Griffins Game #66 * Road Game #32 * AHL Game #1,059

Season Series: 5-4-0-0 Home Series: 3-3-0-0 Road Series: 2-1-0-0
All-Time Series: 72-51-11-11 All-Time Home Series: 43-20-6-5 All-Time Road Series: 29-31-5-6

Griffins at IceHogs
Tenth of 12 meetings overall, fourth of six at the BMO Center…Grand Rapids will play Rockford three times in the remaining seven games of the regular season, all at the BMO Center...Grand Rapids has wins in five of the last seven games against Rockford...The Griffins are 24-16-4-1 (.589) since the 2020-21 season against Rockford and have a plus-11 scoring margin (127-116). On the road since 2020-21, Grand Rapids is 13-8-0-0 (.619) against Rockford with a plus-four scoring margin (61-57)...Rockford is Grand Rapids’ third-most frequent opponent, as tonight’s game marks the 146th meeting between the two franchises...The IceHogs are 4-4-1-1 in their last 10 games...Rockford is 15-13-2-1 at home compared to 13-16-4-1 on the road...The Griffins are 5-5-0-0 in their last 10 games...Grand Rapids is 17-12-2-0 on the road compared to 16-14-2-2 at home...Rockford’s power play places 15th at 18.4% and its penalty kill ranks 18th at 82.0%...Rockford ranks 23rd with 2.88 goals per game and tied for 16th with 3.06 goals against...The IceHogs’ Cole Guttman leads the team in points (55), goals (22), and assists (33). He is also tied for 13th in the AHL in points...Rockford’s goaltender Drew Commesso is tied for sixth with four shutouts...Former Griffin Andreas Athanasiou (2013-16) is featured on Rockford’s roster. Athanasiou helped Grand Rapids claim a division title in 2014-15 and totaled 51 points (25-26—51) in 83 regular-season games with the Griffins...Rockford’s Gerry Mayhew has been trouble for the Griffins throughout his career, as he has 26 points (17-9—26) and a plus-eight rating in 31 games against Grand Rapids between Iowa (2017-21) and Rockford (2024-25). 

Last Time Out
Behind a season-high five-goal first period, the Griffins posted a season-high eight goals to defeat the IceHogs 8-3 on Friday at Van Andel Arena. The five-goal margin of victory marked yet another season high, and the eight tallies were the most in a game for Grand Rapids since they defeated Chicago 8-7 in overtime on Dec. 22, 2022. Eight different Griffins posted multi-point outings, including three-point performances from rookie Nate Danielson (2-1—3), Dominik Shine (1-2—3) and Joe Snively (0-3—3). Shine’s tally moved him into a tie for ninth place with Derek King on the franchise’s all-time scoring list (73). Sheldon Dries (1-1—2) netted his team-high 21st goal of the season, good for his 150th as a professional. Following a call-up to Detroit, Austin Watson (1-1—2) returned to the Griffins’ lineup and extended his goal streak to five games. Amadeus Lombardi (1-1—2) continued to find the back of the net, earning his fourth goal in the last four games.

This Date in Griffins History
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. 

Welcome Back
After missing the previous eight and four Griffins games, respectively, while on recall to Detroit, forwards Dominik Shine and Austin Watson returned to Grand Rapids’ lineup last night in a tie for second on the team in scoring. They paid immediate dividends, with Shine notching a goal and two assists and Watson tallying a goal and a helper in an 8-3 win over Rockford that snapped the Griffins’ four-game skid. Watson extended his point streak to six games (5-3—8 from March 5-April 4) and his goal streak to five games (5-2—7 from March 8-April 4), the latter marking the longest for a Griffin since Joel L'Esperance’s lit the lamp in five straight from Dec. 27, 2023-Jan. 6, 2024. Shine has logged his first nine NHL games with the Red Wings this season, recording one assist and 15 penalty minutes, while Watson shows two goals and 17 PIM in eight appearances with the parent club.

The Lombardi Trophy 
After last night’s two-point effort (1-1—2), second-year pro Amadeus Lombardi has recorded consecutive multi-point games for the first time in his career and has tallied four goals in the last four games (4-1—5). He enjoyed a career-high four-game assist streak from March 8-15 (0-5—5) and now has points in seven of the last nine outings (4-6—10). Lombardi was sidelined for 28 games due to rehabbing an upper-body injury from Dec. 6-Feb. 15. Since his return, the Aurora, Ontario, native has 16 points (7-9—16) in 17 outings, which includes two career-best four-game point streaks. Through 37 appearances, Lombardi has a career-high 31 points (16-15—31) after showing 26 points (5-21—26) in 70 games as a rookie last season. Despite his limited games, Lombardi still ranks among the team leaders in points (6th), assists (T7th) and goals (4th). The 21-year-old was selected 113th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.