Griffins Game #59 * Road Game #30 * AHL Game #877

Season Series: 2-2-1-1 Home Series: 2-0-1-0 Road Series: 0-2-0-1
All-Time Series: 32-17-3-4 All-Time Home Series: 18-6-1-3 All-Time Road Series: 14-11-2-1

Griffins at Stars
Seventh of eight meetings overall, fourth of four at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park…In the last meeting on Feb. 9 at Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids scored the game’s final five goals and matched its largest margin of victory this season with a 5-1 triumph…During two matchups in West Michigan on Feb. 8-9, the Griffins finished 4-for-10 (40%) on the power play…The home team has points in all six clashes this season…Grand Rapids has points in nine of the last 12 meetings overall (7-3-1-1)…The Griffins have been shut out in their last 134:37 at the H-E-B Center, last scoring at the 10:23 mark of the third period in a 4-3 shootout loss on Oct. 18…Evgeny Svechnikov (3-3—6 in 4 GP), Matt Puempel (2-4—6 in 6 GP) and Joe Hicketts (0-6—6 in 6 GP) lead the team in the series…The Griffins and Stars are facing off for the 11th consecutive season and Grand Rapids has finished with a 0.500 record or better in season series nine times, including eight consecutive years.

Last Time Out (Friday): Griffins 2 at Rampage 4 - Recap
San Antonio has won four consecutive in the series for the first time since sweeping all four meetings in the 2015-16 season (Oct. 16, 2015-March 22, 2016)...Three of those victories have come in a six-day span...Recalled from the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye on Monday, Charle-Edouard D’Astous scored a power play goal in his AHL debut...Joe Veleno became the sixth Griffin with 10 or more goals this season...Grand Rapids finished 1-for-6 on the power play and has converted on the man advantage in the last four meetings.

Status Update

The Griffins have dropped three in a row and all have come at the hands of the Rampage, as Grand Rapids battled the same opponent in three straight games for the first time since Feb. 1-4, 2018 (Cleveland). Grand Rapids heads to Texas tonight to play its second of a four-game road trip, which will conclude a stretch of facing seven of nine on foreign ice. With 59 points, the Griffins tie Rockford for third in the Central Division, one point ahead of San Antonio and two in front of Chicago. Grand Rapids has recorded points in 15 of its last 21 outings overall (12-6-1-2), in 12 of its last 16 divisional battles (10-4-1-1) and has won three of its previous four away contests. Grand Rapids has played on Leap Day twice previously, winning 4-2 at Peoria in 2008 and falling 5-3 at home vs. Philadelphia in 2004.

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 39 different players, including five goalies. Charle-Edouard D’Astous was the 15th different blueliner to suit up this season when he made his AHL debut last night.

Road Kill
The Griffins rank second in road penalty killing efficiency at 86.4%. In fact, Grand Rapids has warded off its last 23 road penalties, last allowing a goal at the 16:47 mark of the first period on Jan. 31 at Iowa.

February Finish
With a 6-4-1-0 record heading into the last game of the month tonight, the Griffins have secured their 10th consecutive season of posting a winning ledger in February.

Net Nagle
In eight February games, Pat Nagle shows 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, Nagle ranks third in GAA. 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.

Movin’ On Up
Despite a three-game losing skid, the Griffins still have points in 15 of their last 21 games, which has enabled them to move from last in the division on Jan. 6 into their current position tied for third. Grand Rapids holds a +7 goal differential during the stretch and is led in scoring by Taro Hirose (0-15—15), Chris Terry (6-8—14), Chase Pearson (4-7—11), Evgeny Svechnikov (6-5—11) and Michael Rasmussen (4-7—11). Pat Nagle (7-3, 2.10 GAA, 0.927%) and Calvin Pickard (5-3-1, 2.59 GA, 0.911%, 1 SO) have shared crease duties.

Tar-Oh!
Rookie Taro Hirose’s 25 points and 21 assists are both team highs since Dec. 3 – the date of his first assignment by Detroit to GR. The former Michigan State Spartan has assists in four consecutive and has collected 15 in his last 15 outings.

Russian Influence
Evgeny Svechnikov’s team-high nine points (5-4—9) in 10 February appearances beats his outputs from December (2-2—4 in 11 GP) and January (1-2—3 in 10 GP) combined.

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 five 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 495 career regular season appearances rank first among active AHL players who have spent their entire AHL career with the same club and places 10th all time in league history.

Hicks Mix
Defenseman Joe Hicketts needs one more point to become the 43rd player to record 100 or more points in a Griffins uniform. With 99 points (15-84—99) in 253 games, he can also become only the sixth blueliner in team history to reach the century mark and the third-fastest.

This Date in Griffins History
2004: A 5-3 loss to Philadelphia, which ends the Griffins’ franchise-record 16-game home unbeaten streak and record-tying 10-game home winning streak, concludes the busiest two-month home stretch in franchise history (17 games). Grand Rapids finishes the string with an amazing 13-1-3-0 mark, suffering its first home loss since New Year’s Eve.
2016: Robbie Russo is selected as the CCM/AHL Player of the Week after tallying two goals and five assists (2-5—7) along with a plus-8 rating in four games, joining Clay Wilson as the only Grand Rapids defensemen to ever earn the honor.

Photo by Sam Iannamico/Griffins