Griffins eliminate Moose from playoffs with 5-2 victory at Van Andel Arena

**Game 4 - AHL Central Division semifinals - Narration by: James Gemmell. Photos by: Steve Katerberg. {See collage at bottom of article}**

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- The Grand Rapids Griffins put the hammer down early and didn't look back in eliminating the Manitoba Moose from the postseason party with a 5-2 victory at Van Andel Arena on Friday night.

The crowd was partying and stuck around to the end, giving a raucous standing ovation as the final horn sounded in the Griffins' opening-round playoff series (they had a bye in the first round).

The Griffins advance to play the Chicago Wolves in the AHL Central Division finals next week. Game One of that series will be Thursday night at Van Andel Arena. Game Two will be Saturday.

Grand Rapids, which won 51 games in the regular season, took the divisional semifinal series against the Moose three games to one, winning the final two contests on their home ice after splitting the first two games at Manitoba. Some of the Detroit Red Wings' top prospects - Michal Postava, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, Carter Mazur and Axel Sandin-Pellika - led the way for the Griffins.

Carter Mazur was named the top star of the game.

A crowd of 7,776 witnessed the close-out contest. It seemed, for much of the series, that the Moose were trying to live by the sword, playing a roughhouse brand of hockey against the clearly more talented Griffins. The Moose ended up dying by it Friday night, as the Griffins scored three of their goals on the power play with Manitoba players in the penalty box throughout the night - and the series. Carter Mazur scored his second goal of the game and fourth of the playoff series for the Griffins.

Just like in Wednesday night's loss to G.R., the Moose didn't go down without a fight, scoring with 3:44 left in regulation to make it 4-2. But the Griffins scored an empty-net goal with 3:03 to go to seal the victory. And who else scored but Carter Mazur? Unassisted, no less, to make it 5-2.

The Griffins advance to play the Chicago Wolves in the AHL Central Division finals. The Chicago Wolves defeated the Texas Stars in five games on May 5th.

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The Griffins' playoff games air on NewsRadio WOOD 1300 / 106.9 FM | Grand Rapids' News, Weather & Traffic

1st Period: Griffins 1, Moose 0. Shots on goal: G.R. 7, Manitoba 6.

[7:11pm] The game is underway. Two minutes in, and Goalie Thomas Milic in net for the Manitoba Moose tonight, and Amadeus Lombardi took three whacks at the puck a foot from the paint into Milic's left leg pad. The bad blood from the other night seems to be carrying over to tonight. Michael Brandsegg-Nygaard and some Moose defensemen exchange shoves in front of the cage.

With 15:56 to go (4:04 into the contest), a holding call against the Moose's Mason Shaw. 4:40 in and Eduards Tralmaks with a one-timer from the top of the right faceoff for the game's first goal. Erik Gustaffson with a good fake shot and feed to Tralmaks, who made no mistake blasting the disc over Milic's blocker. Gustaffson and Wojciech Stachowiak were credited with the assists

The Griffins are 2-for-6 on the power play in this series.

With 10:34 to go, Amadeus Lombardi and Carter Mazur - who scored two goals in Wednesday night's Game 3 Griffins' win - skated together right in on goal, but Milic blanked them. The Griffins led in shots on goal, 6-3.

The Griffins had six shots on goal in the game's first 10 minutes but only one the rest of the period. They were buzzing around the Moose cage, so skating well despite not getting more shots off. Grand Rapids ends the period with 7 shots on goal, and Manitoba mustered 6, including one with 8.4 seconds that almost slipped past Griffins' netminder Michael Postava, he of the tidy 1.01 postseason Goals Against Average.

2nd Period: Griffins 2, Moose 1. Shots on goal: G.R. 17, Manitoba 12.

[8:10pm] The second stanza begins. Just 3:04 into the period, and Dylan Anhorn wrists one into the Griffins' net from the high slot. Postava got a piece of it but there were a lot of Moose and Griffins' bodies in front of the crease. Brayden Yager and Colby Barlow got the assists.

A lot of end-to-end action, and no whistles for a few minutes now. With 11:27 to go, Dominik Shine flies down the right side and fires a shot that goalie Milic gets his right pad on in the nick of time for the Moose. And then Postava reaches back a moment later to make a quick save on an in-close shot with 10:42 left.

The zebras call a questionable goalie-interference penalty on Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, gifting the Moose with a power play with 10:01 left. But the Griffins kill it and almost light the lamp on a 2-on-1 with 8:07 to go in the period. The shots on goal favor G.R., 13-12.

With 6:56 left in the period, a penalty is called against Moose defenseman Ashton Sautner: two minutes for high sticking. With :18 seconds left in the power play the Griffins make the mistake of hand-passing the puck and the faceoff comes out past the blue line. It looks costly until the Griffins' Axel Sandin-Pellika carries the puck in from center ice, splits two defenders and fires the puck through Milic's leg pads: a big goal with :02 left on the power play. That gives the lead back to the Griffins at the 14:50 mark (5:10 left in the period). John Leonard with the assist Grand Rapids is now 2-for-2 on the power play tonight and 3-for-7 in the playoff series.

With 4:15 to go in the 2nd period, Jakub Rychlovsky is called for a two-minute tripping penalty. The Moose are taking cheap shots and now, with 2:53 to go, players are being sent to the sin bin as tempers boil over. The crowd is roaring. Philip Di Giuseppe gets a 2-minute interference penalty for the Moose. After the Griffins' penalty expires a few seconds later, G.R. is back to full strength and on the power play. But the Moose kill the penalty and the period ends. Grand Rapids had 10 shots on goal in the second stanza and the Moose had six.

3rd Period:

Just 1:38 into the final frame, a pretty give-and-go goal for the Griffins' Michael Brandsegg-Nygard off a superb pass from Amadeus Lombardi: MBN's 2nd tally of the playoffs. Carter Mazur with an assist, as well. The crowd erupts and Grand Rapids is less than 18 minutes away from possibly advancing to the AHL Central Division finals.

The Griffins are smelling blood with 13:09 remaining in regulation, as they go on the power play after a slashing penalty against Manitoba left wing Tyson Empey. The Griffins score yet another power play goal with 11:18 to go. Carter Mazur does it again, scoring his third goal of the postseason, with assists by Lombardi and Gustafsson. They both have two assists, and it's Gustafsson's second straight two-point game.

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GAME NOTES from Griffins P.R.:

The Griffins rallied from a 1-0 series deficit. It is the first time Grand Rapids has won a best-of-five series in four games after losing Game 1. And it was just the second time the Griffins won a series after being shut out in the first game. They rallied to defeat Houstin in five games in the 2013 Western Conference quarterfinals.

Providence ended up with the AHL's best record during the regular season, but the Bruins have already been bounced out of the playoffs. Springfield defeated Providence in their best-of-five Atlantic Division Semifinals series, highlighted by a 3-2 overtime win on May 6. The Bruins had a first-round bye but lost in the second round to the Thunderbirds.

The Griffins clinched their 20th playoff berth (28 postseasons) with a franchise-best 51-16-4-1 record (.743) and 107 points, claiming first place in the Central Division, first in the Western Conference and second overall in the AHL. The Griffins held at least a share of first place in the Central Division for the entire season and led the entire AHL for much of the campaign.

On Feb. 27, the Griffins clinched their 20th playoff berth with a 4-1 Hershey Bears victory over the Rockford IceHogs and became the first team to clinch a spot in the postseason. Feb. 27 was the earliest clinching date in team history, surpassing the previous mark of March 6 during the 2003-04 season, and the earliest for an AHL team since 1992-93, when the Binghamton Rangers clinched on Feb. 24 with 24 games remaining.

Third-year head coach Dan Watson is the third head coach in franchise history to reach the postseason in the first three full years as head coach, joining Jeff Blashill (2012-15) and Todd Nelson (2015-18).

Game 3 Recap

Behind Carter Mazur’s game-winning goal in the second period and empty-netter in the final minute, the Griffins bested the Manitoba Moose 4-2 at Van Andel Arena on Wednesday in Game 3 of the Central Division Semifinals to claim a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series. Michal Postava notched 15 saves, continuing his streak of not allowing more than three goals in any game during the 2025-26 campaign. Over his three postseason appearances, he has stopped 67 of 70 shots for a 1.01 goals-against average and a .957 save percentage. Erik Gustafsson recorded his first goal and assist of the playoffs, while Jakub Rychlovsky tallied the opening goal for his first of the postseason. The Griffins are 4-2 all time when leading a best-of-five series 2-1. By holding Manitoba to only 17 shots, Grand Rapids challenged its record for fewest shots allowed in a playoff game (15, April 24, 2009 vs. Hamilton).

Game 2 Recap

A day after ending Game 1 of the Central Division Semifinals on the wrong end of a shutout, the Griffins and goaltender Michal Postava responded in kind on Sunday by blanking the Manitoba Moose 2-0 to even the best-of-five series at one win apiece. Michael Brandsegg-Nygård provided the spark for the Griffins’ offense, scoring the game’s first goal in the opening period before assisting on William Wallinder’s insurance tally late in the third, as the Griffins found a solution to Moose netminder Domenic DiVincentiis. Postava’s shutout was the first by a Griffin in the playoffs since Jared Coreau made 25 saves in a 3-0 win over the Moose in Game 4 of the division semifinals in 2018. Only one other Grand Rapids rookie has ever earned a playoff shutout: Petr Mrazek, who blanked four opponents during the Griffins’ run to the 2013 Calder Cup. The Griffins are 2-4 all time in best-of-five series that were tied after two games.

Game 1 Recap

Game 1 of the Central Division Semifinals served up a goaltending battle on Saturday at the Canada Life Centre, as Domenic DiVincentiis made 39 saves to backstop the Manitoba Moose to a 1-0 win over the Griffins. Michal Postava countered with 22 saves for the Griffins in his Calder Cup Playoff debut, denying every shot by the home squad until Mason Shaw popped home a rebound during a power play with just 2:26 remaining in the third period. Including his 25 appearances during the regular season, the co-winner of the AHL’s Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award – with teammate Sebastian Cossa – still has yet to allow more than three goals in a game this season. Now in their fifth playoff series against Manitoba, the Griffins are still looking for their first Game 1 victory over the Moose. Manitoba won each of the last three series after taking Game 1 on home ice, most recently the 2018 division semifinals.