Griffins Game #62 * Road Game #30 * AHL Game #943

Season Series: 1-2-0-0 Home Series: 1-1-0-0 Road Series: 0-1-0-0
All-Time Series: 1-4-0-0 All-Time Home Series: 1-2-0-0 All-Time Road Series: 0-2-0-0

Griffins at Reign
Fourth of four meetings overall, second of two at Toyota Arena…The teams are meeting for just the sixth-time ever...Tuesday’s outing in Ontario was the first time the Griffins competed at the Reign since April 3, 2019...The Griffins are 14-17-1-3 (0.457) all-time against current Pacific-Division foes in the regular season, including 6-9-1-2 (0.417) on the road...Grand Rapids is 12-14-1-3 (0.467) against current California teams...The Reign come in to the contest with a 20-4-3-2 home record while holding a 5-4-1-0 ledger in their last 10 outings...The Griffins are 13-14-1-1 on the road and 4-6-0-0 in their last 10 games...Ontario has the AHL’s best power play, as they convert on 26.0% of its opportunities. However, the penalty kill for the Reign ranks 27th in the league at 76.6%...Ontario’s T.J. Tynan is tied for the league lead in scoring with 80 points (13-67—80) and his 67 assists pace the AHL...Former Griffin Martin Frk (4th) also places in the top five for points with 62 (33-29—62)...Calvin Pickard and Ontario’s Garret Sparks won the Harry Hap Holmes Memorial Award during the 2017-18 season when the pair combined for a 2.02 goals against average, en route to winning the 2018 Calder Cup with Toronto.

Last Time Out
Riley Barber’s overtime winner lifted the Grand Rapids Griffins past the Bakersfield Condors 4-3 on Saturday at Mechanics Bank Arena. With the win, Grand Rapids ended its three-game road losing skid (0-3-0-0). Dominik Shine continued his dominance, as he notched his fifth goal in the last six contests and extended his career-high point streak to six games (5-2—7). Tyler Spezia recorded his second consecutive multi-point outing with two helpers. Josh Dickinson recorded the game-tying goal with just 22 seconds remaining in regulation. Goaltender Victor Brattstrom recorded his first AHL point of his career with an assist on the overtime tally. Barber has now scored in three straight games. The Griffins ended the season series against Bakersfield with a 2-2 record. Wyatt Newpower returned to the lineup for the first time since Feb. 19, due to rehabbing an injury.

Roster Shake Up
- March 22, 2022—F Taro Hirose recalled by Detroit
- March 24, 2022—F Chase Pearson recalled by Detroit
- March 25, 2022—G Kaden Fulcher reassigned to Grand Rapids by Detroit; G Calvin Pickard recalled by Detroit
- March 26, 2022—F Chase Pearson reassigned by Detroit; F Chase Pearson recalled by Detroit

Road Trip!
The Griffins will conclude their season-high five-game road trip tonight. Grand Rapids began the stretch with a 5-1 defeat at Rockford on Saturday and are currently 1-3-0-0 on the trip. Grand Rapids went on a four-game trip earlier in the season and finished with a 2-2 mark. The Griffins are 13-14-1-1 this season away from West Michigan while they are 14-13-4-1 at home. Grand Rapids will play nine of its remaining 15 games on foreign ice.

California Dreamin’
The Griffins have not fared well against current teams in the Pacific Division, as the team holds a 14-17-1-3 (0.457) overall record against them and a 6-9-1-2 (0.417) ledger on the road. Narrowing it down even more, Grand Rapids is 12-14-1-3 (0.467) all-time against AHL teams from California, including a 3-4-0-0 record this year.

This Date in Griffins History
2002: Rochester becomes the second team to ever shut out the Griffins in consecutive meetings in a 3-0 final, while Tom Askey becomes the first individual goalie to ever accomplish the feat.

Trade Deadline Moves
On Monday, the Detroit Red Wings traded defensemen Nick Leddy and Luke Witkowski to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for defenseman Jake Walman, center Oskar Sundqvist and a second-round pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. In addition, the Red Wings sent center Vladislav Namestnikov to the Dallas Stars in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. Detroit now holds 18 selections in the next two NHL Entry Drafts. In 44 games with the Griffins, Witkowski logged seven points (3-4—7), 62 penalty minutes and a plus-six rating. Sundqvist, 27, has skated in 41 games with the Blues this season, recording 15 points (4-11-15), 12 penalty minutes and a plus-four rating. Walman, 26, has suited up in 32 contests for St. Louis this campaign, tallying six points (3-3-6), six penalty minutes and a plus-three rating. Both Sundqvust (selected 81st overall by Pittsburgh in 2012) and Walman (selected 82nd overall by St. Louis in 2014) were drafted in the third round of the NHL Entry Draft.

Overtime Magic
Turner Elson rattled off a career-high five-game goal streak from March 9-18, which is the longest goal streak this season by a Griffin. The 29-year-old recorded overtime winners in two straight outings from March 13-16, joining Filip Hronek as the only Griffins to score overtime goals in consecutive games. After registering zero overtime tallies in his first 233 regular-season games as a Griffin, Elson scored consecutive overtime goals from March 13-16 and in three of his last 48 contests. With three OT tallies apiece, Elson and Jonatan Berggren have tied Grand Rapids’ single-season record (Andy Miele in 2014-15 and Kevin Miller in 2003-04) and along with Brian Lashoff sit one shy of the career mark shared by Miele and Jiri Hudler. Grand Rapids’ six road overtime wins this season (6-1) are a franchise record. The Griffins’ four home overtime losses this campaign (2-4) tie the franchise record set in 2014-15.

Welcome Back, March
The Griffins had a remarkable stretch of success during the month of March throughout their 25 seasons. Grand Rapids earned a winning record in March for 13 straight years, in large part by going 0.500 or better on the road during each of those months and despite playing 62% of its games on the road. However, that streak ended this season, as the Griffins can only finish 6-7 this season in March. All time, the Griffins have only had a losing March record four times in 26 years. The last time Grand Rapids suffered a losing record in March was back in 2008. Things that were also happening in March of 2008: Jimmy Howard was playing his third of four full seasons in Grand Rapids; Ben Simon was an alternate captain for the Springfield Falcons, 2.5 years from starting his coaching career; Donovan Sebrango was six years old; President George W. Bush was serving his final year in the White House; and the Red Wings were three months from winning their most recent Stanley Cup.

Old Friends Reunited
Former teammates with the Toronto Marlies, Calvin Pickard and Ontario’s Garret Sparks, returned to the same ice this week. The goaltending pair won the AHL’s Harry “Hap” Holmes Memorial Award during the 2017-18 season, given to the goaltenders with the lowest combined goals against average. Pickard (2.31 GAA) and Sparks (1.79 GAA) combined for a goals against average of 2.02 en route to winning the 2018 Calder Cup with the Marlies.

Huffin’ and Puffin’
So far this season, the Griffins are 3-11-1-2 (0.265) against the Central Division-leading Chicago Wolves and the second-place Manitoba Moose. However, Grand Rapids is 24-16-4-0 (0.591) against the rest of the AHL.

Shine Bright
Dominik Shine is in the midst a career-high six-game point streak (5-2—7) and has tallied a goal in five of his last six outings. Before this run, the Detroit, native registered just one tally and four assists in his previous 28 games. Shine has scored in three straight games from March 22-26, which is a new career-high goal streak. The 28-year-old has set career-best numbers in goals (11), assists (13), points (24), penalty minutes (102) and shots (93) this campaign with 15 games remaining.

Johnny Apple Seed
Rookie Jonatan Berggren registered a career-high four assists on Jan. 18 at Cleveland, which set a new single-game high for any Griffin this season. Berggren’s four helpers were one shy of tying the Griffins’ rookie single-game record of five assists set by Chris Bala (1/10/02). Berggren’s 42 points (14-28—42) are tied for seventh among first-year players on the circuit and rank second on the Griffins’ roster. His 28 assists are tied for fourth among league rookies. Berggren is also tied for 12th in the league with five game-winning goals, which ranks third among rookies.

Rarified Air
Brian Lashoff’s 565 games played for the Griffins ranks first among active AHL players who have spent their entire AHL career with the same club and fifth in league history among one-team players. Of the players ahead of him on that list, the most recent – and, coincidentally, the record-holder – last played during the 1970-71 season (Bill Needham of the Cleveland Barons, 981 games played). Lashoff overtook Pete Backor (Pittsburgh Hornets 1945-54) for the No. 5 spot on Jan. 14 against Manitoba and is now five games behind No. 4 Paul Larivee (Providence Reds 1952-62). Lashoff is still 90 games away from breaking the Griffins’ all-time games played record, held by Travis Richards with 655 games (1995-2006).

AHL Leaderboard Tracker
Jonatan Berggren—42 points (14-28—42) is tied for seventh among first-year players, 28 assists are tied for fourth among rookies, five game-winning goals are tied for 12th in the league and rank third among rookies
Taro Hirose—31 assists are tied for 18th, 14 power play assists are tied for 17th
Ryan Murphy—11 goals rank second among blueliners, 29 points (11-18—29) are tied for 18th among defenseman
Calvin Pickard—2.58 goals against average is tied for 13th, 0.918 save percentage is tied for eighth, 21 wins rank fifth, 2534:30 minutes played places second
Dominik Shine—102 penalty minutes ranks ninth

Milestones
Riley Barber appeared in his 350th game in the AHL on March 26 at Bakersfield. Jon Martin skated in his 250th AHL game on March 25 at Bakersfield. Other upcoming milestones include:
Jan Drozg—Three goals from 50 as a pro
Turner Elson—Three goals from 100 as a pro

Photo by Ontario Reign