Griffins Game #63 * Home Game #32 * AHL Game #986

Season Series: 2-1-2-0 Home Series: 0-0-1-0 Road Series: 2-1-1-0
All-Time Series: 44-30-7-5 All-Time Home Series: 23-12-2-4 All-Time Road Series: 21-18-5-1

Stars at Griffins
Sixth of eight meetings overall, second of four at Van Andel Arena...In the last five seasons since the 2020-21, the Griffins are 12-12-4-1 (.500) against Texas with a minus-13 scoring margin (96-83)...Also since 2020-21, Grand Rapids is 5-6-1-1 (.462) against the Stars at home and has been outscored 36-31...Texas is the fourth-highest scoring team in the AHL with 3.48 goals scored per game, while ranking 15th with 2.98 goals allowed...Texas ranks 12th in shots per game (29.8) and 16th with 28.7 shots allowed...Texas is 7-3-0-0 in its last 10 games and 5-1-0-0 in its last six games...The Stars are 19-11-0-0 on the road this season...The Griffins are 4-5-0-1 in their last 10 and are on a two-game losing skid...Grand Rapids is 15-12-2-2 at home...The Stars’ penalty kill unit is tied for 14th at 82.2% and their power play places fifth at 21.8%...Texas’ Matej Blumel is second in the AHL with 62 points and first with 35 goals...Texas’ rookie Justin Hryckowian is tied for first among first-year players with 54 points (19-35—54), which is also tied for seventh among all skaters...Stars’ defenseman Kyle Capobianco is tied for sixth in the AHL with a plus-22 rating, tied for eighth among defensemen with 40 points, and tied for third among blueliners with 35 assists...Jack Campbell competed with the Texas Stars from 2011-16, making his pro debut on March 23, 2012 at Oklahoma City (1-3 L, 32 saves). He then made his NHL debut with the Dallas Stars on Oct. 20, 2013 at Anaheim (3-6 L, 41 saves). With the Texas Stars, Campbell showed a 56-43-15 record during the regular season with a 2.79 GAA and a .908 save percentage. Campbell became a Calder Cup champion with the Stars in 2014, contributing with a 2-1 record, a 2.54 GAA and a .917 save percentage in four games...Sheldon Dries made his pro debut with the Stars on Oct. 6, 2017 at Chicago and totaled 30 points (19-11—30) in 70 games during his rookie season with the club...Cross Hanas is a native of Highland Village, Texas and played for the Dallas Stars Elite in the T1EHL from 2015-18 at the U13, U14 and U16 levels before joining the WHL.

Last Time Out
The Griffins’ comeback attempt fell short, as they suffered a 2-1 loss against the Rockford IceHogs on Saturday at Van Andel Arena. The Griffins trailed 2-0 until a third-period power-play tally from Amadeus Lombardi gave them their lone goal of the outing with assists from Shai Buium and Sheldon Dries. Netminder Jan Bednar made his second start for Grand Rapids, saving 27 shots. Through his first seven periods in the AHL, Bednar has held a 1.30 goals-against average alongside a .944 save percentage. The Griffins power play finished 4-for-10 in three straight games against Rockford from March 15-22. 

This Date in Griffins History
2008: Darren Helm scores a rare 3-on-5 shorthanded goal during the Griffins’ 6-1 win over the Lake Erie Monsters. In the same game, Kyle Quincey is whistled off for 34 penalty minutes, setting a new franchise record for most PIM in a single game.

Getting Back Into Form
Despite dropping both games last weekend, the Griffins have won three of the last five games and have points in eight of their last 13 games (6-5-1-1) after going 3-7-1-0 in the month of February. The Griffins are now seven points behind both second-place Texas and first-place Milwaukee. Grand Rapids still has a five-point gap between it and Chicago in the battle for the final bye in the division. In the last 13 games, Grand Rapids has averaged 2.77 goals while allowing 3.15. However, in the past five games, the Griffins have held their opponents to just 2.00 goals but have also scored only 2.00 goals on average. Scoring at least three goals has been key for Grand Rapids, as it has a 26-2-0-1 mark (.914) when reaching at least three goals and a 6-22-4-1 (.258) record when it fails to do so. The defense, a usual strong spot for the Griffins, has allowed 2.97 goals per game since the start of the calendar year but is still ninth overall with 2.76 goals allowed per game this season. 

Playoff Picture
The Griffins enter the night with a magic number of four points to clinch a playoff berth. Grand Rapids is currently in third place in the division and is seven points out of both second and first place. Five teams make the playoffs, with the top three receiving a first-round bye into the Central Division Semifinals. 

Home Cooking 
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 two home outings. Grand Rapids is 15-12-2-2 inside Van Andel Arena this year with a minus-four scoring margin (84-80). 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. Three of the remaining five home games of the regular season will be against first-place Texas. 

It’s On! 
Rookie Ondrej Becher has two points in his last three games (0-2—2) and four points in his previous six appearances (2-2—4) since March 8. In his first 33 games, Becher scored just six points (3-3—6) but has since recorded nine points (4-5—9) in his previous 16 outings since Feb. 14, which includes his first two-goal game (Feb. 21 vs. LV) and two-assist night (Feb. 25 at TEX). The 21-year-old competed with Prince George of the WHL from 2022-24, totaling 134 points (48-86—134) in 121 regular-season appearances. Becher also competed in 19 games in the second division of pro hockey in Czechia from 2020-22 with AZ Havirov and compiled three points (2-1—3). Becher claimed a bronze medal for Team Czechia at the 2024 World Junior Championship when he ranked third on the team with 10 points (3-7—10) in seven contests. 

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 five of the last six outings (1-5—6). 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 12 points (4-8—12) in 14 outings, which includes two career-best four-game point streaks. Through 34 appearances, Lombardi has a career-high 27 points (13-14—27) after showing 26 points (5-21—26) in 70 games as a rookie last season. The 21-year-old was selected 113th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. 

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 10 points (5-5—10) in his last 16 games. He has had a promising rookie season with 32 points (9-23—32), 33 penalty minutes and a plus-one rating in 61 appearances. In addition to ranking fourth in points and second in assists on the team, Danielson is tied for 13th among AHL rookies in assists (23) and second in the AHL 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.   

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 nine appearances (5-2-2) from Feb. 14-March 21. Through 35 games this season, the 6-foot-7 goaltender has a 19-11-5 record with a 2.38 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage. Cossa, the 15th overall pick in 2021 by Detroit, ranks among the league leaders in games played (T7th), minutes played (2070:16, 6th), GAA (10th), wins (T8th), and save percentage (T11th). 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). He was recalled by Detroit under emergency conditions on Tuesday. 

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. 

Shoot Your Shot 
The Griffins have outshot their opponent in 13 of the last 19 games since Feb. 7. In the first 43 contests, Grand Rapids outshot its opponent just 12 times. Since Feb. 7, the Griffins have averaged 30.9 shots per game after showing 25.9 shots per game in the first 43 games. In the last four outings, Grand Rapids held its opponents to an average of 23.0 shots while showing 27.8 shots of its own. Rockford’s 15 shots on March 15 tied for the fewest by a Griffins opponent this season and threatened the team’s franchise record of 12 allowed (10/13/01 vs. HER and 3/31/00 at HOU).  

Lock it Down 
The Griffins’ defense has allowed just 2.00 goals per game in its last five outings and 2.43 goals in its previous seven contests. Grand Rapids uncharacteristically allowed 4.00 goals per game in the month of February after allowing just 2.09 goals per outing in January. The Griffins are ninth in the AHL with 2.76 goals allowed per contest but have averaged 2.97 goals against since the start of the calendar year. At the start of February, the Griffins ranked first in the AHL with 2.43 goals allowed per game. Sebastian Cossa has shown a 2.38 GAA and .913 save percentage through 35 games, Jack Campbell has a 3.01 GAA and an .882 save percentage in 11 appearances, and Jan Bednar possesses a 1.30 GAA and a .944 save percentage in three games. 

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-10 on the man-advantage in their last three games. The power play has also scored in six of the last 11 games (8-for-41, 19.5%) and is 10-for-53 in its last 13 outings (18.9%). However, Grand Rapids is still 11-for-84 (13.1%) on the man-advantage in its last 22 games. The power play has quickly fallen into 24th place on the circuit at 16.9% (37-for-219) 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-99 (17.2%, 25th) and its road power play is 20-for-120 (16.7%, T21st). The Griffins have given up nine short-handed goals, which is tied for the eighth most. The Griffins’ penalty kill has gone 29-for-34 (85.3%) in its last 11 games and 9-for-10 in the last three contests. The team has allowed a power-play goal in 12 of the previous 21 games (53-for-69 on PK, 76.8%) and in 18 of its last 30 outings (80-for-102 on PK, 78.4%). The Griffins have the fewest penalty minutes in the AHL this season at 635. The penalty kill ranks 12th at 82.8% after starting the month of February in seventh place at 85.1%. Grand Rapids has scored seven short-handed tallies, which is tied for 16th in the AHL. The Griffins are 19-6-2-2 when scoring on the power play and 12-15-2-1 when they allow a power-play goal. 

AHL Leaderboard Tracker
Shai Buium—Tied for fifth among rookie defensemen in assists (21), 11th among rookie defensemen in points (23), tied for sixth among rookie defensemen in power-play goals (2), tied for eighth among rookie defensemen in power-play assists (7), 12th among rookie defensemen in shots (68)
x Sebastian Cossa—Sixth in minutes played (2,070:16), tied for seventh in games played (35), 10th in GAA (2.38), tied for eighth in wins (19), tied for 11th in save percentage (.913)
Nate Danielson—Tied for 13th 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 second among rookies in short-handed goals (2) 
Sheldon Dries—Tied for seventh in game-winners (6)
x Austin Watson—Tied for first in major penalties (10) 

Milestones 
On March 8 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—One goal from 150 as a pro
Tim Gettinger—One game from 100 as a Griffin 

Photo by Texas Stars