GRIFFINS (2-4-0-0) at Belleville Senators (3-4-0-0)

Griffins Game #7 * Road Game #4 * AHL Game #107

Season Series: 0-0-0-0 Home Series: 0-0-0-0 Road Series: 0-0-0-0
All-Time Series: 0-0-0-0 All-Time Home Series: 0-0-0-0 All-Time Road Series: 0-0-0-0

Griffins vs. Senators
First of four meetings overall, first of two at CAA Arena…Belleville is in its second AHL season…The Senators make the return trip to West Michigan on Jan. 11-12…Belleville had 17 players play in at least one NHL game during its inaugural 2017-18 season…Goaltender Mike McKenna is in his first season with Belleville and has been on the losing end in the last two Calder Cup Finals (2017 Syracuse, 2018 Texas)…McKenna was the goalie of record in all six games against Grand Rapids during the Griffins’ 2017 title run…Belleville is the first of two North Division teams the Griffins will face this season, as Grand Rapids and Cleveland will also meet up four times…Grand Rapids is 137-89-1-10-17 all time (0.594) against current North Division members, with 92 of those games coming against Cleveland (50-28-0-4-10), 72 against Rochester (41-24-1-3-3) and 66 against Toronto (31-30-0-3-2).

Status Update
The Griffins are 2-4-0-0 after splitting last week’s divisional games against the Texas Stars and Chicago Wolves. Grand Rapids concludes its eight-game October schedule tonight and tomorrow when the Griffins travel to Belleville for the inaugural matchups against the Senators.

Last Game (Saturday): Wolves 3 at Griffins 5
Grand Rapids snapped a six-game losing streak to the Wolves and handed Chicago its first loss of the season…Defensemen Brian Lashoff and Libor Sulak made their season debuts with the team…Defenseman Chris Carlisle, signed to a professional tryout on Oct. 18, made his Griffins debut…Defenseman Vili Saarijarvi scored his first AHL goal at 19:52 of the first period…Harri Sateri picked up the secondary assist on Saarijarvi’s goal, the first assist by a Griffins goaltender since Matej Machovsky on March 25, 2018 at Chicago…Grand Rapids’ penalty kill finished 6-for-6 after allowing three power play goals on Wednesday.

Old Affiliates
The Belleville Senators are in their second season as the primary affiliate to the Ottawa Senators. The Griffins spent three seasons (1999-2002) as Ottawa’s affiliate, including their last two as members of the International Hockey League (1999-2001) and their first in the American Hockey League (2001-02). From 1999-2002, the Griffins won three straight division titles while compiling a 146-71-11-4-12 regular season record (0.653) to go along with an 18-14 playoff mark (0.563). The Senators showed similar success during the affiliation, advancing to the Stanley Cup Playoffs all three seasons and showing a 128-76-29-13 regular season record (0.606). Of the Griffins’ 171 alumni to play in the NHL, 38 came from 1999-02.

This Week in Griffins History
On Oct. 24, 2000, the Senators exercised the option for a third year of their affiliation with the Griffins.

New Places to Play
Belleville, Ontario, will mark the 52nd different road city and CAA Arena will be the 63rd different road venue the Griffins have competed in since the franchise’s inception in 1996.

On This Date in Griffins History
2002: Michel Picard’s two goals and one assist give him 250 points as a Griffin and power the club to a 6-2 win at Syracuse.
2004: The Griffins kick off a franchise-record nine-game homestand with a 4-0 thrashing of Rochester, giving the team its first-ever 5-0 start. Joey MacDonald makes 20 saves to match Mathieu Chouinard’s individual-record 5-0 start from 2000-01 and claim the 10th shutout of his Griffins career.

Blueliner Movement
The Griffins’ roster of defensemen looks quite a bit different than it did a week ago. Last Wednesday, the Red Wings assigned Libor Sulak to the Griffins while the Griffins released Mackenze Stewart from his professional tryout, returning him to the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye. Last Thursday, the Griffins signed Chris Carlisle to a professional tryout and assigned Marcus Crawford to Toledo. Last Friday, the Red Wings activated Brian Lashoff off injured reserve and assigned him to Grand Rapids. This week Tuesday, the Red Wings assigned Filip Hronek to the Griffins and Wednesday, the Griffins released Matt Finn from his professional tryout.

Defensive Experience
Last Tuesday, the Griffins’ roster of seven defensemen combined for 721 career AHL/NHL games played. Fast forward to today, and Grand Rapids’ eight defensemen combine for 1,400 career AHL/NHL GP.

Ehn Joins Griffins
The Red Wings yesterday assigned center Christoffer Ehn to the Griffins. Skating in his first season in North America, Ehn has appeared in nine games with the Red Wings, posting one point (0-1—1), a plus-two rating, four PIM and seven shots while averaging 9:36 of ice time. The 22-year-old picked up his first NHL point on an assist on Oct. 11 vs. Toronto. Ehn was Detroit’s third choice, 106th overall, in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.

Saari, Not Saari
Second-year defenseman Vili Saarijarvi notched his first AHL tally at 19:52 of the first period during last Saturday’s 5-3 win against Chicago. A third-round selection by Detroit in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Saarijarvi is on a three-game point streak and ties with Jake Chelios for most points by a team blueliner (1-2—3).

Veteran Presence
The Griffins have four players with four or more points through six games. Three of the four are veterans – Matt Puempel, Carter Camper and Chris Terry – with the lone exception being rookie Filip Zadina.

Z-Score
The sixth overall selection in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft by Detroit, Filip Zadina ties for second on the team in goals (2) and third in points (4). The 18-year-old is the highest Red Wings draft pick ever to suit up for the Griffins. Only three players in Griffins history were drafted higher than No. 6: Jason Spezza (No. 2 by Ottawa in 2001), Darrin Shannon (No. 4 by Pittsburgh in 1988) and Stephen Weiss (No. 4 by Florida in 2001). Dylan Larkin (selected 15th overall in the 2014 Draft) was the previous highest Red Wings draft selection to play for Grand Rapids.

Only the Beginning
Grand Rapids has started a season with two victories or less in its first six games for the fifth time since 2012-13. Each of the previous four times, in 2017-18 (started 2-3-0-1 after winning 2017 Calder Cup), 2015-16 (started 1-5-0-0), 2013-14 (started 2-2-1-1 after winning 2013 Calder Cup) and 2012-13 (started 1-3-1-1), the team went on to qualify for the Calder Cup Playoffs. Of course, the 2012-13 campaign ended with the club capturing its first Calder Cup.

No Shots For You
Grand Rapids has given up more than 30 shots just once (32 on Oct. 17 vs. Texas) and ties for third in the AHL in shots against (26.0). The Griffins have outshot four of six opponents so far.

Photo by Sam Iannamico/Griffins