GRIFFINS (8-7-0-2) at Chicago Wolves (10-5-1-1)

Griffins Game #18 * Road Game #9 * AHL Game #280

Season Series: 1-1-0-0 Home Series: 1-0-0-0 Road Series: 0-1-0-0
All-Time Series: 82-57-2-6-3 All-Time Home Series: 41-25-2-4-2 All-Time Road Series: 41-32-0-2-1

Griffins at Wolves
Third of eight meetings overall, second of four at Allstate Arena…Grand Rapids snapped a six-game losing streak to the Wolves with a 5-3 victory in the last meeting on Oct. 20 at Van Andel Arena…Chicago has won the last four matchups in Illinois...The Griffins have faced the Wolves 150 times in the regular season, the second most of any Grand Rapids opponent…On Oct. 13 at Chicago, rookie David Pope scored his first professional goal and goaltender Patrik Rybar made his North American debut…Brooks Macek, originally drafted 171st overall by the Red Wings in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, tallied a hat trick on Oct. 13…Second-year defenseman Vili Saarijarvi collected his first AHL goal on Oct. 20 vs. Chicago…Griffins first-year head coach Ben Simon and assistant coach Brad Tapper won the Calder Cup as players with the Wolves in 2002, their second consecutive season capturing a league championship together after hoisting the IHL’s Turner Cup with the Orlando Solar Bears in 2001…Simon logged 196 games with Chicago from 2001-03 and 2004-05, registering 87 points (37-50—87) and 192 PIM…Tapper appeared in 98 games with the Wolves from 2001-04, tallying 58 points (24-34—58) and 130 PIM…Tapper served as an assistant with the Wolves from 2014-16…First-year Griffin Jake Chelios made his AHL debut with Chicago on April 11, 2014 at Iowa and went on to skate in 45 games with the Wolves from 2013-15, picking up 16 points (1-15—16).

Last Game (Friday): Admirals 3 at Griffins 2 SO
The Griffins tied a season high with 40 shots...Eighteen shots in the opening frame tied for the most in a single period this season...Grand Rapids played past 60 minutes for the third time of the season and second consecutive…Anthony Richard was the only scorer in the four-round shootout...Matt Puempel produced his second two-goal output of the campaign...Patrik Rybar turned aside 26 shots and has points in five of seven starts (3-2-2)...Colin Campbell, skating in his fourth game of the year, picked up his first point on an assist...Grand Rapids finished 1-for-5 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill...Wade Megan played in his first game back with Grand Rapids after a six-game stint with the Red Wings.

Status Update
The Griffins have points in eight of their last 10 games (6-2-0-2) and stand sixth in the Central Division with an 8-7-0-2 overall record. Grand Rapids begins a two-game road swing tonight at Chicago before traveling to Iowa on Monday. The Griffins are in the midst of playing 14 straight games against Central Division opponents.

Road Reversal
After dropping their first four road games and being outscored 17-5 in that stretch, the Griffins have won three of their last four on foreign ice with a 17-12 scoring edge. During its last four road games, Grand Rapids is outgunning its home opponent during the third period 13-3.

Terr-ing It Up
The AHL’s leading scorer from a season ago, Chris Terry shows five points (3-2—5) in the last three games. His team-high 11 markers tie for fourth in the AHL and he has three goals in the last three games, seven in the last seven and nine in the last 10. Since Nov. 4, the 10th-year pro paces the league with seven goals while his 10 points in that span place fifth.

Puemped Up
Second-year Griffin Matt Puempel accounted for both of Grand Rapids’ goals last night, good for his second multi-goal game of the season. Puempel ranks second on the club with seven markers.

Page Turner
Sixth-year pro and second-year Griffin Turner Elson had his career-high-tying four-game point streak snapped in last night’s shootout loss. Elson has 12 points – which ties for third on the team – through the first 17 games and is on pace for 53 points, which would shatter his previous best of 30.

Happy Camper
Carter Camper leads the squad with six multi-point games on the season and shows two in his last three outings. The first-year Griffin and eighth-year pro paces the club in assists (11) and ranks second in points (15), trailing Chris Terry by one.

No Shots For You
Grand Rapids has held opponents to 25 or less shots in eight of 17 games this season. Milwaukee finished with 29 last night, but just 23 came in regulation. The Griffins have out shot 13 of 17 opponents and rank third in the AHL in shots against (26.3).

Add Rybar for Support
Goaltender Patrik Rybar (pronounced REE-bar) shows points in five of seven starts this season (3-2-2) and is sixth in the league with a 2.26 goals against average. He claims a 1.81 GAA since Oct. 27, and that ranks fourth in the AHL among goalies who have played more than 300 minutes in that span. The 25-year-old is in his first season in North American and led the Czech Extraliga in both GAA (1.73) and shutouts (7) in 36 games with Hradec Kralove last season.

Z-Score
The sixth overall selection in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft by Detroit, Filip Zadina paces the team with three multi-goal games and two power play tallies. He also ranks third with six goals and fifth with 10 points. The 18-year-old is the highest Red Wings draft pick ever to suit up for the Griffins. Only three players in Griffins history were drafted higher than No. 6: Jason Spezza (No. 2 by Ottawa in 2001), Darrin Shannon (No. 4 by Pittsburgh in 1988) and Stephen Weiss (No. 4 by Florida in 2001). Dylan Larkin (selected 15th overall in the 2014 Draft) was the previous highest Red Wings draft selection to play for Grand Rapids.

This Date in Griffins History
2001: In a 4-3 loss at Cincinnati, Martin Prusek’s shutout streak of 148:59 is broken just 3:49 shy of Jani Hurme’s team standard, and his seven-game winning streak is halted one short of Mike Fountain’s record.
2004: The Griffins visit California for the first time in more than five years, beating Cincinnati 4-3 in a shootout at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim. It marks the Griffins’ first game in either California or the Pacific Time Zone since their 1999-2000 season in the IHL.
2010: A hot-tempered 3-1 loss at Toronto sees the Griffins earn a franchise-record 112 penalty minutes, while the Marlies rack up 106 minutes for a total of 218 between the two clubs, setting a Grand Rapids record for combined PIM.
2012: The Griffins score the final four goals of the night to extend their winning streak to eight with a 4-1 victory at Peoria.

Photo by Sam Iannamico/Griffins