Griffins Game #71 * Road Game #34 * AHL Game #1,076

Season Series: 5-2-0-0 Home Series: 3-1-0-0 Road Series: 2-1-0-0
All-Time Series: 40-17-4-2 All-Time Home Series: 20-7-3-2 All-Time Road Series: 20-10-1-0

Griffins at Wild
Eighth of eight meetings overall, fourth of four at Wells Fargo Arena…The Griffins are 22-13-4-2 overall in the last five years against the Wild but have been outscored by Iowa 127-125...Grand Rapids is 11-8-1-0 (0.575) on the road against Iowa since the 2016-17 season with a minus-four scoring margin (67-63)...The Griffins have points in seven of the last nine overall meetings (6-2-1-0) against the Wild...The Wild are 16-11-2-3 at home this season while Grand Rapids is 14-16-2-1 on the road...The Wild are 6-3-0-1 in their last 10 contests...The Griffins’ season road series against Iowa has been a tight affair over the last handful of seasons, as just three goals or less have separated the two teams in five of the last six campaigns...The last time the Griffins had a losing record in Iowa was in 2019-20 (0-2-1-0)...Iowa places 21st in the power play at 18.4% while its penalty kill is tied for second at 84.6%...2017 Calder Cup champions with the Griffins, Joe Hicketts (2016-21) and Dominic Turgeon (2016-21) are now with Iowa after signing deals with the Minnesota Wild in the offseason. Nate DiCasmirro (2005-06) is an assistant coach for Iowa...Taro Hirose (4-4—8) leads the way against Iowa for Grand Rapids while Marco Rossi (4-2—6) paces the Wild against the Griffins.

Last Time Out
Victor Brattstrom’s 30-save outing propelled the Grand Rapids Griffins past the Iowa Wild 3-1 on Friday in front of a sold-out crowd at Van Andel Arena. The Griffins now hold a 5-2-0-0 record in the season series against the Wild with one meeting left. Riley Barber pushed his career-high point streak to 12 games (9-6—15) with an assist and is now tied for the fourth longest point streak in Griffins’ history. Turner Elson recorded his 22^nd helper of the season, a new career best. Jonatan Berggren tallied two points (1-1—2), placing him fourth in the all-time scoring rookie list in franchise history and second in game-winning goals among rookies in the AHL this season with seven. Jon Martin appeared in his 300th pro game and Berggren pushed his point streak to five games (3-6—9). This was the second sellout of the season with a crowd of 10,934.

Roster Shake Up
- April 16, 2022—F Chase Pearson recalled by Detroit
- April 17, 2022—F Riley Barber recalled by Detroit; F Chase Pearson reassigned by Detroit
- April 18, 2022—F Chase Pearson recalled by Detroit; F Brett McKenzie released from PTO
- April 19, 2022—F Brett McKenzie signed to a PTO

This Date in Griffins History
2013: The Griffins claim the Midwest Division title – their first banner since 2006 – with a 3-1 win over Peoria. Tomas Jurco scored the game-winning power play goal off a mad scramble around the Rivermen net with just 12.9 seconds left.

Welcome to the Barber Shop
Riley Barber has been on a tear as of late, with points in a career-high 12 straight games (9-6—15), including his third-ever hat trick on April 9 at Toronto. There have been only three longer point streaks in franchise history. Since being reassigned by Detroit on March 2, Barber has notched 23 points (11-12—23) in 21 games, including five multi-point outings. The Pittsburgh, Pa., native is tied for third on the roster with 42 points (19-23—42) in 44 games. Last season, Barber paced the Griffins with 34 points (20-14—34) in 32 contests and finished second in the league with 20 goals. Through 76 games with the Griffins, the 28-year-old veteran has 76 points (39-37—76) and 46 penalty minutes.

Down to the Wire
The Griffins currently sit in seventh place in the Central Division standings with a 31-31-6-2 (0.500) mark and only six games remaining. The top five teams from the division will qualify for the Calder Cup Playoffs, with the top three receiving a first-round bye. The Griffins’ magic number over Iowa, which sits in the final playoff spot, is 14 points. The Griffins have the toughest remaining schedule in the division with a remaining opponent win percentage of 0.618, while Iowa has the easiest remaining schedule at 0.524. Grand Rapids has appeared in the last seven Calder Cup Playoffs, dating back to the 2012-13 season when it lifted the cup for the first time.

Race to the Top
Jonatan Berggren on April 9 became just the sixth rookie in Griffins history to record 50 points, as he places fourth in the Griffins’ top-10 rookie single-season scoring list with 54 points (18-36—54) in 64 games. Berggren has logged two or more points in six of his last 12 games, with four goals and 12 helpers during the run. The Uppsala, Sweden, native paces the Griffins and ranks fifth among rookies with his 54 points, while his 36 assists rank fourth. Berggren is second among rookies with seven game-winning goals. Berggren is on pace for 59 points, which would tie Teemu Pulkkinen (2013-14) for the Griffins rookie single-season scoring title. His 36 assists are also tied for the most by a rookie in a Griffins uniform.

Stalled Engine
The Griffins have struggled out of the gate recently, allowing the first goal in 10 straight contests. Grand Rapids has five wins in those nine games, showing a 5-4-1-0 mark. During this run, Grand Rapids has not won a first period and have been outscored 13-4. However, in the past nine second periods the Griffins have a plus-five scoring margin (14-9). Narrowing it down even more, Grand Rapids has been outscored 9-3 in the last four first frames while it has outscored its opponents 8-1 in the past four second periods.

The Roaring 20’s
Turner Elson reached the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career on April 9. The ninth-year pro has had a career-high season on the offensive end, with a career-best 20 goals, 22 assists and 42 points so far. The alternate captain has turned it on as of late with 15 points (7-8—15) in his last 20 games. In comparison, Elson had just eight points (3-5—8) in the 20 contests before this run. Elson is tied for third on the roster with his 42 points (20-22—42).

Northern Exposure
The Griffins have fared well against opponents from the North Division, as they hold a 7-2-2-0 record (0.682) and have outscored their opponents 38-28. In comparison, Grand Rapids is 21-25-3-2 (0.461) against Central-Division foes and 3-4-1-0 (0.438) against teams from the Pacific. The Griffins’ final game of the campaign against North-Division teams will be during the season finale on April 30 at Cleveland.

Traffic Jam
The Griffins have won two games in their last eight contests away from West Michigan, having been outscored 36-23. However, Grand Rapids has secured five out of 10 points in its past five outings away from home. Grand Rapids went on a season-high five-game road trip from March 19-27 and finished with a 1-3-1-0 mark. The Griffins are 14-16-2-1 this season away from West Michigan while they are 17-15-4-1 at home. Grand Rapids will play five of its remaining six games on foreign ice.

Rarified Air
Brian Lashoff’s 574 games played for the Griffins ranks first among active AHL players who have spent their entire AHL career with the same club and fourth 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 Paul Larivee (Providence Reds, 1952-62) for the No. 4 spot on April 6 against Cleveland and is now 34 games behind No. 3 Howie Yanosik (Hershey Bears, 1957-67). Lashoff is still 81 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—54 points (17-35—52) rank fifth among first-year players, 36 assists rank fourth among rookies, seven game-winning goals are second among rookies
Jared McIsaac—24 points are tied for seventh among rookie defensemen, 19 assists are tied for sixth among rookie defensemen
Ryan Murphy—11 goals are tied for fourth among defensemen
Calvin Pickard—2.58 goals against average ranks 14th, 0.918 save percentage places 10th, 21 wins are tied for sixth, 2534:30 minutes played places fourth
Dominik Shine—127 penalty minutes are tied for fourth

Milestones
Jon Martin skated in his 300th pro game on April 15 against Iowa. Victor Brattstrom and Jan Drozg each made their 150th appearance as a pro on April 10 at Toronto. Other upcoming milestones include:
Riley Barber—Two assists from 150 in the AHL and as a pro
Kyle Criscuolo—Four points from 100 as a Griffin
Jan Drozg—One game from 100 in the AHL, three goals from 50 as a pro
Turner Elson—One goal from 100 as a pro
Taro Hirose—Four assists from 100 as a pro
Ryan Murphy—Three assists from 200 as a pro, two points from 250 as a pro
Chase Pearson—Two games from 150 as a pro, four games from 150 in the AHL
Ben Simon—One win from 200 as a pro head coach

Photo by Mark Newman/Griffins