Lombardi OT Goal Gives Griffins AHL's Best 50-Game Record, Magic Number 2

Amadeus Lombardi ended it in overtime, and the result was immediate: a 4-3 victory over the Milwaukee Admirals that registered as the Grand Rapids Griffins’ 40th win in 50 games and, per team reporting, the best 50-game showing in the AHL’s 90-year history. The win also trimmed the Griffins’ playoff magic number to 2.

The pace behind that mark reads like a season-long sprint. Grand Rapids opened the campaign 23-1-0-1 through 25 games for 47 points, sat at 26-1-0-1 with 53 points through 28 games, and reached 56 points through 30 games at 27-1-1-1. The club hit 61 points through 35 games (29-3-2-1), a total the team noted tied the best 35-game start in league history.

Those early-season numbers translated into dominant midseason totals. Through 40 games the Griffins were 32-5-2-1 with 67 points, having scored 139 goals while allowing 74 and carrying a .838 win percentage. By 47 games Grand Rapids’ ledger stood at 37-7-2-1 for 77 points, and the club led the AHL in points with a 19-point cushion on Chicago for first place in the Central Division, per the team’s record summaries.

Grand Rapids’ run has been built on pronounced streaks and resilience. The club set an AHL record with a 17-game road points streak from Oct. 10 to Jan. 23, posted a franchise-tying 15-game winning streak from Nov. 22 to Dec. 27, and produced a 19-game point streak from Nov. 22 to early January. The schedule has not been without turbulence: the Griffins dropped six of 10 games from Jan. 7-30, then rebounded with a 5-1-0-0 stretch from Jan. 31-Feb. 15, outscoring opponents 24-11 in that span and scoring five goals in four of six recent contests while allowing more than two goals only once.

The late-game heroics have come from players stepping into the moment. Lombardi’s overtime tally was his second straight night scoring an overtime game-winner. The Griffins’ performance has also triggered NHL attention; Sheldon Dries and Justin Holl were both called up to the Detroit Red Wings, though local reporting noted those moves were affected by an illness in the Griffins’ locker room and described the players as having been “unfortunately recalled due to illness in the Griffins locker room.”

Captain Dominik Shine framed the club’s approach amid record talk with a measured tone: “You just try to take it day by day. I think when you get caught looking at things like that might not be good for your head,” Shine said. “So I think we're just staying humble, working hard. That's the that's the reason we've had successes we haven't, you know, stopped working. We've been working since game one. We're hard to play against. And, you know, it's just been really fun.”

The franchise is marking milestones beyond the standings: 2026 is the Griffins’ 30th year of operation, and the regular season still has 32 games remaining. With the magic number down to 2 and Lombardi supplying late finishes, Grand Rapids moves into the stretch with a historic 50-game footprint and a clear pathway to clinch positioning as it pursues postseason seeding. The Griffins’ next home promotion is noted for fans on the schedule, the team’s next match on the 30th will be a $2 Beer and a $2 Hot Dog night, as the club balances record-chasing with the march toward the playoffs.