GRIFFINS (14-8-1-2) at Milwaukee Admirals (14-9-4-0)

Griffins Game #26 * Road Game #13 * AHL Game #382

Season Series: 1-0-0-1 Home Series: 1-0-0-1 Road Series: 0-0-0-0
All-Time Series: 93-61-7-7-8 All-Time Home Series: 51-29-2-2-3 All-Time Road Series: 42-32-5-5-5

Griffins at Admirals
Third of 10 meetings overall, first of five at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena...With a rivalry dating back to the International Hockey League days, the Griffins have faced the Admirals more than any other opponent in team history as the two clubs will meet up for the 177th time tonight…The Griffins have points in the last four matchups overall with Milwaukee (3-0-0-1) and are 10-3-1-1 in their last 15 regular season battles…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…McCollum is 0-0-2 with a 1.90 GAA and a 0.952 save percentage in two career appearances vs. Grand Rapids, with both games coming as a member of the Charlotte Checkers on April 12 and 14, 2017…McCollum served as a backup in both Milwaukee-Grand Rapids clashes so far this season…Griffins first-year head coach Ben Simon appeared in 18 games with the Admirals during the 2003-04 campaign and finished with four points (1-3—4)…Grand Rapids and Milwaukee have split the two meetings this season, with the Griffins winning 2-1 on Nov. 3 and the Admirals taking a 3-2 shootout victory on Nov. 23...Matt Puempel has collected four points (2-2—4) in the two games, which is the most for either team...Turner Elson (Oct. 11, 2013 vs. MIL), Joe Hicketts (Nov. 12, 2016 at MIL) and Filip Hronek (March 29, 2017 vs. MIL) all picked up their first AHL goals against the Admirals, while Dominik Shine made his pro debut against Milwaukee (March 19, 2017 at MIL).

Say ‘Cheese’
Since the Admirals moved to Panther Arena at the beginning of the 2016-17 campaign, Grand Rapids is 9-2-0-0 at Milwaukee in the regular season, including seven straight wins. During the seven-game winning streak in Wisconsin, the Griffins are outscoring the Admirals 31-13, while the power play is 9-for-30 (30.0%) and the penalty kill is 25-for-27 (92.6%). Milwaukee’s last win on home ice vs. Grand Rapids was March 19, 2017 (6-3 final).

Last Game (Saturday): Griffins 2 at Wild 5 - Read the full recap here
Grand Rapids’ nine-game point streak was snapped...The Griffins also saw their four-game winning streak at Wells Fargo Arena ended...Grand Rapids lost in regulation for the first time this season when tied after two periods (6-1-1-1), as Iowa scored three times in the final frame...Chris Terry tallied his league-leading 16th goal at 14:30 of the first period...Terry and Matt Puempel both recorded two-point games...The five goals allowed by Patrik Rybar were the most since giving up five in his North American debut on Oct. 13.

Status Update
The Griffins will look to get back in the win column tonight at Milwaukee after seeing their nine-game point streak (7-0-1-1) ended in last Saturday’s 5-2 loss at Iowa and their six-game winning streak halted in last Friday’s 3-2 overtime defeat at Rockford. Saturday’s shortfall in Des Moines marked the first regulation loss for the Griffins since Nov. 16 vs. Ontario. Grand Rapids has picked up points in 15 of its last 18 games (12-3-1-2) and is third in the Central Division with a 14-8-1-2 overall mark, one point behind Milwaukee. The Griffins wrap up a three-game road trip tonight, during which they are 0-1-1-0, before turning their sights toward a three-in-three weekend. The Griffins are in the midst of facing 14 Central Division opponents in a row. Grand Rapids is 7-1-1-1 in its last 10, the best mark in the Western Conference in that span.

Among AHL’s Best Since Oct. 27
The Griffins are 12-3-1-2 since Oct. 27, leading the league in points, tying for the most wins and placing third in points percentage in that time.

Road Reversal
After dropping their first four away games, the Griffins have points in six of their last eight (5-2-1-0). On foreign ice, Chris Terry has a team-high 11 points (7-4—11) and Patrik Rybar is 3-2-0.

Filip Hero-nek
Second-year defenseman Filip Hronek was held off the scoresheet for the first time in eight outings during last Saturday’s loss at Iowa. Hronek’s eight-game assist streak matched a franchise record, which was set by center Valtteri Filppula from March 26-Oct. 13, 2006, and his eight-game point streak tied with Bryan Helmer (Feb. 25-March 14, 2006) for the longest single-season point streak by a Griffins defenseman since 1999-2000. In the last nine games, the 21-year-old boasts 12 points (4-8—12), four two-point efforts and a plus-six rating. His 12 points since Nov. 23 are the most among league defensemen and tie for fourth among all AHL skaters. Last month, Hronek became the first player in franchise history to record an overtime goal in back-to-back games when he provided the theatrics in Nov. 24’s 4-3 win at Chicago and Nov. 26’s 3-2 victory at Iowa.

Back Up Terr
The AHL’s leading scorer from a season ago, Chris Terry is atop the league’s goal leaderboard with 16 and has lit the lamp four times in the last four games and eight in the last 11. The 10th-year pro also shows points in seven of the last eight contests, racking up 10 (5-5—10) in that span. Since the Griffins’ stretch of 15 points in their last 18 games began on Oct. 27, Terry has a league-high 14 goals while his 22 points in that period are sixth.

Page Turner
Sixth-year pro and second-year Griffin Turner Elson ranks second on the team with 21 points through 25 games and is on pace for 63, which would more than double his previous best of 30. He has already equaled last season’s output when he secured 21 points (9-12—21) in 57 appearances. In the last 13 outings, Elson accounts for 15 points (6-9—15). His two shorthanded goals, which are the team’s only two, tie for second in the AHL.

Puemped Up
Points have come in bunches for second-year Griffin Matt Puempel as of the 11 games he has registered on the scoresheet, eight of those have been two-point outings, tying for the most on the team. Puempel’s team-high 89 shots are third in the AHL.

Shots, Shots, Shots
Grand Rapids is one of only three teams (Bakersfield, Tucson) to rank in the top 10 in both shots for (31.36, 8th) and against (27.44, 6th). The Griffins have out shot 16 of 25 opponents and have eclipsed the 40-shot mark on three occasions (Dec. 7 at RFD, Nov. 23 vs. MIL, Nov. 10 at MB).

A Harri Situation
Goalie Harri Sateri has points in seven of his last eight starts (6-1-1-0), including five in a row. He had his four-game winning streak snapped in last Friday’s overtime defeat. During his five-game point run, the Finnish netminder owns a 2.54 goals against average and a 0.912 save percentage and has collected two wins in overtime.

Rybar Supports
Goaltender Patrik Rybar (pronounced REE-bar) shows points in eight of 11 starts this season (6-3-2) and is 10th in the AHL with a 2.52 goals against average. The 25-year-old is in his first season in North America and led the Czech Extraliga in both GAA (1.73) and shutouts (7) in 36 games with Hradec Kralove last season.

This Date in Griffins History
2000: Head coach Bruce Cassidy is named a co-coach for the IHL squad at the 2001 IHL All-Star Game, to be held Jan. 15 at the Allstate Arena in Chicago.

Photo by Mark Newman/Griffins