Griffins Begin March Leading AHL
AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Griffins Begin March Leading AHL

Published on March 3, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


Grand Rapids Griffins vs. the Cleveland Monsters
Grand Rapids Griffins vs. the Cleveland Monsters
(Grand Rapids Griffins, Credit: Nicolas Carrillo)

This Week's Games

GRIFFINS (41-8-3-1) vs. Rockford IceHogs (19-30-2-2) // Wed., March 4 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

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

Watch: AHLTV on FloHockey

Season Series: 4-1-0-0 Overall, 2-1-0-0 Home. Sixth of 10 meetings overall, fourth of five at Van Andel Arena

All-Time Series: 78-53-11-11 Overall, 45-21-6-5 Home

NHL Affiliation: Chicago Blackhawks

Noteworthy: The Rockford IceHogs will be the Griffins' most frequent opponent down the stretch, as there are still five games remaining between the two teams.

GRIFFINS at Cleveland Monsters (29-17-6-1) // Fri., March 6 // 7 p.m. // Rocket Arena

GRIFFINS at Cleveland Monsters // Sat., March 7 // 4 p.m. // Rocket Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM & 1300 AM at 6:45 p.m. on Friday and 3:45 p.m. on Saturday

Watch: AHLTV on FloHockey

Season Series: 3-1-0-0 Overall, 0-0-0-0 Away. Fifth and sixth of eight meetings overall, first and second of four at Rocket Arena

All-Time Series: 81-42-9-14 Overall, 33-23-5-10 Away

NHL Affiliation: Columbus Blue Jackets

Noteworthy: Of the remaining 19 games for the Griffins, only four of them will be played outside the Central Division. All four of those contests will be at the Cleveland Monsters.

Are We Talking About Playoffs?: With the Hershey Bears' 4-1 win over the Rockford IceHogs last Friday, the Griffins have clinched a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs. Feb. 27 marked the earliest clinching date in franchise history (previously March 6) and the earliest for an AHL team since 1993, when the Binghamton Rangers clinched on Feb. 24 with 24 games remaining. The Griffins have led the Central Division for the entire season and are 21 points above second-place Chicago. The Griffins also have a three-point advantage over the Providence Bruins in the race for the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy, awarded to the AHL's regular-season champions. Grand Rapids is 32-5-3-1 against its division rivals and has outscored them 149-85, suffering its first regulation defeat against the division on Jan. 9 against Texas. The Griffins' 32 wins are the most divisional victories since 2016-17 (40-20-1-3). Fourteen of the remaining 19 games for Grand Rapids will be against the Central Division (73.7%). The Griffins will see the most games against the Rockford IceHogs (5) followed by the Milwaukee Admirals (4).

Sustained Excellence: The Griffins have lost just once in regulation in their last nine games since Feb. 7 (7-1-1-0). In those nine games, Grand Rapids averaged 3.67 goals per game while allowing 2.00 goals. The Griffins have continued their league-record start with a 41-8-3-1 ledger and 86 points through 53 games, surpassing the 1992-93 Binghamton Rangers (38-6-6, 82 pts.) for the best start through 50 games in the AHL's 90-year history. The team saw its franchise-record tying 15-game win streak from Nov. 22-Dec. 27 come to an end in overtime on Dec. 31, which also tied for the sixth-longest run in AHL history. In addition, the Griffins' 19-game point streak from Nov. 22-Jan. 7 (18-0-1-0) ended on Jan. 9, which tied for the longest run in franchise history. The Griffins are 19-2-1-1 on the road and 22-6-2-0 at home. The 17-game points streak on the road from Oct. 10-Jan. 23 (15-0-1-1) set a new AHL record, eclipsing the 2010-11 Milwaukee Admirals' 16-game run (10-0-4-2). Grand Rapids ranks first in the AHL in points (86) and has a 21-point cushion over Chicago for first place in the Central Division, and is 42 points up on a playoff spot.

Be Like Mike: Rookie forward Michael Brandsegg-Nygard was named the AHL Player of the Week for the period ending March 1 when he tallied five goals, six points (5-1-6), 17 shots and a plus-three rating in three games. Brandsegg-Nygard was the fourth Griffin to win the award this season, tying for the most in franchise history (2005-06: Jiri Hudler, Valtteri Filppula, Clay Wilson, Jimmy Howard). He also has seven goals in his last six contests and 10 points (7-3-10) in his previous nine outings since Feb. 7. From Jan. 3-Feb. 6, the former first-round selection (15th in 2024) had just three points (0-3-3) in 14 contests, and, prior to Feb. 18, his last goal was on Jan. 2 (17-game drought). The Oslo, Norway, native, has 34 points (15-19-34), 28 penalty minutes and a plus-21 rating in 48 games with the Griffins. Brandsegg-Nygard ranks among the AHL rookie leaders in goals (T5th), assists (T8th), points (5th), plus-minus rating (T3rd) and game-winners (6, 1st). He was one of three rookies to make the Detroit Red Wings' opening-night roster out of training camp and showed one assist in nine games before being assigned to the Griffins on Oct. 27.

The Lombardi Trophy: Amadeus Lombardi is on a five-game point streak (5-5-10) and has four multi-point outings in his last five games. Last weekend against Iowa, he logged four points (2-2-4) and 10 shots. Lombardi also posted five points (3-2-5) in two games from Feb. 20-21, which included an overtime-winner in both contests. He became just the third player in Griffins history to score an overtime goal in consecutive games, joining Turner Elson and Filip Hronek. Lombardi's three OT goals this campaign tie the Griffins' single-season record, and his four-career OT-winners are tied for fourth in franchise history. He has 17 points (8-9-17) in his last 13 outings. The third-year pro was sidelined for 20 straight games from Nov. 22-Jan. 9 due to rehabbing an injury. Since his return on Jan. 13, Lombardi has 19 points (8-11-19) in 20 games. Last season, the Aurora, Ontario, native, logged a career-high 40 points (19-21-40) in 44 games with the Griffins. With Grand Rapids since the spring of 2023, Lombardi has 100 points (35-65-100) in 149 outings, becoming the 22nd fastest player in franchise history to reach the century mark. He was the 113th overall pick by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.

Record Setters: Below is a list of team and league records that the Griffins have either set or tied this season.

- Best record in AHL history through 25 games (23-1-0-1, 47 pts.), 30 games (27-1-1-1, 56 pts.), 40 games (32-5-2-1, 67 pts.) and 50 games (40-7-2-1, 83 pts.), while tying for the best start through 35 games (29-3-2-1, 61 pts.)

- Tied second-best record in AHL history through 45 games (35-7-2-1, 73 pts.)

- Reached the 60-point mark in just 32 games, three games faster than any team in AHL history

- AHL record 17-game road points streak from Oct. 10-Jan. 23 (15-0-1-1)

- Tied franchise-record 15-game winning streak from Nov. 22-Dec. 27, which also tied for sixth-longest in AHL history

- Tied franchise-record 19-game points streak from Nov. 22-Jan. 7 (18-0-1-0)

- Franchise-record start with an 8-0 record and was the league's last undefeated team for first time since 2000-01 IHL season

- Started 6-0 at home for first time since 2009-10 (8-0)

- Franchise record for largest margin of victory (9) on Nov. 25 at Texas (10-1 W)

- Franchise record for fewest shots in a game (10) on Jan. 17 versus Milwaukee

Untouchables: Below are statistical categories in which the Griffins are undefeated in regulation.

- 30-0 when scoring the game's first goal

- 19-0 when leading after the first period

- 29-0 when leading after the second period

- 8-0 in games decided by four or more goals

- 16-0 when allowing one goal or less

- 34-0-1-1 when scoring at least three goals

- 6-0-1-0 when scoring a shorthanded goal

- 1-0-1-1 when allowing a shorthanded goal

- 1-0 when recording 10-19 shots

- 3-0 when allowing 10-19 shots

February Recap: The Griffins finished February with an 8-2-1-0 record and outscored their opponents 38-23. The team also clinched a playoff berth on Feb. 27, which marked the earliest clinching date in franchise history (previously March 6) and the earliest for an AHL team since 1993, when the Binghamton Rangers clinched on Feb. 24 with 24 games remaining. Grand Rapids was led by third-year pro Amadeus Lombardi (6-7-13 in 11 GP) followed by rookie Michael Brandsegg-Nygard (7-3-10 in 11 GP). In net, Sebastian Cossa logged a 6-0-1 record with one shutout, a 1.97 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage, while Michal Postava showed a 2-2-0 ledger with a 2.25 GAA and a .924 save percentage.

AHL Leaderboard Tracker:

Michael Brandsegg-Nygard-Tied for third in game-winners (6), tied for fifth among rookies in goals (15), tied for eighth among rookies in assists (19), fifth among rookies in points (34), tied for third among rookies in plus-minus (+21), tied for seventh among rookies in power-play goals (5), second among rookies in shots (117), first among rookies in game-winners (6)

Sebastian Cossa-Second in GAA (1.99), second in save percentage (.927), tied for first in shutouts (5), tied for first in wins (24), tied for eighth in games played (31), seventh in minutes played (1841:22)

Sheldon Dries-Tied for 13th in power-play goals (7)

x Erik Gustafsson-Tied for 13th among defensemen in plus-minus (+18), tied for 12th among defensemen in power-play goals (2)

Justin Holl-Tied for 11th among defensemen in plus-minus (+19)

Alex Kannok Leipert-Tied for sixth in shorthanded assists (2), tied for third among defensemen in shorthanded assists (2)

William Lagesson-Tied for third in plus-minus (+27), tied for second among defensemen in plus-minus (+27)

John Leonard-Tied for third in goals (26), tied for third in shorthanded goals (3), first in game-winners (8)

Amadeus Lombardi-Tied for fifth in game-winners (5)

Ian Mitchell-Tied for 12th in plus-minus (+24), tied for fourth among defensemen in plus-minus (+24)

x Dominik Shine-Tied for 15th in goals (21), tied for ninth in plus-minus (+25)

Antti Tuomisto-Tied for 12th among defensemen in plus-minus (+19)

Austin Watson-Seventh in penalty minutes (123)

Check out the Grand Rapids Griffins Statistics

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Images from this story

Grand Rapids Griffins vs. the Cleveland Monsters
Grand Rapids Griffins vs. the Cleveland Monsters
(Nicolas Carrillo)		   



American Hockey League Stories from March 3, 2026


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