Griffins Game #55 * Road Game #28 * AHL Game #809

Season Series: 2-3-0-0 Home Series: 0-2-0-0 Road Series: 2-1-0-0
All-Time Series: 86-64-2-6-3 All-Time Home Series: 42-29-2-4-2 All-Time Road Series: 44-35-0-2-1

Griffins at Wolves
Sixth of eight meetings overall, fourth of four at Allstate Arena…The season series will conclude March 27 and April 10 at Van Andel Arena...In the most recent matchup last Saturday, Grand Rapids scored five unanswered goals in a 5-2 victory to snap a three-game losing streak against the Wolves…Givani Smith and Matt Ford both lit the lamp twice last Saturday…Ford (4-3—7 in 5 GP) leads Grand Rapids in the series, boosted by a four-point effort on Oct. 5, which tied a career high, and a three-point outing on Saturday…Grand Rapids has faced Chicago 161 times in the regular season, the second-most of any Griffins opponent (Milwaukee, 192)…In the season series, Grand Rapids’ power play is 5-for-18 (27.8%) while Chicago’s is 4-for-16 (25.0%)…As part of his 11-year professional playing career, Ben Simon registered 87 points (37-50—87) in 196 games with the Wolves from 2001-03 and 2004-05 and was a part of Chicago’s first Calder Cup title in 2002.

Last Game (Tuesday): Griffins 2 at IceHogs 1 - Recap
Tyler Spezia netted his second career game-winning goal with 11:16 remaining...Dennis Cholowski scored his third goal of the season and extended his point streak to four games (1-4—5)...Evgeny Svechnikov had his four-game goal streak ended but picked up a point to run his point stretch to five...Pat Nagle won his fourth straight start behind 27 saves...The Griffins are 4-2-0-2 in the season series and 2-2 at the BMO Harris Bank Center...Grand Rapids finished 6-for-6 on the penalty kill and has fought off 23 consecutive penalties against Rockford.

Status Update
The Griffins are on their third three-game winning streak (Jan. 8-11, Oct. 23-26) and will look to make it four in a row for the first time this season when they close out a three-game tour through Illinois with a matinee contest against Chicago today. Grand Rapids leads the Wolves by two points for third place in the Central Division, but Chicago holds two games in hand. The Griffins, who return home to host San Antonio on Saturday and Sunday, have picked up points in 14 of their last 17 outings (11-3-1-2). Grand Rapids also shows points in 11 of its last 12 divisional tilts (9-1-1-1) and 17 of the last 22 games will come against the Central.

It’s Just Lunch Chicago
The Griffins are playing their fourth weekday matinee game at Chicago since 2015-16. Grand Rapids fell 5-4 on Dec. 21, 2017, but won 7-1 on Dec. 15, 2016 ,and 5-0 on Feb. 23, 2016. Today will be the second of three weekday early start times for the Griffins this season, as they dropped a 5-3 decision during their 19th annual school day game against Cleveland on Nov. 6 and will visit Toronto at 1:30 p.m. on March 19.

Movin’ On Up
Over the last 17 games, during which the Griffins have climbed from last place in the division into third, Grand Rapids is outscoring opponents 51-41 and outshooting them 575-485 (+90) while operating at 20.3% on the power play (15-for-74) and 86.5% on the penalty kill (45-for-52). The Griffins have allowed the game’s opening goal 12 times in the last 17. Chris Terry (5-8—13), Taro Hirose (0-11—11), Evgeny Svechnikov (6-4—10) and Michael Rasmussen (3-7—10) are the leading scorers in the stretch. Pat Nagle (6-1, 1.73 GAA, 0.936%) and Calvin Pickard (5-2-1, 2.66 GA, 0.910%, 1 SO) have shared crease duties during the run.

Steady Eddy?
Since Jan. 7, the Red Wings have recalled or assigned a player from or to Grand Rapids 17 times and the Griffins have posted an 11-3-1-2 ledger. From Oct. 4-Jan. 6, the transaction number was 62 and the record was 14-19-2-2. Total this season, there have been 79 transactions from Detroit and the Griffins have used 38 different players, including five goalies.

Net Nagle
Pat Nagle shows a 1.34 GAA and a 0.949 save percentage while appearing in each of the last five games – winning four consecutive starts and also blocking all 14 shots in a relief appearance. He has started three straight games, which is one shy of equaling his AHL career best that he set earlier this season (Dec. 21-31). In his last eight appearances dating to Jan. 17, he has tallied a 6-1 record, a 1.73 GAA and a 0.936 save mark. If Nagle had enough minutes to qualify (about 180 shy), his season 2.00 GAA would be third in the AHL.

Russian Influence
Evgeny Svechnikov had his career-high four-game goal streak halted on Tuesday at Rockford but he did tally an assist to keep a point streak alive. His four-game goal run matched Eric Tangradi (Dec. 17-Jan. 5) as the longest by a Griffin in 2019-20. Svechnikov’s team-high eight points (5-3—8) in six February appearances surpasses his outputs from December (2-2—4 in 11 GP) and January (1-2—3 in 10 GP) combined.

Tar-Oh!
Rookie Taro Hirose’s 21 points (4-17—21) and 17 assists are both team highs since Dec. 3 – the date of his first assignment by Detroit to GR.

Model Year
Captain Matthew Ford became the fifth Griffin this season to reach the double-digit goal total after he netted his third two-goal outing of the season last Saturday. In his 12th year as a pro, Ford has banked 10 or more tallies in seven consecutive campaigns and his three multi-goal outings are his most since producing three during 2015-16 with Bakersfield.

Back Up, Terr
2020 AHL All-Star Classic selection Chris Terry leads the team with 17 points (5-12—17) in 19 GP in the new year. Overall, he places sixth in the AHL in points (47) while pacing the Griffins in goals (18), assists (29), multi-point games (14) and power play goals (9).

February Finish
The Griffins have points in 23 of their last 28 games in the month of February (19-5-2-2, 0.750). That stretch includes points in 15 of 17 appearances at Van Andel Arena (12-2-2-1), including in seven straight (5-0-2-0), and in eight of 11 contests on foreign ice (7-3-0-1).

Give Me a Break
Since joining the AHL in the 2001-02 season, the Griffins post a 306-218-7-21-27 (0.576) combined record in games played after the all-star break. Grand Rapids has tallied a 0.500 mark or better in each of the last nine seasons after the hiatus, including going a combined 136-72-11-12 (0.639) since 2012-13 – the year its current postseason streak began. The Griffins are 5-2-1-0 after the break so far this season.

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 990-678-27-61-116 (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’ 330 regular season wins since the 2012-13 campaign are behind only Toronto’s 343 while the Griffins’ 718 points in that span are third, trailing Providence (724) and Toronto (744).

This Date in Griffins History
2000: The Griffins blast a team-record 54 shots in a 2-1 shootout win over Detroit.
2004: GR extends its record unbeaten streak at home to 13 games with a 2-1 overtime win versus Hamilton. Joey MacDonald’s franchise-record shutout streak on home ice ends at 242:18, when he surrenders a goal to the Bulldogs’ Alexander Perezhogin at 7:37 of the third period.
2011: In a 4-2 win over Peoria, Jordan Pearce becomes the first Griffins goalie since Jimmy Howard to start both three games in three nights (April 3-5, 2009) and four games in five nights (April 11-15, 2007), while also becoming the first Grand Rapids rookie to ever accomplish the latter.

Photo by Ross Dettman/Chicago Wolves