Griffins freeze Moose, 2-1

WINNIPEG— With a 2-1 victory over the Manitoba Moose at the Canada Life Centre on Friday, the Grand Rapids Griffins claimed the longest road points streak in the AHL’s 90-year history at 17 straight contests (15-0-1-1).

Grand Rapids’ 67 points through 38 games (32-3-2-1) remained a league best, and both goals on the night for the Griffins came from special teams. Sheldon Dries potted the first of the game on the power play for his 13th of season, and Gabriel Seger notched his third of the campaign while shorthanded. Shai Buium grabbed his first assist of the season, while Sebastian Cossa improved to 18-2-2 and tallied 20 saves.

Grand Rapids nearly claimed a 1-0 lead just 1:42 into the opening period. Tyler Angle fed one from the slot to Ondrej Becher in the right circle, and he ripped a one-timer, but it popped off the left post. With 59 seconds left, the Moose’s Jaret Anderson-Dolan flew down on a breakaway, but before he could make the shot, Cossa poke-checked the puck off his stick to keep it scoreless.

Just 2:45 into the second frame, the Griffins opened scoring on the power play when Buium let a wrister soar from the left point, and Dries deflected it past Thomas Milic out front. Manitoba tied the contest at 1-1 with 1:08 remaining when Mason Shaw buried one past the right goal post from the slot.

At 8:35 in the final slate, Amadeus Lombardi cut into the middle, and put one ahead for Austin Watson on the doorstep where he tried to sneak it in, but Milic made a sprawling save. With 7:56 on the clock, the Griffins potted one while shorthanded when Seger cut ahead of Kale Clague, drove to the net, and stuffed it past Milic to claim a 2-1 advantage. The Moose pulled Milic with 1:55 to go, but couldn’t convert, giving the Griffins the 2-1 win.

Notes

• The Griffins improved to 24-0 when scoring the game’s first goal.
• Alex Kannok Leipert notched his career-high eighth assist of the season.
• Grand Rapids’ .882 points percentage stood as the best in the league.

Box Score

Grand Rapids 0 1 1 – 2

Manitoba 0 1 0 – 1

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Becher Gr (holding), 14:17.

2nd Period-1, Grand Rapids, Dries 13 (Buium), 2:45 (PP). 2, Manitoba, Shaw 11 (Duehr, Phillips), 18:52. Penalties-Sautner Mb (high-sticking), 1:22; Bauer Mb (tripping), 5:18; Barlow Mb (holding), 19:42.

3rd Period-3, Grand Rapids, Seger 3 (Kannok Leipert), 12:04 (SH). Penalties-Holl Gr (holding), 11:01.

Shots on Goal-Grand Rapids 12-9-7-28. Manitoba 5-7-9-21.

Power Play Opportunities-Grand Rapids 1 / 3; Manitoba 0 / 2.

Goalies-Grand Rapids, Cossa 18-2-2 (21 shots-20 saves). Manitoba, Milic 9-5-2 (28 shots-26 saves).

A-2,524

Three Stars

1. GR Cossa (W, 21 saves) 2. MB Milic (L, 26 saves) 3. GR Dries (goal)