Griffins Game #47 * Road Game #23 * AHL Game #686

Season Series: 1-1-2-0 Home Series: 1-0-1-0 Road Series: 0-1-1-0
All-Time Series: 32-13-3-2 All-Time Home Series: 15-6-2-2 All-Time Road Series: 17-7-1-0

Griffins at Wild
Fifth of six meetings overall, third of three at Wells Fargo Arena...The season series will conclude March 11 in West Michigan...In the last meeting on Jan. 22, Chris Terry scored the game-tying goal with 57 seconds remaining in regulation and Grand Rapids claimed a 4-3 shootout victory to snap a four-game winless streak against the Wild (0-2-2-0)…Terry (2-2—4 in 4 GP) and Matt Puempel (0-4—4 in 4 GP) lead the Griffins in the series…Former Ferris State Bulldog and Wyandotte, Mich., native Gerald Mayhew has 18 points (13-5—18) and a plus-10 rating in 17 career games against Grand Rapids…31 different Griffins have suited up in the season series, compared to 23 for Iowa…In the last 10 meetings overall, Grand Rapids is 3-3-3-1…In the last 10 at Wells Fargo Arena, the Griffins are 5-4-1-0…While winning 20 of the first 24 all-time meetings, Grand Rapids outscored the Wild 91-43…Since then, the Griffins are 12-9-3-2 in the series and have been outscored 83-75…19 of the last 28 matchups have been decided by one goal, including 13 that have been tied after regulation.

Last Time Out (Saturday): Gulls 3 at Griffins 1 - Recap
Grand Rapids had its season-high eight-game point streak snapped…It was the team’s longest point streak since rattling off nine in a row (7-0-1-1) from Nov. 17-Dec. 7, 2018…The Griffins’ four-game winning streak against the Gulls came to a close…San Diego’s 19 shots were the fewest allowed by the Griffins this season…Matt Puempel tallied the team’s only goal…Calvin Pickard recorded 16 saves but had his four-game winning streak ended…Taro Hirose extended his assist streak to four games…Turner Elson skated in his 350th AHL contest…Grand Rapids finished 1-for-7 on the power play and 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.

Status Update
The Griffins had their season-high eight-game point streak (6-0-0-2) snapped last Saturday in their final game before the all-star break. Grand Rapids sits 20-20-2-4 and in a tie for fourth place in the Central Division standings. After playing eight home games in a 16-day span, tonight’s tilt at Iowa will be the Griffins’ only contest in a 10-day stretch. It is also the team’s first road test since Jan. 8 as Grand Rapids posted a 5-1-0-2 mark in their eight-game homestand. Grand Rapids will return to the ice next Wednesday at division-leading Milwaukee.

Shining Stars
Matthew Ford led all players with four goals during the AHL All-Star Challenge on Monday, scoring in each of the Central Division’s games while adding an assist, to tie Matt Lorito (2017-18) for the most career goals scored by a Griffin in AHL All-Star competition. The Griffins' captain and Los Angeles native made his all-star debut after being chosen by the AHL as the captain for the Western Conference all-stars in recognition of his outstanding leadership and service. Chris Terry also helped the Central Division reach the championship game by totaling three points (1-2—3) in his second all-star appearance as a Griffin, fourth in a row overall and fifth of his career.

Give Me a Break
Since joining the AHL in the 2001-02 season, the Griffins post a 301-216-7-20-27 (0.574) combined record in games played after the all-star break. In its first game after the recess, Grand Rapids posts a 11-4-0-3 (0.694) ledger, including points in seven straight (5-0-0-2). The Griffins have tallied a 0.500 mark or better in each of the last nine seasons after the hiatus, including going a combined 131-70-10-12 (0.637) since 2012-13 – the year their current postseason streak began.

Tar-Oh!
Rookie Taro Hirose has collected seven helpers during his four-game assist streak. His streak is one shy of matching the longest by a Griffin this season, which was set by Chris Terry (Oct. 25-Nov. 3) and Moritz Seider (Oct. 26-Nov. 6). Since joining Grand Rapids on Dec. 3, Hirose’s 18 points (4-14—18) are a team high.

Lights Out
Since the third period on Nov. 27 at Chicago, Grand Rapids has fended off 80 of its last 89 penalties (89.9%), a stretch that covers 25 games. The Griffins have vaulted from 30th in the AHL in penalty killing on Nov. 28 to their current spot tied for 11th.

Net Nagle
Pat Nagle has won three of his last four starts, showing a 1.98 GAA and stopping 93 of 101 shots in that stretch (0.921). His 2.23 season GAA ranks sixth among AHL netminders with more than 500 minutes.

Fire Away
The Griffins have recorded 30 or more shots in seven consecutive games, averaging 39.3 and outshooting foes 275-197.

Back Up, Terr
2020 AHL All-Star Classic selection Chris Terry leads the team with 11 points (4-7—11) in 12 GP in the new year. He ties for fifth in the AHL in points (41) while pacing the Griffins in goals (17), assists (24), multi-point games (13) and power play goals (9).

Staycation
The Griffins finished 5-1-0-2 in their eight-game homestand from Jan. 10-25. It was the team’s lengthiest since an eight-game stretch from Oct. 14-Nov. 4, 2006 (4-3-0-1 record). In fact, the only longer homestand Grand Rapids had enjoyed was nine games from Oct. 26-Nov. 18, 2004 (4-4-1-0 record). Taro Hirose (0-8—8), Chris Terry (4-2—6) and Michael Rasmussen (2-3—5) led the team in scoring during the stretch. Calvin Pickard (3-1, 1.75 GAA, 0.936%, 1 SO), Kevin Poulin (0-0-2, 1.85 GAA, 0.929%) and Pat Nagle (2-0, 1.92 GAA, 0.923%) manned the crease over the homestand. Since the 2016-17 season, Grand Rapids is 18-7-0-3 (0.696) in West Michigan in January.

Rotating Roster
Kevin Poulin made his Griffins debut on Jan. 4 and became the fifth goaltender to log minutes for Grand Rapids this season, the team’s most since five suited up during the 2014-15 campaign (Pat Nagle, Jonas Gustavsson, Petr Mrazek, Jared Coreau, Tom McCollum). Including those five goalies, the Griffins have used 38 players already this season. 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. Since the AHL’s season began on Oct. 4, the Red Wings have recalled or assigned a player from or to Grand Rapids a total of 73 times.

This Date in Griffins History
2002: Rookie netminder Simon Lajeunesse extends his unbeaten streak to 10 games (7-0-3-0) with a 3-3 tie at Houston.
2003: Travis Richards becomes the first player to appear in 500 regular season games as a Griffin in Grand Rapids’ 4-3 win at Milwaukee. Jason Williams nets the Griffins’ lone hat trick of the season.
2004: In a 5-2 victory at Utah, Michel Picard becomes the first player to reach the 150-goal plateau for his Griffins career.
2006: Donald MacLean wins the Hardest Shot portion of the 2006 CCM AHL All-Star Skills Competition in Winnipeg, launching a cannon clocked at 98 mph.
2019: Michael Rasmussen scores two goals in his first game as a Griffin, part of a four-goal run that erases a 3-1 deficit and lifts Grand Rapids to a 5-3 win at Texas.

Griffins in General
Grand Rapids is in the franchise’s 24th overall season of play, 19th as a member of the American Hockey League and 18th as the primary affiliate of the 11-time Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings…Grand Rapids is 985-676-27-60-116 (0.583) in the regular season since 1996-97 to go along with 17 playoff appearances, seven division titles and two Calder Cups (2017, 2013)…The Griffins have earned 40 or more wins and accumulated 90 or more points in six of the last seven seasons…Grand Rapids has qualified for the Calder Cup Playoffs in a franchise-record seven consecutive seasons and advanced to at least the second round on five occasions…The Griffins’ 8-5 season-opening win at Chicago on Oct. 5 marked the club’s 750th win in the AHL…Grand Rapids’ 325 regular season wins since the 2012-13 campaign are third, behind only Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s 326 and Toronto’s 338 while the Griffins’ 707 points in that span are fourth, trailing Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (708), Providence (715) and Toronto (734)…Since the affiliation began in 2002-03, 92 Griffins have gone on to play for the Red Wings.

Photo by Mark Newman/Griffins