Griffins Game #37 * Road Game #21 * AHL Game #543

Season Series: 2-0-0-0 Home Series: 1-0-0-0 Road Series: 1-0-0-0
All-Time Series: 52-28-1-5-2 All-Time Home Series: 27-12-1-3-1 All-Time Road Series: 25-16-0-2-1

Griffins at Rampage
Third of eight meetings overall, second of four at the AT&T Center…Since being swept in all four meetings during the 2015-16 campaign, Grand Rapids has won 16 of the last 18 matchups and outscored the Rampage 71-37…The Griffins have claimed the last six meetings with a +11 goal differential (22-11)…Grand Rapids has won seven of the last nine at the AT&T Center, including three in a row…In the last meeting on Friday, Tyler Spezia netted his first two-goal game in his 15th AHL outing and Calvin Pickard picked up his 10th win of the year after matching a season high with 40 saves…Chase Pearson leads the Griffins with three points (1-2—3) in the season series, followed by eight players with two points apiece...Pickard, who earned his 100th AHL win on Nov. 20 vs. San Antonio, appeared in 21 games with the Rampage during the 2015-16 season and posted a 9-8-4 record to go along with a 2.75 GAA, a 0.917 save percentage and one shutout…Turner Elson spent the 2016-17 with San Antonio and scored three points (1-2—3) while being limited by injury to 13 games…Zach Nastasiuk was a second-round draft selection, 48th overall, by Detroit in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft and skated in 65 games with the Griffins from 2013-18, tallying 14 points (4-10—14) and four PIM.

Last Time Out (Saturday): Griffins 0 at Stars 4 - Recap
Kevin Poulin, signed to a professional tryout on Dec. 25, collected 23 saves in his Griffins debut...Poulin made his first AHL appearance since recording 35 saves for the Stockton Heat in a 4-2 win at Ontario on March 26, 2016…Grand Rapids was shut out at Texas for the second consecutive game...Jake Oettinger has stopped all 61 shots he’s faced against the Griffins this season...Grand Rapids is 1-2-0-1 in the season series...The Griffins outshot Texas 33-27 while finishing 0-for-4 on the power play and 4-for-5 on the penalty kill.

Status Update
Following last night’s loss, the Griffins have been held off the scoreboard in three of their last five outings. Grand Rapids plays its third game in as many days this afternoon at San Antonio before wrapping up its four-game road trip on Wednesday at division-leading Milwaukee. The Griffins will then enjoy an eight-game homestand from Jan. 10-25, which is the team’s longest since an eight-game stretch from Oct. 14-Nov. 4, 2006.

Rotating Roster
Kevin Poulin made his Griffins debut last night and became the fifth goaltender to log 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 before the halfway mark 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 62 times. Brian Lashoff, Givani Smith and Filip Zadina remain on recall with Detroit.

Three’s Company
The Griffins play three games in three nights for the first and only time of the season this weekend in Texas. Having just one stretch of three consecutive games comes as a stark contrast to previous seasons as Grand Rapids did so three times last year, four times in 2017-18, twice in 2016-17, four times in 2015-16, five times in 2014-15, six times in 2013-14, nine times in 2012-13, six times in 2011-12 and 10 times in 2010-11.

One for the Road
Grand Rapids had its three-game road point streak snapped last night but still shows a 5-3-1-0 mark in its last nine away contests. During the nine-game stretch, the Griffins have claimed four one-goal victories and finished 31-for-34 (91.2%) on the penalty kill.

Ford, Terry Heading to All-Star Classic
The AHL announced on Friday that Chris Terry has been selected to the 2020 AHL All-Star Classic. Terry joins Matthew Ford on the all-star team, after the Griffins’ captain was named as one of the two playing captains on Dec. 18. Terry, in his 11th season as a professional and second in Grand Rapids, has earned his fourth straight AHL All-Star bid and fifth overall (2012). He becomes the sixth Griffin ever to be named an all-star in back-to-back years (Matt Lorito 2017-18, Xavier Ouellet 2015-16, Gustav Nyquist 2012-13, Niklas Kronwall 2004-05, Michel Picard 1997-98 in the IHL) and only the third Grand Rapids forward to earn consecutive AHL selections, joining Lorito and Nyquist. A SoCal native, Ford is in his third season as the Griffins’ captain, fourth in Grand Rapids and 12th in the AHL. He becomes the fourth Griffin to be chosen as a playing captain for an AHL All-Star Classic, joining Jeff Hoggan (2016, West), Kip Miller (2007, PlanetUSA) and Travis Richards (2004, PlanetUSA).

Seider, Veleno at WJC
Moritz Seider and Joe Veleno are representing their respective countries at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship. Seider has five assists in six games as captain of Germany. Germany and Kazakhstan are tied 1-1 in the best-of-three relegation series and Game 3 is today. Veleno shows five points (1-4—5) in five games for Canada, who faces Russia in the gold medal game today. This marks the second consecutive year a player has left the Griffins mid-season to compete in the World Junior Championship after Filip Zadina represented the Czech Republic at the 2019 event. Tomas Tatar also suited up for Slovakia during his rookie campaign with Grand Rapids in 2009-10.

Lights Out
On Nov. 28, the Griffins sat 30th in the league in penalty killing and have since climbed into 16th. The escalation has been helped by the PKers operating at a 91.5% clip (54-for-59) since the third period at Chicago on Nov. 27.

Tar-Oh!
Rookie Taro Hirose has found the scoresheet in six of his first 13 AHL games and his nine points (4-5—9) since being assigned by Detroit on Dec. 3 are a team high.

Time to Tango
Signed to a one-year contract by Grand Rapids 90 minutes prior to the opening faceoff against Rockford on Dec. 6, Eric Tangradi has seven points (5-2—7) in his first seven outings during his return to a Griffins uniform. His seven points finished second on the team in December and his current three-game goal streak ties for the longest by a Griffin in 2019-20. He has missed the last five games due to injury. A 2017 Calder Cup champion with Grand Rapids, Tangradi ranks among the team’s all-time leaders with 171 points (9th), 81 goals (5th), 23 PPG (T8th), 14 GWG (4th), three OT goals (T3rd) and nine unassisted goals (3rd) in 207 games since 2015-16. Tangradi posted nine points (5-4—9) in 22 games for Astana Barys of the KHL this season and spent the 2018-19 campaign in the New Jersey organization.

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 979-674-27-60-114 (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’ 319 regular season wins since the 2012-13 campaign are third, behind Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s 321 and Toronto’s 337 while the Griffins’ 693 points in that span are fourth, trailing Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (696), Providence (703) and Toronto (730)…Since the affiliation began in 2002-03, 92 Griffins have gone on to play for the Red Wings.

This Date in Griffins History
2003: In a 4-1 win at Cincinnati, Michel Picard becomes just the 36th player in AHL history to record 250 goals.
2016: In recognition of his outstanding leadership and service to the league, Griffins captain Jeff Hoggan is named by AHL president David Andrews as a playing captain for the 2016 Toyota AHL All-Star Classic, marking his first all-star selection.

Photo by San Antonio Rampage