AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Griffins Continue Playoff Push with Three Games this Week

March 12, 2024 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


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

This Week's Games

GRIFFINS (27-17-6-4) at Cleveland Monsters (33-18-3-3) // Tue., March 12 // 7 p.m. // Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

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

Watch: AHLTV

Season Series: 1-1-2-2 overall, 0-1-0-2 road. Seventh of eight meetings overall, fourth of four at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

All-Time Series: 72-39-8-13 Overall, 31-21-4-10 Road

NHL Affiliation: Columbus Blue Jackets

Noteworthy: The Griffins have collected just one win against Cleveland, the fewest versus any opponent this season. Four of the six meetings so far have been decided past regulation.

GRIFFINS vs. Iowa Wild (20-31-3-2) // Fri., March 15 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

GRIFFINS vs. Iowa Wild // Sat., March 16 // 8 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 7 p.m. on Friday and 7:45 p.m. on Saturday

Watch: WXSP-TV and AHLTV on Friday, AHLTV on Saturday

Season Series: 4-0-0-0 overall, 2-0-0-0 home. Fifth and sixth of eight meetings overall, third and fourth of four at Van Andel Arena

All-Time Series: 47-23-5-3 Overall, 23-10-4-2 Home

NHL Affiliation: Minnesota Wild

Noteworthy: The Griffins are undefeated against the Iowa Wild this season and have outscored them 15-7 through four meetings.

Let's Not Get Too Down on Ourselves: The Griffins saw their 18-game point streak (13-0-3-2 from Jan. 13-March 2) come to an end last Monday 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. After the weekend's games, the Griffins have now dropped four straight (0-2-1-1), one shy of tying the season-high losing skid of five from Oct. 20-Nov. 1. The Griffins' active 14-game home point streak (9-0-3-2) is the second-longest run in the AHL this season and the team's first since it earned a point in 15 straight games at Van Andel Arena from Nov. 11, 2015-Jan. 17, 2016 (14-0-1-0). 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. The Griffins have secured at least a point in 26 of their last 31 contests (19-5-4-3). The Griffins are 18-4-3-3 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. Grand Rapids has points in 20 of its last 23 games (15-4-3-2) inside Van Andel Arena and has points in 10 of its past 13 road appearances (8-3-1-1). The Griffins have been solid at home with a 17-6-4-2 mark, outscoring their opponents 89-69. Grand Rapids has battled on the road this season, earning points in nine of its last 11 games to move to one game below the .500 mark away from home (10-11-2-2).

New Kid on the Block: Last Friday at the NHL Trade Deadline, the Detroit Red Wings acquired defenseman Radim Simek and a seventh-round pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for left wing Klim Kostin. Simek was then assigned to the Griffins later that afternoon. Simek, who was the captain of the AHL's San Jose Barracuda, has 16 points (4-12-16), 29 penalty minutes and a plus-four rating in 40 games this season. The 6-foot, 200-pound defenseman has spent just three campaigns in the AHL with the Barracuda (2017-18, 2019-20, 2023-24), amassing 45 points (11-34-45), 49 penalty minutes and a plus-12 rating in 109 contests. Simek has spent five campaigns in the NHL with San Jose from 2018-23 and has suited up for 209 contests with 29 points (7-22-29) and 74 penalty minutes.

No Need for Extra Bodies: Last season, the Griffins used a franchise-record 49 players, which included a franchise-record eight goaltenders. The 49 players last campaign beat out the previous record of 48 set during the 2021-22 season. However, it has been much different this season, as the Griffins have not had a single skater compete on a professional tryout. Grand Rapids has used just four goaltenders this season, with two of them suiting up for just one game (John Lethemon & Ville Husso). The team has also used just 28 skaters throughout the season, a drastic change from the 49 and 48 players used in the past two seasons, respectively.

Matty Ice: On Feb. 21, Matt Luff made his season debut after rehabbing an injury suffered in training camp that kept him sidelined for the first 45 games of the season. After being held scoreless in his first five outings, Luff went on to record a point in three straight games from March 2-8 and now has four points (2-2-4) in his last four contests. Last season, the 26-year-old posted 25 points (8-17-25) and six penalty minutes in 28 games with the Griffins on top of producing four points (2-2-4) in 19 outings with the Detroit Red Wings. The Windsor, Ontario, native has 149 points (59-90-149) in 206 career AHL outings from 2016-24.

Young Guns: Rookie forwards Marco Kasper and Carter Mazur have had promising starts to their professional careers. Mazur has eight points in his last six games (4-4-8) and ranks second on the team with 31 points (15-16-31) in 47 contests. The Jackson, Michigan, native's 15 goals are tied for eighth among first-year players in the AHL and his six power-play goals are tied for sixth. Mazur enjoyed a three-game goal streak from Feb. 28-March 2 and now has 13 points (5-8-13) in his last 16 games from Jan. 26-March 9. Mazur was taken with the 70th overall pick by Detroit in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft and competed for Team USA at the 2023 World Championship this past summer. Kasper, who was named the AHL Player of the Week on Jan. 22, has three goals and four points in his last six outings and is tied for fourth on the roster with 26 points (10-16-26) in 53 outings. Since Jan. 19, the 19-year-old has 12 points (7-5-12) in 19 appearances. Kasper was selected with the eighth overall pick by Detroit in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft and made his NHL debut as an 18-year-old last season.

Crunch Time: The Griffins have excelled during the third period of games this season, as they have outscored their opponents 67-47 in the final frame and outshot their opponents 513-481. Grand Rapids has six wins when trailing after the second period, which is tied for second in the AHL. The Griffins also have a 34-18 shot advantage in overtime this campaign. However, Grand Rapids is just 5-10 in games decided past regulation (3-6 in OT, 2-4 in SO).

Sea Bass Fishing: Sebastian Cossa was named the Howies Hockey Tape/AHL Player of the Week on Feb. 26 when he posted a 2-0-0 record with one shutout to go along with a 1.00 GAA and a .970 save percentage from Feb. 21-25. On Feb. 21, the 21-year-old collected his first AHL shutout with 28 saves in a 1-0 victory over the Texas Stars, lifting Grand Rapids past Texas into second place in the Central Division and becoming just the third Griffins rookie to record a shutout over the last nine seasons. Cossa went on to stop 37 shots on Feb. 25, including 14 in the third period, to help the Griffins snap Milwaukee's 19-game winning streak and extend Grand Rapids' point streak to 15 games (11-0-2-2). Cossa won a team-high four straight games from Jan. 19-Feb. 2 and is currently on an 11-game point streak (7-0-4) from Jan. 19-March 8. Since returning from the holiday break on Dec. 27, Cossa has a 9-1-4 ledger with a 2.04 goals against average and a .924 save percentage. The former 15th overall pick by the Red Wings in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft has allowed more than two goals just four times in his past 14 games. Through 27 contests, Cossa is 13-7-6 with one shutout to go along with a 2.59 goals against average and a .910 save percentage. Cossa ranks seventh among rookie goaltenders in goals against average and sixth in save percentage.

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Images from this story

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



American Hockey League Stories from March 12, 2024


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