GRIFFINS (38-24-6-4) at San Jose Barracuda (36-21-3-4)

Griffins Game #73 * Road Game #37 * AHL Game #1094

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

Griffins at Barracuda
Fourth of four meetings overall, second of two at the SAP Center at San Jose...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 7-11-0-3 all time against current Pacific Division foes in the regular season, including 2-6-0-2 on the road.

Last Game (Friday): Griffins 1 at Barracuda 3 - Read the full recap here
Grand Rapids lost in regulation at San Jose for the first time ever in the regular season...Troy Loggins, skating in his second pro game, banked his first goal at 4:06 of the second period...Patrik Rybar recorded 27 saves while appearing in his fifth consecutive game...Defenseman Eric Sweetman, signed to a professional tryout earlier in the day, made his AHL debut with the Griffins...Turner Elson played in his 300th AHL game.

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 38-24-6-4 record and 86 points, trailing Chicago by six points and leading Iowa and Milwaukee by five. Grand Rapids finishes off its three-game California road trip this afternoon at San Jose in its penultimate away contest of the season and will look to halt a five-game skid. The Griffins return to Van Andel Arena on Wednesday to host the Iowa Wild.

Playoffs?

Grand Rapids clinches a playoff berth today with:

(a) a win at San Jose AND an Iowa win or regulation loss vs. Milwaukee, OR

(b) a win at San Jose AND a Manitoba regulation loss vs. Stockton, OR

(c) an OTL/SOL at San Jose AND a Texas loss (reg/OT/SO) vs. Rockford AND a Milwaukee regulation loss vs. Iowa

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. The Red Wings conclude their regular season tonight at home against Buffalo.

Puttin’ It Down for Californ-i-a
This afternoon marks game No. 16 for Grand Rapids in the state of California, including playoffs. The Griffins are 4-9-0-2 (0.333), 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 (T10th in AHL) and 60 points (T13th) – 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 31 GP in 2019, Wade Megan leads Grand Rapids with 29 points and 15 goals while tying for third with 14 assists and tying for third with a plus-eight rating. He has produced 12 points (5-7—12) in his last 13 outings.

Rybar Supports
Patrik Rybar, in his first season in North America, ties for second league with 2.28 GAA and in his last 15 appearances he shows a 2.10 GAA, a 0.925 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 965-653-27-57-112 (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 (316 / 683) and just ahead of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (303 / 655).

This Date in Griffins History
The Griffins are 4-3-0-0-1 all time when playing on April 6, including a 3-2-0-0-1 mark on road ice.
2001: The Griffins claim the IHL’s Huber Trophy as regular season champions with a 2-1 win at Utah.
2002: With a 3-2 victory at Chicago, the Griffins win the AHL's inaugural Bud Poile Trophy as West Division champions.
2003: Marc Lamothe and Joey MacDonald become the second consecutive set of Griffins goalies to receive the AHL’s Harry “Hap” Holmes Memorial Award, presented annually to the goaltender(s) appearing in at least 25 games for the team that allows the fewest goals during the regular season. Grand Rapids gave up just 177 goals, one more than the league record.
2006: Donald MacLean is named to the AHL’s First All-Star Team while two of his teammates, Bryan Helmer and Jiri Hudler, earn a place on the Second Team.
2012: Chris Minard is named the winner of the Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award as the AHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of sportsmanship, determination and dedication to hockey.
2016: Robbie Russo is named to the AHL All-Rookie Team, one day before earning a spot on the league’s Second All-Star Team.

Photo by Mark Newman/Griffins