Weekend watch list: Mar. 1-3

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Options Author

The Grand Rapids Griffins are on the transfer.

They are going to convey a 16-game factors streak (12-0-2-2) into tonight’s date with the Iowa Wild at Van Andel Enviornment. Their work for the previous month and a half has despatched them up the Central Division standings into second place.

Serving to to prepared the ground has been Griffins netminder Sebastian Cossa, the newest Howies Hockey Tape/AHL Participant of the Week. He has gone 7-0-2 in his previous 9 selections, and he recorded his first AHL shutout with 28 stops towards Texas on Feb. 21. Then he halted the Milwaukee Admirals’ 19-game profitable streak, the second-longest in AHL historical past, final Sunday with 37 saves in a 4-2 victory. Cossa adopted up these efforts with 26 saves on Wednesday as Grand Rapids defeated visiting Iowa, 3-2.

Cossa is a second-year professional who went to the mum or dad Detroit Purple Wings fifteenth general within the 2021 NHL Draft. In his first full AHL season, he’s 13-7-5 with a 2.57 goals-against common and a .912 save proportion in 25 appearances for the Griffins.

A balanced offense has helped the Griffins as nicely. All-Star ahead Jonatan Berggren has 42 factors (17 objectives, 25 assists) in 40 video games; no different Grand Rapids participant has greater than 30 factors this season, however 10 skaters have recorded not less than 20.

The Griffins haven’t misplaced in regulation since falling 2-0 to Rockford on Jan. 12.

This weekend’s schedule additionally contains a key two-game collection within the Atlantic Division with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins internet hosting the Charlotte Checkers tonight and Saturday.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton opens the weekend third within the Atlantic at 62 factors, 4 factors forward of fifth-place Charlotte. The Penguins have overcome a number of accidents and remembers to Pittsburgh to maneuver to 9 video games above .500, matching their highest mark of the season. Wilkes-Barre is with out main scorer Alex Nylander, who was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets final Friday.

The Checkers maintain a recreation in hand on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, nonetheless, and have a seven-game level streak (5-0-2-0) after taking a 2-1 win in time beyond regulation at Harford on Wednesday. Charlotte has added ahead Jamieson Rees on mortgage from the Carolina Hurricanes; the second-round choose within the 2019 NHL Draft had simply three assists in 31 video games with Springfield this season, however he notched 42 factors (14 objectives, 28 assists) in 65 contests with Chicago in 2022-23.

This weekend’s video games will conclude the groups’ season collection. They haven’t met since they break up a pair of video games in Wilkes-Barre on Dec. 29-30.

The San Jose Barracuda welcome the Coachella Valley Firebirds within the AHLTV Free Recreation of the Week on Saturday night time (9 ET/6 PT).

First within the Pacific Division at 69 factors, the Firebirds try to fend off the hard-charging Colorado Eagles. The Firebirds pushed their level streak to 4 video games (3-0-1-0) on Wednesday with a 4-1 win at dwelling towards the Barracuda, as Cameron Hughes scored twice for the Firebirds whereas Chris Driedger made 29 saves.

That victory improved Coachella Valley’s all-time file towards San Jose to 13-1-0-0, which features a 7-0-0-0 mark at Tech CU Enviornment. The Firebirds, who’ve an eight-game street factors streak (5-0-3-0), will first go to Bakersfield tonight as they begin a four-game street swing. 9 of their 12 video games in March will likely be away from dwelling.

San Jose ahead Nathan Todd has 13 factors (six objectives, seven assists) in his previous 9 video games. With 44 factors (16 objectives, 28 assists) in 52 video games general, he’s tied for eleventh in league scoring with Coachella Valley captain Max McCormick.

An AHLTV account is required to observe the AHLTV Free Video games of the Week, however no subscription is required. Go to AHLTV.com for particulars.

TheAHL.com options author Patrick Williams has been on the American Hockey League beat for almost twenty years for retailers together with NHL.com, Sportsnet, TSN, The Hockey Information, SiriusXM NHL Community Radio and SLAM! Sports activities, and was most just lately the co-host of The Hockey Information On The ‘A’ podcast. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his excellent protection of the league in 2016.