Griffins Top Milwaukee 4-2 in Historic Clash to Extend Point Streak to 15 Games

February 25, 2024 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- The Grand Rapids Griffins' historical matchup against the Milwaukee Admirals on Sunday saw them come out victorious with a 4-2 win at Van Andel Arena, which extended the Griffins' point streak to 15 outings (11-0-2-2) while it snapped the Admirals' 19-game win streak. The contest was the first meeting in AHL history that had two teams with point streaks of at least 14 games.

Grand Rapids' last 15-game stretch came during 15 straight wins from Nov. 18-Dec. 26, 2015, while Milwaukee's win streak finished as the second-longest run in AHL history. The Griffins home point streak sits at 10 games (7-0-2-1), which is the longest streak since a streak of 15 points on home ice from Nov. 11, 2015-Jan. 17, 2016. Jonatan Berggren put two assists on the scoresheet in the win, which put the Enkoping, Sweden native at 23 points (10-13--23) in his last 20 contests. Sebastian Cossa extended his point streak to eight games (6-0-2) with a .945 save percentage (37-of-39) tonight, which totaled out to a .970 save percentage (65-of-67) through two contests this week after earning his first AHL shutout on Wednesday.

Cross Hanas started the scoring against Milwaukee when he wired a rebound past Yaroslav Askarov and into the back of the net from the left faceoff dot at 5:38 in the opening frame.

The Griffins opened the second period with another goal, as Carter Mazur doubled Grand Rapids' lead with a snipe from the top of the right circle that beat Askarov up high with 17:41 remaining in the stanza.

In the late stages of the middle frame, two hasty goals from the Griffins put them out in front 4-0 over the Admirals, a feat that Milwaukee had not seen during its 19-game win streak. Marco Kasper struck for a third Grand Rapids tally from the right faceoff dot with a bullet on the power play at 14:09. In the same minute as Kasper's goal, Zach Aston-Reese put the puck behind Askarov with a left-circle shot to extend the Griffins' scoring run to four-straight tallies with 5:29 remaining in the period.

Milwaukee came to life with two quick goals of their own at the end of the second. Liam Foudy received a stretch pass and rushed into the Griffins' zone on a breakaway, which resulted in him burying the Admirals' first goal past Cossa from the doorstep at 16:19. Cody Hodgson then followed up for a second tally while in the crease to cut Grand Rapids' lead in half with 3:26 remaining in the period. In the span of 2:25, the Griffins and Milwaukee combined for four goals and exited the second frame with a score of 4-2 in favor of Grand Rapids.

In the final frame, the Griffins were sent to the penalty box five times. However, Grand Rapids' penalty kill neutralized Milwaukee's five power plays. The Admirals went on a 6-on-4 power play at 18:35. Despite the man-advantage, Milwaukee did not register any shots on Cossa, which allowed the Griffins to hang on and top the Admirals 4-2.

Notes

- Matt Luff skated in his 200th AHL game.

- Since their streak began, the Admirals had only trailed at five intermissions (out of 39), three of which were while they played the Griffins.

- The crowd of 9,038 for the Griffins' annual Jake Engel Memorial Dog Game included 218 canines.

Box Score

Milwaukee 0 2 0 - 2

Grand Rapids 1 3 0 - 4

1st Period-1, Grand Rapids, Hanas 5 (Didier, L'Esperance), 5:38. Penalties-No Penalties

2nd Period-2, Grand Rapids, Mazur 12 (Berggren, Viro), 2:19. 3, Grand Rapids, Kasper 8 (Gettinger, Berggren), 14:09 (PP). 4, Grand Rapids, Aston-Reese 8 (Shine, Lombardi), 14:31. 5, Milwaukee, Foudy 8 (Gravel, McKeown), 16:19. 6, Milwaukee, Hodgson 3 (Tomasino, Gicewicz), 16:34. Penalties-Livingstone Mil (interference), 4:50; L'Heureux Mil (slashing), 8:10; L'Heureux Mil (slashing), 12:40; Johansson Gr (hooking), 17:44.

3rd Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Tuomisto Gr (holding), 2:45; Berggren Gr (interference), 8:36; Mazur Gr (roughing), 11:12; Edvinsson Gr (kneeing), 18:35.

Shots on Goal-Milwaukee 13-12-14-39. Grand Rapids 11-8-5-24.

Power Play Opportunities-Milwaukee 0 / 5; Grand Rapids 1 / 3.

Goalies-Milwaukee, Askarov 21-7-1 (24 shots-20 saves). Grand Rapids, Cossa 12-7-5 (39 shots-37 saves).

A-9,038

Three Stars

1. GR Cossa (W, 37 saves); 2. GR Kasper (game-winner); 3. GR Aston-Reese (goal)

Record / Next Game

Grand Rapids: 25-15-5-3 (57 pts.) / Wed., Feb. 25 vs. Iowa 7 p.m.

Milwaukee: 36-11-1-0 (73 pts.) / Fri., March 1 vs. Rockford 7 p.m. CST

Grand Rapids Griffins' Sebastian Cossa and Carter Mazur celebrate win (Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins)

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