This Week’s Games

GRIFFINS at Cleveland Monsters // Sat., Dec. 28 // 7 p.m. // Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

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Season Series: 1-1-0-0 Overall, 0-1-0-0 Away. Third of eight meetings overall, second of four at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

All-Time Series: 74-40-9-13 Overall, 31-22-5-10 Away

NHL Affiliation: Columbus Blue Jackets  

Noteworthy: Cleveland’s Trey Fix-Wolansky ranks second in the AHL with 32 points (14-18—32), Luca Del Bel Belluz is tied for third with 31 points (16-15—31), and Rocco Grimaldi is tied for sixth with 28 points (7-21—28). 

Good Time For A Break: The AHL’s Holiday Break came at a good time for the Griffins, as they are on a season-high three-game winless streak (0-1-2-0) and have dropped five of their last seven outings (2-3-2-0). However, Grand Rapids remains in first place in the Central Division, second in the Western Conference, and tied for fourth in the AHL with a 17-9-3-0 record and 37 points through 29 games. This marks the first time since the 2018-19 season (17-11-2-2) that the Griffins hit the holiday break with a winning record. When Dec. 23 dawned last season, the Griffins stood fifth place in the division with a 9-13-3-1 record. Grand Rapids has faired well against its division rivals with a 12-7-2-0 mark and has remained the top team in the division since Nov. 8. 

Road Trip: The Griffins concluded their season-high six-game road trip last Wednesday at the Texas Stars and finished the stretch of games with a 3-2-1-0 mark. Grand Rapids has hit the pavement once again, as it is in the midst of a stretch that will see it play nine of 12 games on the road, which began on Dec. 7 at Chicago and will end on Jan. 4 in Milwaukee. The Griffins are 9-5-2-0 (.625) in foreign territory with 20 points, which ranks fifth in the AHL on the road. Through the first 16 road games last season, Grand Rapids sported a 4-9-2-1 record (.344). 

Shine Bright: Veteran Dominik Shine ranks first on the roster in both points (7-15—22) and assists (15) in 29 games. Shine collected his sixth multi-point game of the season on Dec. 7 at Chicago (0-2—2), which tied for his career-high mark set in 2021-22, and now has three points (1-2—3) in his last four contests. Last year, Shine posted career-high numbers in assists (23), points (33) and plus-minus rating (+8) and is on pace to reach 54 points (17-37—54) this season. The Detroit native has spent his entire career with Grand Rapids since 2016-17 and has accumulated 160 points (68-92—160) and 509 penalty minutes in 451 appearances. In the Griffins’ all-time rankings, Shine places third in games played, sixth in penalty minutes, tied for 10th in overtime goals (2), and tied for third in unassisted goals (9). 

Rollercoaster Ride: 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. Grand Rapids then averaged 4.10 goals per game from Nov. 7-Dec. 1 and went 8-2-0-0 during the run. However, the Griffins have struggled to find the back of the net as of late, with 2.33 goals per game in their last nine outings since Dec. 6 and have gone 3-4-2-0 in those contests. The Griffins rank 23rd on the circuit with 2.90 goals per outing, while tying for sixth in goals against per game (2.66). When scoring at least three goals this season, Grand Rapids is 14-0-0-0 compared to 3-9-3-0 when scoring fewer than three goals. 

Austin Powers: Veteran Austin Watson enjoyed a team-high four-game point streak from Dec. 1-8 (2-2—4), and has secured a point in nine of the past 12 games (7-3—10). Watson is tied for second on the roster with 21 points (9-12—21) in 27 games and leads the team with four power-play goals. The Ann Arbor, Michigan, native has spent the majority of his career in the NHL, showing 118 points (60-58—118) in 518 appearances. At the AHL level, Watson possesses 153 points (82-71—153) in 261 outings, as he had spent his entire AHL career with Milwaukee before this season. 

Lock it Down: Through the months of October and November, the Griffins averaged 2.32 goals against per game, which ranked first in the AHL. Since Dec. 1, Grand Rapids has allowed 3.30 goals per game. The Griffins remain one of the top defensive teams in the AHL, as they are tied for sixth with 2.66 goals against per game. Dating back to last season, Grand Rapids has allowed just 36 goals in its last 16 regular-season games at Van Andel Arena (2.25 GA per game). Also dating back to last season, the Griffins have allowed 50 goals in their last 18 regular-season road games (2.78 GA per game). 

Battle for Power: The Griffins scored a power-play goal in five straight games from Nov. 24-Dec. 6 (5-for-15, 33.3%) but have now converted on four of their past 33 man-advantages (12.1%) since Dec. 7. The power play ranks 19th on the circuit at 16.8% (17-for-101). If you break it down further, Grand Rapids’ home power play is 7-for-37 (18.9%, T16th) and its road power play is 10-for-64 (15.6%, 21st). The Griffins have also given up the five short-handed goals, which is tied for the sixth-most. The Griffins’ penalty kill ranks third in the AHL at 87.0% and their four short-handed goals are tied for fifth. Grand Rapids has surrendered a power-play goal in six of its last nine outings (28-for-35 on PK, 80.0%).   

Holy Goalies: Sebastian Cossa, the 15th overall pick by the Detroit Red Wings in 2021, has been the go-to netminder for the Griffins this season, as he has a 10-5-3 mark with a 2.31 GAA and a .919 save percentage in 18 games. Cossa ranks among the AHL leaders in minutes played (1,063:16, 3rd), games played (T3rd), GAA (10th) wins (T4th), and save percentage (10th). The 22-year-old collected his first NHL victory during his debut on Dec. 9 at the Buffalo Sabres with a 6-5 shootout victory behind 12 saves and two stops in the shootout. Cossa became the first netminder in NHL history to win his debut via a shootout in a relief effort. Veteran Jack Campbell was assigned to Grand Rapids on Nov. 18 and made his Griffins debut on Dec. 6 against the Chicago Wolves. He later bagged his first win as a Griffin on Dec. 17 at Texas behind 20 saves in a 4-2 victory. Through three games with Grand Rapids, Campbell has a 2.37 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage. Campbell has 441 pro games under his belt with a 2.67 GAA and 230 wins since 2011-12, splitting time between the NHL (176 GP), AHL (238 GP) and ECHL (27 GP). Ville Husso was reassigned to the Griffins by Detroit last Thursday. Husso has a 4-1-0 ledger with one shutout to go along with a 2.39 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage in six appearances with the Griffins this season. Through seven career games with Grand Rapids, Husso has a 5-1-0 record with two shutouts, a 2.02 goals-against average, and a .927 save percentage. 

No Ordinary Joe: Newcomer Joe Snively posted a three-game point streak from Dec. 13-17, his second-best run this year, and now has five points in his last six games (2-3—5). Snively is tied for second on the roster in points (10-11—21) and second in goals (10) through 29 appearances. The Herndon, Virginia, native has won the last two Calder Cups with the Hershey 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. 

Keep It Close: The Griffins have excelled at winning close games, as they are 7-1-3-0 when a game is decided by one goal. Grand Rapids is 10-8-0-0 when the contest is decided by two or more tallies. The seven wins in one-goal games are tied for seventh in the AHL. The Griffins have struggled in overtime thus far with a 1-3 mark compared to a 3-0 ledger in a shootout. When leading or tied after the first period, Grand Rapids is 15-2-2-0 compared to 3-7-1-0 when trailing after the first. 

Shoot Your Shot: The Griffins have outshot their opponent just six times in the first 29 contests, with three of those six coming against Chicago. The Griffins average 24.8 shots per game, which ranks last in the AHL. Grand Rapids has been held to under 20 shots six times and has exceeded 30 shots six times. On the flip side, the Griffins’ opponents average 29.1 shots per game (17th in AHL) and have been held to under 30 shots 13 times. The third period has given the Griffins the most problems, as they are being outshot 264-204 compared to being outshot 276-258 in the second and 287-241 in the first. However, Grand Rapids has a 11-4-2-0 ledger when recording 20-29 shots and a 9-5-2-0 mark when allowing 30-39 shots. 

AHL Leaderboard Tracker:
Shai Buium—Tied for ninth among rookie defensemen in assists (9)
Sebastian Cossa—Third in minutes played (1,063:16), tied for third in games played (18), 10th in GAA (2.31), tied for fourth in wins (10), and ninth in save percentage (.919)
Nate Danielson—Tied for second in short-handed assists (2), tied for first among rookies in short-handed assists (2), tied for seventh among rookies in assists (13), tied for 12th among rookies in power-play assists (4)
Alex Doucet—Tied for third in short-handed goals (2), tied for first among rookies in short-handed goals (2)
Sheldon Dries—Tied for 11th in goals (12)
Amadeus Lombardi—Tied for second in game-winners (4)
Austin Watson—Tied for first in major penalties (6) 

Milestones:
Last Sunday, Sheldon Dries appeared in his 300th AHL game and Tim Gettinger skated in his 300th game in the AHL on Dec. 17. 
Alex Doucet—One point from 50 as a pro
Sheldon Dries—Five assists from 100 in the AHL, four points from 250 as a pro 
Joe Snively—One game from 250 in the AHL

Photo by Mark Newman/Griffins