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Griffins Outlast Wolves and Officials In 3-2 Shootout Win
Cossa stellar between the pipes recording 47 saves...
By Jason Kasiorek
www.griffinscentral.com
January 2nd, 2026
Reigning AHL Goalie of the month (two months in a row) Sebastien Cossa turned in perhaps his best performance as a Griffin, fielding 49 shots to lead his team to victory. The visiting Wolves outplayed the Griffins for large parts of the game, aided in part by abysmal officiating (editor's note: we rarely if ever complain about the officiating, but this game it was egregious). Michael Brandsegg-Nygard (8) and Anti Tuomisto (6) provided enough offense to get the team to overtime, while John Leonard and Dominik Shine provided the margin in the shootout.
First Period
Austin Watson continued his current trend of taking a bad penalty, this time on an undisciplined slash between the benches. The penalty kill proved up to the challenge, preventing any major scoring chances. They caught a break when Chicago took a penalty of their own to kill off the last few seconds. The Wolves had the most dangerous chance during their PK, a 2-on-1 that forced Cossa to make a huge stop. The Wolves got away with a couple of brutal crosschecks and the Griffins were caught retaliating and ended up short a man again. Leonard shot down the middle for a chance but couldn't beat Miftakhov. He did however pick up the rebound and hit Brandsegg-Nygard in the slot for a 1-0 lead. Chad Hillebrand with a huge diving block to take away a scoring chance in the slot. Late in the period Chicago took advantage of a Griffins turnover to even the score at one.
Shots on Goal: GR 7 - Chi 13.
Second Period
The second period was very lackluster for the home team, a couple of penalties helped kill momentum and give the Wolves a large edge in shots. Chicago smelled blood and was attacking the net, carrying play for large parts of the period. If not for the stellar play of Cossa, this game would have gotten out of hand quickly.
Shots on Goal: GR 10 - Chi 14.
Third Period
Griffins with a great scoring chance early, 2-on-1 with Leonard and Shine, Shine made a perfect pass and Leonard whiffed on the shot. Ondrej Becher turned some heads with an awesome spin-o-rama move out of the corner and around a defender for a chance. Chicago finally was able to solve Cossa again, midway through the third. Nobody picked up Robidas in the slot, and he stroked a shot in over Cossa, stick-side for a 2-1 lead. Shortly after that, the Griffins turned the puck over again and Cossa had to make a huge stop. With time winding down, Tuomisto rifled a shot from the point past Miftakhov to knot the game at two each. The wolves were very aggressive in the Griffins zone, trying to regain the lead in the closing minutes. Cossa with a big stop and Shine was on his knees in the crease behind him. A Wolves player was poking at him with his stick and Shine took exception, popping up and smoking him, touching off a huge scrum. Somehow GR ended up with the only penalty and had to spend the rest of the period short a man. Shots on Goal: GR 7 - Chi 18.
Overtime
Assured of at least one point, the Griffins still had 39 seconds left to kill on the shine penalty in overtime. The GR penalty killers kept up their perfect game, and Shine left the box to rejoin play. Leonard found a hole and had a partial break in on net but couldn't get a shot away. Jakub Rychlovsky with speed up the middle and in on net. He took a shot and then was knocked into Miftakhov by a Chicago defender. Miftakhov lost his helmet and sprawled out like he had been shot. Somehow the officiating crew sent Rychlovsky off alone, leaving GR short yet again. Grand Rapids weathered the storm and made it to the end of overtime. The Wolves were getting nastier as the time ran out, and at the whistle Gunter took a whack at Gustafsson and knocked him to his knees. Gustafsson rose and pounded him good until being separated by the officials. Again, he was the only player to be penalized, drawing two for instigating, five for fighting, and a game misconduct for instigating a fight in the last five minutes, what a joke! Shots on Goal: GR 0 - Chi 4. For the game: GR 25 - Chi 49
Shootout
Cossa looked very calm as he slowly skated to his net at the start of the shootout. John Leonard went first for the Griffins, cut in on net, dipped his shoulder, dangled the puck, then pulled it back for the snipe 1-0 GR. Nadeau was the first Wolves' shooter and he tried to draw Cossa away from the post, he did not, and Sebastien took away the side. Brandsegg-Nygard started round two and fired a shot off Miftakhov's pads. Gunter went next for the wolves and skated in on net with a sea of boos, firing a wrister into Cossa's glove. Dominik Shine won the game in round three, streaking in on goal and clapping a shot in under Miftakhov to make the final score 3-2 GR.
Starting Lines:
#28 Brandsegg-Nygard - #11 Seger - #51 Watson
#65 Shine - #25 Becher/#77 Angle - #19 Leonard
#81 Rychlovsky - #25 Becher - #34 Tralmaks
#21 Bantle - #26 Hillebrand - #47 Doucet
Pairs:
#37 Lagesson - #4 Tuomisto
#56 Gustafsson - #3 Holl
#22 Wallinder - #41 Kannok-Leipert
Goaltenders:
Starter: #33 Cossa
Backup: #35 Postava
Scratches:
#15 Dries(Veteran Scratch)
#27 Moyle
#43 Mazur (Injured)
#55 Mitchell (Veteran Scratch)
#93 Lombardi (injured)
Power Play:
#51 Watson - #65 Shine - #19 Leonard
#25 Becher - #56 Gustafsson
#81 Rychlovsky - #77 Angle - #28 Brandsegg-Nygard
#22 Wallinder - #4 Tuomisto
Penalty Kill:
#19 Leonard - #65 Shine
#37 Lagesson - #3 Holl
#11 Seger - #77 Angle
#22 Wallinder - #4 Tuomisto
Observations:
This game had a playoff level intensity and was one of the most exciting games I have watched in the Van Andel in 30 years. Sebastien Cossa may have played his best game as a Griffin and had a career high 47 saves. He was literally the difference maker tonight as the home team was badly outplayed and outshot for most of the game but still managed a win.
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