Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
It’s time for the Cleveland Monsters to reacquaint themselves with the road.
The North Division co-leaders visit the Grand Rapids Griffins in the AHLTV Free Game of the Week tonight (7 ET), the Monsters’ first game as visitors following a 10-game homestand which ended with a 3-2 shootout win over the Griffins on Tuesday night. AHL All-Star Jet Greaves made a season-high 40 saves to help Cleveland pull even with Syracuse at 57 points atop the North.
Tonight’s game at Van Andel Arena starts a three-in-three weekend against the Western Conference for the Monsters, who will move on to Chicago for games Saturday and Sunday.
Grand Rapids is tied with Texas for second place in the Central Division thanks to their current 10-game points streak (7-0-1-2). The Griffins, who have earned points in 15 of 17 games since Christmas (12-2-1-2), have been extended to shootouts in each of their last four outings.
Home ice has been good to the Griffins, who are 10-4-1-1 in their past 16 dates at Van Andel. Seven of their next eight contests will be at home.
An AHLTV account is required to watch the AHLTV Free Games of the Week, but no subscription is needed. Visit AHLTV.com for details.
The Milwaukee Admirals won their 15th consecutive game on Tuesday night, tying them for the fifth-longest winning streak in AHL history. Next up is a two-game visit to Manitoba beginning Saturday afternoon, when they will have a chance to tie the 1984-85 Baltimore Skipjacks with a 16th win in a row. Beyond that are the 2004-05 Philadelphia Phantoms and 2018-19 Bakersfield Condors, who each fashioned 17-game streaks; the 2011-12 Norfolk Admirals hold the AHL record with 28 consecutive victories.
The Admirals, who have not lost since Dec. 31 at Rockford, have opened up a 16-point lead atop the Central as they vie for their first division title since 2019-20. Tuesday’s 5-2 win over Chicago came without their two leading scorers after Mark Jankowski (third in the league with 47 points) and Egor Afanasyev (tied for sixth with 42 points) were recalled by the Nashville Predators. It was the eighth time during the streak that Milwaukee scored at least five goals in a game.
This weekend the Admirals will be facing a Manitoba Moose team that has rebounded from an 11-game losing streak by going 6-2-1-0 in their last nine outings. Manitoba opens the weekend one point ahead of Chicago and Iowa for fifth place – the final playoff position – in the Central Division, and their 6-4 win over Milwaukee on Dec. 17 also marks the most recent defeat dealt to Yaroslav Askarov, who is 11-0-0 with a 1.79 GAA, a .935 save percentage and three shutouts since.
The Moose will host a rematch between the teams at Canada Life Centre on Monday afternoon.
Something has to give when the Coachella Valley Firebirds welcome the Colorado Eagles to Acrisure Arena on Saturday night.
The Firebirds, last season’s Calder Cup finalist, have points in 10 straight games (8-0-1-1) after dealing the visiting San Jose Barracuda a 4-0 loss last night. Goaltender Chris Driedger had 20 saves for his second consecutive shutout, and is now 7-0-3 in his last 10 AHL decisions.
Coachella Valley holds a three-point edge on Tucson for first place in the Pacific Division.
The Eagles have won nine of their past 11 contests, most recently a 2-1 win over Bakersfield on Wednesday night – their sixth straight game allowing two goals or fewer. Saturday’s contest in Palm Desert will start a stretch of eight of 10 games on the road for the Eagles, who have climbed into a third-place tie in the Pacific with Calgary at 55 points.
This will be the teams’ final match-up of the season. Colorado has won two of the first three meetings, including a 1-0 road win back on Dec. 17.
On the American Hockey League beat for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.
