GRIFFINS (38-26-7-4) at Milwaukee Admirals (34-24-14-2)

Griffins Game #76 * Road Game #38 * AHL Game #1134

Season Series: 6-2-0-1 Home Series: 3-1-0-1 Road Series: 3-1-0-0
All-Time Series: 98-63-7-7-8 All-Time Home Series: 53-30-2-2-3 All-Time Road Series: 45-33-5-5-5

Griffins at Admirals
Tenth of 10 meetings overall, fifth of five at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena…Milwaukee is on a 12-game point streak (9-0-2-1), the longest active streak in the AHL…The Griffins have won five of the last six games over Milwaukee while also showing points in nine of the last 11 (8-2-0-1) and in 17 of the last 22 (15-5-1-1)…Since the 2013-14 campaign, the Griffins are 39-17-2-1 against the Admirals, including 20-8-1-1 at home and 19-9-1-0 away…The Griffins have faced the Admirals more than any other opponent in team history as the two clubs will meet for the 184th time in the regular season tonight…Since the Admirals moved to Panther Arena at the start of the 2016-17 season, the Griffins are 12-3-0-0 at Milwaukee in the regular season…Matt Puempel (6-3—9 in 8 GP) leads the scoring for Grand Rapids…Patrik Rybar has shut out the Admirals twice this season (Jan. 19, March 9) and is 3-1-1 with a 0.99 GAA and a 0.964 save percentage while Harri Sateri is 3-1-0 with a 2.67 GAA and a 0.893 save percentage…Admirals netminder Tom McCollum played with the Griffins from 2009-16 and 2017-18 and is the franchise’s all-time goalie leader in wins (123), games played (263), minutes (14900:25) and saves (6640), helped Grand Rapids win the 2013 Calder Cup and is the team’s only four-time AHL Man of the Year nominee…In five appearances vs. Grand Rapids, McCollum is 1-1-3 with a 2.32 GAA and a 0.927 save percentage…Head coach Ben Simon skated in 18 games with the Admirals during the 2003-04 campaign and finished with four points (1-3—4)…Grand Rapids is concluding its campaign at Milwaukee for the second time in the last three seasons (2016-17).

Last Time Out (Friday): Moose 4 at Griffins 1 - Read the full recap here
Grand Rapids had its five-game winning streak against the Moose snapped...The Griffins finished the season series with a 6-2-0-0 mark, including 3-1-0-0 at Van Andel Arena...The capacity crowd of 10,834 marked Grand Rapids’ eighth sellout of the season...Martin Frk scored his fifth goal of the season and has 14 points in 12 games with the Griffins...Harri Sateri made 24 saves in his first game since March 29.

Status Update
The Griffins’ magic number to extend their franchise-record Calder Cup Playoff streak to seven years stands at one point. With Chicago already having clinched the Central Division, Grand Rapids is in sole possession of second place with a 38-26-7-4 record and 87 points, leading Milwaukee by three. The Griffins will look to snap an eight-game winless streak (0-7-1-0) when they close the book on the franchise’s 23rd regular season of play tonight at Milwaukee. This marks just the second time in the Griffins’ 23-year history that their playoff fate will be determined on or after the date of their final regular season game. In 2006-07, Grand Rapids lost its finale 5-1 at Toronto but still qualified for the postseason thanks to Peoria’s 4-0 loss to Milwaukee that day.

Playoff Push
With the Griffins’ magic number stuck on one point over the trio of Iowa, Milwaukee and Manitoba, there are five AHL results this weekend that would each secure Grand Rapids’ seventh consecutive playoff berth: tonight, a Griffins win at Milwaukee, a Rockford victory at Iowa, or a Chicago win versus Manitoba; or on Sunday, either a Chicago victory against Manitoba or a Rockford win versus Milwaukee. In addition, one point earned by Grand Rapids in today’s tilt against the Admirals would cement second place in the Central Division for the Griffins along with home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Should the Griffins claim their spot, it will extend their franchise-record postseason streak to seven years and mark the 17th time in the franchise’s 23-year history they have qualified for the league’s playoffs (includes IHL). Ben Simon is seeking to become the eighth head coach in franchise history to lead the Griffins to the postseason during his first full season behind the bench, joining Dave Allison (1996-97), Bruce Cassidy (2000-01), Danton Cole (2002-03), Greg Ireland (2005-06) Curt Fraser (2008-09), Jeff Blashill (2012-13) and Todd Nelson (2015-16).

Griffins to Wings
Of the 38 players to play for the Red Wings this season, 27 had spent time in Grand Rapids at some point during their careers. A total of 14 players skated in games for both the Griffins and Red Wings this season.

Last Call
The Griffin post a 9-12-0-1 record all time in the final game of the regular season, including a 5-8-0-1 mark when it is played on the road. In the 13 times Grand Rapids has dropped the last game, the Griffins have gone on to the postseason 10 times and posted a 50-50 playoff mark. In the nine times Grand Rapids has been victorious to close out the season, the Griffins have continued onto the playoffs six times and tallied a 46-29 mark.

(Don’t) Put It In Reverse Terr
Chris Terry became the 96th player in AHL history to amass 500 or more points when he tallied an assist on Turner Elson’s power play goal on March 31. With 29 goals (T12th in AHL) and 61 points (T15th) – both team highs – Terry has reached the 60-point mark for the sixth time in his AHL career.

Sharing the Wealth
Chris Terry (29-32—61), Matt Puempel (24-26—50) and Carter Camper (17-33—50) have all hit the 50-point plateau to mark the third consecutive season the Griffins have boasted at least three players with 50 or more points.

Page Turner
Sixth-year pro Turner Elson continued his career year by scoring his 18th goal of the season on Wednesday. Elson has established career highs in goals (previous best was 17), points (39 – previous best was 30) and assists (21 – previous best was 16).

This Date in Griffins History
The Griffins are 2-4-0-1-0 all time when playing on April 13, including a 1-2-0-0-0 mark on road ice.
1997: The Griffins close out their inaugural regular season with a 4-2 win over Michigan before the 39th sellout crowd of 10,834 at Van Andel Arena. For their season-long support, Griffins fans are collectively named the first star of the game. The Griffins finish sixth in the Eastern Conference standings and draw third-seed Orlando in the first round of the Turner Cup Playoffs.
2013: Despite a 4-3 overtime loss to Peoria, the Griffins secure a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2009, a berth that eventually bears the fruit of the first championship in franchise history.
2015: Griffins captain Jeff Hoggan is named the 2014-15 winner of the Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award as the AHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of sportsmanship, determination and dedication to hockey.

Griffins in General
The Griffins’ 3-0 win against Milwaukee on Jan. 19 marked the franchise’s 950th all-time regular season victory…Grand Rapids is 965-655-27-58-112 (0.585) in the regular season since 1996-97…Grand Rapids’ 305 regular season wins and 661 points since the 2012-13 campaign are both the second-most in the AHL in that time, trailing only Toronto (317 / 686) and just ahead of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (303 / 655).

Photo by Sam Iannamico/Griffins