Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
The Grand Rapids Griffins are on the move.
They will bring a 16-game points streak (12-0-2-2) into tonight’s date with the Iowa Wild at Van Andel Arena. Their work for the past month and a half has sent them up the Central Division standings into second place.
Helping to lead the way has been Griffins netminder Sebastian Cossa, the latest Howies Hockey Tape/AHL Player of the Week. He has gone 7-0-2 in his past nine decisions, and he recorded his first AHL shutout with 28 stops against Texas on Feb. 21. Then he halted the Milwaukee Admirals’ 19-game winning streak, the second-longest in AHL history, last Sunday with 37 saves in a 4-2 victory. Cossa followed up those efforts with 26 saves on Wednesday as Grand Rapids defeated visiting Iowa, 3-2.
Cossa is a second-year pro who went to the parent Detroit Red Wings 15th overall in the 2021 NHL Draft. In his first full AHL season, he is 13-7-5 with a 2.57 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage in 25 appearances for the Griffins.
A balanced offense has helped the Griffins as well. All-Star forward Jonatan Berggren has 42 points (17 goals, 25 assists) in 40 games; no other Grand Rapids player has more than 30 points this season, but 10 skaters have recorded at least 20.
The Griffins have not lost in regulation since falling 2-0 to Rockford on Jan. 12.
This weekend’s schedule also features a key two-game series in the Atlantic Division with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins hosting the Charlotte Checkers tonight and Saturday.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton opens the weekend third in the Atlantic at 62 points, four points ahead of fifth-place Charlotte. The Penguins have overcome several injuries and recalls to Pittsburgh to move to nine games above .500, matching their highest mark of the season. Wilkes-Barre is without leading scorer Alex Nylander, who was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets last Friday.
The Checkers hold a game in hand on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, however, and have a seven-game point streak (5-0-2-0) after taking a 2-1 win in overtime at Harford on Wednesday. Charlotte has added forward Jamieson Rees on loan from the Carolina Hurricanes; the second-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft had just three assists in 31 games with Springfield this season, but he notched 42 points (14 goals, 28 assists) in 65 contests with Chicago in 2022-23.
This weekend’s games will conclude the teams’ season series. They have not met since they split a pair of games in Wilkes-Barre on Dec. 29-30.
The San Jose Barracuda welcome the Coachella Valley Firebirds in the AHLTV Free Game of the Week on Saturday night (9 ET/6 PT).
First in the Pacific Division at 69 points, the Firebirds are trying to fend off the hard-charging Colorado Eagles. The Firebirds pushed their point streak to four games (3-0-1-0) on Wednesday with a 4-1 win at home against the Barracuda, as Cameron Hughes scored twice for the Firebirds while Chris Driedger made 29 saves.
That victory improved Coachella Valley’s all-time record against San Jose to 13-1-0-0, which includes a 7-0-0-0 mark at Tech CU Arena. The Firebirds, who have an eight-game road points streak (5-0-3-0), will first visit Bakersfield tonight as they start a four-game road swing. Nine of their 12 games in March will be away from home.
San Jose forward Nathan Todd has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in his past nine games. With 44 points (16 goals, 28 assists) in 52 games overall, he is tied for 11th in league scoring with Coachella Valley captain Max McCormick.
An AHLTV account is required to watch the AHLTV Free Games of the Week, but no subscription is needed. Visit AHLTV.com for details.
TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams has been on the American Hockey League beat for nearly two decades for outlets including NHL.com, Sportsnet, TSN, The Hockey News, SiriusXM NHL Network Radio and SLAM! Sports, and was most recently the co-host of The Hockey News On The ‘A’ podcast. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.