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AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Griffins Look to Improve Upon Best Start in Franchise History

October 29, 2024 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


Grand Rapids Griffins right wing Carter Mazur (right)
Grand Rapids Griffins right wing Carter Mazur (right)
(Grand Rapids Griffins, Credit: Cleveland Monsters)

This Week's Games

GRIFFINS at Hartford Wolf Pack // Wed., Oct. 30 // 7 p.m. // XL Center

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

Watch: AHLTV on FloHockey

Season Series: First of two meetings overall, first and only at the XL Center

All-Time Series: 1-3-0-0 Overall, 0-2-0-0 Away

NHL Affiliation: New York Rangers

Noteworthy: The Griffins will conclude their four-game road trip in Hartford in just the fifth all-time meeting against the Wolf Pack. The XL Center opened in 1975 as the Hartford Civic Center and served as the home of the NHL's Hartford Whalers from 1979 to 1997.

GRIFFINS vs. Rockford IceHogs // Fri., Nov. 1 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 7 p.m.

Watch: WXSP-TV at 7 p.m. and AHLTV on FloHockey

Season Series: 0-1-0-0 Overall, 0-0-0-0 Home. Second of 12 meetings overall, first of six at Van Andel Arena

All-Time Series: 67-48-11-11 Overall, 40-17-6-5 Home

NHL Affiliation: Chicago Blackhawks

Noteworthy: Entering the week, the IceHogs are the only team that has beaten the Griffins through the first seven games. Rockford took a 4-1 home win on Oct. 12, Grand Rapids' second game of the season.

GRIFFINS at Cleveland Monsters // Sun., Nov. 3 // 6:30 p.m. // Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:15 p.m.

Watch: AHLTV on FloHockey

Season Series: First of eight meetings overall, first of four at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

All-Time Series: 73-39-9-13 Overall, 31-21-5-10 Away

NHL Affiliation: Columbus Blue Jackets

Noteworthy: Last season, the Cleveland and Grand Rapids series was a tight affair, as five of the eight meetings were decided past regulation and both teams scored 25 goals.

Best Start Ever: The Griffins are off to their best start in franchise history with 12 points (6-1-0-0) through the first seven games, beating out their previous best of 11 points in 2008-09 (4-0-2-1) and in 2000-01 (5-1-1). Grand Rapids went undefeated while playing three games in three days last weekend, a feat it has accomplished only once before (April 5-7, 2002). The Griffins hadn't swept a 3-in-3 in any venues since Dec. 29-31, 2017. Grand Rapids is also 3-0-0-0 at home for the first time since 2009-10, when it won its first eight games at Van Andel Arena. The Griffins have won with defense, as they have allowed one goal or less in four of the seven contests but have scored an average of just 2.57 goals per game (T21st).

Let's Show Some Love to the Defense: The Griffins lead the AHL with just 1.57 goals allowed per game, as the 11 goals surrendered are the fewest in franchise history over the first seven games of a season. They allowed their previous low of 13 in 2004-05, and for comparison, ceded 22 goals in the opening seven games last year. Grand Rapids has allowed just one goal inside Van Andel Arena, which is the fewest over a three-game home stretch since it posted three straight shutouts from Dec. 30, 2006 to Jan. 10, 2007. The Griffins have surrendered one goal over a span of three home games for just the fifth time in team history and the first since Feb. 13-20, 2004. Dating back to last season, Grand Rapids has allowed just four goals in its last six regular-season games at Van Andel Arena.

Loaded Ammo: Second-year pro Amadeus Lombardi has found a rhythm offensively, as he has four points (2-2-4) in his last two games. The 21-year-old logged his first two-goal game as a pro on Oct. 19 against Manitoba and later registered a career-high three points (2-1-3) last Saturday at Lehigh Valley. Lombardi is tied for the team lead with six points (4-2-6) and his four goals are tied for 11th in the AHL. Last season, the Aurora, Ontario, native scored just five goals in 70 games and finished the campaign with 26 points (5-21-26).

Win by Committee: During this hot start for the Griffins, the team has used three different netminders to fuel the success. Sebastian Cossa leads the way with a 4-1-0 record with one shutout to go along with a 1.54 goals-against average and a .954 save percentage. Ville Husso has a 1-0-0 mark with one shutout in two games with a 0.70 GAA and a .970 save percentage. Rookie Carter Gylander made his AHL debut last Sunday and earned a 4-3 shootout victory, making 33 saves and stopping all three shootout attempts by Lehigh Valley. Combined, the trio has a 1.55 GAA and a .950 save percentage through seven outings.

Criss-Cross Applesauce: Third-year pro Cross Hanas is on an active three-game point streak (2-1-3) and has goals in back-to-back outings for the first time since Nov. 11-12, 2022. An injury-riddled first year limited the forward to just 17 points (9-8-17) in 30 games, and then the 22-year-old struggled in his second year last season with 16 points (8-8-16) in 58 appearances. Through seven outings this campaign, Hanas has three points (2-1-3), six penalty minutes and a plus-two rating. Hanas was selected with the 55th overall pick by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.

Austin Powers: Veteran Austin Watson is on a team-high three-game assist streak from Oct. 25-27. With six assists in the first seven games, the 32-year-old is tied for sixth in the AHL. Watson leads all veterans on the roster with 757 games played with 265 points (133-125-265). The former 18th overall pick in 2010 by Nashville has amassed 138 points (73-65-138) in 241 AHL contests and 118 points (60-58-118) in 516 NHL appearances.

Milestones:

Last Friday at Springfield, Nate Danielson scored his first professional goal, while Gabriel Seger collected his first AHL goal during his debut.

Tory Dello-One point from 50 as a pro and in the AHL

Jakub Rychlovsky-Two games from 300 as a professional

Dan Watson-Two games from 500 as a professional head coach

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Images from this story

Grand Rapids Griffins right wing Carter Mazur (right)
Grand Rapids Griffins right wing Carter Mazur (right)
(Cleveland Monsters)		   



American Hockey League Stories from October 29, 2024


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