GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Despite claiming the best start in the AHL’s 90-year history through 40 games (32-5-2-1, 67 pts.), the Grand Rapids Griffins suffered a 4-1 loss to the Cleveland Monsters on Wednesday at Van Andel Arena. 

Grand Rapids eclipsed the 2005-06 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (31-5-3-1, 66 pts.) for the best start in league history through 40 games. It took until games 39 and 40 of the campaign for the Griffins to record consecutive regulation losses. Eduards Tralmaks notched the lone goal for his AHL-Career-High 16th of the season, and Ian Mitchell tallied his 10th assist. Sebastian Cossa grabbed 39 saves and moved to 18-3-2.

Cleveland lit the lamp 10:05 into the opening period to claim a 1-0 lead. Luca Del Bel Belluz passed the puck from the left point to Corson Ceulemans in the right circle, and he potted it past Cossa’s glove side. Grand Rapids tied the contest with 1:30 left when Mitchell ripped one from the top of the right circle, and Tralmaks tipped it in out front. 

With 3:07 to go in the second frame, Austin Watson poked the puck off the stick of Mikael Pyyhtia while on the penalty kill. The Ann Arbor, Michigan, Native carried it down on a shorthanded breakaway and tapped it at Ivan Fedotov, but he made the pad save. The Monsters reclaimed an advantage with two seconds left when Stanislav Svozil let a one-timer fly from above the right circle and it snuck past Cossa’s right side. 

The Monsters made it 3-1 at 3:31 in the final slate while on the power play. Luca Marrelli sent a wrister toward the net, and Owen Sillinger pushed it past the goal line. The Griffins pulled Cossa with 3:37 to go, and with six seconds on the clock, Roman Ahcan swiped in the empty-netter to hand the Griffins the 4-1 defeat.

Notes

• The 4-1 loss was the first decided by more than two goals this season for the Griffins.
• Grand Rapids’ .838 points percentage remained the best in the league. 

Box Score

Cleveland 1 1 2 - 4

Grand Rapids 1 0 0 - 1

1st Period-1, Cleveland, Ceulemans 7 (Del Bel Belluz, Malatesta), 10:05. 2, Grand Rapids, Tralmaks 16 (Mitchell), 18:30. Penalties-No Penalties

2nd Period-3, Cleveland, Svozil 1 (Mayo), 19:58. Penalties-MacDonald Cle (instigating, fighting, misconduct - instigating), 0:59; Dries Gr (fighting), 0:59; Pinelli Cle (roughing), 7:13; Brandsegg-Nygård Gr (delay of game), 15:34.

3rd Period-4, Cleveland, Sillinger 9 (Marrelli, Del Bel Belluz), 3:31 (PP). 5, Cleveland, Ahcan 10 (Williams), 19:54 (EN). Penalties-Brandsegg-Nygård Gr (tripping), 3:07.

Shots on Goal-Cleveland 16-14-13-43. Grand Rapids 7-4-9-20.

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

Goalies-Cleveland, Fedotov 14-9-3 (20 shots-19 saves). Grand Rapids, Cossa 18-3-2 (42 shots-39 saves).

A-9,611

Three Stars

1. CLE Svozil (game-winner) 2. CLE Ceulemans (goal) 3. CLE Del Bel Belluz (two assists)

Record/Next Game

Grand Rapids: 32-5-2-1 (67 pts.) / Fri., Jan. 30 vs. Chicago 7 p.m.

Cleveland: 20-14-5-1 (46 pts.) / Fri., Jan. 30 vs. Belleville 7 p.m.

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo