Ontario Reign (4-5-2-1) at GRIFFINS (7-6-0-1)

Griffins Game #15 * Home Game #7 * AHL Game #224

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

Griffins vs. Reign
First of two meetings overall, first and last at Van Andel Arena…First-ever meeting between the teams…Grand Rapids will make the return trip to SoCal on April 3…The last time Grand Rapids faced a Kings affiliate was Jan. 3, 2009, when the Griffins defeated the Manchester Monarchs 2-1 on the road...After tonight, the Griffins will have faced all five of California’s AHL teams…Bakersfield, Ontario, San Diego, San Jose and Stockton began play in 2015-16…The Griffins have welcomed a team from California to Van Andel Arena 10 times previously in the regular season, showing a 1-3 mark vs. Long Beach in the IHL, 1-1 vs. San Jose, 1-0-0-1 vs. Stockton, 0-1 vs. Bakersfield and 1-0 vs. San Diego…Today is the first of six games this season Grand Rapids will play against the Pacific Division, as the Griffins and San Jose Barracuda will square off four times after the calendar turns to 2019…Ontario is venturing outside the Golden State for only the third time this season, as the Reign dropped two games at Colorado on Oct. 19-20...Defenseman Kurtis MacDermid leads the AHL with 67 PIM...Captain Matthew Ford is from West Hills, Calif., about 60 miles west of Ontario…Several Reign players have ties to the Mitten: rookie Drake Rymsha is from Huntington Woods, a suburb of Detroit; Jamie Devane played his junior hockey with the OHL’s Plymouth Whalers from 2008-12; Canton native Matt Roy played for Michigan Tech from 2014-17; goaltender Charles Williams is also from Canton and played at Ferris State from 2012-14 and 2015-16.

Stothers Returns
Ontario’s fourth-year head coach Mike Stothers makes his first return to Van Andel Arena since serving as Grand Rapids’ bench boss during the 2007-08 campaign. The Griffins finished with a 31-41-2-6 record and a fifth-place standing in the North Division that year. During his one season, Stothers coached future Red Wing regulars such as Jonathan Ericsson, Darren Helm, Jimmy Howard, Jakub Kindl and Kyle Quincey. Stothers has one championship on his pro coaching resume, leading the Manchester Monarchs to the Calder Cup title in 2014-15 during his first season with the club.

Last Game (Wednesday): IceHogs 1 at Griffins 3
The Griffins improved to 12-5-0-1 in their annual matinee game, with wins in three straight and five of their last seven afternoon affairs at home…Attendance was 7,452, bolstered by approximately 4,000 local students and teachers...Grand Rapids has won five straight meetings against Rockford...On home ice, the Griffins have claimed nine of the last 10 and 14 of the last 17 versus the ‘Hogs...Rookie Filip Zadina lit the lamp twice, his third multi-goal game of the season...Patrik Rybar ran his point streak to four following a 29-save performance...Grand Rapids recorded 34 shots, its ninth consecutive game with 30 or more attempts.

Status Update
The Griffins are back above 0.500 with a 7-6-0-1 record, collecting points in six of their last seven (5-1-0-1) and wins in four of their last five. Grand Rapids’ 6-3-0-1 mark in its last 10 games ties for the best record in the Central Division over that span. Grand Rapids continues its four-game homestand tonight when Ontario makes its first-ever visit to West Michigan. The Griffins will then face Manitoba tomorrow for the third time in their last five games. After this weekend’s back-to-back, Grand Rapids is off until a matchup against the division-leading Milwaukee Admirals on Black Friday.

Friendly Confines
The Griffins have points in five of their first six home games (4-1-0-1), including wins in their last two. Grand Rapids is a +4 in goal differential at home while averaging 3.50 goals, compared to –7 and 2.75 on enemy ice.

Defense to Offense
Despite giving up 30 or more shots in consecutive games for the first time this season, Grand Rapids has still surrendered 30+ shots just four times in the opening 14 games. The Griffins rank fifth in the AHL in shots against (26.9). After allowing three goals on five opportunities during an 8-4 win at Cleveland on Nov. 4 to fall to 30th in the league in penalty killing, Grand Rapids has climbed to 18th after going 13-for-13 over the last three games. On the flip side, Grand Rapids has tallied 30 or more shots in nine consecutive outings, averaging 34.7 in that span.

Add Rybar for Support
Goaltender Patrik Rybar (pronounced REE-bar) has points in his last four starts (3-0-1), including two straight victories, and shows a 1.22 GAA and a 0.950 save percentage in that span. In fact, among goalies with more than 200 minutes since Oct. 27, Rybar’s 1.22 GAA leads the league. His overall GAA of 1.97 ranks fourth in the AHL. 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 recorded his team-high third multi-goal game of the season in Wednesday’s 3-1 matinee victory vs. Rockford. In the last five games, he shows six points (4-2—6). Zadina paces the team with two power play goals, ranks second with six goals and ties for third 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.

Terr-ing It Up
The AHL’s leading scorer from a season ago, Chris Terry had his season-high three-game goal streak ended on Wednesday. In the last seven games, Terry shows six goals among seven points. His team-high eight markers tie for seventh in the AHL.

Pick Ehn Up Points
Skating in his first season in North America, Christoffer Ehn shows six points (1-5—6) in the last five games. Detroit’s third choice, 106th overall, in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, Ehn also has one assist in 10 games with the Red Wings this season. By appearing in Detroit’s 3-2 shootout win against Vancouver on Nov. 6, Ehn became the 173rd Griffins alumnus to play in the NHL.

Page Turner
Turner Elson’s nine points (4-5—9) through the season’s first 14 games nearly mirrors the start he had last season – his first with the Griffins – when he showed 10 points (5-5—10) in the opening 14 contests. The sixth-year pro currently places fifth on the team in points.

This Date in Griffins History
2001: Defenseman Travis Richards, Grand Rapids' all-time leader in games played, suits up for his 400th regular season contest in a Griffins uniform, becoming only the third active AHL player to reach that milestone with his current team. Grand Rapids loses 1-0 to Milwaukee.
2002: Before a near-capacity crowd at Van Andel Arena, the Griffins extend their unbeaten streak to a franchise record-tying nine games (7-0-2-0), earning a 3-2 win over Milwaukee. Marc Lamothe inks his name in the Griffins’ record books for the second straight night, surpassing the team record for longest shutout streak by an individual goaltender. His run is snapped at 153:58, exactly 70 seconds longer than Jani Hurme’s previous mark from the 1999-00 campaign.
2004: In front of a student-dominated crowd of 5,515 in attendance for the team’s fourth annual matinee game, the Griffins come from behind in the third period to steal a 2-1 victory over Cincinnati. Danton Cole earns his record 100th win as the team’s head coach.
2012: Gustav Nyquist’s overtime goal caps the Griffins’ rally from a 3-0 deficit and lifts the visitors to a 6-5 win at Lake Erie. Tomas Jurco scores twice within nine seconds in the third period – two seconds off the franchise record for fastest consecutive goals – to give Grand Rapids its first lead, and Petr Mrazek improves to 5-0 to tie the best start by any Griffins goaltender.

PROMOTIONS

$2 Beers and $2 Hot Dogs: Fans can enjoy $2 domestic drafts and $2 hot dogs from 6-8 p.m., while supplies last.

Get in the D-ZONE presented by Coppercraft Distillery: Every Friday night is a Griffins D-Zone night. Avoid the concession lines and get your $2 beers and $2 hot dogs served to you in your seats. Call (616) 774-4585 ext. 2 or visit griffinshockey.com/dzone today to purchase a package of four or more D-Zone tickets for any Friday night game.

Free Ride Friday on the Rapid: Ride the Rapid to and from any Friday game and enjoy complimentary fare by showing your ticket to the game. Visit ridetherapid.org for schedule information, routes and maps.

College Night presented by Michigan First Credit Union: College students can show their ID at every Friday game to purchase an Upper Level Faceoff ticket for $13 (or $12 in advance at The Zone) or an Upper Level Center Ice ticket for $16 (or $15 in advance at The Zone). Limit one ticket per ID.

Photo by Sam Iannamico/Griffins