Griffins Game #56 * Home Game #31 * AHL Game #864

Season Series: 2-1-1-0 Home Series: 0-0-0-0 Road Series: 2-1-1-0
All-Time Series:34-19-4-4 All-Time Home Series: 18-6-1-3 All-Time Road Series: 16-13-3-1

Griffins vs. Stars
Fifth of eight meetings overall, first of four at Van Andel Arena...This will be the first meeting between the two franchises in West Michigan since Feb. 9, 2020, as the two teams did not compete against each other in the 2020-21 campaign...Grand Rapids is enjoying a six-game point streak (5-0-1-0) against Texas at Van Andel Arena...In the past five seasons that the Stars and Griffins have met, Grand Rapids is 9-3-1-1 against Texas in West Michigan...The last time the Griffins were 0.500 or below against Texas at home was in the 2017-18 campaign when Grand Rapids finished with a 1-1-0-1 record...The home team has points in nine of the past 11 clashes…Texas has the sixth best road power play at 24.4% but it is tied for 16th in the league in the overall power-play standings at 19.3%...Both penalty kills rank toward the bottom of the AHL with Texas coming in at 22nd (79.4%) and the Griffins ranking 27th (76.5%)...Texas enters the contest riding a three-game win streak and are 5-4-0-1 in its last 10 outings...Grand Rapids is on a two-game win streak and are 6-4-0-0 in its last 10 contests…At home, the Griffins are 13-12-4-1 while the Stars are 9-10-2-3 on foreign ice...This will be the Griffins’ fifth home game out of seven contests thus far in the month of March.

Last Time Out
Turner Elson’s overtime goal snapped the Griffins' nine-game winless streak (0-8-1-0) against the Wolves, as Grand Rapids came away with a 2-1 victory over Chicago on Sunday at Allstate Arena. In the victory, Calvin Pickard held Chicago’s offense, which averages 3.29 goals per contest, to just one tally on 27 shots. Ryan Murphy assisted on both goals, which extended his point streak to three games (1-4—5). Elson also pushed his point streak three games (3-1—4) with three goals in just as many outings. Chase Pearson lit the lamp for second time in the last five games. This was just the third time this season that Grand Rapids has trailed after two periods and won the contest (3-18-3-1). The last time Grand Rapids defeat Chicago was back on May 8, 2021. Jan Drozg made his Grand Rapids debut while Elson skated in his 450th game as a pro. Kyle Criscuolo collected his 100th assist as a pro and 50th as a Griffin during his 150th game with Grand Rapids.

Roster Shake Up
- March 11, 2022—F Jan Drozg reassigned from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL) by Pittsburgh; F Taro Hirose recalled by Detroit; D Butrus Ghafari signed to a PTO
- March 12, 2022—D Luke Witkowski recalled by Detroit; F Patrick Curry assigned to Toledo (ECHL) by Grand Rapids
- March 14, 2022—F Patrick Curry recalled by Grand Rapids; F Hayden Verbeek assigned to Toledo (ECHL) by Grand Rapids

Home, Sweet Home
The Griffins have had a lot of action in West Michigan during the first three weeks of March. Six of Grand Rapids’ first eight games of the month will be played at Van Andel Arena before closing out March with a season-long five-game road trip. The Griffins went 4-2-1-1 during an identical stretch of games in January and are 3-3-0-0 so far in this stretch of March. The Griffins will play half of their remaining 12 home contests in the first three weeks of this month. Grand Rapids is 13-12-4-1 on home ice this season while it is 12-11-1-1 on the road.

This Date in Griffins History
2018: Adorned in West Michigan Whitecaps-inspired uniforms, the Griffins defeat Rockford 4-3 in overtime. Todd Nelson earns his 300th AHL victory, making him just the 20th head coach in the league’s 82-year history to reach that milestone.

Unusual Circumstances
On March 10, the Pittsburgh Penguins reassigned Jan Drozg from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL) to the Grand Rapids Griffins. It is a rare occurrence that a NHL franchise sends a player to a team it is not affiliated with. In fact, it had been nearly 12 and a half years since the Griffins organically acquired a player from another NHL organization (Patrick Rissmiller, 10/22/09). Discounting partial affiliations, in-effect trades, and players who had previously been with the Griffins, it’s happened only six other times in Grand Rapids’ 20 seasons with Detroit.

Welcome Back, March
The Griffins have had a remarkable stretch of success during the month of March throughout their 25 seasons. Grand Rapids has earned a winning record in March for 13 straight years, in large part by going 0.500 or better on the road during each of those months and despite playing 62% of its games on the road. All time, the Griffins have only had a losing March record three times in 25 years. The last time Grand Rapids suffered a losing record in March was back in 2008. Things that were also happening in March of 2008: Jimmy Howard was playing his third of four full seasons in Grand Rapids; Ben Simon was an alternate captain for the Springfield Falcons, 2.5 years from starting his coaching career; Donovan Sebrango was six years old; President George W. Bush was serving his final year in the White House; and the Red Wings were three months from winning their most recent Stanley Cup.

Calvin’s University
Goaltender Calvin Pickard has had a stellar season thus far, as he ranks near the top in multiple categories in the AHL. The 10-year-pro currently is tied for ninth in the AHL with a 2.39 goals against average while his 0.924 save percentage is tied for second in the league. Pickard also ranks second with 2381:46 minutes played and places fifth with 20 wins. Pickard has got it done on the offensive end as well with four assists on the season, which is two more than his previous career high. The netminder has been a work horse for the Griffins this season, appearing in 40 of the 55 games.

Johnny Apple Seed
Rookie Jonatan Berggren registered a career-high four assists on Jan. 18 at Cleveland, which set a new single-game high for any Griffin this season. Berggren’s four helpers were one shy of tying the Griffins’ rookie single-game record of five assists set by Chris Bala (1/10/02). Berggren’s 38 points (14-24—38) are tied for eighth among first-year players on the circuit and rank second on the Griffins’ roster. His 24 assists are tied for eighth among league rookies while his 14 goals are tied for 11th. Berggren is also tied for seventh in the league with five game-winning goals, which also places second among rookies. Berggren is on pace for 53 points, which would place fourth in franchise-rookie history.

Huffin’ and Puffin’
So far this season, the Griffins are 3-11-1-2 (0.265) against the Central Division-leading Chicago Wolves and the second-place Manitoba Moose. However, Grand Rapids is 22-12-4-0 (0.632) against the rest of the AHL.

Murphy’s Law
Reigning AHL defenseman of the year Ryan Murphy has started to find a rhythm offensively for the Griffins. Murphy has recorded two points in back-to-back games from March 11-13 and is currently enjoying a three-game point streak (1-4—5). The nine-year pro places fifth on the roster and leads all Grand Rapids’ blueliners with 28 points (11-17—28) in 51 outings. Murphy has climbed up the defensemen leaderboard in the AHL, as his 11 goals rank first and his 28 points are tied for 16th. The Aurora, Ontario, native signed a one-year contract with Detroit on July 28, 2021 and is the midst of his inaugural season with the Griffins.

Victory for Victor
Rookie goaltender Victor Brattstrom captured his first AHL shutout of his career on March 5 against Iowa. The Goteborg, Sweden, native recorded 35 saves en route to a 3-0 victory. After beginning the season with a 2-6-1-1 mark, Brattstrom has came away with wins in three of his last five starts. In those five outings, the 24-year-old has a 0.917 save percentage and a 2.81 goals against average.

High-Flying Hirose
After leading the Griffins in assists a year ago with 23, Taro Hirose has picked off right where he left off as he has bagged 31 helpers in the opening 52 games, which is a team high and tied for 11th in the league. Fourteen assists have come on the power play, which is tied for 15th in the AHL. Hirose logged his second three-point night (2-1—3) of the season on Jan. 1 against Milwaukee, which tied a career-high for the forward. In that same game, he also tied a career-best two goals. The former Michigan State Spartan enjoyed a four-game point streak (3-3—6) from Jan. 1-8. Hirose’s 45 points (14-31—45) this season pace the Griffins. He was recalled for the first time this season by Detroit on Dec. 15 and made his NHL season debut on Dec. 18 against the Devils.

Rarified Air
Brian Lashoff’s 559 games played for the Griffins ranks first among active AHL players who have spent their entire AHL career with the same club and fifth in league history among one-team players. Of the players ahead of him on that list, the most recent – and, coincidentally, the record-holder – last played during the 1970-71 season (Bill Needham of the Cleveland Barons, 981 games played). Lashoff overtook Pete Backor (Pittsburgh Hornets 1945-54) for the No. 5 spot on Jan. 14 against Manitoba and is now 11 games behind No. 4 Paul Larivee (Providence Reds 1952-62). Lashoff is still 96 games away from breaking the Griffins’ all-time games played record, held by Travis Richards with 655 games (1995-2006).

AHL Leaderboard Tracker
Jonatan Berggren—38 points (14-24—38) are tied for eighth among first-year players, 24 assists are tied for eighth among rookies and 14 goals are tied for 11th among rookies, five game-winning goals are tied for seventh in the league and place second among rookies
Taro Hirose—31 assists are tied for 11th, 14 power play assists are tied for 15th
Ryan Murphy—11 goals rank first among blueliners, 28 points (11-17—28) are tied for 16th among defenseman
Calvin Pickard—2.39 goals against average is tied for ninth, 0.924 save percentage is tied for second, 20 wins ranks fifth, 2381:46 minutes played places second
Dominik Shine—102 penalty minutes ranks fourth

Milestones
Kyle Criscuolo collected his 100th assist as a pro and 50th as a Griffin during his 150th game with Grand Rapids on March 13 at Chicago. Turner Elson recorded his 450th game as a pro on March 13 at Chicago. Other upcoming milestones include:
Jonatan Berggren—Two points from 100 as a pro
Kyle Criscuolo—One assist from 100 in the AHL
Jan Drozg—Three goals from 50 as a pro
Turner Elson—Three points from 200 in the AHL
Brian Lashoff—Two games from 700 as a pro
Brett McKenzie—One goal from 50 as a pro
Ryan Murphy—Four assists from 200 as a pro
Calvin Pickard—Three games from 400 as a pro
Dan Renouf—Three games from 350 as a pro

Photo by Andy Nietupski/TTL Sports Media