Griffins Game #55 * Road Game #25 * AHL Game #854

Season Series: 0-7-1-0 Home Series: 0-4-1-0 Road Series: 0-3-0-0
All-Time Series: 90-78-2-7-3 All-Time Home Series: 44-36-2-5-2 All-Time Road Series: 46-42-0-3-1

Griffins at Wolves
Ninth of 12 meetings overall, fourth of six at Allstate Arena…Grand Rapids has faced Chicago 180 times in the regular season dating back to their IHL days, the second-most of any Griffins opponent (Milwaukee, 203)…The Griffins possess a 19-29-1-1 record against Chicago over the last five years...Since the 2017-18 season, the Griffins are 6-12-0-1 against the Wolves on foreign ice and are being outscored 74-52...The last time Grand Rapids was above 0.500 at Chicago was in the 2019-20 season when it went 3-1-0-0...Grand Rapids is winless in the last nine games against Chicago and have been outscored 38-11, dating back to the 2020-21 campaign...Grand Rapids’ penalty kill comes in at 76.8% (26th) while Chicago ranks third at 84.5%. In addition, the power play for Chicago is tied for 17th (19.4%) while the Griffins place 30th (14.2%)...The Wolves come into the contest with a 7-1-0-2 record in their past 10 games and a 16-4-2-3 home ledger...The Griffins are 6-4-0-0 in their last 10 outings and possess a 11-11-1-1 mark on the road...Kyle Criscuolo paces the Griffins against Chicago with five points (2-3—5) in six outings…Chicago’s Andrew Poturalski has been Grand Rapids’ nemesis this season, as the forward has 17 points (7-10—17) in eight games...As part of his 11-year pro career, Griffins coach 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 their first Calder Cup title in 2002.

Last Time Out
Grand Rapids’ offensive dominance through the first two periods pushed the Griffins past the Cleveland Monsters 6-1 on Friday at Van Andel Arena. The Griffins now have a six-game point streak (5-0-1-0) against Cleveland, dating back to the final meeting last season. Tyler Spezia (2-0—2) recorded two goals in the outing, which tied his career high. Turner Elson notched his 15^th tally on the campaign and now leads the team in goals. Several Griffins had multi-point outings, including Riley Barber (1-1—2), Jon Martin (0-2—2), and Ryan Murphy (1-1—2). Calvin Pickard notched 27 saves and moved to 4-0-0 this season against the Monsters. Grand Rapids scored three times on the power play, which marked the first game its notched multiple goals on the man advantage since Oct. 31 when the team went 2-for-6 on the power play against Chicago. Defenseman Butrus Ghafari made his Griffins debut after signing a PTO earlier that day. Grand Rapids has outscored the Monsters 18-8 this season.

Roster Shake Up
- March 11, 2022—F Jan Drozg reassigned from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton by Pittsburgh; F Taro Hirose recalled by Detroit; D Butrus Ghafari signed to a PTO
- March 12, 2022—D Luke Witkowski recalled by Detroit

Huffin’ and Puffin’
So far this season, the Griffins are 2-11-1-2 (0.219) against the Central Division-leading Chicago Wolves and the second-place Manitoba Moose. However, Grand Rapids is 22-12-4-0 (0.632) against the rest of the AHL.

This Date in Griffins History
2003: Despite yielding a regular season team-record 53 shots and firing an all-time franchise-low 14 attempts of their own, the Griffins escape Houston with an improbable 2-1 win. Marc Lamothe’s 52 saves destroy a regular season franchise record, and his 24 saves during the third period alone set an overall team mark for most in a frame.

Welcome Back, March
The Griffins have had a remarkable stretch of success during the month of March throughout their 25 seasons. Grand Rapids has earned a winning record in March for 13 straight years, in large part by going 0.500 or better on the road during each of those months and despite playing 62% of its games on the road. All time, the Griffins have only had a losing March record three times in 25 years. The last time Grand Rapids suffered a losing record in March was back in 2008. Things that were also happening in March of 2008: Jimmy Howard was playing his third of four full seasons in Grand Rapids; Ben Simon was an alternate captain for the Springfield Falcons, 2.5 years from starting his coaching career; Donovan Sebrango was six years old; President George W. Bush was serving his final year in the White House; and the Red Wings were three months from winning their most recent Stanley Cup.

Peaks and Valleys
Grand Rapids and Chicago have a storied history with each other, as the two franchises started competing against one another in 1996. Since then, each club has had its fair share of wins and losses. Chicago’s active nine-game win streak is the longest streak in series history. In fact, the Wolves have claimed 15 of the past 18 outings against the Griffins, dating back to the 2020-21 campaign. However, Grand Rapids went on a near identical 13-3 run from Oct. 14, 2016-Oct. 27, 2017 and held a nine-game point streak (8-0-1-0) against the Wolves from Feb. 15, 2015-April 8, 2016. Despite this cold stretch for Grand Rapids, it still holds a 90-78-2-7-3 overall record against Chicago.

Home, Sweet Home
The Griffins will have a lot of action in West Michigan during the first three weeks of March. Six of Grand Rapids’ first eight games of the month will be played at Van Andel Arena before closing out March with a season-long five-game road trip. The Griffins went 4-2-1-1 during an identical stretch of games in January. The Griffins will play half of their remaining 12 homes contests in the first three weeks of March. Grand Rapids is 13-12-4-1 on home ice this season while it is 11-11-1-1 on the road.

Victory for Victor
Rookie goaltender Victor Brattstrom captured his first AHL shutout of his career on March 5 against Iowa. The Goteborg, Sweden, native recorded 35 saves en route to a 3-0 victory. After beginning the season with a 2-6-1-1 mark, Brattstrom has came away with wins in three of his last five starts. In those five outings, the 24-year-old has a 0.917 save percentage and a 2.81 goals against average.

Jonny Apple Seed
Rookie Jonatan Berggren registered a career-high four assists on Jan. 18 at Cleveland, which set a new single-game high for any Griffin this season. Berggren’s four helpers were one shy of tying the Griffins’ rookie single-game record of five assists set by Chris Bala (1/10/02). Berggren’s 38 points (14-24—38) are tied for seventh among first-year players on the circuit and rank second on the Griffins’ roster. His 24 assists are tied for eighth among league rookies while his 14 goals are tied for 11th. Berggren is also tied for sixth in the league with five game-winning goals, which also places second among rookies. Berggren is on pace for 53 points, which would place fourth in franchise-rookie history. The Uppsala, Sweden, native is also on pace for 20 goals, which would place him in a tie for eighth place all-time among Griffins’ rookies.

High-Flying Hirose
After leading the Griffins in assists a year ago with 23, Taro Hirose has picked off right where he left off as he has bagged 31 helpers in the opening 52 games, which is a team high and tied for 10th in the league. Fourteen assists have come on the power play, which is tied for 15th in the AHL. Hirose logged his second three-point night (2-1—3) of the season on Jan. 1 against Milwaukee, which tied a career-high for the forward. In that same game, he also tied a career-best two goals. The former Michigan State Spartan enjoyed a four-game point streak (3-3—6) from Jan. 1-8. Hirose’s 45 points (14-31—45) this season pace the Griffins. He was recalled for the first time this season by Detroit on Dec. 15 and made his NHL season debut on Dec. 18 against the Devils.

Calvin’s University
Goaltender Calvin Pickard has had a stellar season thus far, as he ranks near the top in multiple categories in the AHL. The 10-year-pro currently ranks 12th in the AHL with a 2.43 goals against average while his 0.923 save percentage is tied for third in the league. Pickard also ranks second with 2321:43 minutes played and places fifth with 19 wins. Pickard has got it done on the offensive end as well with four assists on the season, which is two more than his previous career high. The netminder has been a work horse for the Griffins this season, appearing in 39 of the 54 games.

Rarified Air
Brian Lashoff’s 558 games played for the Griffins ranks first among active AHL players who have spent their entire AHL career with the same club and fifth 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 Pete Backor (Pittsburgh Hornets 1945-54) for the No. 5 spot on Jan. 14 against Manitoba and is now 12 games behind No. 4 Paul Larivee (Providence Reds 1952-62). Lashoff is still 97 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—38 points (14-24—38) are tied for seventh among first-year players, 24 assists are tied for eighth among rookies and 14 goals are tied for 11th among rookies, five game-winning goals are tied for sixth in the league and place second among rookies
Taro Hirose—31 assists are tied for 10th, 14 power play assists are tied for 15th
Ryan Murphy—11 goals rank first among blueliners
Calvin Pickard—2.43 goals against average ranks 12th, 0.923 save percentage is tied for third, 19 wins rank fifth, 2321:43 minutes played places second
Dominik Shine—102 penalty minutes ranks fourth

Milestones
Jonatan Berggren appeared in his 150th game as a pro on March 11 against Cleveland. Dennis Yan competed in his 200th game as a pro on March 9 against Chicago. Other upcoming milestones include:
Jonatan Berggren—Two points from 100 as a pro
Kyle Criscuolo—One assist from 100 as a pro and 50 as a Griffin, two assists from 100 in the AHL, one game from 150 as a Griffin
Turner Elson—One game from 450 in the AHL
Brett McKenzie—One goal from 50 as a pro

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins