Griffins Game #57 * Home Game #29 * AHL Game #839

Season Series: 2-2-0-0 Home Series: 1-1-0-0 Road Series: 1-1-0-0
All-Time Series: 52-30-1-5-2 All-Time Home Series: 27-13-1-3-1 All-Time Road Series: 25-17-0-2-1

Griffins vs. Rampage
Fifth of eight meetings overall, third of four at Van Andel Arena…San Antonio ended Grand Rapids’ nine-game winning streak in the series at Van Andel Arena with a 4-3 victory last night...The Griffins have outscored the Rampage 45-23 in the last 10 in West Michigan…Grand Rapids has dropped the last two overall vs. San Antonio after logging a six-game winning streak in the series from Feb. 15, 2019-Jan. 3, 2020...Since being swept in all four meetings during the 2015-16 campaign, the Griffins have won 16 of the last 20 and outscored the Rampage 78-46…Chase Pearson (2-3—5 in 4 GP) and Chris Terry (1-4—5 in 4 GP) lead the team in the series...Calvin Pickard, who earned his 100th AHL win on Nov. 20 vs. San Antonio, appeared in 21 games with the Rampage during the 2015-16 season and posted a 9-8-4 record to go along with a 2.75 GAA, a 0.917 save percentage and one shutout…Turner Elson spent the 2016-17 with San Antonio and scored three points (1-2—3) while being limited by injury to 13 games…Zach Nastasiuk was a second-round draft selection, 48th overall, by Detroit in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft and skated in 65 games with the Griffins from 2013-18, tallying 14 points (4-10—14) and four PIM.

Last Time Out (Saturday): Rampage 4 at Griffins 3 - Recap
The Rampage scored twice in a 61-second span in the third period to pick up their first win at Van Andel Arena since Oct. 17, 2015...Chase Pearson registered his fifth two-point outing of the season behind a goal and an assist...Givani Smith opened the game’s scoring with 1:32 left in the opening period and Chris Terry logged his 10th power play goal at 14:05 of the second...Pat Nagle stopped a season-high 37 shots but had his five-game winning streak snapped...The Griffins’ run of five straight games without allowing a power play goal ended as San Antonio finished 2-for-5.

Status Update
The Griffins saw their season-high four-game winning streak come to a close last night. Grand Rapids sits in third place in the Central Division with 59 points, four ahead of Chicago and Rockford. The Griffins have picked up points in 15 of their last 19 outings overall (12-4-1-2), in 12 of their last 14 divisional battles (10-2-1-1) and in 10 of their last 12 at Van Andel Arena (7-2-1-2). Grand Rapids hosts the Rampage this afternoon and then will be back in action on Friday when the Griffins travel to San Antonio to begin a four-game road swing. After playing San Antonio three times in their first 55 games, last night marked the first of three consecutive and four of their next five the Griffins will play against the Rampage. The last time Grand Rapids played the same opponent three straight times was Feb. 1-4, 2018 when the Griffins visited Cleveland for three games in four days and took home five out of a possible six points

Net Nagle
Pat Nagle has appeared in the last seven games and made five straight starts, both of which are AHL career highs. He had his five-game winning streak snapped last night despite a season-high 37 saves. In seven February games, the former Ferris State Bulldog is 5-1 with a 1.86 GAA and a 0.936 save mark. After qualifying to rank among the Griffins’ all-time goaltending leaders by virtue of playing his 20th career game last night, Nagle currently stands fifth in franchise annals with a 2.19 GAA and is tied for third with a 0.921 save percentage. (Twenty-five goalies have reached that 20-game plateau in team history.) He has appeared in 17 games for Grand Rapids this season after totaling only eight games in the AHL – including three with the Griffins – during his first eight pro seasons. If Nagle had enough minutes to qualify (about 60 shy), his 2.13 overall season GAA would be fourth in the AHL.

Back Up, Terr
2020 AHL All-Star Classic selection Chris Terry netted his 19th goal of the year last night and is bidding for his fourth consecutive AHL season of 20 or more. His goal last night was also his 10th on the power play, marking the third time in the last four campaigns he’s reached double figures. Overall, he ties for seventh in the AHL in points (48) while pacing the Griffins in goals (19), assists (29), multi-point games (14) and power play goals (10).

Tar-Oh!
Rookie Taro Hirose’s 23 points and 19 assists are both team highs since Dec. 3 – the date of his first assignment by Detroit to GR. The former Michigan State Spartan has an assist in nine of his last 11 outings, picking up 12 in that span.

Movin’ On Up
Over the last 19 games, during which the Griffins have climbed from last place in the division into third, Grand Rapids is outscoring opponents 57-47 and outshooting them 642-556 (+86) while operating at 19.5% on the power play (16-for-82) and 85.5% on the penalty kill (53-for-62). The Griffins have allowed the game’s opening goal 13 times in the last 19. Chris Terry (6-8—14), Taro Hirose (0-13—13) and Chase Pearson (4-7—11) are the leading scorers in the stretch. Pat Nagle (7-2, 2.00 GAA, 0.930%) and Calvin Pickard (5-2-1, 2.66 GA, 0.910%, 1 SO) have shared crease duties during the run.

Of Note
Chase Pearson has three multi-point games in the last five...Givani Smith has lit the lamp three times in the last four games...Matt Ford shows five points (2-3—5) in the last four games...Dominic Turgeon as the lone Griffin to play in all 56 games this season.

Steady Eddy?
Since Jan. 7, the Red Wings have recalled or assigned a player from or to Grand Rapids 19 times and the Griffins have posted a 12-4-1-2 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 81 transactions from Detroit and the Griffins have used 38 different players, including five goalies.

Russian Influence
Evgeny Svechnikov’s team-high eight points (5-3—8) in eight February appearances beats his outputs from December (2-2—4 in 11 GP) and January (1-2—3 in 10 GP) combined.

Model Year
Captain Matthew Ford is third on the team in scoring. 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.

February Finish
The Griffins have points in 24 of their last 30 games in the month of February (20-6-2-2, 0.733). That stretch includes points in 15 of 18 appearances at Van Andel Arena (12-3-2-1) and in nine of 12 contests on foreign ice (8-3-0-1).

Give Me a Break
Since joining the AHL in the 2001-02 season, the Griffins post a 307-219-7-21-27 (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 137-73-11-12 (0.637) since 2012-13 – the year its current postseason streak began. The Griffins are 6-3-1-0 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 991-679-27-61-116 (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’ 331 regular season wins since the 2012-13 campaign tie Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for second, behind only Toronto’s 343 while the Griffins’ 720 points in that span are third, trailing Providence (726) and Toronto (744).

This Date in Griffins History
2001: Kip Miller scores a goal for the sixth consecutive game, tying Pavol Demitra’s franchise record in a 5-3 loss to Milwaukee.
2002: With a 1-1 deadlock at Milwaukee, the Griffins record consecutive ties for the first time in franchise history.
2014: Former Griffins Jonathan Ericsson, Jonas Gustavsson, Niklas Kronwall and Gustav Nyquist earn silver medals with Sweden at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, falling 3-0 to Canada in the gold medal game. Kronwall becomes the first former Griffin to win a pair of Olympic medals, having won gold with Sweden at the 2006 Games in Turin, Italy, and the silver completes the spectrum of medals for Griffins alumni, as Valtteri Filppula won bronze with Finland in 2010 in Vancouver. Meanwhile, at Van Andel Arena, Petr Mrazek and Milwaukee’s Scott Darling post identical 29-save shutouts through the conclusion of overtime, and defenseman Brennan Evans closes out the skills competition in round five by scoring on the first shootout attempt of his 11-year career.
2016: The Griffins score three goals in a 1:08 span of the first period and Jared Coreau stops all 28 shots in a 5-0 road rout of Chicago.

Time: 4 p.m. at Van Andel Arena (doors open at 3 p.m.).

Esports Night: In this inaugural event, fans can enjoy specially priced tickets to the game as well as an invite to the pre-game esports event, which will include an NHL 20 and a Mario Kart tournament. All skill levels are welcome. Esports representatives from Aquinas College and Davenport University will be on hand for those interested in hearing more about collegiate esports. Fans can also learn more about how they can partner with Extra Life to raise money for Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital. To register for the event or for more information, visit griffinshockey.com/esports.

Sunday is Funday: For all Sunday games, enjoy $1 small Pepsi drinks and $1 small ice cream cups from 3-5 p.m.

Pepsi Reading Goals Redemption Date: Children with Griff’s Reading Goals bookmarks who have completed the required three hours of reading can redeem their bookmark for two free upper level tickets to any of the following games: Feb. 23, March 11 and 25, April 1.

Library Nights: For all Wednesday and Sunday games, fans can present their Grand Rapids Public Library card or Kent District Library card at the Van Andel Arena box office on the night of the game or at The Zone anytime during the store’s regular business hours to purchase either an Upper Level Faceoff ticket for $14 (regularly $16 advance and $19 day of game), an Upper Level Center Ice ticket for $17 (regularly $19 advance and $22 day of game), or a Lower Level Faceoff ticket for $20 (regularly $22 advance and $25 day of game). Limit four tickets per card per person, subject to availability.

Photo by Sam Iannamico/Griffins