Dominik Shine Leads Grand Rapids to 7-0 Start to the Season
Photos by Rockford IceHogs/Kristin Ostrowski and Brad Repplinger
Grand Rapids Griffins (4) at Rockford IceHogs (2)
Griffins Lines
John Leonard - Amadeus Lombardi - Dominik Shine
Sheldon Dries - Nate Danielson - Michael Brandsegg-Nygard
Eduards Tralmaks - Ondrej Becher - Tyler Angle
Alex Doucet - Gabriel Seger - Jakub Rychlovsky
Griffins Pairings
Erik Gustafsson - Ian Mitchell
William Lagesson - Antti Tuomisto
William Wallinder - Alex Kannok Leiper
Led by a three-point night from Captain Dominik Shine, the Grand Rapids Griffins extended their undefeated streak to 7-0 with a 4-2 win over the Rockford IceHogs. Goaltender Sebastian Cossa stopped 23 of 25 shots en route to his fourth win of the season.
Grand Rapids’ special teams shone in the first period, scoring once on the power play and once on the penalty kill.
John Leonard scored his seventh goal in six games on the power play 8:44 into the first period to give the Griffins the 1-0 lead. Sheldon Dries had an incredible sliding reach to keep the play in motion with the Griffins as it was careening towards two members of the IceHogs.
On this play, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard had strong, quick passes to help move the play along.
With seven minutes to play in the first period, Grand Rapids extended its lead over Rockford, 2-0, on a shorthanded breakaway. Initially, Sheldon Dries was stuffed on a breakaway attempt. Fifteen seconds later, Alex Kannok Leipert poke-checked the puck towards Dominik Shine, who raced down the ice before firing his own rebound into the net from the slot.
Rockford's Jackson Cates broke Cossa's shutout bid, 2-1, with 1:39 to play in the second period. The passing from the IceHogs on this play was phenomenal, but Cates’ top-shelf snipe stole the show.
Antti Tuomisto earned his first goal of the season with 12:15 to play in the third to give the Griffins the 3-1 lead over the IceHogs. Amadeus Lombardi worked hard to move the play up the ice. As the IceHogs tried to trap Lombardi along the boards, he dropped the puck off to Shine, who launched it across the ice through traffic to an unattended Tuomisto.
Nick Lardis brought Rockford within one of Grand Rapids, 3-2, on the power play with 5:04 to play in the game. His first one-timer rang off the goal post, but the IceHogs were able to quickly get the puck back to him for another quick release. This time it landed in the back of the net.
Shine sealed the deal with an empty net goal, 4-2, where he deposited not only the puck but himself into the back of the net.
But Wait! There’s More!
Special Teams
Power Play
The Griffins power play looked solid against the IceHogs. They scored a goal and kept breaking away from the pack. Once they scored their first power play goal, Rockford’s goaltender Drew COmmesso locked things down in net, and refused to let anything get past him. If it wasn’t for Commesso, Grand Rapids likely would have scored one or two more goals on the man-advantage.
Penalty Kill
After their shorthanded breakaway goal, the Griffins penalty killed struggled to defend against the IceHogs. Not only did they give up a goal, but they allowed Cossa to be screened multiple times. A goaltender can only handle so many screens before he gets frustrated.
Notes and Quotes
On top of setting a franchise record for hottest start, the Griffins are also 4-0 on the road for the first time since the 2007-08 season.
The fourth line of Alex Doucet, Gabriel Seger, and Jakub Rychlovsky was incredibly fun to watch. At the beginning of the season, I felt the fourth line would be perfect for Doucet because he needed to toughen up a bit. In tonight’s tilt, he threw his body in front of multiple shots, and was ready to fight the entire IceHogs roster if needed. Seger constantly sat in the slot and on the doorstep providing multiple screens. Due to his sneakiness, Rychlovsky was in scoring position many times in the back half of the game. He will definitely find the back of the net soon.
Nate Danielson may not have made it on the stat sheet tonight, but he did look better away from the puck. Plus, his spatial awareness was fantastic. However, Danielson still struggled with high traffic areas and getting pushed around. In my opinion, those are easy fixes for him, and Sunday’s game against the same aggressive team will help Danielson hone those areas of his toolbox.
I fear Dominik Shine will be arrested for picking so many pockets while in Rockford. Seriously, Shine was all over the ice intercepting passes and taking pucks off of the IceHogs sticks. It was very clear the man was on a mission to bring home a win.
The game did get spicy in the third period. Unfortunately, it did renew the IceHogs’ energy when the Griffins reacted to the shenanigans.
Amadeus Lombardi’s assist on Antti Tuomisto’s third period goal was his 50th pro assist. Lombardi is also riding a four-game assist streak.
Michael Brandsegg-Nygard earned his first regular season AHL point with the assist on John Leonard’s first period power play goal.
3 Stars
1st - Dominik Shine - Grand Rapids - 2 goals, 1 assist
2nd - Antti Tuomisto - Grand Rapids - 1 goal, 0 assists, game winner
3rd - Jackson Cates - Rockford IceHogs - 1 goal
I just want to take one moment to toot Cates horn. His second period goal was a thing of pure beauty. Cates has a wicked wrister and his snipes are well placed. The Griffins are going to want to keep an eye on this guy when they play the IceHogs moving forward.
What’s Next
Grand Rapids returns to Van Andel on Sunday, November 2 to have another go at the IceHogs at 4pm est.
It’s also the Jake Engel Memorial Dog Game (presented by Nestle Purina), and you can bring your dog.
Dog tickets are $5 (plus fees) and located in sections 110, 112, 114, 116, 118, 120, 210, and 220. All proceeds benefit the Humane Society of West Michigan.
The first 1,000 dogs in attendance will receive a Griffins-branded dog leash.
There are three things to keep in mind if you are bringing your dog to the Jake Engel Memorial Dog Game :
You must buy a ticket for you AND your dog. Tickets for the dogs are sold in the designated dog sections : 110, 112. 114, 116, 118, 120, 210, and 220. Tickets can be bought here.
Only one dog per fan is permitted
Upon entering through the main lobby, you must sign and submit a waiver form. The form can be found here.
Sundays are also Library Nights AND Fun Day!
From 3 - 5 pm, you can get $1 small Pepsi drinks and $1 small ice cream cups.
For all Wednesday and Sunday games, fans can present their Grand Rapids Public Library card or Kent District Library card at the Van Andel Arena box office on the night of the game OR at The Zone anytime during the store’s regular business hours to purchase an Upper Level Faceoff ticket for $18 (regularly $24), an Upper Level Center Ice ticket for $21 (regularly $27), or a Lower Level Faceoff ticket for $25 (regularly $30). Limit four tickets per card per person, subject to availability.
