GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Sebastian Cossa recorded a career-high 47 saves and shut down both attempts in the shootout, en route to the Grand Rapids Griffins’ 3-2 victory over the Chicago Wolves at Van Andel Arena on Friday.

Cossa became just the third goaltender in franchise history to capture AHL Goaltender of the Month honors twice and improved to 15-1-1 on the season. His career-high saves tied Jared Coreau’s franchise record for stops on home ice, while he faced a career-high 49 shots. Improving to 27-1-1-1, the Griffins’ 56 points stood as the best in the AHL’s 90-year history through 30 games, previously held by the 2005-06 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (24-3-2-1, 51 pts.), and their 17-game point streak became the third-longest in franchise history. Michael Brandsegg-Nygard potted a goal to extend his point streak to six games, while Antti Tuomisto set an AHL-career high in goals (6) with the game-tying tally.

At 14:34 of the opening period, the Griffins lit the lamp to capture the lead. John Leonard sent one from behind the goal line out front to Brandsegg-Nygard, and he let it soar in from the slot. The Wolves tied the contest with 44 seconds to go, when Noel Gunler picked up a loose puck at the top of the zone, walked in and sent a wrister past Cossa at the left hashmarks.

Just 18 seconds into the second frame, Josiah Slavin raced down the ice on a breakaway and attempted to throw one in, but Cossa came up clutch with the glove save. Grand Rapids’ best chance came on the man-advantage with 10:33 on the clock, when Leonard passed one from the right circle to Austin Watson on the doorstep and he attempted to punch it in, but the puck went just wide.

The Wolves claimed a 2-1 lead at 10:08 of the final slate, when Bradley Nadeau sent one to Justin Robidas in the slot, and he slapped it home. The Griffins tied it to take the game to overtime with 2:14 on the clock, when Tuomisto let a roaring-wrist shot fly into the top corner from above the right circle.

In overtime, the Griffins killed off 2:38 of Chicago’s power-play opportunities with Cossa notching four saves, including a diving one just 50 seconds in off a wrister from Felix Unger Sorum. The skills contest brought two saves from Cossa, as well as a goal from Leonard, and the shootout winner from Dominik Shine to ultimately give Grand Rapids the 3-2 win.

Notes

• The Griffins boosted their record to 20-0 when scoring the game’s first goal.
• Grand Rapids improved to 2-0-0-1 against Chicago, with all three contests being decided by shootout.
• The Griffins went 6-for-6 on the penalty kill, including killing two in overtime. Their penalty kill sits at first in the league at 87.0%.

Box Score

Chicago 1 0 1 0 - 2

Grand Rapids 1 0 1 0 - 3

1st Period-1, Grand Rapids, Brandsegg-Nygård 8 (Leonard, Angle), 14:34. 2, Chicago, Gunler 3 (Brind’Amour), 19:16. Penalties-Watson Gr (slashing), 0:32; Ryabkin Chi (high-sticking), 2:30; Wallinder Gr (high-sticking), 11:35.

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Hillebrand Gr (holding the stick), 5:53; Vierling Chi (holding), 9:13; Brandsegg-Nygård Gr (tripping), 19:17.

3rd Period-3, Chicago, Robidas 12 (Nadeau, Suzuki), 10:09. 4, Grand Rapids, Tuomisto 6 (Gustafsson, Rychlovský), 17:46. Penalties-Shine Gr (roughing), 18:38.

OT Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Rychlovský Gr (goaltender interference), 2:24; Gustafsson Gr (instigating, fighting, game misconduct - instigator (last 5:00)), 5:00.

Shootout - Chicago 0 (Nadeau NG, Gunler NG), Grand Rapids 2 (Leonard G, Brandsegg-Nygård NG, Shine G).

Shots on Goal-Chicago 13-14-18-4-0-49. Grand Rapids 7-10-7-0-1-25.

Power Play Opportunities-Chicago 0 / 6; Grand Rapids 0 / 2.

Goalies-Chicago, Miftakhov 7-2-2 (24 shots-22 saves). Grand Rapids, Cossa 16-1-1 (49 shots-47 saves).

A-8,890

Three Stars

1. GR Cossa (SOW, 47 saves) 2. GR Tuomisto (goal) 3. CHI Robidas (goal)

Record/Next Game

Grand Rapids: 27-1-1-1 (56 pts.) / Sat., Jan. 3 at Chicago 8 p.m. EST

Chicago: 14-7-4-4 (36 pts.) / Sat., Jan. 3 vs. Grand Rapids 7 p.m. CST

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins