Griffins Begin Season-High Five-Game Homestand
January 7, 2025 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release
Grand Rapids Griffins battle the Manitoba Moose
(Grand Rapids Griffins, Credit: Nicolas Carrillo)
This Week's Games
GRIFFINS vs. Manitoba Moose // Fri., Jan. 10 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
GRIFFINS vs. Manitoba Moose // Sat., Jan. 11 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
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Watch: AHLTV on FloHockey
Season Series: 2-0-0-0 Overall, 2-0-0-0 Home. Third and fourth of eight meetings overall, third and fourth of four at Van Andel Arena
All-Time Series: 77-44-1-1-10 Overall, 42-19-1-1-7 Home
NHL Affiliation: Winnipeg Jets
Noteworthy: The Moose rank second-to-last in the AHL with 2.24 goals scored per game and third-to-last with 3.79 goals against per game. With an 8-19-1-1 record and 18 points entering the week, Manitoba ranks last in the Central Division and tied for last in the AHL.
Top Dawg: Since returning from the holiday break, the Griffins are 3-1-0-0 with a plus-eight scoring margin and have averaged just one goal against in each contest. On Jan. 2, the Griffins claimed a 1-0 shootout victory over Cleveland behind 31 saves by Ville Husso. This marked the Griffins' second 1-0 shootout victory on the road in franchise history and the first in more than a quarter-century (April 18, 1999). Grand Rapids remains in first place in the Central Division, second in the Western Conference, and fifth in the AHL with a 20-10-3-0 record and 43 points through 33 games. Grand Rapids has fared well against its division rivals with a 12-8-2-0 mark and has remained the top team in the division since Nov. 8.
Home Sweet Home: Last Saturday, the Griffins finished a stretch of games that saw them play nine of 12 contests on the road from Dec. 7-Jan. 4 and showed a 6-4-2-0 record. Grand Rapids now enters a season-high five-game homestand and will play eight of its next 10 games inside Van Andel Arena. The Griffins are 9-4-1-0 at home this season but have won just one of their last four home outings (1-2-1-0). Under head coach Dan Watson, Grand Rapids is 32-11-5-2 (.710) inside Van Andel Arena with an average of 2.28 goals against per game and 3.06 goals scored per outing.
Shine Bright: Veteran Dominik Shine is tied for first on the roster in points (10-15-25) and third in assists (15) and goals (10) in 33 games. Shine collected his sixth multi-point game 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 six points (4-2-6) in his last eight contests. Last year, Shine posted career-high numbers in assists (23), points (33) and plus-minus rating (+8) and is on pace to reach 55 points (22-33-55) this season. The Detroit native has spent his entire career with Grand Rapids since 2016-17 and has accumulated 163 points (71-92-163) and 511 penalty minutes in 455 appearances. In the Griffins' all-time rankings, Shine places third in games played, sixth in penalty minutes, tied for 10th in overtime goals (2), and tied for first in unassisted goals (10).
Rollercoaster Ride: The Griffins ranked 29th in the AHL through the first 10 games with 2.20 goals per contest before showing 4.10 goals per game from Nov. 7-Dec. 1 and going 8-2-0-0 during the run. The Griffins then averaged just 2.33 goals per game from Dec. 6-22 and went 3-4-2-0 in those contests. Grand Rapids has now potted 12 goals across four games since Dec. 28 with a 3-1-0-0 record. The Griffins rank 21st on the circuit with 2.91 goals per outing, while ranking second in goals against per game (2.45). When scoring at least three goals this season, Grand Rapids is 16-0-0-0 compared to 4-10-3-0 when scoring fewer than three goals.
Austin Powers: Veteran Austin Watson enjoyed a team-high four-game point streak from Dec. 1-8 (2-2-4) and has secured a point in 11 of the past 16 games (7-7-14). Watson is tied for first on the roster with 25 points (9-16-25) in 31 games and tied for the team lead in assists (16) and power-play goals (4). The Ann Arbor, Michigan, native has spent the majority of his career in the NHL, showing 118 points (60-58-118) in 518 appearances. At the AHL level, Watson possesses 157 points (82-75-157) in 265 outings, as he had spent his entire AHL career with Milwaukee before this season.
Lock it Down: Despite allowing 2.92 goals per game in the month of December, the Griffins remain one of the top defensive teams in the AHL, as they place second with 2.45 goals against per game and have allowed on average just one goal in their past four games. Dating back to last season, Grand Rapids has allowed just 37 goals in its last 17 regular-season games at Van Andel Arena (2.18 GA per game). Also dating back to last season, the Griffins have allowed 54 goals in their last 21 regular-season road games (2.57 GA per game).
Battle for Power: The Griffins have converted on three of their last 13 power-play opportunities (23.1%) during their last five games. Grand Rapids had its best run when it scored a power-play goal in five straight games from Nov. 24-Dec. 6 (5-for-15, 33.3%). The power play is tied for 13th on the circuit at 17.5% (20-for-114). If you break it down further, Grand Rapids' home power play is 8-for-41 (19.5%, 15th) and its road power play is 12-for-73 (16.4%, T18th). The Griffins have also given up five short-handed goals, which is tied for the sixth-most. The Griffins' penalty kill has gone 16-for-19 (84.2%) in their last five games and, overall, ranks fourth in the AHL at 86.7%. Grand Rapids scored its fifth short-handed tally last Saturday at Milwaukee, which is tied for fourth on the circuit. Grand Rapids has surrendered a power-play goal in eight of its last 13 outings (39-for-48 on PK, 81.3%). When scoring on the power play, the Griffins are 11-4-2-0 and 5-7-1-0 when they allow a power-play goal.
AHL Leaderboard Tracker:
Shai Buium-Tied for 10th among rookie defensemen in assists (10), tied for sixth among rookie defensemen in plus-minus rating (+6)
Sebastian Cossa-Seventh in minutes played (1,120:42), tied for eighth in games played (19), 11th in GAA (2.30), tied for seventh in wins (10), and tied for ninth in save percentage (.918)
Nate Danielson-Tied for second in short-handed assists (2), tied for first among rookies in short-handed assists (2), tied for third among rookies in assists (16), tied for ninth among rookies in power-play assists (6)
Josiah Didier-Tied for 13th among defensemen in plus-minus rating (+11)
Alex Doucet-Tied for fourth in short-handed goals (2), tied for first among rookies in short-handed goals (2)
x William Lagesson-Tied for 10th in plus-minus rating (+13), tied for eighth among defensemen in plus-minus rating (+13)
Amadeus Lombardi-Tied for fourth in game-winners (4)
Austin Watson-First in major penalties (8)
Images from this story
 Grand Rapids Griffins battle the Manitoba Moose (Nicolas Carrillo) |
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