Griffins Game #57 * Home Game #32 * AHL Game #875

Season Series: 3-1-1-0 Home Series: 1-0-0-0 Road Series: 2-1-1-0
All-Time Series: 35-19-4-4 All-Time Home Series: 19-6-1-3 All-Time Road Series: 16-13-3-1

Griffins vs. Stars
Sixth of eight meetings overall, second of four at Van Andel Arena...Wednesday was 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 seven-game point streak (6-0-1-0) against Texas at Van Andel Arena...In the past five seasons that the Stars and Griffins have met, Grand Rapids is 10-3-1-1 against Texas in West Michigan...Three of the five games this season have gone to overtime and four out of the five have been decided by one goal...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 10 of the past 12 clashes…Texas has the third-best road power play at 25% and is tied for 13th in the league in the overall power-play standings at 19.6%...Both penalty kills rank toward the bottom of the AHL with Texas coming in at 23rd (79.4%) and the Griffins ranking 28th (76.2%)...Texas enters the contest with three wins in its last four outings and are 4-4-1-1 in its last 10 contests...Grand Rapids is on a three-game win streak and are 6-4-0-0 in its last 10 contests…At home, the Griffins are 14-12-4-1 while the Stars are 9-10-3-3 on foreign ice...This will be the Griffins’ sixth home game out of eight contests thus far in the month of March.

Last Time Out
The Griffins withstood a late comeback from the Texas Stars, winning 5-4 in overtime courtesy of Turner Elson’s game-winner on Wednesday at Van Andel Arena. Elson’s tally six seconds into the extra frame was the fastest goal to start any period in Griffins’ history, for or against. Grand Rapids pushed its home point streak to seven games against the Stars (6-0-1-0). Elson’s game-winner tied his own streak of consecutive outings with a goal this season, with four tallies. Ryan Murphy also tied the longest assist streak this year (4), joining Kyle Criscuolo and Jonatan Berggren. Elson (1-1—2), Dennis Yan (1-1—2), Josh Dickinson (1-2—3), and Dominick Shine (1-1—2) all registered multi-point outings. Elson has now scored overtime winners in back-to-back contests. Calvin Pickard has won three straight games and improved to 21-14-5 this campaign.

Roster Shake Up
- 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
- March 16, 2022—D Seth Barton reassigned to Toledo (ECHL) by Detroit

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 4-3-0-0 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 14-12-4-1 on home ice this season while it is 12-11-1-1 on the road.

This Date in Griffins History
2005: Former Griffin Tyler Moss makes 36 saves to backstop Edmonton to a 2-0 win at Van Andel Arena. Moss’ shutout is the fifth of his career against his old team, giving him two more than any other opposing netminder. The Griffins wear Slap Shot-inspired Charlestown Chiefs jerseys during the game, generating $11,725 for the ALS Association West Michigan Chapter during a post-game auction.

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.

Overtime Magician
Turner Elson has been on a tear as of late with a goal in four straight games, which is tied for the longest goal streak this season by a Griffin. The 29-year-old has also recorded overtime winners in two straight outings against Chicago and Texas. After registering zero overtime goals in his first 233 regular-season games as a Griffin, Elson has scored overtime goals in consecutive games and in three of his last 43 contests. With three OT tallies apiece, Elson and Jonatan Berggren have tied Grand Rapids’ single-season record (Andy Miele in 2014-15 and Kevin Miller in 2003-04) and sit one shy of the career mark shared by Miele and Jiri Hudler. Elson has amassed 34 points (17-17—34) this season, which is five points away from tying his career best.

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 ranks 11th in the AHL with a 2.43 goals against average while his 0.923 save percentage is tied for third in the league. Pickard also ranks second with 2441:52 minutes played and is tied for third with 21 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 41 of the 56 games.

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 23-12-4-0 (0.641) 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 recorded two points in back-to-back games from March 11-13 and is currently enjoying a four-game point streak (1-5—6). The defenseman has registered an assist in four consecutive games, which is tied for the longest assist streak this season by a Griffin. The nine-year pro places fifth on the roster and leads all Grand Rapids’ blueliners with 29 points (11-18—29) in 52 outings. Murphy has climbed up the defensemen leaderboard in the AHL, as his 11 goals are tied for first and his 29 points are tied for 14th. 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.

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.

Rarified Air
Brian Lashoff’s 560 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 10 games behind No. 4 Paul Larivee (Providence Reds 1952-62). Lashoff is still 95 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 are tied for first among blueliners, 29 points (11-18—29) are tied for 14th among defenseman
Calvin Pickard—2.43 goals against average ranks 11th, 0.923 save percentage is tied for third, 21 wins are tied for third, 2441:52 minutes played places second
Dominik Shine—102 penalty minutes ranks fourth

Milestones
Brett McKenzie recorded his 50th goal as a pro on March 16 against Texas. 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—One point from 200 in the AHL
Brian Lashoff—One game from 700 as a pro
Ryan Murphy—Three assists from 200 as a pro
Calvin Pickard—Two games from 400 as a pro
Dan Renouf—Two games from 350 as a pro

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins