Griffins Game #60 * Road Game #31 * AHL Game #886

Season Series: 2-4-0-0 Home Series: 1-2-0-0 Road Series: 1-2-0-0
All-Time Series: 52-32-1-5-2 All-Time Home Series: 27-14-1-3-1 All-Time Road Series: 25-18-0-2-1

Griffins at Rampage
Seventh of eight meetings overall, fourth of four at the AT&T Center…San Antonio has claimed the last four matchups, its longest winning streak in the series since reeling off four straight from Oct. 16, 2015-March 22, 2016…Prior to San Antonio’s streak, the Griffins had won six in a row from Feb. 15, 2019-Jan. 3, 2020 and 16 of the last 18...The Griffins have won seven of their last 11 at the AT&T Center and three of the last five...Grand Rapids has scored on the power play in each of the last four meetings...Matt Puempel (3-2—5), Chase Pearson (2-3—5) and Chris Terry (1-4—5) lead the team in the series...Calvin Pickard – 9-8-4 record, 2.75 GAA, 0.917 save percentage and one shutout in 21 GP in 2015-16 – and Turner Elson – three points (1-2—3) in 13 GP in 2016-17 – both spent time with San Antonio...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.

Remember the Alamo
The AHL announced last Friday that the AHL Board of Governors has approved the transfer of ownership of the San Antonio Rampage AHL franchise to the Vegas Golden Knights, as well as the relocation of that franchise from San Antonio, Texas, to Henderson/Las Vegas, Nev., effective with the 2020-21 season. In the regular season, the Griffins and Rampage have squared off 92 times – marking the sixth most frequent opponent for Grand Rapids – since 2002-03, and the series will conclude March 25 at Van Andel Arena. Grand Rapids’ first visit to San Antonio resulted in a 5-3 defeat on Dec. 2, 2002, and the Griffins’ 25 wins at San Antonio rank fourth in terms of most away victories against any team.

Last Time Out (Saturday): Griffins 2 at Stars 4 - Recap
Grand Rapids is 2-3-1-1 in the season series, which will wrap up on April 1 at Van Andel Arena...Joe Veleno netted the game’s first goal on the power play and has lit the lamp in consecutive contests…Veleno’s tally at 16:10 of the first period snapped Grand Rapids’ scoreless drought at the H-E-B Center at 150:47...Michael Rasmussen posted his second power play goal in the last three games...The Griffins finished 2-for-4 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill...Patrick McCarron made his Griffins season debut after signing a professional tryout on Feb. 28...Grand Rapids finished February with a 6-5-1-0 record, its 10th consecutive season of posting a winning ledger in the month.

Status Update
The Griffins have lost four in a row and show 59 points with an even 26-26-3-4 record. In the Central Division standings, Grand Rapids is one point behind San Antonio, who is alone in third place. Tonight, Grand Rapids plays its third of a four-game road trip, which will conclude a stretch of facing seven of nine on foreign ice. The Griffins are at Rockford on Friday and then will turn around to host the IceHogs on Saturday to begin a four-game homestand.

Rotating Roster
The Red Wings have recalled or assigned a player from or to Grand Rapids 84 times this season and the Griffins have used 40 different players, including five goalies. In comparison, 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. Patrick McCarron became the 16th different blueliner to suit up this season when he made his Griffins season debut on Saturday.

Road Kill
The Griffins rank second in road penalty killing efficiency at 86.8%. In fact, Grand Rapids has warded off its last 26 road penalties, last allowing a goal at the 16:47 mark of the first period on Jan. 31 at Iowa.

V for Veleno
Joe Veleno has three points (2-1—3) in the last two games, including goals in back-to-back contests for the first time in his pro career. Veleno’s five goals in February tied for the team lead and nearly equaled his goal output from the season’s first four months combined (six goals).

Tar-Oh!
Taro Hirose’s 25 points and 21 assists in 31 GP are both team highs since Dec. 3 – the date of his first assignment by Detroit to GR. The former Michigan State Spartan had his four-game assist streak, which was his second this season of four or longer, snapped last Saturday. He has collected 15 helpers in his last 16 outings.

Russian Influence
Evgeny Svechnikov registered a team-high nine points (5-4—9) in 11 February appearances and tied for the club lead in goals. His production in February beat his returns from December (2-2—4 in 11 GP) and January (1-2—3 in 10 GP) combined.

Net Nagle
In eight February games, Pat Nagle finished with a 5-2 record to go along with a 2.01 GAA and a 0.931 save mark. Among goalies with 400 or more minutes in the month, he ranked third in both GAA and save percentage. After recently qualifying to rank among the Griffins’ all-time goaltending leaders by virtue of playing his 20th career game on Feb. 22, Nagle currently stands sixth in franchise charts with a 2.23 GAA and is tied for fourth with a 0.920 save percentage. (Twenty-five goalies have reached that 20-game plateau in team history.) He has appeared in 18 games for Grand Rapids this season after totaling only eight games in the AHL – including three with the Griffins – during his first eight pro seasons. If Nagle had enough minutes to qualify (about 60 shy), his 2.18 overall season GAA would be fifth in the AHL.

Lashoff 500
One of only three players in franchise history to be a part of Grand Rapids’ 2017 and 2013 Calder Cup championship teams, defenseman Brian Lashoff needs four more games to become only the second player in franchise history with 500 or more regular season games played (Travis Richards, 655). In fact, Lashoff’s 496 career regular season appearances rank first among active AHL players who have spent their entire AHL career with the same club and tie for ninth all time in league history.

Hicks Mix
With an assist last Saturday, defenseman Joe Hicketts became only the sixth blueliner in team history to reach the century mark and the third-fastest.

This Date in Griffins History
1998: Griffins GM Bob McNamara assumes the team’s head coaching reins
prior to a 4-3 shootout loss to Manitoba. He finishes with an 8-6-6
record over the last 20 games of the season.
2006: In a 5-2 loss at Chicago, Donald MacLean ties Michel Picard’s single-season team record with his 46th goal.
2007: Jamie Tardif tallies all three Grand Rapids goals in a 5-3 loss at Syracuse by scoring a natural hat trick during the middle frame, becoming just the third Griffin to net three goals in a single period.

Photo by Sam Iannamico/Griffins