Griffins Game #13 * Road Game #7 * AHL Game #214

Season Series: 0-1-0-0 Home Series: 0-0-0-0 Road Series: 0-1-0-0
All-Time Series: 39-26-4-5 All-Time Home Series: 20-11-1-4 All-Time Road Series: 19-15-3-1

Griffins at Stars
Second of eight meetings overall, second of four at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park...The Griffins have points in six of the last nine games (5-3-1-0) against Texas at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park...Since the 2019-20 season, the Griffins are 9-11-2-2 (.458) against Texas with a minus-13 scoring margin (81-68)...Grand Rapids is 5-6-1-1 (.462) against the Stars in Texas and have been outscored 44-34...Through 13 games, Texas is averaging 3.69 goals for (6th in AHL), while conceding an average of 2.85 (T11th in AHL)...Texas is 6-1-2-1 in its last 10 games and are 2-2-2-1 at home this season...The Griffins are 2-6-1-1 in their last 10 and are 1-4-0-1 on the road...The Stars’ penalty kill unit ranks 21st on the circuit at 79.5%, while their power play places fourth at 23.1%...Joel L’Esperance competed with the Texas Stars from 2017-22 and totaled 136 points (80-56—136) in 183 games...Texas’ Logan Stankoven (9-7—16, T6th) and Mavrik Bourque (6-10—16, T6th) both rank in the top six in the AHL for points.

Last Time Out
The Texas Stars used a four-goal second period, including two power-play goals, to hand the Griffins a 4-2 loss at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park on Friday night. The Griffins opened and closed scoring in the contest, as Tim Gettinger scored first and Taro Hirose scored last. William Wallinder’s assist on Gettinger’s goal was his 50th career helper, which came in his 200th pro game. Both teams tested each other's power play and penalty kill, as the Griffins went 1-for-6 on their man-advantage while the Stars went 2-for-7. The Griffins' seven trips to the penalty box and six chances on the power play both marked season highs.

Roster Shakeup
- Oct. 20—F Jonatan Berggren recalled by Detroit
- Oct. 29—F Jonatan Berggren reassigned by Detroit
- Oct. 31—F Carter Mazur assigned by Detroit
- Nov. 16—G John Lethemon reassigned to Grand Rapids from Toledo (ECHL) by Detroit; F Riley Sawchuk assigned to Toledo (ECHL) by Grand Rapids

This Date in Griffins History
2002: Marc Lamothe becomes the first Griffins goalie and just their third player to be named AHL Player of the Week, after going 3-0 with a 0.67 GAA, a 0.974 save percentage and two shutouts over division leaders.

Stumbling Out of the Gate
First periods have been very unkind to the Griffins to begin the season, as they have been outscored 11-4 and outshot 131-107. Grand Rapids has a record of 1-4-0-0 when trailing after the first stanza, compared to a 3-2-1-1 mark when it is tied or leading after the first. The Griffins have won just one first period in the first 12 games of the season, a 2-0 advantage over Colorado on Oct. 14, which was the second contest of the campaign. Since beginning 2-0-0-0, the Griffins have gone on to win just two games in their last 10 outings (2-6-1-1).

Patience is a Virtue
With plenty of highly touted prospects on the team, the Griffins have high expectations on the offensive side of the ice. However, things have not started out that way, as Grand Rapids is tied for 29th out of 32 teams with just 2.42 goals per game. The Griffins have been shut out twice in the past seven contests and have averaged 2.14 goals during that span, even with a five-goal output on Wednesday against Chicago. Patience is a virtue, though, as the average age of Griffins forwards is 24, which includes five players who are 22 years old or younger. Forward prospects Jonatan Berggren, Cross Hanas, Marco Kasper, Amadeus Lombardi, Carter Mazur and Elmer Soderblom, who combined average an age of 21, are all still finding their groove at the professional level, showing a combined seven goals to start the campaign.

Well, Well, Well, Look Who We Have Here
Starting Nov. 15, the Griffins’ next eight games will be against Central Division rivals. Grand Rapids will face Chicago, Manitoba, Milwaukee and Texas all twice from Nov. 15-Dec. 2. Out of the remaining 60 games, only 12 of those will be against teams outside of the Central Division (Belleville – 4, Cleveland – 6, Toronto – 2). So far, the Griffins are 2-2-0-0 against the Central Division, 2-2-0-0 against the Pacific Division and 0-2-2-0 versus the North Division.

Power Moves
The Griffins’ power play has had a strong showing to start the season. Through 12 games, Grand Rapids ranks 12th in the AHL with a power-play conversion rate of 19.4% (6 for 31). The Griffins have been on the power play just 31 times this season, which ranks last in the AHL by one. During the 2022-23 campaign, Grand Rapids finished 25^th on the circuit with a power-play rate of 17.8% (52 for 292).

The Climb
Dominik Shine is just the third player in franchise history to reach eight seasons of service, while Tyler Spezia is the eighth player to compete in his sixth campaign. Last Friday, Shine passed Mitch Callahan for third with 369 career games played for the Griffins and currently stands ninth with 437 penalty minutes. Shine is behind only current assistant coach Brian Lashoff (629 GP) and Travis Richards (655) on the Griffins’ all-time games played list. Taro Hirose also continues to climb the Griffins’ all-time leaderboard, as he is currently ranked 10^th in points (176) and fifth in assists (131).

Shoot Your Shot
After allowing an average of 39.75 shots in their first four games, the Griffins allowed an average of just 26.4 shots in their last eight outings. Since Oct. 21, Grand Rapids has not allowed its opponent to fire more than 29 shots in a game. However, the Griffins still rank 19th in the league with an average of 30.8 shots allowed per game. Grand Rapids has also struggled to put pucks on net, as it places 24th out of 32 teams at 28.3 shots per game. On Wednesday against the Chicago Wolves, the Griffins blasted a season-high 44 shots in a 5-2 victory. The first period has been the killer, as the Griffins have been outshot 131-107 in the opening frame. In the second period, Grand Rapids has been outshot 129-117 but it has outshot its opponent in the third by a slim 109-107 margin.

U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A
On Thursday, former Griffin Brett Peterson was named the general manager of the 2024 U.S. Men’s National Team. As part of his five-year pro career, Peterson suited up for 18 regular-season games with the Griffins in 2008-09 and notched one assist and four penalty minutes, adding one assist in one postseason contest. The 42-year-old is in his fourth season as the assistant general manager for the Florida Panthers (2020-24), making a trip to the 2023 Stanley Cup Final. The U.S. Men’s National Team will compete in the 2024 IIHF Men’s World Championship from May 10-26 in Prague and Ostrava, Czechia.

AHL Leaderboard Tracker
Sebastian Cossa—3.16 GAA ranks fifth among rookie goaltenders, .898 save percentage places sixth among rookie netminders
Simon Edvinsson—Three goals are tied for fifth among defensemen, two power-play goals are tied for first among defensemen, 34 shots are tied for 10th among defensemen
Carter Mazur—14 penalty minutes rank eighth among rookie forwards
Wyatt Newpower—31 penalty minutes rank fourth among defensemen
Dominik Shine—33 penalty minutes are tied for ninth among forwards

Milestones
Last night, Taro Hirose passed Derek King for fifth on the Griffins’ all-time assists list with 131, and William Wallinder collected his 50th pro assist in his 200th pro game.
Zach Aston-Reese—Three points from 50 in the AHL
Taro Hirose—One goal from 50 as a pro, three assists from 150 as a pro, one point from tying Eric Tangradi (177) for ninth on the Griffins’ all-time points list, two assists from tying Kip Miller (133) for fourth on the Griffins’ all-time assists list
Michael Hutchinson—Three wins from 200 as a pro
Jared McIsaac—One point from 50 as a pro and as a Griffin
Tyler Spezia—One goal from 50 as a pro

Photo by Texas Stars