 19 contests. The Griffins have averaged 24.3 shots per game, which ranks last in the AHL. Grand Rapids has been held to under 20 shots four times and has exceeded 30 shots three times. On the flip side, the Griffins’ opponents have averaged 30.0 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 183-122 compared to being outshot 188-180 in the second and 188-154 in the first. However, Grand Rapids has a 9-2-1-0 ledger when recording 20-29 shots and an 8-3-1-0 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 3-4-0-0, and they are 1-4-0-0 when trailing after two periods. 

Regain Power
The Griffins’ power play struggled out of the gate but has now converted five of its last 13 opportunities on the man-advantage (38.5%). However, the power play ranks 17th on the circuit at 17.7% (11-for-62). If you break it down further, Grand Rapids’ home power play is 4-for-24 (16.7%, T15th) and its road power play is 7-for-38 (18.4%, 12th). The Griffins’ penalty kill ranks second in the AHL at 90.3% 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 sixth in save percentage (.929)
Nate Danielson—Tied for first in short-handed assists (2), tied for eighth among rookies in assists (9)
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
Last night, Elmer Soderblom competed in his 100th game as a Griffin and in the AHL.  
Tory Dello—Two 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—Three points from 100 as a pro 

Photo by Cleveland Monsters