Eight is Great! Grand Rapids Griffins Start the Season 8-0
Photo Credit: Nicolas Carillo/Grand Rapids Griffins
Rockford IceHogs (2) @ Grand Rapids Griffins (6)
Griffins Lines
John Leonard - Amadeus Lombardi - Dominik Shine
Sheldon Dries - Nate Danielson - Michael Brandsegg-Nygard
Eduards Tralmaks - Ondrej Becher - Tyler Angle
Carson Bantle - Gabriel Seger - Jakub Rychlovsky
Griffins Pairings
Erik Gustafsson - Ian Mitchell
William Lagesson - Antti Tuomisto
William Wallinder - Alex Kannok Leiper
The Grand Rapids Griffins took down the Rockford IceHogs, 6-2, on Sunday afternoon to extend their record to 8-0 on the season. This is the hottest start by an AHL team since the 2021-22 season. Goaltender Michal Postava earned his fourth win of the season stopping 29 of the 31 shots he faced.
Rockford’s Aidan Thompson gave the IceHogs the 1-0 lead 3:08 into the game with a wraparound goal.
Sheldon Dries had a backhand top-shelf rebound with 7:27 to play in the first to tie the game at one for Grand Rapids. Erik Gustafsson initially tried to score from below the goal-line, but Rockford goaltender Mitchell Weeks was able to get his pad in front of the puck. Since Dries was standing at the top of the crease, it was easy to snatch up the rebound.
Both of the Griffins second period goals were spearheaded by forward Amadeus Lombardi.
A little over four minutes into the second, Lombardi forced a turnover in the faceoff circle to the left of Weeks, which was then passed off to Antti Tuomisto at the point. Tuomisto launched the puck towards the net where Dominik Shine was waiting to rebound the shot into the net to give the Griffins the 2-1 lead.
With 10:27 to play in the middle stanza, Lombardi effortlessly skated through traffic going three on one with the Ice Hogs on the way to the net. At the last moment, Lombardi tossed the puck to John Leonard in the face off circle. Weeks was caught off guard by the sudden change of play and left the right side of the net open for Leonard to extend Grand Rapids lead over Rockford to 3-1.
The IceHogs struck back with 6:21 to play in the second when Samuel Savoie backhanded a shot past Postava's glove side.
The Griffins exploded offensively in the last period, scoring three goals to seal the deal on a 6-2 win.
Eduards Tralmaks made it 4-2 for the Griffins 5:10 into the third period. Mitchell Weeks left a huge chunk of the net open, allowing Tralmaks to rebound the puck into the net.
Leonard scored his second of the night on the power play from the middle of the slot to give the Griffins the 5-2 lead. The way Leonard can direct a puck with commanding fashion into the net is truly incredible.
With 3:22 left in the game, Carson Bantle set up Jakub Rychlovsky, who was posted in the slot, with a beautiful pass that wound up in the back of the net.
But Wait! There’s More!
Special Teams
The Griffins special teams have been consistently good. A bad penalty kill or a slow power play has been rare during this eight-game winning-streak. The only thing they really had to worry about this afternoon was young guys taking silly penalties at inopportune times in the game.
Notes and Quotes
Last season, the Griffins started 6-1 under Head Coach Dan Watson. These are the two best starts in franchise history.
With the Providence Bruins and Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins losing this week, the Griffins are the league’s last undefeated team for the first time since the 2000-01 season.
The Griffins have only outshot their opponents twice during this 8-0 hot streak, but Coach Watson isn’t going to start worrying about the amount of shots they face until the quality of those shots go up. “. If everything comes from the outside and our goalies can see it, they are going to make those saves,” said Coach Watson. “But, if everything is coming from the middle of the ice and around the net, yea, we are going to worry.”
Captain Dominik Shine has been a swiss army knife for the Griffins this season. Especially in this game against Rockford. While he excels offensively, Shine’s defensive style of play has been on full display. He even acted as an extension of Postava during a few of the IceHogs rushes and parties in the slot. “I think that’s who he is. That’s his makeup,” said Coach Watson of Shine. “We know what we’re going to get every night. He is going to leave it all out there.” Coach Watson went on to explain that as a captain, Shine’s work ethic is infectious and has helped the team elevate their game to new heights.
Over the past two games, we’ve seen Tuomisto excel both defensively and offensively which culminated into his first goal of the season and multiple assists. Coach Watson isn’t shocked by the way Tuomisto has been producing as of late. “He sees the ice really well. We’ve seen that since day one when he stepped into our locker room," said Watson of Tuomisto. “He has great vision .He sees the ice. He can make great plays. He has an underrated hard shot. If you give him some time, he’s going to make those plays.” One of the reasons why Tuomisto’s game has taken off is because the coaches challenged him to be better at a few things, and apparently he loves a good challenge.
3 Stars
1st - John Leonard - Grand Rapids - 2 goals
2nd - Amadeus Lombardi - Grand Rapids - 2 assists
3rd - Antti Tuomisto - Grand Rapids - 2 assists
