Grand Rapids Griffins Earn Best Start in Franchise History with Shootout Win over Iowa Wild
Photo Credit: Iowa Wild
Grand Rapids Griffins (4) at Iowa Wild (3)
Griffins Lines
John Leonard - Amadeus Lombardi - Dominik Shine
Michael Brandsegg-Nygard - Nate Danielson - Austin Watson
Eduards Tralmaks - Ondrej Becher - Jakub Rychlovsky
Tyler Angle - Gabriel Seger - Alex Doucet
Griffins Pairings
Erik Gustafsson - Justin Holl
William Wallinder - Ian Mitchell
Jacob Truscott - Alex Kannok Leipert
The Grand Rapids Griffins took down the Iowa Wild, 4-3, in a shootout to extend their winning streak to 6-0. This is the first time in franchise history that Grand Rapids started the season with a perfect 6-0 start. Goaltender Michal Postava stopped 37 of the 40 shots he faced and stopped all three of Iowa’s shootout chances.
For the first time in the 2025-26 season, the Griffins didn’t score first. The honor was given to Wild fan favorite Gerry Mayhew, who swept a redirected shot into the net on the power play to give Iowa the 1-0 lead over Grand Rapids.
Alex Doucet tied the game at one for the Griffins with a shot from the doorstep 2:46 into the second period. Quick passing while effortlessly gliding up ice from Erik Gustafsson and Tyler Angle caught Samuel Hlavaj off guard, allowing Doucet to sneak to the side of the crease.
With 4:14 to play in the second, Jacob Truscott had an incredible takeaway along the boards before passing the puck to Nate Danielson, who found the back of the net to give Grand Rapids the 2-1 lead.
In the final two minutes of the middle stanza, Liam Ohgren tied the game at two with Iowa’s second power play goal of the night. Mayhew had a really good screen of Postava to make the goal come to fruition. There was no way Postava knew that puck was coming from the blueline.
John Leonard scored his sixth goal in five games to give the Griffins a 3-2 lead over the Wild with 8:47 to play in the game. It was a beautiful shot that snuck right under Hlavaj’s glove before entering the net. Gustafsson and Amadeus Lombardi worked hard to keep the play moving and get the puck off to Leonard.
Mayhew pushed the game into overtime when he scored from the doorstep with 27 seconds left in the game.
After a hard fought battle in overtime, Danielson scored the lone shootout goal and Postava stopped all three shots he faced to give the Griffins the 4-3 win over the Wild.
But Wait! There’s More!
Special Teams
It’s important to not that the amount of penalties called on Tuesday night greatly affected the flow of the game. There were 18 penalties called between the two teams, and good chunk of them were questionable. Especially an embellishment penalty called on Shine after he was pushed into the boards. Griffins play by play announcer, Bob Kaser, asked a great question that I, too, would love to know the answer to, “How do you get hit from behind into the boards and get called for embellishment?”
Grand Rapids success rate of 2/8 on the penalty kill and 0/4 on the power play was indicative of the way they played. The Wild clearly pre-scouted the Griffins’ special teams, because they were able to prevent breakaways and broke up passing plays that worked in the last five games.
Notes and Quotes
Carter Mazur was injured in practice on Sunday making him unavailable for Tuesday night’s game.
After being sent down to Grand Rapids by Detroit on Monday, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard made his Griffins season debut.
Rookie defenseman Jacob Truscott earned his first professional point with an assist on Nate Danielson’s second period goal.
Erik Gustafsson earned his 400th pro point after assisting two goals; Alex Doucet (2nd period) and John Leonard (3rd period). He now has 50 career AHL assists.
Alex Kannok Leipert had his second fight of the season when he dropped gloves with Mark Liwiski 1:10 into the game. Leading up to the fight, Liwiski had been jawing Austin Watson, trying to goad him into exchanging punches. Kannok Leipert’s fight did not ignite a fire within the Griffins in the first period. They were easily rattled, couldn’t maintain possession, and got hemmed into their defensive zone multiple times.
It took 8:50 and an Iowa power play for the Wild to register a shot in the second period.
For the first time in four games, Captain Dominik Shine didn’t end up on the score sheet. However, Shine played a strong defensive game to help keep the Griffins alive during overtime.
No one wants to hear this, but I’m going to say it anyways. Despite scoring a goal and having the shootout game-winning goal, Danielson didn’t play a great game. He needs to hone his away from the puck game a little bit more. Also, Danielson does great when the ice is open and he can move the puck up the ice. However, he struggles a bit when there is a traffic jam along the boards or in the slot. In my opinion, the next two games against Rockford will help Danielson get even stronger, because he will be dealing with an opponent that loves to swarm people as they get closer to the net.
3 Stars
1st - Nate Danielson - Grand Rapids - 1 goal, Lone Shootout Goal
2nd - John Leonard - Grand Rapids - 1 goal
3rd - Gerry Mayhew - Iowa - 2 goals
What’s Next
The Griffins head to Rockford on Saturday, November 1 to take on the IceHogs at 8 pm est. Then,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.
