Belleville Senators (18-20-2-0) vs. GRIFFINS (20-12-3-4)

Griffins Game #40 * Home Game #20 * AHL Game #579

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

Griffins vs. Senators
Fourth of four meetings overall, second of two at Van Andel Arena…This weekend marks Belleville’s first-ever visit to Van Andel Arena…Last night marked the first time Grand Rapids had hosted an Ottawa Senators affiliate since a 2-2 tie against the Binghamton Senators on Jan. 15, 2003…After tonight, the Griffins have just one Eastern Conference opponent remaining on the schedule as they will finish up a two-game season series with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Feb. 9 at the Van...In the inaugural meetings between the teams on Oct. 26-27 in Belleville, the Griffins and Senators split the two games, with Belleville winning 5-3 on Oct 26 and Grand Rapids claiming a 3-1 victory the next night…Patrik Rybar turned aside 21 of 22 shots and earned his first win on North American soil on Oct. 27 at the Senators…Belleville is in its second AHL season…Belleville had 17 players play in at least one NHL game during its inaugural 2017-18 season…Rookie Drake Batherson was selected to the 2019 AHL All-Star Classic…Former Griffin Jake Paterson is 0-1-0 in four games with a 2.97 GAA and a 0.850 save percentage for Belleville this season…In two appearances with the Griffins in 2015-16, Paterson was 0-2-0 with a 3.11 GAA and a 0.928 save percentage…Grand Rapids is 140-91-1-11-18 all time (0.594) against current North Division members, with 96 of those games coming against Cleveland (52-29-0-5-10), 72 against Rochester (41-24-1-3-3) and 66 against Toronto (31-30-0-3-2).

Status Update
Coming off a 4-3 shootout loss to Belleville last night, the Griffins are 1-1-0-2 to begin the new year and have points in eight of their last nine outings (5-1-1-2). Also accumulating points in 25 of their last 32 games (18-7-3-4), Grand Rapids ties Iowa for second in the Central Division standings with a 20-12-3-4 overall record (47 points) and trails Chicago by just one point. The Griffins finish up a four-game season series against the Belleville Senators tonight before heading to Illinois next week for games at Chicago on Wednesday and Rockford on Friday.

Last Game (Friday): Senators 4 at Griffins 3 SO - Read the full recap here
Filip Zadina scored a game-high three points (2-1—3)...Chris Terry banked his league-leading 23rd goal of the season while on the power play to tie the game with 3:10 remaining in regulation...Patrik Rybar stopped 20 of 23 shots and extended his point streak to five (3-0-2)...Logan Brown was the only scorer in the three-round shootout...Four of the Griffins’ last seven games have been tied after 60 minutes.

Friendly Confines
The Griffins have points in 16 of their first 19 games at Van Andel Arena (12-3-1-3) and in 11 of their last 12 (8-1-1-2). The Griffins’ 28 points at home places fifth in the AHL while their 0.737 points percentage ranks third. Grand Rapids is a +11 in goal differential at home while averaging 3.42 goals, compared to -10 and 2.70 on enemy ice.

Between the Pipes
Harri Sateri has points in nine of his last 11 starts (7-2-2) and has allowed one goal in two of his last four games. His 11 victories on the season tie for 11th in the league. Patrik Rybar is on a five-game point streak (3-0-2) and shows a 1.91 GAA and a 0.932 save percentage in that stretch. Skating in his first season in North America, Rybar ranks third in the AHL with a 2.33 overall GAA. Griffin netminders have allowed two goals or less in five of the last nine games.

Old Affiliates
Belleville is in its second season as the primary affiliate to the Ottawa Senators. The Griffins spent three seasons (1999-2002) as Ottawa’s affiliate, including their last two as members of the International Hockey League (1999-2001) and their first in the American Hockey League (2001-02). From 1999-2002, the Griffins won three straight division titles while compiling a 146-71-11-4-12 regular season record (0.653) to go along with an 18-14 playoff mark (0.563). The Senators showed similar success during the affiliation, advancing to the Stanley Cup Playoffs all three seasons and showing a 128-76-29-13 regular season record (0.606). Of the Griffins’ 174 alumni to play in the NHL, 38 came from 1999-02.

Z-Score
Skating in his second game back in the Griffins lineup after representing the Czech Republic at the World Junior Championship, rookie forward Filip Zadina posted a season-high three points (2-1—3) in last night’s shootout loss. The sixth overall selection in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft by Detroit, the 19-year-old leads the Griffins with four multi-goal games and became the fourth Griffin to reach the 10-tally plateau. Among AHL rookies, Zadina ties for 14th in goals.

Terry Selected for 2019 AHL All-Star Classic
The Griffins’ top point producer and the league’s leading goal scorer, Chris Terry, has been selected to play for the Central Division All-Star Team at the 2019 Lexus AHL All-Star Classic presented by MGM Springfield, to be held Jan. 27-28 in Springfield, Mass. Terry, in his 10th season as a professional and first in Grand Rapids, has earned his third consecutive AHL All-Star bid and fourth overall (2012). The John B. Sollenberger Trophy award winner from 2017-18 as the league’s leading scorer and a reigning AHL First All-Star Team selection, Terry paces the league with 23 goals this season and ranks fourth with 40 points in 39 games while adding a plus-12 rating and 18 PIM. 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.

What You Doin’ 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 also one of three active AHL players with 200 or more career goals. Over the last 22 contests since Nov. 24, Terry has accumulated 24 points (12-12—24), which is the second most in the league in that span. Terry is situated fourth in the league with 40 points overall.

Page Turner
Turner Elson ties for third on the team with 27 points (11-16—27) and is just three shy of matching his career high of 30, which he has attained twice previously (2014-15 with Adirondack and 2015-16 with Stockton). He has already bettered his output from his first season with the Griffins in 2017-18 (9-12—21 in 57 GP). The sixth-year pro shows three points (1-2—3) in his first seven games back after missing four due to injury. Elson has all three of the Griffins’ shorthanded goals this season, which also 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
2001: Joel Kwiatkowski is named as a replacement for injured teammate Travis Richards for the 2001 IHL All-Star Game. On the ice, the Griffins shut out Detroit 1-0, extending their record winning streak to nine games and tying another mark with their sixth straight home win.
2002: Travis Richards nets the 21st PPG of his Griffins career in a 5-2 win over Houston, tying Michel Picard for the franchise's all-time lead.
2016: A trio of goals in the final 8:59 of regulation, including a pair from Martin Frk, help Grand Rapids earn a 5-3 win at Charlotte. The Griffins (22-11-0-1) win for the 20th time in their last 23 games and snap the Checkers' 12-game point streak.

PROMOTIONS

Game presented by Comerica Bank

Plaid Hat Giveaway presented by Comerica Bank: The first 2,500 fans in attendance will receive a Griffins plaid hat. Click here to see it.

Post-game Autograph Session presented by Huntington Bank: Axel Holmstrom, Vili Saarijarvi and Filip Zadina 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