GRIFFINS (38-20-6-4) at Rockford IceHogs (31-27-4-6)

Griffins Game #69 * Road Game #34 * AHL Game #1047

Season Series: 3-2-4-0 Home Series: 2-1-2-0 Road Series: 1-1-2-0
All-Time Series: 43-31-7-8 All-Time Home Series: 29-11-3-2 All-Time Road Series: 14-20-4-6

Griffins at IceHogs
Tenth of 10 meetings overall, fifth of five at the BMO Harris Bank Center…Seven of the nine games this season have been decided by one goal, including four in overtime…Rockford is outscoring Grand Rapids in the series 22-21…Rockford has claimed all four matchups that have been tied after regulation…The Griffins have points in 12 of the last 14 meetings overall (7-2-4-1)…Rockford’s 3-2 win in the last meeting on March 15 at Van Andel Arena ended Grand Rapids’ four-game point streak in the series (2-0-2-0)…Grand Rapids outshot Rockford 48-20 on March 15 but Anton Forsberg notched 46 saves…The Griffins have points in four of their last five trips to the BMO Harris Bank Center (1-1-2-1)…In the last matchup in Illinois on March 1, Grand Rapids came back from being down three in the first period to force overtime and earn a point in a 5-4 loss…Since the 2012-13 campaign, Grand Rapids is 23-5-3-1 (0.781) against the IceHogs at the Van and 12-13-2-4 (0.484) at Rockford…Matt Puempel (3-3—6 in 8 GP) and Wade Megan (4-1—5 in 3 GP) lead Grand Rapids in the series…In the crease, Patrik Rybar is 1-2-1 with a 2.27 GAA and a 0.911 save percentage, and Harri Sateri is 2-0-3 with a 2.49 GAA and a 0.921 save percentage.

Rockford Connections
Rockford interim 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)…King and Ben Simon were both assistant coaches with the Toronto Marlies in 2014-15...Simon also served as an assistant coach with the IceHogs during the 2012-13 season.

Last Time Out (Friday): Wolves 4 at Griffins 3 - Read the full recap here
The Griffins finished 3-5-0-0 in the season series...Chicago led 4-0 at the 0:28 mark of the second period...Chase Pearson, skating in his third pro game, notched his first goal at 7:59 of the third period...Carter Camper (17) and Wade Megan (17) also lit the lamp...Chicago finished 3-for-4 on the power play and Grand Rapids was 1-for-7.

Status Update
The Griffins’ magic number to extend their franchise-record Calder Cup Playoff streak to seven years stands at four points. Grand Rapids is in sole possession of second place in the Central Division standings with a 38-20-6-4 record and 86 points, trailing Chicago by four points. The Griffins have earned points in nine of their last 12 outings (7-3-2-0) and in 20 of their last 27 (17-7-3-0). Grand Rapids continues its three-in-three weekend tonight at Rockford before returning to Van Andel Arena to host Milwaukee tomorrow. Tonight marks Grand Rapids’ ninth and final road game in the month of March (6-1-1-0 record). The Griffins are in a stretch of facing 20 consecutive division foes (10-5-3-0 record so far).

Playoffs?
The Griffins can clinch a Calder Cup Playoff berth tonight with a win and any Milwaukee loss (regulation/OT/SO). Should the Griffins secure a 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).

Road Work
Following a 5-2 win at Iowa on Tuesday, the Griffins finished their season-high six-game road trip with a 5-1 record, the most successful six-game swing in franchise history and the second-best trip of at least six games (finished 6-1 during a seven-game trip from March 25-April 7, 2000). Grand Rapids plays five of its final eight games in enemy territory. The Griffins have won three straight away games to match a season high and have earned points in 14 of their last 19 (11-5-2-1).

(Don’t) Put It In Reverse Terr
With 28 goals (T8th in AHL), 59 points (T13th) and 31 assists – all team highs – Chris Terry has surpassed the 50-point mark in his seventh consecutive full AHL season. Owning 499 career AHL points, he needs one more to become the 96th player in league history to amass 500 or more.

Wade For It
In 27 GP in 2019, Wade Megan leads Grand Rapids with 27 points and 14 goals while tying for third with 13 assists and ranking third with a plus-11 rating. He has produced 10 points (4-6—10) in his last nine outings.

Adding to the List
Jake Chelios became the 179th Griffins alumnus to play in the NHL, as well as the 100th player in franchise history to make his NHL debut after playing for Grand Rapids, when he skated in Detroit’s 4-0 win vs. New Jersey last night at Little Caesars Arena. Chelios finished with a plus-one rating in 17:11 of ice time.

Page Turner
Sixth-year pro Turner Elson has set new career highs this season in both points (37) and assists (21), and needs one more goal to match his career best of 17 set in 2014-15 with Adirondack.

You’re A Wizard, Harri
Harri Sateri has points in eight of his last nine decisions (5-1-3) and in his last 18 games he is 11-3-3 with a 2.35 GAA and a 0.915 save percentage. With 22 victories – which tie for 10th in the AHL – the Finnish netminder has reached the 20-win mark for the first time in his AHL career.

Rybar Supports
Patrik Rybar is 7-4-0 in his last 11 appearances, showing a 2.02 GAA and a 0.925 save percentage with a pair of shutouts in that time. In his first season in North America, Rybar places third in the league with a 2.28 overall GAA.

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 965-649-27-57-112 (0.587) 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 (314 / 679) and just ahead of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (301 / 651).

This Date in Griffins History
The Griffins are 4-7-0-0-0 all time when playing on March 30, including a 2-5-0-0-0 mark on road ice.
2002: The Griffins complete their inaugural AHL home schedule with a 3-0 loss to Rochester before a sellout crowd. In an unprecedented achievement, goalie Tom Askey and the Amerks shut-out the Griffins for the third consecutive meeting. Grand Rapids ties an AHL record by suffering its sixth home shutout, but sets a league mark for fewest goals allowed at home with 78.
2003: Marc Lamothe ties a franchise record with his sixth shutout of the season, helping the Griffins complete their regular season home schedule with a 2-0 win over Hershey. Stacy Roest hits the 70-point plateau, joining with Michel Picard and Mark Mowers to give the Griffins three 70-point scorers for the first time ever.
2011: Brendan Smith is named to the AHL All-Rookie Team.
2014: In a 3-1 win at MIL, Teemu Pulkkinen scores twice to make him the Griffins’ first 30-goal scorer since Jeremy Williams (32) in 2009-10.

Marching On
The Griffins have posted an overall winning record in March in 10 straight years, combining for an 85-45-7-8 (0.638) mark since 2008-09, including a 7-3-2-0 slate so far this season.

Photo by Mark Newman/Griffins