San Jose Barracuda (24-8-2-3) vs. GRIFFINS (24-14-3-4)

Griffins Game #46 * Home Game #24 * AHL Game #673

Season Series: 0-1-0-0 Home Series: 0-1-0-0 Road Series: 0-0-0-0
All-Time Series: 2-2-0-1 All-Time Home Series: 1-2-0-0 All-Time Road Series: 1-0-0-1

Griffins vs. Barracuda
Second of four meetings overall, second of two at Van Andel Arena...Grand Rapids will make the return trip to the Bay Area April 5-6...San Jose’s 0.716 points percentage leads the league…Grand Rapids had its three-game point streak (2-0-0-1) against the Barracuda snapped in last night’s loss...San Jose is making its first trip of the season to the Eastern time zone…San Jose is 11-4-1-2 on the road this season, including 3-2-1-1 in away games outside the state of California…The Barracuda’s eight regulation losses and 37 games played are both the fewest in the AHL…The Griffins have welcomed a team from the Golden State to Van Andel Arena 12 times previously in the regular season, showing a 1-3 mark vs. Long Beach in the IHL, 1-2 vs. San Jose, 1-0-0-1 vs. Stockton, 1-0 vs. San Diego, 0-1 vs. Ontario and 0-1 vs. Bakersfield…Grand Rapids is 0-2 against the Pacific Division this season, and 6-9-0-3 all time versus current Pacific teams...Roy Sommer is in his league-record 21st season as an AHL head coach and all have been in the Sharks organization…Sommer is the AHL’s all-time head coaching leader in games coached and wins, entering 2018-19 with 725 wins and 1,548 games coached…Rookie netminder Josef Korenar places second in the league with a 2.10 GAA…Korenar, Jacob Middleton and Francis Perron were selected to the Pacific Division team, which will be coached by Sommer, for the 2019 AHL All-Star Classic.

Sommer Time in Grand Rapids
Oakland native Roy Sommer, who is in his 21st season as bench boss of the Sharks’ AHL affiliate, appeared in 54 games with the Grand Rapids Owls across two seasons (1977-78, 1979-80) and amassed 43 points (21-22—43). Sommer also played two seasons with the Muskegon Lumberjacks (1985-87), totaling 40 points (19-21—40) and 328 PIM in 92 games. His coaching career began as an assistant with the Lumberjacks during the 1987-88 season.

Last Game (Friday): Barracuda 4 at Griffins 0 - Read the full recap here
Grand Rapids had its three-game point streak against San Jose snapped...The Griffins were shut out for the second time this season (Oct. 6 at SA) and for the first time at home since Nov. 3, 2017 vs. CHI...Chris Terry made his return to the lineup after missing the previous four games due to injury...Assigned by Detroit on Tuesday, Filip Hronek skated in his first AHL game since Dec. 11 at MIL...Patrik Rybar’s shutout streak was ended at 96:03 after Maxim Letunov’s goal at 3:38 of the second period…Friday’s battle between first-place teams was the first involving the Griffins since March 11, 2017, when they suffered a 1-0 shootout loss at San Jose...Grand Rapids took its first home regulation loss since Dec. 19.

Status Update
The Griffins saw both their three-game overall winning streak and six-game home point streak (5-0-0-1) come to a close with last night’s 4-0 loss to the Barracuda. After allowing only two goals in its previous three outings, Grand Rapids let in four yesterday. With 55 points, the Griffins are tied with Iowa atop the Central Division standings. Grand Rapids is 5-3-0-2 in 2019 and has accumulated points in 12 of its last 15 outings (9-3-1-2). The Griffins conclude a four-game homestand and a two-game set against the Pacific Division-leading Barracuda tonight before pausing for the AHL all-star break.

Friendly Confines
The Griffins had their six-game point streak (5-0-0-1) at Van Andel Arena come to an end last night. It was their second-longest home streak of the season after picking up points in eight in a row from Nov. 17-Dec. 15. Grand Rapids has totaled points in 14 of its last 16 (11-2-1-2) at the Van and with a 15-4-1-3 overall mark inside friendly confines, the Griffins rank among the AHL’s home leaders with a 0.739 points percentage (4th), 34 points (T3rd) and 15 wins (4th). Grand Rapids is a +14 in goal differential at home while averaging 3.26 goals and operating at 19.15% on the power play, compared to -11, 2.68 and 8.25% on enemy ice.

Griffins in General
The Griffins’ 3-0 win against Milwaukee last Saturday marked the franchise’s 950th all-time regular season victory…Grand Rapids is 951-643-27-54-112 (0.586) in the regular season since 1996-97…Grand Rapids’ 291 regular season wins and 629 points since the 2012-13 campaign are both the second-most in the AHL in that time, trailing only Toronto (299 / 644) and just ahead of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (289 / 622).

Wading Back In
Wade Megan has factored in to six of Grand Rapids’ last eight goals and his 11 points (6-5—11) in 2019 is a team high. Since being assigned by Detroit on Jan. 3 following a nearly month’s stay in the NHL, Megan has points in seven of his 10 games back in Grand Rapids’ lineup, including six (4-2—6) in the last four.

Rybar Supports
Patrik Rybar has points in six of his last eight games (4-2-2) and shows a 2.20 GAA and a 0.919 save percentage with one shutout in that stretch. Rybar, who led the Czech Extraliga with seven shutouts last season, recorded his first clean sheet on North American soil after stopping 24 shots in last Saturday’s home victory against Milwaukee. He ranks fifth in the AHL with a 2.38 overall GAA.

You’re a Wizard, Harri
Harri Sateri is on a three-game winning streak and is good for a 1.31 GAA and a 0.961 save percentage (99 of 103) in that stretch. The Finnish netminder has points in 12 of his last 14 starts (10-2-2) and has allowed two goals or fewer in five of his last seven, including each of his last three. Sateri’s 14 wins on the season tie for ninth in the league.

Puemped Up
Matt Puempel leads the team with 13 multi-point efforts on the season and has points in six of his last eight games (4-6—10). The sixth-year pro compiled his 100th career AHL tally last Saturday vs. Milwaukee and both his 100th AHL assist and 200th point on Jan. 12 vs. Belleville. He places second on the team in both goals (17) and points (36). Puempel’s team-high 145 shots are third in the league.

(Don’t) Put It In Reverse Terr
The AHL’s leading scorer from a season ago, Chris Terry sits atop the league’s goal leaderboard with 23. The 10th-year pro has reached the 20-goal plateau for the sixth time in his AHL career and is on pace to become just the third Griffin ever to bank 40 or more goals in a single season. He is bidding to join Teemu Pulkkinen (34 in 2014-15) and Donald MacLean (56 in 2005-06) as the only Griffins to lead the league in goals. He ties for 10th in the league with 41 points overall. Selected to play for the Central Division at the 2019 AHL All-Star Classic, Terry has earned his third consecutive AHL All-Star bid and fourth overall (2012). He made his return to the lineup last night after missing the previous four games due to injury.

Page Turner
Turner Elson places fourth on the team with 28 points (12-16—28) and is just two shy of matching his career high of 30, which he has attained twice previously (2014-15 with Adirondack and 2015-16 with Stockton). Sixteen assists has already equaled his career best total from 2015-16. He has also bettered his output from his first season with the Griffins in 2017-18 (9-12—21 in 57 GP). Elson has all three of the Griffins’ shorthanded goals this season, which ties for second in the AHL. Three shorties is the most by a Griffin in a single season since Landon Ferraro and Tomas Nosek both collected three in 2014-15.

This Date in Griffins History
1996: Griffins name IHL veteran Bob McNamara as director of hockey operations/general manager.
2001: A 4-1 win over Utah marks the Griffins’ 10th straight on home ice.
2014: The Red Wings assign NHL veteran Mikael Samuelsson to GR. He would eventually go scoreless in two appearances with the Griffins.

Back to Backs
This weekend marks the 15th of 26 times total this season the Griffins will play on consecutive nights. Grand Rapids has won 10 of its last 12 on the second night and five of the last six.

PROMOTIONS

Game presented by Michigan Office Solutions

Joe Hicketts Bobblehead presented by Michigan Office Solutions: The first 2,500 fans in attendance will receive a Joe Hicketts bobblehead. Click here to see it.

Friends & Family 4-Packs presented by Big E's Sports Grill: Available for all Saturday games, each pack includes four or more tickets and $12 in concession cash for a great low price, plus a coupon for one FREE large, one-topping pizza at Big E's Sports Grill. Visit griffinshockey.com/f4p or call (616) 774-4585 ext. 2.

Photo by Sam Iannamico/Griffins