Griffins Game #27 * Home Game #14 * AHL Game #433

Season Series: 1-0-0-0 Home Series: 1-0-0-0 Road Series: 0-0-0-0
All-Time Series: 79-41-9-14 All-Time Home Series: 46-18-4-4 All-Time Road Series: 33-23-5-10

Monsters at Griffins
Second of eight meetings overall, second of four at Van Andel Arena…Grand Rapids has points in 27 out of the last 34 games overall (19-7-4-4, .676) against Cleveland...In the last five seasons since 2021-22, the Griffins are 16-9-4-4 (.606) against Cleveland and have outscored them 101-92. At home during that span, Grand Rapids has lost just once in regulation against the Monsters (11-1-3-2, .794) with a plus-23 scoring margin (64-41)...The Monsters are 6-4-0-0 in their last 10 games and the Griffins are on a 13-game winning streak...Cleveland is on a two-game winning streak...Cleveland is 7-4-1-0 on the road this season compared to 5-5-2-1 at home...Cleveland’s power play ranks 26th in the AHL at 14.7% and its penalty kill places seventh at 83.7%...Cleveland ranks 29th with 2.52 goals per game and sixth in goals against per game (2.52)...The Monsters rank sixth with 30.1 shots per game and first with 24.4 shots allowed...Cleveland’s Will MacKinnon hails from Plymouth, Michigan, and played his youth career with Victory Honda and Honeybaked in Detroit...The Monsters are led by rookie Luca Pinelli with 19 points (8-11—19) in 21 games, which is tied for 11th among first-year players. In net, Ivan Fedotov paces the roster in GAA (2.33), save percentage (.905) and wins (8)...Head coach Dan Watson suited up for the Cleveland Barons from 2002-04 and calls Cleveland home during the offseason...Tyler Angle skated with the Monsters from 2020-24, logging 100 points (41-59—100) in 200 games. He also suited up for four games with the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2022-24, collecting one goal.  

Last Time Out
Tying the second-longest win streak in franchise history with their 13th consecutive, the Griffins’ explosive four-goal first period powered them to a 6-2 victory over the Iowa Wild at the Casey’s Center on Friday. The Griffins’ 24-1-0-1 start (49 pts.) stood as the best by any team through 26 games in the AHL’s 90-year history, passing the 2005-06 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (21-2-2-1, 45 pts.), and are the first in league history to win 24 of their first 26 contests. Dominik Shine recorded an assist, tying Kip Miller for fourth-most points in franchise history (208), while Erik Gustafsson tallied a helper for his eighth point in four games. Sheldon Dries, Ondrej Becher, and Chad Hillebrand each notched a goal and an assist, and Sebastian Cossa tallied 23 saves in his ninth-straight victory, improving to 14-1 on the season.

This Date in Griffins History
2005: Jimmy Howard earns his first pro shutout with 23 saves in a 5-0 win at Milwaukee. Clay Wilson becomes the 11th Griffin – and just the second defenseman – to score both a power-play goal and a shorthanded goal in the same game. 

Future is Bright 
Sebastian Cossa, the 15th overall pick in 2021, is off to a 14-1-0 start this season with a 1.68 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage. He is currently on an AHL career-high nine-game win streak. His three shutouts are the most for a Griffins goalie in a single season since Calvin Pickard in 2019-20. In addition, Cossa’s six-career shutouts tie Daniel Larsson and Pokey Reddick for eighth on the team’s all-time list. In the AHL rankings, Cossa ranks second in GAA, second in save percentage, tied for first in shutouts and first in wins. Cossa was named the AHL Goaltender of the Month for November with a 5-1 record, one shutout, a 1.50 GAA and a .941 save percentage. He became just the fourth netminder in franchise history to win the award, joining Jared Coreau, Jimmy Howard and Simon Lajeunesse. 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 58-26-14 mark with six shutouts to go along with a 2.39 GAA and a .913 save percentage in 99 outings. 

Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop
The Griffins have continued their franchise-record start with a 24-1-0-1 ledger and 49 points through 26 games. The 49 points through 26 games mark the best start in the 90-year history of the AHL (see table). Grand Rapids is also the first team in AHL history to win 24 of its first 26 games. The team is currently on a season-high 13-game win streak from Nov. 22-Dec. 19, which is tied for the second-longest run in franchise history (see table). The perfect 8-0 start was the best by an AHL team in four years, and Grand Rapids was the league’s last undefeated team for the first time since the 2000-01 IHL season. The Griffins’ 12-0-0-1 start on the road is the best in franchise history and the 12-1 start at home is also a new franchise best. Grand Rapids ranks first in the AHL in points (49), has a 17-point cushion for first place in the Central Division, and is 25 points up on a playoff spot.  

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). With two goals on Wednesday at Iowa, Shine surpassed Tomas Tatar for the fourth-most goals in franchise history (88). He collected his first-career hat trick on Nov. 24 in Texas, and on Nov. 25 became just the seventh Griffin to reach 200 points with the team. He has 19 points (10-9—19) in his last 15 outings, is tied for fifth in the AHL with 13 goals, and ranks second on the team with 24 points (13-11—24) in 21 games. On the all-time regular-season franchise leaderboard, Shine ranks third in games played (504), fourth in goals (88), eighth in assists (120), tied for fourth in points (208), sixth in penalty minutes (569), tied for fifth in shorthanded goals (6), tied for fifth in game-winners (13), tied for first in unassisted goals (10), and fourth in shots (851).  

Ready When Called 
Rookie netminder Carter Gylander has been impressive this season, showing a 5-0-1 record with a 1.83 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage in six games. The 24-year-old is currently on an AHL career-high five-game win streak from Nov. 12-Dec. 14 with a 1.58 GAA and a .946 save percentage. In his two-year AHL career with Grand Rapids, Gylander has a 7-1-1 ledger with a 2.40 GAA and a .919 save percentage in nine appearances. Gylander has spent the majority of the season in the ECHL with Toledo and has totaled a 2.99 GAA and an .896 save percentage in eight games. Last campaign, Gylander aided the Walleye to the ECHL’s Kelly Cup Finals before falling to Trois-Rivieres. He was the 191st overall pick by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.  

Veteran Presence
Erik Gustafsson, a 15-year veteran, has 17 points (1-16—17) and a plus-17 rating in 16 games with Grand Rapids. He also has eight points (1-7—8) in his last four games with the Griffins. Among AHL defensemen, Gustafsson is fifth in assists, tied for ninth in points and tied for 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 75 points (12-63—75) and 98 penalty minutes in 136 outings.   

Pucks on Net
Grand Rapids has 51 goals in its last 12 contests (4.25 per game) and ranks first in the AHL with 4.00 goals per game. The team has outscored their opponents 104-48 and are 17-0 when scoring the game’s first goal. In addition, the Griffins have outscored their opponents 45-20 at home, while possessing a 59-28 advantage on the road. Grand Rapids has its largest scoring margin against its opponents in the third period (42-17). In addition to ranking first in goals, the Griffins are 16th in shots per game (28.7). John Leonard, who is on recall to Detroit, leads the team and league with 19 goals, Dominik Shine places second on the roster with 13, and Eduards Tralmaks ranks third with 12.

Defense Wins Championships
The Griffins’ defense is the best in the AHL, as it ranks first with 1.85 goals allowed per contest. Grand Rapids has allowed more than two goals just three times in its last 20 games and has averaged just 1.56 goals allowed in its last nine outings. In addition, the team’s penalty kill is fifth in the AHL at 85.5% (65-for-76). Despite ranking first in goals allowed, the Griffins place 14th with 28.1 shots allowed per game. In net, Sebastian Cossa sports a 1.68 GAA with a .936 save percentage, while first-year netminder Michal Postava possesses a 2.15 GAA and a .936 save percentage, and fellow rookie Carter Gylander has a 1.83 GAA and a .936 save percentage. 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). Last season, the Griffins finished ninth in the AHL with 2.82 goals allowed per game but spent much of the campaign in the top five for goals allowed per contest. 

Special Powers 
The Griffins have scored on the power play in four of their last seven games and in seven of their last 12 outings (7-for-34, 20.6%). Grand Rapids’ power play is eighth in the AHL at 22.2% (18-for-81). However, the Griffins have allowed four shorthanded goals this season, which is tied for fifth in the AHL. The penalty kill has allowed just seven power-play goals in the last 19 games (43-for-50, 86.0%) and is fifth overall in the AHL at 85.5% (65-for-76). The 76 times shorthanded are the third-fewest in the league. 

AHL Leaderboard Tracker
Michael Brandsegg-Nygard—Tied for second in game-winners (5), tied for 10th among rookies in assists (11), tied for third among rookies in plus-minus (+13), first among rookies in game-winners (5)
Sebastian Cossa—Second in GAA (1.68), second in save percentage (.936), tied for first in shutouts (3), first in wins (14)
Erik Gustafsson—Tied for third in plus-minus (+17), tied for ninth among defensemen in points (17), fifth among defensemen in assists (16), tied for first among defensemen in plus-minus (+17)
Justin Holl—Tied for third in plus-minus (+17), tied for first among defensemen in plus-minus (+17)
William Lagesson—Tied for fifth in plus-minus (+16), tied for third among defensemen in plus-minus (+16)
x John Leonard—Tied for first in goals (19), tied for third in points (29), tied for 11th in plus-minus (+14), tied for third in shorthanded goals (2), first in game-winners (7)
Ian Mitchell—Tied for seventh among defensemen in plus-minus (+13)
Dominik Shine—Tied for fifth in goals (13), tied for ninth in plus-minus (+15)
Eduards Tralmaks—Tied for 10th in goals (12)
Antti Tuomisto—Tied for fifth among defensemen in goals (5), tied for 11th among defensemen in points (16), tied for seventh among defensemen in plus-minus (+13)
William Wallinder—12th among defensemen in plus-minus (+10)

Milestones 
On Wednesday at Iowa, Dominik Shine scored two goals and surpassed Tomas Tatar for the fourth-most goals in franchise history (88). 
Ondrej Becher—One game from 100 as a pro
Sebastian Cossa—One game from 100 as a Griffin
William Lagesson—Four assists from 100 as a pro
Dominik Shine—One unassisted goal from claiming sole possession of the franchise record of 11, one point from claiming fourth on the franchise’s all-time points list (currently tied with Kip Miller at 208)
Austin Watson—Three goals from 100 in the AHL 
Dan Watson—Two wins from 100 as head coach of the Griffins 

Photo by Alyssa Luke/Griffins