Record-Setting Griffins Close out January
AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Record-Setting Griffins Close out January

Published on January 27, 2026 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


Grand Rapids Griffins right wing Austin Watson (back) vs. the Chicago Wolves
Grand Rapids Griffins right wing Austin Watson (back) vs. the Chicago Wolves
(Grand Rapids Griffins, Credit: Nicolas Carrillo)

This Week's Games

GRIFFINS (32-4-2-1) vs. Cleveland Monsters (19-14-5-1) // Wed., Jan. 28 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

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

Watch: AHLTV on FloHockey

Season Series: 2-0-0-0 Overall, 2-0-0-0 Home. Third of eight meetings overall, third of four at Van Andel Arena

All-Time Series: 80-41-9-14 Overall, 47-18-4-4 Home

NHL Affiliation: Columbus Blue Jackets

Noteworthy: The Griffins will face a non-divisional opponent for the first time since Dec. 21. In the last five seasons at home against Cleveland, Grand Rapids has just one regulation defeat (12-1-3-2, .806) with a plus-28 scoring margin (69-41).

GRIFFINS vs. Chicago Wolves (20-9-5-5) // Fri., Jan. 30 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

GRIFFINS at Chicago Wolves // Sat., Jan. 31 // 8 p.m. EST // Allstate Arena

Listen: 96.1 The Game at 7 p.m. on Friday and WOOD 106.9 FM & 1300 AM at 7:45 p.m. EST

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

Season Series: 3-0-0-1 Overall, 1-0-0-0 Home, 2-0-0-1 Road. Fifth and sixth of 10 meetings overall, second of five at Van Andel Arena, fourth of five at Allstate Arena

All-Time Series: 107-91-2-8-6 Overall, 52-40-2-6-4 Home, 55-51-0-2-2 Road

NHL Affiliation: Carolina Hurricanes

Noteworthy: Three of the four meetings this season have been decided by a shootout, and Chicago is one of just six teams to defeat the Griffins this campaign.

Keep Chugging Along: Despite dropping four of the last seven games, the Griffins have continued their league-record start with a 32-3-2-1 ledger and 67 points through 39 games. Grand Rapids tied the 2005-06 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (29-3-2-1, 61 pts.) for the best start in the AHL's 90-year history through 35 games. Grand Rapids also reached 60 points three games faster than any team in the AHL's 90-year history (2005-06, W-B/Scranton, 29-3-2-1, 61 pts. in 35 games). The team saw its franchise-record tying 15-game win streak from Nov. 22-Dec. 27 come to an end in overtime on Dec. 31, which also tied for the sixth-longest run in AHL history. In addition, the Griffins' 19-game point streak from Nov. 22-Jan. 7 (18-0-1-0) ended on Jan. 9, which tied for the longest run in franchise history. The Griffins are 15-1-1-1 on the road and 17-3-1-0 at home. The 17-game points streak on the road from Oct. 10-Jan. 23 (15-0-1-1) set a new AHL record, surpassing the 2010-11 Milwaukee Admirals' 16-game run (10-0-4-2). Grand Rapids ranks first in the AHL in points (67), has a 17-point cushion over Chicago for first place in the Central Division, and is 31 points up on a playoff spot.

Record Setters: Below is a list of team and league records that the Griffins have either set or tied this season.

- Best record in AHL history through 25 games (23-1-0-1, 47 pts.) and 30 games (27-1-1-1, 56 pts.), while tying for the best start through 35 games (29-3-2-1, 61 pts.)

- Reached the 60-point mark in just 32 games, three games faster than any team in AHL history

- AHL record 17-game road points streak from Oct. 10-Jan. 23 (15-0-1-1)

- Tied franchise-record 15-game winning streak from Nov. 22-Dec. 27, which also tied for sixth-longest in AHL history

- Tied franchise-record 19-game points streak from Nov. 22-Jan. 7 (18-0-1-0)

- Franchise-record start with an 8-0 record and was the league's last undefeated team for first time since 2000-01 IHL season

- Started 6-0 at home for first time since 2009-10 (8-0)

What's The Password?: The Griffins' defense remains the best in the AHL, as it ranks first with 1.79 goals allowed per contest. Providence is the closest to Grand Rapids with 2.10 goals allowed per game. Grand Rapids posted its seventh shutout of the season last Wednesday against Milwaukee, which are the most since the team registered eight in 2016-17. The Griffins shut out their opponent in two straight games from Jan. 17-21 in addition to posting consecutive shutouts from Dec. 21-27. Prior to this season, the last time Grand Rapids logged two straight shutouts was Feb. 15-17, 2018. The Griffins have allowed more than two goals just seven times in their last 33 games and have averaged just 1.40 goals allowed in their last five outings, which includes two shutouts. In fact, the team has allowed more than two goals just nine times all season (23.1%). In addition, the team's penalty kill is first in the AHL at 87.9%. In net, Sebastian Cossa sports a 1.77 GAA with a .933 save percentage, while rookie netminder Michal Postava possesses a 1.64 GAA and a .941 save percentage. Grand Rapids also has four of the top five plus-minus ratings among defensemen. The Griffins have four defensemen who have played at least 100 games in the NHL in Erik Gustafsson (516) (currently with Detroit), Justin Holl (396), Ian Mitchell (110), and William Lagesson (107), totaling 1,129 appearances.

Leaders of the Pack: The Griffins have led the Central Division for the entire season, and are 17 points above second-place Chicago and 31 points up on a playoff spot. Grand Rapids is 25-3-2-1 against its division rivals and has outscored them 111-58, suffering its first regulation defeat against the division on Jan. 9 against Texas. Last season, it took the Griffins 50 games to reach 25 wins against the division (25-21-3-1) compared to 30 games this season. Twenty-five of the remaining 33 games for Grand Rapids will be against the Central Division (75.8%). The Griffins will see the most games against the Milwaukee Admirals (6) and the Chicago Wolves (6) followed by the Rockford IceHogs (5).

Slowed Down a Smidge: Grand Rapids was shut out for the first time this season on Jan. 9 against Texas and has been held to under three goals in five of the last seven games. The Griffins now have 10 goals in their last five contests (2.00 per game) and 24 goals in the previous 10 outings (2.40 per game since Jan. 2). At the start of January, the Griffins averaged 3.93 goals per game. Grand Rapids still ranks first in the AHL with 3.54 goals per game. The team has outscored its opponents 138-70 and is 24-0 when scoring the game's first goal. The Griffins have outscored their opponents 64-32 at home, while possessing a 74-38 advantage on the road. Grand Rapids has its largest scoring margin against its opponents in the third period (56-26). In addition to ranking first in goals, the Griffins place 11th in shots per game (29.4). John Leonard leads the team and is tied for first in the AHL with 26 goals, while Eduards Tralmaks ranks second on the roster with 15 and Sheldon Dries and Dominik Shine tie for third with 14.

The Well is Not Dry: Sheldon Dries had goals in both games at Manitoba last weekend and now has three goals in his last four games and seven goals in his last 11 outings since Dec. 19. Throughout 31 games with Grand Rapids this season, Dries has 28 points (14-14-28) and a career-high plus-17 rating. The Macomb, Michigan, native ranks second on the roster in points and tied for third in both assists and goals. He had two points in four straight games from Dec. 17-27 (3-5-8) and was selected as the Howies Hockey Tape/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending Dec. 21 when he logged six points (2-4-6) and a plus-eight rating in three games. Throughout his nine-year AHL career, Dries has 272 points (152-120-272), 261 penalty minutes and a plus-44 rating in 370 games.

Johnny Bravo: John Leonard has 40 points and 26 goals in 30 games with the Griffins this season to go along with four penalty minutes, eight game-winners and a plus-13 rating. In the AHL rankings, the sixth-year veteran is tied for fifth in points, tied for first in goals and first in game-winners. He was named the Fortune Tires "Expect More" AHL Player of the Month for November with 16 points (9-7-16) in 10 games and became just the third player in franchise history to win the award, joining Riley Barber (April 2022) and Chris Minard (Feb. 2012). Leonard's career-best 10-game point streak from Oct. 10-Nov. 19 set a franchise record to begin both a season and a Griffins career, and his career-high six-game goal streak from Oct. 11-Nov. 2 tied for the third-longest run in franchise history. Throughout parts of six AHL seasons since 2020-21, Leonard has 211 points (109-102-211) in 279 games.

AHL Leaderboard Tracker:

Michael Brandsegg-Nygard-Tied for 10th in plus-minus (+18), tied for third in game-winners (5), tied for sixth among rookies in assists (16), tied for 12th among rookies in points (24), first among rookies in plus-minus (+18), ninth among rookies in shots (81), first among rookies in game-winners (5)

Sebastian Cossa-Second in GAA (1.77), second in save percentage (.933), first in shutouts (4), first in wins (18)

x Erik Gustafsson-Tied for 10th in plus-minus (+18), tied for 14th among defensemen in points (20), tied for 10th among defensemen in assists (18), tied for fourth among defensemen in plus-minus (+18), tied for seventh among defensemen in power-play goals (2)

Justin Holl-Tied for 10th in plus-minus (+18), tied for fourth among defensemen in plus-minus (+18)

William Lagesson-Tied for third in plus-minus (+23), tied for first among defensemen in plus-minus (+23)

John Leonard-Tied for first in goals (26), tied for fifth in points (40), tied for first in shorthanded goals (3), first in game-winners (8)

Ian Mitchell-Tied for 11th among defensemen in plus-minus (+15)

Eduards Tralmaks-Tied for 10th in plus-minus (+18)

Antti Tuomisto-Tied for seventh in plus-minus (+19), tied for eighth among defensemen in goals (6), third among defensemen in plus-minus (+19)

William Wallinder-Tied for eighth among defensemen in plus-minus (+16)

Check out the Grand Rapids Griffins Statistics

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Images from this story

Grand Rapids Griffins right wing Austin Watson (back) vs. the Chicago Wolves
Grand Rapids Griffins right wing Austin Watson (back) vs. the Chicago Wolves
(Nicolas Carrillo)		   



American Hockey League Stories from January 27, 2026


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