Griffins Game #18 * Home Game #10 * AHL Game #256

Season Series: 0-0-0-0 Home Series: 0-0-0-0 Road Series: 0-0-0-0
All-Time Series: 50-28-1-5-2 All-Time Home Series: 26-12-1-3-1 All-Time Road Series: 24-16-0-2-1

Griffins vs. Rampage
First of eight meetings overall, first of four at Van Andel Arena…San Antonio snapped a five-game winless streak with a 5-3 win at Chicago last night...Grand Rapids finished 6-2-0-0 against San Antonio in the 2018-19 season series…Filip Zadina (3-4—7 in 8 GP), Turner Elson (1-4—5 in 8 GP) and Chris Terry (1-4—5 in 8 GP) paced the Griffins in last season’s series…Since being swept in all four meetings during the 2015-16 campaign, Grand Rapids has won 14 of the last 16 matchups and outscored the Rampage 62-31…The Griffins have claimed the last four meetings with a +8 goal differential (13-5)…Grand Rapids has won eight in a row against San Antonio at Van Andel Arena, aided by a 38-16 scoring margin…Calvin Pickard 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, 0.917 save percentage and one shutout…Elson spent the 2016-17 with San Antonio and scored three points (1-2—3) while being limited by injury to 13 games…Rampage forward 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): Griffins 2 at IceHogs 5 - Recap
Evgeny Svechnikov recorded his first multi-goal game since Dec. 31, 2017 vs. Milwaukee…Rookie Joe Veleno posted two assists for his first multi-point outing…The Griffins fired 44 shots, their most since tallying 48 last March 15 vs. Rockford…Matt Puempel had his career-high 11-game point streak come to a close.

Status Update
The Griffins won two of three games last week and tie for fourth in the Central Division standings with an 8-7-1-1 record (18 points). Grand Rapids hosts the San Antonio Rampage for the first time this season tonight before squaring off against the first-place Milwaukee Admirals in a weekend home-and-home set.

Back Up, Terr
Chris Terry ranks second in the AHL in points (24) while pacing the Griffins in assists (15) and multi-point games (8) and tying for the team lead in goals (9). He has found the scoresheet in 10 of the last 12 games, accumulating 18 points (7-11—18) in that stretch. In his 11th-year pro, Terry led the Griffins with 61 points last season and the most recent player to lead GR in scoring in back-to-back seasons was Andy Miele in 2014-15 and 2015-16.

Z-Score
Nineteen-year-old Filip Zadina is on a four-game point streak (3-3—6) – including consecutive multi-point outings – to match his season high from Oct. 25-Nov. 2. He shows points in eight of his last 10 contests and places third on the club in scoring (6-5—11).

Pick-ing His Shots
Calvin Pickard is on a season-high three game winning streak, boasting a 1.67 GAA and a 0.946 save percentage in that span. The eight-year pro needs one more victory to reach 100 in the AHL.

Puemped Up
Matt Puempel, in his seventh year as a pro, had his career-high 11-game point streak (8-8—16) snapped in last Saturday’s loss at Rockford. His previous record was nine games, which was set Jan. 12-Feb. 4, 2018, during his first season as a Griffin. The 16th instance in team history of a double-digit point streak, his 11-game run tied for the sixth-longest in Griffins history and was the longest since Evgeny Svechnikov’s 12-game stretch from Jan. 20-Feb. 17, 2017. The 11-game streak ties Chicago’s Lucas Elvenes for the longest in the league this season. In his third season as a Griffin, Puempel is the team’s active leader in goals with 55 and he is sixth in the AHL in scoring with 19 points (9-10—19).

Knowing Our Own Power
The Griffins place fourth in the AHL in power play efficiency at 26.0% (19-for-73) and have scored in six of the last eight games. Grand Rapids has netted two or more PPGs in a single game five times already this season, compared to eight in all of 2018-19. Chris Terry (6-6—12), Matt Puempel (3-6—9) and Filip Zadina (4-2—6) lead the way in power play points. The PP accounts for 32.2% of Grand Rapids’ goals.

Blueline Scoring
Joe Hicketts, who was recalled by Detroit last Thursday and then assigned on Sunday, remains the team’s top point-producing defenseman with nine points (0-9—9). Moritz Seider, who is tied for being the second-youngest player in the AHL this season, ties for fifth among AHL rookie defensemen in scoring (0-8—8).

Close Enough
The Griffins have been involved in only two one-goal games so far this season, the fewest in the league. None of the one-goal affairs ended in regulation either, as Grand Rapids lost 4-3 in a shootout at Texas on Oct. 18 and fell 4-3 in overtime vs. Iowa on Oct. 30. In comparison, last year’s team had already played five one-goal games at this point in the season.

First Things First
Grand Rapids’ roster currently features five recent Detroit first-round draft picks (Moritz Seider 2019, Filip Zadina 2018, Joe Veleno 2018, Michael Rasmussen 2017, Evgeny Svechnikov 2015). Five of the Red Wings’ last six first rounders are on the west side of the state, with the exception being Dennis Cholowski (2016), who made Detroit’s roster following training camp. From 2002-15, the Griffins had only seven Detroit first rounders total suit up for them: Jakub Kindl (2005-11; 14-15), Niklas Kronwall (2003-06), Dylan Larkin (2015 playoffs only), Anthony Mantha (2014-15), Tom McCollum (2009-15), Riley Sheahan (2011-14) and Brendan Smith (2010-13). The Griffins’ opening night lineup had five Detroit first rounders in it, far surpassing the previous record of two. The Griffins had never seen more than three Red Wings first rounders suit up for the club at any point in the same season until this year. Adding in Matt Puempel (24th overall by Ottawa in 2011), Grand Rapids’ roster boasts six former first-round draft selections.

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 973-663-27-59-113 (0.585) 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’ 313 regular season wins since the 2012-13 campaign are third behind Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s 314 and Toronto’s 327 while the Griffins’ 679 points in that span tie Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for third, trailing Providence (680) and Toronto (710)…Since the affiliation began in 2002-03, 90 Griffins have gone on to play for the Red Wings.

Milestones Within Reach
Brian Lashoff – one game to reach 600 as a pro; Matthew Ford – one goal to reach 200 in the AHL; Matt Puempel – two games to reach 400 as a pro.

This Date in Griffins History
1995: West Michigan Hockey, Inc. announces the IHL’s Grand Rapids entry will be called the Griffins, after a creature from Greek mythology that displayed the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion. The team’s new logo, designed by Sean Michael Edwards Design, Inc. of New York, of a Griffin aggressively positioned upon the team wordmark, is also revealed, as are the team’s colors of gold, silver, navy, red and green.
2002: A 2-2 tie enables Marc Lamothe to extend his personal unbeaten streak to 10 games (6-0-4), equaling the franchise standard set by Simon Lajeunesse in 2001-02.
2004: Joey MacDonald makes 33 saves in a 5-0 win over Cleveland, extending his franchise record with his 12th career shutout.
2005: Griffins post a 3-1 win at Toronto, marking their eighth straight win in come-from-behind fashion.
2009: Six days after their own nine-game winning streak was snapped, the Griffins put an end to Texas’ 12-game point streak with a 4-1 win at Van Andel Arena. Daniel Larsson makes 24 saves to establish his own career high with six straight victories, helping Grand Rapids improve to 9-1 at home and spoil the Stars’ first-ever visit to West Michigan with its 10th win in the last 11 games.
2013: Longtime NHLer Patrick Eaves makes his Griffins debut and bags an assist while playing his first AHL game since his rookie 2005-06 season, while Mitch Callahan scores a hat trick and Petr Mrazek records a 16-save shutout in a 5-0 thumping of Milwaukee.
2015: Tomas Jurco notches four points and ties a franchise record with three power play goals, as the Griffins beat San Diego by a 7-4 count to spoil the Gulls’ first-ever visit to Van Andel Arena.

Winning Wednesday: Every time the Griffins win at home on Wednesday, each fan in attendance will receive a free ticket to the next Wednesday game. To redeem a Winning Wednesday ticket, please visit the box office following the Winning Wednesday game, The Zone during normal business hours, or the Van Andel Arena box office prior to the next Wednesday game beginning at 5:30 p.m. Fans who exchange their Winning Wednesday ticket at The Zone on a non-game day will receive 20% off the purchase of one item (excluding jerseys). One discount per person present.

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.

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: Nov. 20; Nov. 29; Dec. 4.

Photo by Sam Iannamico/Griffins