GRAND RAPIDS -- In another low-scoring affair, more excellent goaltending and the offensive prowess of one paid off on Saturday night.
Two goals from forward Amadeus Lombardi, and some great saves from Sebastian Cossa, was all the Grand Rapids Griffins needed in the second game of the back-to-back with the Manitoba Moose, as they beat their Central Division rivals for the second night in a row, 2-1.
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Lombardi got the scoring started early in the second period, notching his first of the season as he banged in a rebound after a great effort from Dominik Shine.
Joe Snively picked up the secondary assist, his second helper of the season and second point of the weekend.
After the Moose tied the game early on in the third, Lombardi showed the skill that made him a hot prospect coming out of junior hockey, undressing Manitoba netminder Domenic Divicentiis on a breakaway for his second of the game.
He is the first Griffin to post a multi-goal game this season.
“Definitely felt good,” Lombardi said after the game. “It’s important we got the win, and I’m happy about that, but it’s obviously nice to get the first goal of the season out of the way...it was a fun night.”
Cossa also had another standout performance. Though he gave up a goal, he played confident once again, making a number of key stops early when the game was scoreless. The Moose outshot GR once again, this time by a 30-24 margin, with Cossa making 29 saves in his second win of the year.
The Edmonton native’s best save came in the final minute when he made a ridiculous save on Brad Lambert to keep Grand Rapids in front.
Cossa stated that, with the Moose trying to tie the game with an extra attacker, he knew he was going to have to do whatever it took to leave the score unchanged.
“It’s just battle mode,” Cossa said. “It was a pretty bad rebound out to the guy, I thought I got beat. I just had to find the puck and just kind of dive back there and get a glove on it.”
Divicentiis ended up making 22 saves in his first loss of the campaign.
The Moose’s lone goal of the weekend came off the stick of Tyson Empey. It was the 29-year-old’s first of the season, and the first GR had given up on home ice this season. It took a visiting team 163:52 to score at Van Andel Arena in 2024-25.
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The Griffins’ power play continued to struggle on Saturday. They went 0-for-3, marking the third consecutive game in which they failed to score on the man advantage. Manitoba ended up going 0-for-4.
The Griffins come out of the weekend with a 3-1-0-0 record on the young season, with all three victories coming at the Van. Head coach Dan Watson confirms how important it is for a team to be good in their own barn.
“We want to make this a hard place to play,” Watson said. “I think teams that take care of home ice give themselves a good opportunity down the stretch...obviously a good start this year, love the compete level here at home, the battle level at home. It’s good momentum heading on a big road trip coming up.”
With the loss, the Moose are now 2-2-0-0.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Griffins will embark on a four-game road trip through the Atlantic Division, beginning next Friday night with the Springfield Thunderbirds.
The Thunderbirds are 2-2-0 after beating the Providence Bruins on Saturday night.
This will be the first time since the 2022-23 season that the two teams will meet. The Griffins and the St. Louis Blues’ primary affiliate split their two matchups that year, with the road team winning both times.
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UPCOMING SCHEDULE (Home games in BOLD)
- Friday, Oct. 25 @ Springfield Thunderbirds (7:05 p.m. ET)
- Saturday, Oct. 26 @ Lehigh Valley Phantoms (7:05 p.m. ET)
- Sunday, Oct. 27 @ Lehigh Valley Phantoms (3:05 p.m. ET)
- Wednesday, Oct. 30 @ Hartford Wolf Pack (7 p.m. ET)
- Friday, Nov. 1 vs. Rockford IceHogs (7 p.m.)
You can watch and listen to the Griffins all season long on AHL.TV
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Find AHL standings and results here