This Week’s Games

GRIFFINS (28-20-4-2) at Manitoba Moose (18-30-1-2) // Tue., March 4 // 11:30 a.m. EST // Canada Life Centre
GRIFFINS at Manitoba Moose // Wed., March 5 // 8 p.m. EST // Canada Life Centre  

Listen: 96.1 The Game at 11:15 a.m. EST on Tuesday, and at 7:45 p.m. EST on Wednesday

Watch: AHLTV on FloHockey 

Season Series: 4-2-0-0 Overall, 2-0-0-0 Away. Seventh and eighth of eight meetings overall, third and fourth of four at the Canada Life Centre

All-Time Series: 79-46-1-1-10 Overall, 37-25-0-0-3 Away

NHL Affiliation: Winnipeg Jets

Noteworthy: All six meetings this season have been decided by just one goal, as the Griffins have a plus-two scoring margin (12-10). The season series has also been a low-scoring affair, as each game has averaged just 3.67 total goals. The Griffins have shown two goals per contest through the six games and the Moose have averaged 1.67.    

GRIFFINS at Chicago Wolves (27-22-3-0) // Sat., March 8 // 8 p.m. EST // Allstate Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM & 1300 AM at 7:45 p.m. EST

Watch: AHLTV on FloHockey 

Season Series: 3-3-0-0 Overall, 1-3-0-0 Away. Seventh of eight meetings overall, fourth of four at Allstate Arena

All-Time Series: 104-89-2-8-5 Overall, 53-51-0-2-1 Away

NHL Affiliation: Carolina Hurricanes

Noteworthy: The Griffins played Chicago four times in the span of five games from Nov. 30-Dec. 8 but then met just once in 33 contests from Dec. 13-March 5. The game this Saturday will be the first time the two teams have met since Grand Rapids’ 5-2 victory over the Wolves on Jan. 15.  

Fight Your Way Through: During the month of February, the Griffins dropped eight of the 11 games (3-7-1-0), which saw them fall to third place in the Central Division after being in first place or a tie for first from Nov. 8-Feb. 7. However, the team now has points in four of its last five games (2-1-1-1) and are just three points out of first place in the division. The Griffins have averaged 2.23 goals in their last 13 contests while allowing 3.77 tallies. In the last five games, Grand Rapids has averaged 3.40 goals while allowing 3.80. Scoring at least three goals has been key for Grand Rapids, as it has a 23-1-0-1 mark (.940) when reaching at least three goals and a 5-19-4-1 (.259) record when it fails to do so. The defense, a usual strong spot for the Griffins, has allowed 3.04 goals per game since the start of the calendar year but is still ninth overall with 2.76 goals allowed per game this season. In addition to falling into third place in the division, Grand Rapids is now seventh in the Western Conference and 16th in the AHL with a 28-20-4-2 record and 62 points through 54 games. 

If You Build It, They Will Come: The Griffins enjoyed their third consecutive sellout on Saturday, which marked the first time the team sold out three straight games in a single season since 2008-09 when they saw four straight capacity crowds at Van Andel Arena from March 15-April 10, 2009. The Griffins have five sell outs this season and rank sixth in the AHL with an average attendance of 7,729. 

He’s Back!: After being sidelined for 28 consecutive games from Dec. 6-Feb. 15 due to rehabbing an upper-body injury, second-year pro Amadeus Lombardi returned to the ice on Feb. 19 against Lehigh Valley and collected an assist in the process. Lombardi is currently on a four-game point streak (3-2—5) from Feb. 23-March 1 and has six points (3-3—6) in six games since returning from injury. At the time of his setback, Lombardi ranked third on the team in points (9-6—15) and first in goals (9) through 20 appearances. The 21-year-old also had four game-winners, which ranked first on the team and tied for first in the AHL as of Dec. 6. Currently, Lombardi ranks seventh on the roster with 21 points (12-9—21) and tied for third in goals (12). As a rookie last season, Lombardi produced 26 points (5-21—26) in 70 outings during the regular season before adding one goal in eight playoff games. The Aurora, Ontario, native was selected with the 113th pick by the Detroit Red Wings in 2022. 

Getting Settled In: Carter Mazur, who was sidelined for 35 straight contests from Oct. 19-Jan. 18, has four goals in his last three outings and is on a five-game point streak (4-2—6), which is tied for the team high. He also has nine points (6-3—9) in his last eight contests and 12 points (7-5—12) in 16 games since returning from his upper-body injury. In total, Mazur has 14 points (8-6—14) in 19 appearances with the Griffins this season. Last campaign, Mazur ranked second on the team in points (17-30—37) as a rookie before tying for second on the roster in points (3-5—8) during the Calder Cup Playoffs. The 70th overall pick by Detroit in 2021 spent two seasons at the University of Denver prior to turning pro and won two NCHC titles (2022, 2023) and became a NCAA champion in 2022, showing a combined 75 points (36-39—75) in 81 career games. 

A Month to Forget: It was an unusual stretch of games for the Griffins during February, as they had three wins in 11 contests (3-7-1-0). The special teams also struggled, as they went 4-for-45 on the power play (8.9%) and 30-for-40 on the penalty kill (75.0%) in February. At the start of February, the power play was ranked 10th (now 26th), and the penalty kill sat in seventh place (now T12th). Grand Rapids allowed 44 goals in 11 games in February (4.00 per game) after allowing 23 goals in 11 outings in January (2.09). One thing that improved was the Griffins’ shot count. They outshot their opponent in seven of the 11 games with an average of 31.7 shots. At the start of February, Grand Rapids was averaging just 26.1 shots per contest.   

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 six points (3-3—6) in his last eight games. He has had a promising rookie season with 28 points (7-21—28), 31 penalty minutes and a plus-two rating in 53 appearances. In addition to ranking fourth in points and second in assists on the team, Danielson is tied for 10th among AHL rookies in assists (21) and first 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.   

He Brings the Boom: Rookie defenseman Shai Buium tied his season high of a three-game point streak from Feb. 23-26 (0-3—3) and now has four assists in his last six appearances. Buium is tied for second among the team’s blueliners with 19 points (0-19—19) in 50 games and is tied for fourth among all skaters on the roster with 19 assists. In addition to his team rankings, the 21-year-old is tied for fifth among AHL rookie defensemen in assists, tied for 12th in points, and tied for 11th in power-play assists (5). Buium spent three seasons at the University of Denver from 2021-23 prior to turning pro, winning two national titles and totaling a combined 75 points (14-61—75), 44 penalty minutes and a plus-61 rating in 120 games. The San Diego, California, native was selected 36th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in 2021. 

A Few Loose Ends: Despite allowing 4.00 goals per game in the month of February, the Griffins’ defense has been a bright spot for the team this season. Grand Rapids ranks ninth in the AHL with 2.76 goals allowed per contest and has averaged 3.04 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 31 games, and Jack Campbell has a 2.54 GAA and a .903 save percentage in nine appearances. Dating back to last season, Grand Rapids has allowed 78 goals in its last 30 regular-season games at Van Andel Arena (2.60 GA per game). Also dating back to last season, the Griffins have allowed 81 goals in their last 29 regular-season road games (2.79 GA per game). 

Power Outage: Grand Rapids failed to score on the power play in six straight outings from Jan. 29-Feb. 12 and are now 5-for-54 (9.3%) on the man-advantage in its last 14 games. However, the power play is 2-for-11 in its last three games (18.2%) and 4-for-23 in its last five outings (17.4%). The power play has quickly fallen into 26th place on the circuit at 16.4% (31-for-189) after being ranked 10th at the beginning of February (18.7%). If you break it down further, Grand Rapids’ home power play is 15-for-87 (17.2%, T20th) and its road power play is 16-for-102 (15.7%, 27th). The Griffins have given up seven short-handed goals, which is tied for the eighth-most. The Griffins’ penalty kill has gone perfect (10-for-10) in its last three games but has allowed a power-play goal in seven of the previous 13 games (34-for-45 on PK, 75.6%) and in 13 of its last 22 outings (61-for-78 on PK, 78.2%). The Griffins rank 30th out of 32 teams with just 563 penalty minutes this season ahead of just Hershey (560) and Coachella Valley (553). The penalty kill is tied for 12th at 83.2% after starting the month of February in seventh place at 85.1%. Grand Rapids has scored seven short-handed tallies, which is tied for eighth in the AHL. When scoring on the power play, the Griffins are 17-4-2-2 and 9-13-2-1 when they allow a power-play goal. 

AHL Leaderboard Tracker:
Shai Buium—Tied for fifth among rookie defensemen in assists (19), tied for 12th among rookie defensemen in points (19), tied for 11th among rookie defensemen in power-play assists (5)
Sebastian Cossa—Sixth in minutes played (1,840:33), tied for sixth in games played (31), tied for eighth in GAA (2.38), tied for eighth in wins (16), tied for 10th in save percentage (.913)
Nate Danielson—Tied for 10th among rookies in assists (21), first in short-handed assists (4), first among rookies in short-handed assists (4)
Josiah Didier—Tied for fifth in short-handed assists (2), tied for second among defensemen in short-handed assists (2)
Alex Doucet—Tied for 10th in short-handed goals (2), tied for second among rookies in short-handed goals (2) 
x Sheldon Dries—Tied for third in game-winners (6)
Austin Watson—First in major penalties (10), 10th in penalty minutes (94), tied for 10th in short-handed goals (2) 

Milestones:
On Saturday against Iowa, Brogan Rafferty competed in his 300th game in the AHL.  
x Sheldon Dries—One assist from 100 in the AHL, two goals from 150 as a pro
Amadeus Lombardi—Two games from 100 as a Griffin, two points from 50 as a pro
Dominik Shine—One unassisted goal from claiming the franchise record of 11 in a career, one goal from moving into a tie for ninth place in the franchise’s all-time goals scored list (Derek King, 73)
Antti Tuomisto—One game from 100 as a Griffin
William Wallinder—Three games from 300 as a pro

Photo by Manitoba Moose