GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Michal Postava tied a franchise record by becoming the 10th netminder in team history to post back-to-back shutouts and tallied 19 saves, as the Grand Rapids Griffins took down the Milwaukee Admirals 3-0 at Van Andel Arena on Wednesday.

Postava became the first netminder since Jared Coreau (2/15/18-2/17/18) to record a shutout in consecutive games, and his shutout streak of 140:25 dates back to last Saturday against Milwaukee. Grand Rapids improved to 31-3-2-1 with 65 points through 37 games, and their seventh shutout this campaign is the most since the 2016-17 season (8). John Leonard notched his first hat trick as a Griffin and his third in the AHL to extend his point streak to four games, while Nate Danielson potted two assists.

The Griffins saw an opportunity with 7:51 on the clock in the opening period when Eduards Tralmaks slotted one ahead to Jakub Rychlovsky on a 2-on-1, but it went just wide. Grand Rapids eventually lit the lamp at 15:44 when Leonard carried one across the left circle, dragged it in front, and punched it past Matthew Murray in the paint to make it 1-0.

Grand Rapids notched 15 shots in the second frame, while holding Milwaukee to just five. The best chance for the Griffins came at 14:46 when Rychlovsky threw one from below the goal line to Tralmaks at the bottom of the left circle, and he tried to pop it in, but was stopped by Murray. With 1:03 to go, Jake Lucchini tried to stuff one past Postava’s skate while shorthanded, but the Czechia native stretched to make the pad save.

With 14:33 to go, the Griffins notched their second of the game while on the power play. Ondrej Becher centered one from Murray’s right side to Leonard in the right circle, and he let a wrister soar into the net. Murray hit the bench with 3:07 left, and 17 seconds later, Leonard skated down to pot the empty-netter for the hat trick, securing the 3-0 win.

Notes

• The Griffins improved to 23-0 when scoring the game’s first goal.
• Dan Watson reached his 600th game as a professional head coach.

Box Score

Milwaukee 0 0 0 - 0

Grand Rapids 1 0 2 - 3

1st Period-1, Grand Rapids, Leonard 23 (Danielson, Wallinder), 15:44. Penalties-No Penalties

2nd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Wiesblatt Mil (roughing), 0:11; Leonard Gr (roughing), 0:11; Kemell Mil (interference), 3:02; Holl Gr (high-sticking), 8:46; Mutter Mil (slashing), 17:47.

3rd Period-2, Grand Rapids, Leonard 24 (Becher, Danielson), 5:27 (PP). 3, Grand Rapids, Leonard 25   17:10 (EN). Penalties-Kemell Mil (slashing), 5:07; Kannok Leipert Gr (slashing), 11:58.

Shots on Goal-Milwaukee 10-5-4-19. Grand Rapids 3-15-8-26.

Power Play Opportunities-Milwaukee 0 / 2; Grand Rapids 1 / 3.

Goalies-Milwaukee, Murray 10-11-2 (25 shots-23 saves). Grand Rapids, Postava 7-1-0 (19 shots-19 saves).

A-8,687

Three Stars

1. GR Postava (SO, W, 19 saves) 2. GR Leonard (hat trick) 3. GR Danielson (two assists)

Record/Next Game

Grand Rapids: 31-3-2-1 (65 pts.) / Fri., Jan. 23 at Manitoba 8 p.m. EST

Milwaukee: 16-17-2-1 (35 pts.) / Fri., Jan. 23 at Iowa 5 p.m. CST

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins