Griffins Game #54 * Road Game #27 * AHL Game #802

Season Series: 3-2-0-2 Home Series: 2-0-0-2 Road Series: 1-2-0-0
All-Time Series: 46-34-7-10 All-Time Home Series: 31-11-3-4 All-Time Road Series: 15-23-4-6

Griffins at IceHogs
Eighth of 10 meetings overall, fourth of five at the BMO Harris Bank Center…Grand Rapids has points in three straight meetings overall (1-0-0-2) as a 4-1 victory in the last matchup on Jan. 17 at Van Andel Arena snapped a four-game winless streak in the series (0-2-0-2)…Since the start of the 2017-18 season, the Griffins have points in seven of 13 games at the BMO Harris Bank Center (2-6-2-3)…Since the 2016-17 season, the home team in the series has posted a 25-8-2-2 record (0.730)…Chris Terry (2-3—5 in 7 GP) leads the team in the series, followed by four players with four points each...As a member of the Griffins, Matt Puempel has 19 points (8-11—19) in 22 GP against the IceHogs…The Griffins have killed off 17 consecutive penalties against the IceHogs and gone 23-for-24 on the PK in the series (95.8%)...Rockford’s lone PPG came during a 5-on-3 on Nov. 15...Ben Simon served as an assistant in Rockford for two seasons (2011-13)…Rockford head coach Derek King played in Grand Rapids from 1999-01 and 2002-04 and is the franchise’s all-time leading playoff scorer (16-25—41) and ranks fifth in regular season points (73-130—203).

Last Time Out (Saturday): Griffins 5 at Wolves 2 - Recap
Grand Rapids snapped a three-game losing streak against the Wolves…The Griffins rallied off five unanswered goals after Chicago opened the game’s scoring...Givani Smith netted his first career two-goal game...Rookie Jarid Lukosevicius lit the lamp in consecutive games for the second time this season...Matt Ford posted his third two-goal outing of the season and two have come at Chicago...Pat Nagle stopped 17 shots and has won his last three starts...Nineteen Chicago shots tied for the lowest Grand Rapids has allowed this season.

Status Update
The Griffins have accumulated points in 13 of their last 16 games (10-3-1-2) and tie the Wolves for third place in the Central Division with 55 points, just two ahead of Rockford. Tonight is the middle of a three-game tour through the Land of Lincoln as Grand Rapids won 5-2 at Chicago on Saturday and returns to the Windy City for a matinee encounter on Thursday. The Griffins have points in 10 of their last 11 divisional matchups (8-1-1-1) and 18 of the team’s final 23 games will come against the Central.

Movin’ On Up
Over the last 16 games, during which the Griffins have risen from last place in the division into a tie for third, Grand Rapids is outscoring opponents 49-40 and outshooting them 535-457 (+78) while operating at 21.1% on the power play (15-for-71) and 84.8% on the penalty kill (39-for-46). The Griffins have allowed the game’s opening goal 12 times in the last 16 outings, including in five straight. Chris Terry (5-8—13), Taro Hirose (0-11—11) and Michael Rasmussen (3-7—10) are the leading scorers in the stretch. Pat Nagle (5-1, 1.84 GAA, 0.931%) and Calvin Pickard (5-2-1, 2.66 GA, 0.910%, 1 SO) have shared crease duties during the run.

Net Nagle
Since Feb. 9, which includes wins in three consecutive starts and stopping all 14 attempts in a relief appearance, Pat Nagle shows a 1.43 GAA and a 0.944 save percentage. Zooming out, in his last seven appearances dating to Jan. 17, he has accounted for a 5-1 ledger, a 1.84 GAA and a 0.931 save mark. If he had enough minutes to qualify (about 240 shy), his 2.08 season GAA would place fourth in the league.

Model Year
Captain Matthew Ford became the fifth Griffin this season to reach the double-digit goal total after he netted his third two-goal of the season on Saturday. In his 12th year as a pro, Ford has banked 10 or more tallies in seven consecutive campaigns and his three multi-goal outings are his most since producing three during 2015-16 with Bakersfield.

Russian Influence
Evgeny Svechnikov is on a career-high four-game goal streak, notching five goals, including four on the power play, among seven points in that span. His four-game streak matches Eric Tangradi (Dec. 17-Jan. 5) as the longest by a Griffin this season and the last player with a five-game goal streak or longer was Matt Ford from Dec. 15-29, 2017 (five games). Svechnikov’s team-high seven points in five February games equals his outputs from December (2-2—4 in 11 GP) and January (1-2—3 in 10 GP) combined. He missed Saturday’s game at Chicago.

Tar-Oh!
Rookie Taro Hirose saw his team-high seven-game assist streak come to a close in Saturday’s win at Chicago. His seven-game run was the team’s longest since Filip Hronek’s eight-gamer from Nov. 23-Dec. 7, 2018. Hirose’s 21 points (4-17—21) and 17 assists are both team highs since Dec. 3 – the date of his first assignment by Detroit to Grand Rapids.

Time to Tango
Eric Tangradi lists eight goals among 11 points in 14 appearances this season. He ties for third on the team in power play goals (5), ties for seventh in goals overall and places fourth in points per game (0.79). A 2017 Calder Cup champion with Grand Rapids, Tangradi ranks among the club’s all-time leaders with 175 points (9th), 84 goals (5th) and 26 PPG (T2nd).

Back Up, Terr
2020 AHL All-Star Classic selection Chris Terry leads the team with 17 points (5-12—17) in 19 GP in the new year. Overall, he places sixth in the AHL in points (47) while pacing the Griffins in goals (18), assists (29), multi-point games (14) and power play goals (9).

February Finish
The Griffins have points in 22 of their last 27 games in the month of February (18-5-2-2, 0.741). That stretch includes points in 15 of 17 appearances at Van Andel Arena (12-2-2-1), including in seven straight (5-0-2-0), and in seven of 10 contests on foreign ice (6-3-0-1).

Give Me a Break
Since joining the AHL in the 2001-02 season, the Griffins post a 305-218-7-21-27 (0.575) combined record in games played after the all-star break. Grand Rapids has tallied a 0.500 mark or better in each of the last nine seasons after the hiatus, including going a combined 135-72-11-12 (0.637) since 2012-13 – the year its current postseason streak began. The Griffins are 4-2-1-0 after the break so far this season.

Rotating Roster
Five different goaltenders have logged minutes for Grand Rapids this season, the team’s most since five suited up during the 2014-15 campaign (Pat Nagle, Jonas Gustavsson, Petr Mrazek, Jared Coreau, Tom McCollum). Including those five goalies, the Griffins have used 38 players already this season. Here is how the current usage stacks up to the final player counts in recent seasons: 2018-19 – 41 players, 2017-18 – 32, 2016-17 – 39, 2015-16 – 37 and 2014-15 – 39. Since the AHL’s season began on Oct. 4, the Red Wings have recalled or assigned a player from or to Grand Rapids a total of 79 times.

Griffins in General
Grand Rapids is in the franchise’s 24th overall season of play, 19th as a member of the American Hockey League and 18th as the primary affiliate of the 11-time Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings…Grand Rapids is 989-678-27-61-116 (0.583) in the regular season since 1996-97 to go along with 17 playoff appearances, seven division titles and two Calder Cups (2017, 2013)…The Griffins have earned 40 or more wins and accumulated 90 or more points in six of the last seven seasons…Grand Rapids has qualified for the Calder Cup Playoffs in a franchise-record seven consecutive seasons and advanced to at least the second round on five occasions…The Griffins’ 8-5 season-opening win at Chicago on Oct. 5 marked the club’s 750th win in the AHL…Grand Rapids’ 329 regular season wins since the 2012-13 campaign tie Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for second behind only Toronto’s 343 while the Griffins’ 716 points in that span are third, trailing Providence (724) and Toronto (744).

This Date in Griffins History
1997: Grand Rapids hosts the 1997 IHL All-Star Game before a sold-out crowd at Van Andel Arena. Pokey Reddick, Michel Picard and Jeff Nelson represent the Griffins on the Eastern Conference squad, but it’s the Western Conference that claims a 6-4 victory.
2005: Chris Cichocki is named the Griffins’ assistant coach. In his team-record 104th career appearance between the pipes, Joey MacDonald stops 24 shots in a 3-2 shootout decision over Milwaukee, giving Greg Ireland his first AHL head coaching victory and tying Mike Fountain atop
the franchise’s all-time wins list at 55.
2006: Despite a 3-2 shootout loss to Manitoba, Grand Rapids clinches its seventh consecutive winning season and ninth winning record in its 10 campaigns overall (38-14-1-4). It takes only 2:04 for Donald MacLean to extend his team-record point streak to 19 games, the longest run in the AHL this season, with his league-high 41st goal.
2012: The Griffins’ first-ever Purple Game to raise awareness and funds for Van Andel Institute’s cancer research leaves Grand Rapids feeling blue, as Peoria never trails en route to a 3-1 win at Van Andel Arena.
2015: Andy Miele turns in a performance for the ages over the final 130 seconds, forcing overtime with 0.4 seconds left in regulation before scoring 2:09 into the extra session to give Grand Rapids a 4-3 victory over Milwaukee.
2017: The Griffins trample San Antonio 6-0, with Eddie Pasquale making 18 saves for his third shutout of the season and Matt Lorito lighting the lamp twice to spearhead a Griffins attack that saw 13 players notch points.

Photo by Sam Iannamico/Griffins