Griffins Downed by Milwaukee
Published on March 21, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release
Grand Rapids Griffins' Amadeus Lombardi and Milwaukee Admirals' Kevin Gravel in action
(Grand Rapids Griffins, Credit: Milwaukee Admirals/Brianna Nevins)
MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee Admirals' four-goal third period powered them to a 5-2 victory over the Grand Rapids Griffins on Saturday at Panther Arena.
Grand Rapids went 5-for-6 on its league-leading penalty kill and 1-for-3 on the power play, while scoring a shorthanded goal in its second-straight outing. Carter Mazur and John Leoanrd each tallied a goal and an assist, and Amadeus Lombardi (6-6-12) bagged a helper for his 12th point in eight contests. Sebastian Cossa recorded 30 saves to sit at 24-7-3.
On a shorthanded breakaway at 5:13 in the first period, David Edstrom tried to push the puck past Cossa on the doorstep, but he made a sprawling pad save to keep the Admirals off the board. The best opportunity for the Griffins came with 7:35 to play when Michael Milne picked one up in the right circle and popped it at Magnus Chrona, but it bounced off the netminder's shoulder.
The Admirals opened scoring 3:05 into the second frame when Jordan Oesterle ripped a sharp-angle shot from the goal line into the top-right corner. While shorthanded, Leonard tapped one at Chrona, it ricocheted off his pads and landed on Mazur's stick, and he punched it home in the paint at 5:29 to tie the contest.
Grand Rapids claimed a one-goal advantage just 36 seconds into the final slate. Lombardi fed it down low to Mazur on the goal line, and he centered it to Leonard on the doorstep, who pushed it home. Kevin Gravel ripped it from the top of the blue line at 3:11 and it bounced past Cossa, and 2:40 later Oesterle snapped one from the blue line on the power play to grab a 3-2 lead. With 11:17 to go, Massimo Rizzo walked into the right circle and launched one in to make it 4-2. The Griffins added an extra attacker in place of Cossa with 2:34 to go, but with two seconds left Cole O'Hara notched an empty-netter to defeat the Griffins 5-2.
Notes *The Griffins moved to 44-12-3-1 with 92 points through 60 games, and 21-5-1-1 on the road.
Game Center
Grand Rapids 0 1 1 - 2
Milwaukee 0 1 4 - 5
1st Period- No Scoring. Penalties-Marino Mil (high-sticking), 4:48; Angle Gr (tripping), 5:31; served by Dufour Gr (too many men - bench minor), 9:33.
2nd Period-1, Milwaukee, Oesterle 9 (Bancroft), 3:05. 2, Grand Rapids, Mazur 8 (Leonard), 5:29 (SH). Penalties-Tuomisto Gr (hooking), 3:38; Leonard Gr (slashing), 10:33; Lind Mil (high-sticking), 19:22.
3rd Period-3, Grand Rapids, Leonard 29 (Mazur, Lombardi), 0:46 (PP). 4, Milwaukee, Gravel 2 (O'Hara), 3:11. 5, Milwaukee, Oesterle 10 (Wiesblatt, Edstrom), 5:51 (PP). 6, Milwaukee, Rizzo 1 (Bancroft, Gravel), 8:43. 7, Milwaukee, O'Hara 16 (Gravel), 19:58 (EN). Penalties-Tralmaks Gr (elbowing), 4:41; Rychlovský Gr (tripping), 15:18; Marino Mil (slashing), 17:12.
Shots on Goal-Grand Rapids 7-8-9-24. Milwaukee 7-17-11-35.
Power Play Opportunities-Grand Rapids 1 / 3; Milwaukee 1 / 6.
Goalies-Grand Rapids, Cossa 24-7-3 (34 shots-30 saves). Milwaukee, Chrona 8-9-3 (24 shots-22 saves).
A-7,094
Three Stars
1. MIL Oesterle (two goals) 2. MIL Gravel (goal, assist) 3. GR Leonard (power-play goal, assist)
Record/Next Game
Grand Rapids: 44-12-3-1 (92 pts.) / Sun., March 22 at Rockford 5 p.m. EDT
Milwaukee: 26-26-4-3 (59 pts.) / Tue., March 24 at Grand Rapids 7 p.m. EDT
Images from this story
 Grand Rapids Griffins' Amadeus Lombardi and Milwaukee Admirals' Kevin Gravel in action (Milwaukee Admirals/Brianna Nevins) |
American Hockey League Stories from March 21, 2026
- Pickard Turns Away 22 Shots in 1-0 Shutout Win - Bakersfield Condors
- Barracuda Cool Canucks, 4-1 - San Jose Barracuda
- Stars Win Fourth Straight and Cool off Silver Knights - Texas Stars
- Canucks Fall, 4-1, to the Barracuda - Abbotsford Canucks
- Four-Goal First Period Leads Firebirds to Victory over Eagles - Coachella Valley Firebirds
- Griffins Downed by Milwaukee - Grand Rapids Griffins
- "Pot of Gold Night" Raises $130,000 for Jimenez Family, Eagles Fall, 5-2 - Colorado Eagles
- Wolves Stymied by IceHogs, 4-2 - Chicago Wolves
- Oesterle Nets Two in Ads' Win - Milwaukee Admirals
- Syracuse Crunch Defeat Cleveland Monsters, 6-2 - Syracuse Crunch
- Senators Drop 5-3 Game After Early Deficit to Thunderbirds - Belleville Senators
- Reign Shrug off Early Deficit in 3-1 Victory - Ontario Reign
- Monsters Come up Short against Crunch in 6-2 Loss - Cleveland Monsters
- Tufte, P-Bruins Power Past Comets - Providence Bruins
- Comets Fall 5-2 in Feisty Affair in Providence - Utica Comets
- Ontario Rallies to Beat Iowa 3-1 - Iowa Wild
- Shorthanded Unit Steals Show in 5-3 Win in Belleville - Springfield Thunderbirds
- Wolf Pack Doubled up by Marlies 6-3 - Hartford Wolf Pack
- Checked in Charlotte - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Checkers Flatten Phantoms 5-1 to Snap Skid - Charlotte Checkers
- Roadrunners Strike Twice Late, Edge Moose 4-3 - Tucson Roadrunners
- Bears Get Point in 4-3 Shootout Loss to Islanders - Hershey Bears
- Ads Ink McCormick to ATO - Milwaukee Admirals
- Ontario Reign Sign Defenseman Michael Mastrodomenico to ATO - Ontario Reign
- Reign Preview - Ontario at Iowa - Ontario Reign
- Wranglers Fall 8-3 to Silver Knights - Calgary Wranglers
- Wranglers Enter Clash with Bakersfield - Calgary Wranglers
- Preview: Phantoms at Charlotte, Game 61 - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Preview: Condors vs. Wranglers, 7 p.m. - Bakersfield Condors
- Moose Loan Ben Zloty to Norfolk - Manitoba Moose
- Game Preview: Bears at Islanders, 3 p.m. - Hershey Bears
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
