GRIFFINS (38-23-6-4) at San Jose Barracuda (35-21-3-4)

Griffins Game #72 * Road Game #36 * AHL Game #1079

Season Series: 1-1-0-0 Home Series: 1-1-0-0 Road Series: 0-0-0-0
All-Time Series: 3-2-0-1 All-Time Home Series: 2-2-0-0 All-Time Road Series: 1-0-0-1

Griffins at Barracuda
Third of four meetings overall, first of two at the SAP Center at San Jose…The season series will conclude tomorrow...Grand Rapids has points in both of its regular season visits to the SAP Center (1-0-0-1) and has points in four of the six all-time meetings vs. San Jose (3-2-0-1)…The Griffins and Barracuda split the two meetings in West Michigan earlier this season with San Jose winning 4-0 on Jan. 25 and the Griffins responding with a 3-2 shootout victory the next night…Roy Sommer is in his league-record 21st season as an AHL head coach and all have been in the Sharks organization…Sommer is the AHL’s all-time head coaching leader in games coached and wins…Sommer appeared in 54 games with the Grand Rapids Owls across two seasons (1977-78, 1979-80) and totaled 43 points (21-22—43)…T.J. Hensick played at Michigan from 2003-07 and has skated in 47 games with the Toledo Walleye, the ECHL affiliate of Grand Rapids and Detroit, this season showing 58 points (17-41—58)...The Griffins are 7-10-0-3 all time against current Pacific Division foes in the regular season, including 2-5-0-2 on the road.

Last Game (Wednesday): Griffins 1 at Reign 3 - Read the full recap here
Grand Rapids dropped the second-ever meeting between the teams and the first at Ontario...Wade Megan recorded his 18th goal of the season while on the power play at 3:53 of the third period...The Griffins outshot Ontario 41-31...Patrik Rybar notched 28 saves while appearing in his fourth consecutive game...Troy Loggins, a native of Huntington Beach, Calif., made his professional debut...Ontario marked the 53rd different road city and Citizens Business Bank Arena the 64th different road venue the Griffins have competed in since the franchise’s inception in 1996.

Status Update
The Griffins’ magic number to extend their franchise-record Calder Cup Playoff streak to seven years stands at three points. Grand Rapids is in sole possession of second place in the Central Division standings with a 38-23-6-4 record and 86 points, trailing Chicago by six points and leading Iowa by five. The Griffins will look to end a four-game slide tonight when they make their first visit of the season to San Jose. Grand Rapids will round out its three-game California road trip tomorrow against the Barracuda before returning to Van Andel Arena on Wednesday to host the Iowa Wild. Grand Rapids has won three of its last five away games.

Playoffs?
The Griffins can clinch a Calder Cup Playoff berth tonight with a win at San Jose AND a Milwaukee loss (reg./OT/SO) vs. Chicago, OR an OTL/SOL at San Jose AND a Milwaukee regulation loss vs. Chicago AND a Texas loss (reg./OT/SO) vs. Rockford. Should they secure 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).

Getting the Call
Eight members of Grand Rapids’ projected playoff roster are currently with the Red Wings, including forwards Christoffer Ehn, Martin Frk, Matt Puempel and Dominic Turgeon, and defensemen Jake Chelios, Joe Hicketts, Filip Hronek and Dylan McIlrath.

Puttin’ It Down for Californ-i-a
This weekend will mark games No. 15 and 16 for Grand Rapids in the state of California, including playoffs. The Griffins are 4-8-0-2 (0.357), which includes 1-1 in the postseason.

(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 last Sunday. With 28 goals (T9th in AHL) and 60 points (T11th) – all team highs – Terry has reached the 60-point mark for the sixth time in his AHL career.

Page Turner
Sixth-year pro Turner Elson has set new career highs this season in both points (38) and assists (21) and tied his career best in goals with 17.

Wade For It
In 30 GP in 2019, Wade Megan leads Grand Rapids with 28 points and 15 goals while tying for fourth with 13 assists and ranking third with a plus-eight rating. He has produced 11 points (5-6—11) in his last 12 outings.

Rybar Supports
Patrik Rybar, in his first season in North America, is fourth in the league with 2.29 GAA and in his last 14 appearances he shows a 2.10 GAA, a 0.924 save percentage and two clean sheets.

Griffins in General
Grand Rapids needs two wins and four points to reach 40 and 90, respectively, for the seventh consecutive season...The Griffins were the second team in the Western Conference to reach 80 points following a 2-1 shootout win at San Antonio on March 19...Grand Rapids became the first in the West to hit the 70-point plateau after a 4-3 shootout win against Texas on Feb. 22...The Griffins became the fifth team in the league this season to reach 30 victories after a 3-2 overtime win vs. San Antonio on Feb. 16...Grand Rapids achieved 30 Ws or more in its first 53 games for the sixth time in the last seven seasons...The Griffins’ 3-0 win against Milwaukee on Jan. 19 marked the franchise’s 950th all-time regular season victory…Grand Rapids is 965-652-27-57-112 (0.586) in the regular season since 1996-97…Grand Rapids’ 305 regular season wins and 660 points since the 2012-13 campaign are both the second-most in the AHL in that time, trailing only Toronto (315 / 681) and just ahead of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (302 / 653).

This Date in Griffins History
The Griffins are 7-3-0-0-0 all time when playing on April 5, including a 6-3-0-0-0 mark on road ice.
2000: For the fourth time in a span of 25 games, the Griffins score in the final minute with their goalie pulled to tie a game and force a shootout, in an eventual 3-2 triumph at Michigan. The win gives Grand Rapids 100 points (101) for the first time in the team’s four seasons.
2001: Travis Richards is named the IHL’s Defenseman of the Month for March.
2003: Despite a 6-3 loss at Houston, the Griffins finish the season with a 48-22-8-2 mark and set an AHL record by allowing just 84 road goals for the season. With 177 total goals allowed, one more than the league record, the Griffins’ defense finishes atop the circuit for the second straight season. Marc Lamothe ends the season as the AHL’s leader with 60 games played (tied), 33 wins and 3,438 minutes played.
2006: Jimmy Howard becomes the first Griffin ever to earn a spot on the AHL All-Rookie Team.
2013: A 4-1 victory at Abbotsford marks the 700th win in the Griffins’ 17-year history.

Photo by Sam Iannamico/Griffins