Grand Rapids Griffins | Happy Holidays

This Week’s Video games

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

Pay attention: WOOD 106.9 FM & 1300 AM at 6:45 p.m.

Watch: AHLTV on FloHockey 

Season Sequence: 1-1-0-0 General, 0-1-0-0 Away. Third of eight conferences general, second of 4 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

All-Time Sequence: 74-40-9-13 General, 31-22-5-10 Away

NHL Affiliation: Columbus Blue Jackets  

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

Good Time For A Break: The AHL’s Vacation Break got here at a superb time for the Griffins, as they’re on a season-high three-game winless streak (0-1-2-0) and have dropped 5 of their final seven outings (2-3-2-0). Nonetheless, Grand Rapids stays in first place within the Central Division, second within the Western Convention, and tied for fourth within the AHL with a 17-9-3-0 file and 37 factors by way of 29 video games. This marks the primary time because the 2018-19 season (17-11-2-2) that the Griffins hit the vacation break with a successful file. When Dec. 23 dawned final season, the Griffins stood fifth place within the division with a 9-13-3-1 file. Grand Rapids has faired nicely towards its division rivals with a 12-7-2-0 mark and has remained the highest group within the division since Nov. 8. 

Street Journey: The Griffins concluded their season-high six-game highway journey final Wednesday on the Texas Stars and completed the stretch of video games with a 3-2-1-0 mark. Grand Rapids has hit the pavement as soon as once more, as it’s within the midst of a stretch that may see it play 9 of 12 video games on the highway, which started on Dec. 7 at Chicago and can finish on Jan. 4 in Milwaukee. The Griffins are 9-5-2-0 (.625) in overseas territory with 20 factors, which ranks fifth within the AHL on the highway. By means of the primary 16 highway video games final season, Grand Rapids sported a 4-9-2-1 file (.344). 

Shine Vivid: Veteran Dominik Shine ranks first on the roster in each factors (7-15—22) and assists (15) in 29 video games. Shine collected his sixth multi-point sport 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 factors (1-2—3) in his final 4 contests. Final 12 months, Shine posted career-high numbers in assists (23), factors (33) and plus-minus ranking (+8) and is on tempo to succeed in 54 factors (17-37—54) this season. The Detroit native has spent his total profession with Grand Rapids since 2016-17 and has gathered 160 factors (68-92—160) and 509 penalty minutes in 451 appearances. Within the Griffins’ all-time rankings, Shine locations third in video games performed, sixth in penalty minutes, tied for tenth in extra time targets (2), and tied for third in unassisted targets (9). 

Rollercoaster Experience: By means of the primary 10 video games of the season, the Griffins scored greater than two targets simply thrice and averaged 2.20 targets per sport, which ranked twenty ninth within the AHL as of Nov. 4. Grand Rapids then averaged 4.10 targets per sport from Nov. 7-Dec. 1 and went 8-2-0-0 in the course of the run. Nonetheless, the Griffins have struggled to seek out the again of the web as of late, with 2.33 targets per sport of their final 9 outings since Dec. 6 and have gone 3-4-2-0 in these contests. The Griffins rank twenty third on the circuit with 2.90 targets per outing, whereas tying for sixth in targets towards per sport (2.66). When scoring a minimum of three targets this season, Grand Rapids is 14-0-0-0 in comparison with 3-9-3-0 when scoring fewer than three targets. 

Austin Powers: Veteran Austin Watson loved a team-high four-game level streak from Dec. 1-8 (2-2—4), and has secured a degree in 9 of the previous 12 video games (7-3—10). Watson is tied for second on the roster with 21 factors (9-12—21) in 27 video games and leads the group with 4 power-play targets. The Ann Arbor, Michigan, native has spent nearly all of his profession within the NHL, exhibiting 118 factors (60-58—118) in 518 appearances. On the AHL degree, Watson possesses 153 factors (82-71—153) in 261 outings, as he had spent his total AHL profession with Milwaukee earlier than this season. 

Lock it Down: By means of the months of October and November, the Griffins averaged 2.32 targets towards per sport, which ranked first within the AHL. Since Dec. 1, Grand Rapids has allowed 3.30 targets per sport. The Griffins stay one of many prime defensive groups within the AHL, as they’re tied for sixth with 2.66 targets towards per sport. Relationship again to final season, Grand Rapids has allowed simply 36 targets in its final 16 regular-season video games at Van Andel Area (2.25 GA per sport). Additionally relationship again to final season, the Griffins have allowed 50 targets of their final 18 regular-season highway video games (2.78 GA per sport). 

Battle for Energy: The Griffins scored a power-play objective in 5 straight video games from Nov. 24-Dec. 6 (5-for-15, 33.3%) however have now transformed on 4 of their previous 33 man-advantages (12.1%) since Dec. 7. The ability play ranks nineteenth on the circuit at 16.8% (17-for-101). For those who break it down additional, Grand Rapids’ residence energy play is 7-for-37 (18.9%, T16th) and its highway energy play is 10-for-64 (15.6%, twenty first). The Griffins have additionally given up the 5 short-handed targets, which is tied for the sixth-most. The Griffins’ penalty kill ranks third within the AHL at 87.0% and their 4 short-handed targets are tied for fifth. Grand Rapids has surrendered a power-play objective in six of its final 9 outings (28-for-35 on PK, 80.0%).   

Holy Goalies: Sebastian Cossa, the fifteenth general choose by the Detroit Crimson 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 share in 18 video games. Cossa ranks among the many AHL leaders in minutes performed (1,063:16, third), video games performed (T3rd), GAA (tenth) wins (T4th), and save share (tenth). The 22-year-old collected his first NHL victory throughout his debut on Dec. 9 on the Buffalo Sabres with a 6-5 shootout victory behind 12 saves and two stops within the shootout. Cossa grew to become the primary netminder in NHL historical past to win his debut by way of a shootout in a reduction effort. Veteran Jack Campbell was assigned to Grand Rapids on Nov. 18 and made his Griffins debut on Dec. 6 towards 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. By means of three video games with Grand Rapids, Campbell has a 2.37 goals-against common and a .917 save share. Campbell has 441 professional video games underneath 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 final Thursday. Husso has a 4-1-0 ledger with one shutout to go together with a 2.39 goals-against common and a .914 save share in six appearances with the Griffins this season. By means of seven profession video games with Grand Rapids, Husso has a 5-1-0 file with two shutouts, a 2.02 goals-against common, and a .927 save share. 

No Peculiar Joe: Newcomer Joe Snively posted a three-game level streak from Dec. 13-17, his second-best run this 12 months, and now has 5 factors in his final six video games (2-3—5). Snively is tied for second on the roster in factors (10-11—21) and second in targets (10) by way of 29 appearances. The Herndon, Virginia, native has received the final two Calder Cups with the Hershey Bears and confirmed a mixed 33 factors (6-27—33) in 40 video games in the course of the postseason with a 28-12 file up to now two playoffs. Snively additionally aided Hershey to a regular-season title final 12 months with a 53-14-0-5 mark (111 pts., .771), the second-best regular-season file in AHL historical past and probably the most wins by an AHL group in a 72-game season. The 28-year-old is seeking his third straight Calder Cup, as solely 11 gamers in league historical past have received three consecutive cups within the AHL and nobody has achieved this feat because the 1978 season. 

Hold It Shut: The Griffins have excelled at successful shut video games, as they’re 7-1-3-0 when a sport is determined by one objective. Grand Rapids is 10-8-0-0 when the competition is determined by two or extra tallies. The seven wins in one-goal video games are tied for seventh within the AHL. The Griffins have struggled in extra time to date with a 1-3 mark in comparison with a 3-0 ledger in a shootout. When main or tied after the primary interval, Grand Rapids is 15-2-2-0 in comparison with 3-7-1-0 when trailing after the primary. 

Shoot Your Shot: The Griffins have outshot their opponent simply six occasions within the first 29 contests, with three of these six coming towards Chicago. The Griffins common 24.8 photographs per sport, which ranks final within the AHL. Grand Rapids has been held to underneath 20 photographs six occasions and has exceeded 30 photographs six occasions. On the flip facet, the Griffins’ opponents common 29.1 photographs per sport (seventeenth in AHL) and have been held to underneath 30 photographs 13 occasions. The third interval has given the Griffins probably the most issues, as they’re being outshot 264-204 in comparison with being outshot 276-258 within the second and 287-241 within the first. Nonetheless, Grand Rapids has a 11-4-2-0 ledger when recording 20-29 photographs and a 9-5-2-0 mark when permitting 30-39 photographs. 

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

Milestones:
Final Sunday, Sheldon Dries appeared in his three hundredth AHL sport and Tim Gettinger skated in his three hundredth sport within the AHL on Dec. 17. 
Alex Doucet—One level from 50 as a professional
Sheldon Dries—5 assists from 100 within the AHL, 4 factors from 250 as a professional 
Joe Snively—One sport from 250 within the AHL

Picture by Mark Newman/Griffins