Iowa Wild (34-26-8-5) vs. GRIFFINS (38-24-7-4)

Griffins Game #74 * Home Game #37 * AHL Game #1109

Season Series: 2-1-1-1 Home Series: 0-0-1-1 Road Series: 2-1-0-0
All-Time Series: 31-11-1-2 All-Time Home Series: 14-5-1-2 All-Time Road Series: 17-6-0-0

Griffins vs. Wild
Sixth of six meetings overall, third of three at Van Andel Arena...The Wild are on an eight-game winless streak (0-7-1-0)…16 of the last 23 meetings between the teams have been decided by one goal, including 10 that have been tied after regulation…In the last 23 meetings, Grand Rapids is outscoring Iowa 68-65…The Griffins have outshot the Wild 171-115 (34.2 avg.-23.0 avg.) in five games this season…In the last meeting on March 26 at Iowa, Brian Lashoff recorded a career-high three points (1-2—3) and Grand Rapids scored the game’s final three goals on its way to a 5-2 victory…In the last matchup at Van Andel Arena on March 8, Matt Bartkowski scored at 4:08 of overtime to give the Wild a 4-3 win…The Griffins won 20 of the first 24 all-time games against the Wild and are 11-7-1-2 since…In the last 10 meetings at Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids is 4-3-1-2…Chris Terry (3-2—5 in 5 GP) leads the team in the season series…Between the pipes, Patrik Rybar is 1-1-1 with a 2.88 GAA and a 0.878 save percentage, and Harri Sateri is 1-0-1 with a 2.90 GAA and a 0.850 save percentage…The teams are matching up six times this season, the fewest meetings since playing only four times in 2014-15…The Griffins and Wild are in their sixth season playing each other and Grand Rapids has never finished with a 0.500 mark or below in the season series.

Last Time Out (Saturday): Griffins 4 at Barracuda 5 OT - Read the full recap here
Axel Holmstrom (PP, 12), Chris Terry (PP, 29), Colin Campbell (SH, 8) and Libor Sulak (5) tallied goals…Campbell notched the team’s fourth shorthanded goal of the campaign…Pat Nagle made his first AHL appearance between the pipes since April 3, 2015 with Rochester and first with the Griffins since Jan. 23, 2015 vs. Utica…The Griffins’ lineup was missing 10 regulars due to either recall to Detroit (Jake Chelios, Christoffer Ehn, Martin Frk, Joe Hicketts, Filip Hronek, Dylan McIlrath, Matt Puempel and Dominic Turgeon) or injury (Matthew Ford and Harri Sateri)…Grand Rapids was involved in its 22nd game of the season tied after regulation, extending its single-season franchise record.

Status Update
The Griffins’ magic number to extend their franchise-record Calder Cup Playoff streak to seven years stands at one point. With Chicago already having clinched the Central Division, Grand Rapids is in sole possession of second place with a 38-24-7-4 record and 87 points, leading Milwaukee by three. The Griffins will look to snap a six-game winless streak (0-5-1-0) when they host the Iowa Wild in their penultimate home game of the regular season tonight.

Playoff Push

The Griffins’ magic number to clinch a playoff berth stands at one point. Grand Rapids can secure both a playoff bid and home-ice advantage for the best-of-five Central Division Semifinals with at least a point tonight. Should the Griffins claim their spot, it will extend their franchise-record postseason streak to seven years and mark the 17th time in the franchise’s 23-year history they have qualified for the league’s playoffs (includes IHL). Ben Simon is seeking to become the eighth head coach in franchise history to lead the Griffins to the postseason during his first full season behind the bench, joining Dave Allison (1996-97), Bruce Cassidy (2000-01), Danton Cole (2002-03), Greg Ireland (2005-06) Curt Fraser (2008-09), Jeff Blashill (2012-13) and Todd Nelson (2015-16).

The Boys Are Back in Town
The Red Wings on Sunday assigned defensemen Jake Chelios, Joe Hicketts, Filip Hronek and Dylan McIlrath, and forwards Christoffer Ehn, Martin Frk, Matt Puempel and Dominic Turgeon to the Griffins.

Griffins to Wings
Of the 38 players to play for the Red Wings this season, 27 had spent time in Grand Rapids at some point during their careers. A total of 14 players skated in games for both the Griffins and Red Wings this season.

Friendly Confines
The Griffins are averaging 8,122 fans per game with two home games remaining. Grand Rapids is on track to finish with an increase over last season (7,960 avg.) and post an average of 8,000+ for the fifth time in the last six seasons.

(Don’t) Put It In Reverse Terr
Chris Terry became the 96th player in AHL history to amass 500 or more points when he tallied an assist on Turner Elson’s power play goal on March 31. With 29 goals (T9th in AHL) and 61 points (T12th) – both team highs – Terry has reached the 60-point mark for the sixth time in his AHL career.

Sharing the Wealth
Chris Terry (29-32—61), Matt Puempel (24-26—50) and Carter Camper (17-33—50) have all hit the 50-point plateau to mark the third consecutive season the Griffins have boasted at least three players with 50 or more points.

Home Cooking
The Griffins have just two more games left at Van Andel Arena in the regular season. Despite a recent four-game winless streak at home (0-3-1-0), Grand Rapids shows a 22-8-3-3 overall mark inside friendly confines and ranks among the league’s home leaders with 22 wins (T9th), 50 points (T6th) and a 0.694 points percentage (T5th). The Griffins have won 20 or more home games for the seventh straight season. Grand Rapids is a +19 in goal differential at home while averaging 3.14 goals and operating at 18.47% on the power play, compared to –12, 2.70 and 10.96% on the road. Chris Terry (14-20—34), Carter Camper (12-19—31) and Matt Puempel (12-15—27) lead the team in scoring at home. Harri Sateri is 13-2-2 at Van Andel Arena with a 2.42 GAA and a 0.909 save percentage while Patrik Rybar is 9-6-4 with a 2.35 GAA and a 0.914 save mark.

Rybar Supports
Patrik Rybar, in his first season in North America, ranks third in the league with 2.28 GAA and in his last 15 appearances he shows a 2.10 GAA, a 0.925 save percentage and two clean sheets.

Wade For It
In 32 GP in 2019, Wade Megan leads Grand Rapids with 29 points and 15 goals while placing fourth with 14 assists and tying for fourth with a plus-seven rating. He has produced 12 points (5-7—12) in his last 14 outings.

This Date in Griffins History
The Griffins are 1-8-0-0-1 all time when playing on April 10, including a 0-2-0-0-0 mark on home ice.
2002: After breaking the modern AHL record for save percentage (0.9301) and posting the second-lowest GAA (1.83) in league history, Martin Prusek is named the winner of the Aldege "Baz" Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL's outstanding goaltender for the 2001-02 season.
2012: Doug Janik becomes the first player in franchise history to score on a penalty shot in overtime, giving the Griffins a 5-4 victory at Rochester.
2014: Goaltender Petr Mrazek and defenseman Adam Almquist are named to the 2013-14 AHL Second All-Star Team.

Griffins in General
Grand Rapids needs two wins and three points to reach 40 and 90, respectively, for the seventh consecutive season...The Griffins were the second team in the Western Conference to reach 80 points following a 2-1 shootout win at San Antonio on March 19...Grand Rapids became the first in the West to hit the 70-point plateau after a 4-3 shootout win against Texas on Feb. 22...The Griffins became the fifth team in the league this season to reach 30 victories after a 3-2 overtime win vs. San Antonio on Feb. 16...Grand Rapids achieved 30 Ws or more in its first 53 games for the sixth time in the last seven seasons...The Griffins’ 3-0 win against Milwaukee on Jan. 19 marked the franchise’s 950th all-time regular season victory…Grand Rapids is 965-653-27-58-112 (0.586) in the regular season since 1996-97…Grand Rapids’ 305 regular season wins and 661 points since the 2012-13 campaign are both the second-most in the AHL in that time, trailing only Toronto (316 / 684) and just ahead of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (303 / 655).

PROMOTIONS

Post-Game Parties at Peppino’s: After every Wednesday game, join Griffins players and staff for the official post-game party at Peppino’s Sports Grille downtown.

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 this game.

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, an Upper Level Center Ice ticket for $17, or a Lower Level Faceoff ticket for $20. Limit four tickets per card per person, subject to availability.

Photo by Mark Newman/Griffins