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Grand Rapids Griffins

Griffins Conclude Regular Season with Three-Game Week

April 16, 2024 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


Grand Rapids Griffins up against the Iowa Wild
Grand Rapids Griffins up against the Iowa Wild
(Grand Rapids Griffins, Credit: Nicolas Carrillo)

This Week's Games

GRIFFINS (35-22-8-4) at Iowa Wild (25-37-4-3) // Wed., April 17 // 8 p.m. EDT // Wells Fargo Arena

GRIFFINS at Iowa Wild // Fri., April 19 // 8 p.m. EDT // Wells Fargo Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 7:45 p.m. EDT on Wednesday and 96.1 The Game at 7:45 p.m. EDT on Friday

Watch: AHLTV

Season Series: 6-0-0-0 overall, 2-0-0-0 road. Seventh and eighth of eight meetings overall, third and fourth of four at Wells Fargo Arena

All-Time Series: 49-23-5-3 Overall, 24-13-1-1 Road

NHL Affiliation: Minnesota Wild

Noteworthy: The Griffins will try to finish undefeated against the Wild for just the second time since Iowa entered the AHL in 2013-14. Grand Rapids was 4-0-0-0 against the Wild during the 2014-15 season.

GRIFFINS vs. Milwaukee Admirals (45-22-1-1) // Sun., April 21 // 5 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 4:45 p.m.

Watch: AHLTV

Season Series: 3-3-1-0 overall, 2-1-0-0 home. Eighth of eight meetings overall, fourth of four at Van Andel Arena

All-Time Series: 112-83-7-9-8 Overall, 60-39-2-3-3 Home

NHL Affiliation: Nashville Predators

Noteworthy: The Griffins will conclude the 2023-24 regular season with a home contest against the top-seeded Milwaukee Admirals.

Playoff Picture: As the regular season enters its final week, the Griffins have clinched a playoff berth and are in second place in the Central Division with a 35-22-8-4 record and 82 points with just three games remaining. They have secured a first-round bye and a berth in the Central Division Semifinals against the Rockford IceHogs. Home-ice advantage is still up for grabs, as the Griffins have a magic number of six over the IceHogs.

Need to Get Back on Track: The Griffins have won just one of their last four games and have points in four of their last eight contests (3-4-1-0). Grand Rapids suffered its worst defeat of the season on Sunday, a 7-2 loss at the Chicago Wolves. The Griffins have secured at least a point in 36 of their last 46 contests (27-10-6-3). The Griffins are 26-9-5-3 (.698) since Christmas and have had a trio of winning streaks of five or more games in the same season for the first time since 2013-14. The Griffins enjoyed a franchise-record 19-game home point streak (14-0-3-2) from Jan. 13-April 5, beating out the previous mark of 16 games that was established from Jan. 9-Feb. 27, 2004, that was the longest such streak in the AHL since the Providence Bruins went 18-0-3-2 over 23 games in 2015-16. The Griffins saw their overall 18-game point streak (13-0-3-2 from Jan. 13-March 2) come to an end on March 4 in Cleveland, which was one game shy of tying the franchise record of 19 contests (Feb. 4-March 20, 2015 15-0-3-1) and is the second-longest run in the AHL this season. Grand Rapids' nine-game road point streak (8-0-0-1) from Dec. 27-Feb. 17 was their longest since an 11-game run (9-0-1-1) from Jan. 29-March 12, 2015 and is tied for the second longest in the AHL this season. Grand Rapids has points in 25 of its last 30 games (20-5-3-2) inside Van Andel Arena and has points in 15 of its past 22 road appearances (11-7-3-1). The Griffins have been stellar at home with a 22-7-4-2 mark, outscoring their opponents 109-79. Grand Rapids has battled on the road this season, earning points in 14 of its last 20 games to move to 13-15-4-2 away from home.

The Champs are Here: The Griffins' roster is comprised of numerous coaches and players who have either reached a playoff final or won a title for their respective pro, college, junior or national team(s). Most recently, Steph Julien claimed the 2023 World Junior Championship as an assistant coach for Team Canada, and Brogan Rafferty reached the 2023 Calder Cup Finals with Coachella Valley.

Showing Out in the Show: Gustav Nyquist and Dylan Larkin each recorded his 500th NHL point last week, joining a very distinguished group of Griffins alumni to reach that milestone. Nyquist (784 GP, 198-305-503) accomplished the feat on Tuesday, April 9 with an assist in Nashville's 4-3 overtime loss to Winnipeg, while Larkin (651 GP, 212-293-505) joined the club on Thursday, April 11 with his first point - an assist on Lucas Raymond's second goal of the opening period - of a three-point night in Detroit's 6-5 overtime loss at Pittsburgh. Larkin and Nyquist now rank eighth and ninth, respectively, in NHL points among all players to ever wear a Griffins uniform, and third and fourth among Griffins who made their NHL debuts after playing for Grand Rapids.

Sea Bass Fishing: Sebastian Cossa enjoyed a franchise-record 19-game point streak from Jan. 19-April 5 (13-0-6), beating Marc Lamothe's previous record of 15-games (9-0-4-2 (W-L-T-OTL)) set from Oct. 19-Nov. 30, 2002. Cossa's 13-game home point streak (9-0-4, Jan. 24-April 5) tied the franchise record, which is also held by Jared Coreau (2015-16), Daniel Larsson (2008-09) and Mike Fountain (bridging the 1999-00 and 2000-01 seasons). Cossa is also on a nine-game road point streak (7-0-2) from Dec. 27-April 13), which is one shy of tying the record of 10 held by Jimmy Howard (2005-06). Since returning from the holiday break on Dec. 27, Cossa has a 16-2-6 ledger with a 2.01 goals against average and a .923 save percentage. Prior to the holiday break, Cossa possessed a 4-6-3 record with a 3.18 goals against average and a .897 save percentage. The former 15th overall pick by the Red Wings in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft has allowed more than two goals just seven times in his past 24 games. Through 37 contests, Cossa is 20-8-9 with two shutouts to go along with a 2.42 goals against average and a .913 save percentage. Cossa is tied for fourth among rookie goaltenders in both goals against average and save percentage.

Johnny Bravo: Jonatan Berggren logged his first AHL hat trick on April 3 during a four-point night (3-1-4) against the Chicago Wolves. Berggren enjoyed a team-best nine-game point streak (8-7-15) from Feb. 24-April 5 and has 30 points (16-14-30) in his last 26 games from Jan. 13-April 14. Berggren also has 36 points (17-19-36) in his last 31 outings and 39 points (19-20-39) in his last 34 contests from Dec. 15- April 14. Berggren's 1.08 points per game rank fifth among skaters who have played at least 30 games. The 23-year-old leads the roster in points (24-30-54), assists (30) and goals (24) through 50 appearances this season. The Enkoping, Sweden, product became the seventh-fastest player to reach 100 points as a Griffin, doing so in just his 106th game on Jan. 26 against Belleville. Berggren has a combined 125 points (49-76-125) in 127 career AHL appearances from 2021-24, collecting an assist during his 100th game as a Griffin on Jan. 10 against Milwaukee. During his rookie season with the Griffins in 2021-22, Berggren broke Grand Rapids' rookie single-season scoring record with 64 points (21-43-64) in 70 games, five more points than the previous record held by Teemu Pulkkinen (2013-14).

Records are Meant to be Broken: Showing a 13-0-6 mark from Jan. 19-April 5, Sebastian Cossa set a franchise record for the longest point streak by a goaltender at 19 outings, beating Marc Lamothe's previous record of 15 games (9-0-4-2 (W-L-T-OTL)) set from Oct. 19-Nov. 30, 2002. Cossa's 13-game point streak at home (9-0-4, Jan. 24-April 5) also tied a franchise record. On Nov. 10 in his 365th game as a Griffin, Dominik Shine passed Mitch Callahan for third on the team's all-time games played list. Taro Hirose took sole possession of sixth place on the team's all-time points list (197) on March 27 and is now four points from overtaking Derek King (203, 1999-01; 2002-04) for fifth place. Grand Rapids set a franchise record with a point in 19 straight home games, breaking a 16-game record that was established more than 20 years ago, from Jan. 9-Feb. 27, 2004. The home point run is the second franchise-record streak that the Griffins have tied in the last three months, piggybacking their seven-game road winning streak from Dec. 27, 2023-Feb. 2, 2024. The Griffins also rattled off an 18-game point streak from Jan. 13-March 2 (13-0-3-2), which was one game shy of tying the franchise record of 19 contests (Feb. 4-March 20, 2015 15-0-3-1). Finally, the Griffins have had a trio of winning streaks of five or more games in the same season for the first time since 2013-14.

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Images from this story

Grand Rapids Griffins up against the Iowa Wild
Grand Rapids Griffins up against the Iowa Wild
(Nicolas Carrillo)		   

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