San Antonio Rampage (24-22-4-0) vs. GRIFFINS (29-16-3-4)

Griffins Game #53 * Home Game #29 * AHL Game #784

Season Series: 3-2-0-0 Home Series: 3-0-0-0 Road Series: 0-2-0-0
All-Time Series: 47-28-1-5-2 All-Time Home Series: 25-12-1-3-1 All-Time Road Series: 22-16-0-2-1

Griffins vs. Rampage
Sixth of eight meetings overall, fourth of four at Van Andel Arena…The season series will conclude March 19 and 24 in San Antonio...Grand Rapids has won 11 of the last 13 meetings overall, including an eight-game winning streak from Feb. 17, 2017-April 12, 2018…The Griffins are outscoring the Rampage 54-27 in the last 13…The Griffins have claimed seven consecutive matchups at Van Andel Arena and are a +21 in goal differential in that time (35-14)…San Antonio’s last victory at the Van came Oct. 17, 2015 (4-0 W)…In the last 11 meetings in West Michigan, Grand Rapids is 8-2-1-0…San Antonio has shut out the Griffins in both games in Texas this season, claiming a 4-0 victory on Oct. 6 and 2-0 on Feb. 1…Tonight is the fifth of a 10-game rodeo road trip for San Antonio…With four goals among five points in four games, Wade Megan leads both teams in the two categories in the season series...Harri Sateri is 1-2-0 with a 2.38 GAA and a 0.909 save percentage against the Rampage while Patrik Rybar is 2-0-0 against the Rampage with a 2.50 GAA and a 0.911 save mark...Grand Rapids’ power play is 5-for-19 (26.3%) against the Rampage this season…San Antonio ties with Grand Rapids with 19 home victories but ranks last with just five road wins.

San Antonio Connections
Second-year Griffin Turner Elson spent the 2016-17 season with San Antonio and scored three points (1-2—3) while being limited to 13 games due to injury…First-year Griffin Wade Megan appeared in 115 games with the Rampage from 2012-15 and totaled 31 points (20-11—31)…While making his AHL debut with the Rampage on March 28, 2013, against Grand Rapids, Megan scored his first pro goal against Petr Mrazek.

They Went to Jared
Acquired by the St. Louis Blues from the Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 3, former Griffin Jared Coreau is 7-5-3 with a 2.94 GAA, a 0.901 save percentage and two shutouts in 15 GP with the Rampage this season. Suiting up for Grand Rapids from 2013-18, Coreau ranks among the franchise’s all-time goalie leaders in nearly every major statistical category with 148 GP (4th), 8614:11 minutes (4th), a 2.44 GAA (T8th), 85 wins (4th), 13 shutouts (3rd), 3930 saves (4th), a 0.918 save percentage (T7th) and seven shootout wins (T5th). Backstopping the team to its second Calder Cup in 2017, Coreau started all 19 games during the championship run and posted a 2.84 GAA and a 0.909 save mark to go along with a 15-4 record.

Last Game (Friday): Rampage 1 at Griffins 5 - Read the full recap here
Grand Rapids has won seven straight on home ice against San Antonio...Wade Megan registered the first hat trick by a Griffin this season and his second career three-goal game (Dec. 28, 2016 CHI at RFD)...With an empty-net goal and an assist, Filip Zadina extended his goal streak to three and point streak to four…Harri Sateri stopped 20 shots to earn his 18th victory of the season and match his AHL career high...47 shots marked a season high...The Griffins’ 22 shots in the first period were one shy of their season high for a single period (Jan. 31 at TEX, 2nd period)...The four-goal margin of victory matched a season high (Nov. 4 at CLE).

Status Update
Following last night’s 5-1 victory against San Antonio, the Griffins continue to lead the Central Division by four points with 65 to go along with a 29-16-3-4 overall mark. Grand Rapids has totaled points in 17 of its last 22 outings (14-5-1-2), including wins in eight of its last 11. The Griffins continue their season-high seven-game homestand tonight when they round out a two-game weekend set against the San Antonio Rampage. Tonight marks the third of 20 consecutive games Grand Rapids will play against Central Division foes.

Friendly Confines
The Griffins have points in 10 of their last 12 contests at Van Andel Arena (9-2-0-1), including wins in four of five. With a 19-5-1-3 overall mark inside friendly confines, the Griffins rank among the AHL’s home leaders with 42 points (1st), 19 wins (T1st) and a 0.750 points percentage (T3rd). Grand Rapids is a +20 in goal differential at home while averaging 3.21 goals and operating at 19.66% on the power play, compared to -11, 2.67 and 8.65% on enemy ice. Chris Terry (12-15—27) and Carter Camper (8-17—25) lead the team in scoring at home.

Staycation
Grand Rapids is 3-1 in its season-high seven-game homestand, which continues tonight against San Antonio. Seven games is the team’s longest since a seven-game stretch from Nov. 29-Dec. 14, 2013. Grand Rapids will play seven home games in a 17-day period this month, and then close out the campaign with seven home contests spread across the regular season’s final 50 days. Take a look at the longest homestands in Grand Rapids history and how the club has fared:

Instant Impact
Dennis Cholowski and Martin Frk, both assigned by Detroit on Thursday, provided an instant impact while making their Griffins season debuts last night. Cholowski recorded a power play assist on Wade Megan’s GWG and Frk picked up a pair of assists. Both players finished +3.

You’re a Wizard, Harri
Harri Sateri has won seven of his last nine starts, showing a 1.78 GAA and a 0.938 save percentage (240 of 256) in that span. His 2.21 GAA in the new year ties for eighth among goalies with 400 or more minutes in that time frame. The Finnish netminder has points in 16 of his last 20 outings (14-4-2) and in 11 of his last 14 (10-3-1). Sateri’s 18 wins on the season, which matches his AHL career best (2013-14 with Worcester), tie for fifth in the league.

Puemped Up
Matt Puempel leads the team with 14 multi-point efforts in 48 games played. In comparison, he had 15 in 62 GP last season. The sixth-year pro also paces the club with five PPGs. He ranks second on the Griffins in both goals (18) and points (40) and leads the league with 175 shots.

Rybar Supports
Patrik Rybar has points in seven of his last nine games (5-2-2) and shows a 2.07 GAA and a 0.926 save percentage with one shutout in that span. Making his first start since Jan. 25 on Feb. 9, Rybar turned aside 33 of 34 shots in a 4-1 win against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He ties for third in the AHL with a 2.32 overall GAA.

(Don’t) Put It In Reverse Terr
The AHL’s leading scorer from a season ago, Chris Terry ties for third on the league’s goal leaderboard with 24. The 10th-year pro has reached the 20-goal plateau for the sixth time in his AHL career. With 46 points overall, he ties for 12th on the circuit in scoring. Competing for the Central Division at the 2019 AHL All-Star Classic, Terry earned his third consecutive AHL All-Star bid and fourth overall (2012).

Filip Hero-nek
Among league defensemen, Filip Hronek ties for ninth with four power play goals and third with three game-winners. Despite playing only 28 games with the Griffins due to spending 23 with the Red Wings, Hronek leads all team blueliners in points (23), goals (7) and assists (16).

Z-Score
Rookie Filip Zadina has picked up goals three straight games and points in four consecutive, both establishing season highs. Among first-year AHL players, Zadina ties for ninth in goals (14) and 11th in power play markers (4). His five points (3-2—5) in February tie with Wade Megan for a team high.

Griffins in General
The Griffins’ 3-0 win against Milwaukee on Jan. 19 marked the franchise’s 950th all-time regular season victory…Grand Rapids is 956-645-27-54-112 (0.587) in the regular season since 1996-97…Grand Rapids’ 296 regular season wins and 639 points since the 2012-13 campaign are both the second-most in the AHL in that time, trailing only Toronto (303 / 654) and just ahead of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (292 / 629).

This Date in Griffins History
2001: Kip Miller’s four-point night powers the Griffins to their 200th regular season win, 7-5 at Kansas City.
2002: Bruce Cassidy breaks Guy Charron's franchise record for head coaching wins with his 86th, a 2-1 victory over Utah at Van Andel Arena.
2004: Joey MacDonald is named the AHL Player of the Week after recording 57 saves over consecutive shutouts.
2005: In the midst of the NHL’s lockout season, the Griffins sign veteran defenseman Mark Eaton, most recently of the Nashville Predators.
2006: Grand Rapids sets a team record for goals in a road game with a 9-2 win at Cleveland. Donald MacLean notches two goals to extend his point streak to 17 games, tying the franchise mark set by Derek King in 2000-01. Tomas Kopecky records a natural hat trick during the second period, joining Petr Schastlivy as the only Griffins to score three goals in a single frame.
2011: An historic and memorable performance by captain Jamie Tardif wills the Griffins to a hard-fought 5-3 victory over Hamilton. Despite being knocked out of the game early in the third period due to a vicious head check by Ryan Russell, Tardif returns before the five-minute power play expires to pot his decisive second goal of the night and 70th of his Grand Rapids career, moving him into fifth place on the Griffins’ all-time goal-scoring list.

PROMOTIONS


Star Wars Night presented by DTE Energy: The 501st Legion returns for another Star Wars Night, with proceeds benefiting the Griffins Youth Foundation. Over 50 costumed characters will be roaming the arena and interacting with fans. In addition to light sabers being sold on the concourse, a photo area will be set up for fans to get their picture taken with their favorite characters for a small donation.

Post-game Autograph Session presented by Huntington Bank: Harri Sateri, Givani Smith and Libor Sulak will sign autographs following the game from the team’s bench.

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