Griffins Game #70 * Home Game #37 * AHL Game #1,048

Season Series: 4-2-0-0 Home Series: 2-1-0-0 Road Series: 2-1-0-0
All-Time Series: 39-17-4-2 All-Time Home Series: 19-7-3-2 All-Time Road Series: 20-10-1-0

Griffins vs. Wild
Seventh of eight meetings overall, fourth of four at Van Andel Arena…The Griffins are 21-13-4-2 overall in the last five years against the Wild but have been outscored by Iowa 126-122...Grand Rapids is 10-5-3-2 (0.625) at home against Iowa since the 2016-17 season with an even scoring margin (59-59)...The Griffins have points in six of the last eight overall meetings (5-2-1-0) against the Wild...Grand Rapids has points in nine of the last 11 games (5-2-3-1) against Iowa at Van Andel Arena...The Wild are 13-16-2-2 on the road this season while Grand Rapids is 16-15-4-1 at home...The Wild are 6-2-0-2 in their last 10 contests...The Griffins’ season home series against Iowa has been a tight affair over the last handful of seasons, as just three goals or less have separated the two teams in five of the last six campaigns...The last time the Griffins had a losing record against Iowa in West Michigan was in 2018-19 (0-1-1-1)...Iowa is tied for 20th in the power play at 18.7% while its penalty kill ranks second at 84.6%...2017 Calder Cup champions with the Griffins, Joe Hicketts (2016-21) and Dominic Turgeon (2016-21) are now with Iowa after signing deals with the Minnesota Wild in the offseason. Nate DiCasmirro (2005-06) is an assistant coach for Iowa...Taro Hirose (4-3—7) leads the way against Iowa for Grand Rapids while Marco Rossi (4-2—6) paces the Wild against the Griffins.

Last Time Out
An offensive powered, three-goal second period lifted the Grand Rapids Griffins past the Cleveland Monsters 4-2 on Wednesday at Van Andel Arena. The Griffins have now tallied points in all seven outings this season against the Monsters (6-0-1-0). Riley Barber tallied an assist, which extended his point streak to a career-high 11 games (9-5—14). This is not only a Grand Rapids season best but is tied for the fifth longest point streak in Griffins’ history. Jonatan Berggren tallied his 17^th goal of the campaign along with an assist, which pushed his point streak to four games (2-5—7). Taro Hirose joined Berggren with two points (1-1—2). The Griffins ended the home portion of the season series against the Monsters with a 3-0-1-0 ledger.

Roster Shake Up
- April 7, 2022—F Kyle Criscuolo reassigned by Detroit
- April 8, 2022—F Taro Hirose reassigned by Detroit
- April 12, 2022—F Patrick Curry reassigned to Toledo (ECHL) by Grand Rapids; F Taro Hirose recalled by Detroit; F Taro Hirose reassigned by Detroit

This Date in Griffins History
2000: The Griffins claim their first Eastern Conference regular season championship and earn their 50th win thanks to a 5-2 victory at Cincinnati. Michel Picard ties a franchise mark with two shorthanded goals.

Welcome to the Barber Shop
Riley Barber has been on a tear as of late, with points in a career-high 11 straight games (9-5—14), including his third-ever hat trick on April 9 at Toronto. There have been only four longer point streaks in franchise history. Since being reassigned by Detroit on March 2, Barber has notched 22 points (11-11—22) in 20 games, including five multi-point outings. The Pittsburgh, Pa., native is tied for third on the roster with 41 points (19-22—41) in 43 games. Last season, Barber paced the Griffins with 34 points (20-14—34) in 32 contests and finished second in the league with 20 goals. Through 75 games with the Griffins, the 28-year-old veteran has 75 points (39-36—75) and 46 penalty minutes.

No Time to Waste
The Griffins currently sit in seventh place in the Central Division standings with a 30-31-6-2 (0.493) mark and only seven games remaining. The top five teams from the division will qualify for the Calder Cup Playoffs, with the top three receiving a first-round bye. The Griffins’ magic number over Iowa, which sits in the final playoff spot, is 18 points. The Griffins have the second-toughest remaining schedule in the division with a remaining opponent win percentage of 0.601, while Iowa has the second-easiest remaining schedule at 0.531. Grand Rapids has appeared in the last seven Calder Cup Playoffs, dating back to the 2012-13 season when it lifted the cup for the first time.

Race to the Top
Jonatan Berggren on Sunday became just the sixth rookie in Griffins history to record 50 points, as he is tied for fourth in the Griffins’ top-10 rookie single-season scoring list with 52 points (17-35—52) in 63 games. Berggren has logged two or more points in five of his last 11 games, with three goals and 11 helpers during the run. The Uppsala, Sweden, native paces the Griffins and ranks fifth among rookies with his 52 points, while his 35 assists rank fourth. Berggren is tied for second among rookies with six game-winning goals. Berggren is on pace for 57 points, which would place third in Griffins rookie single-season scoring history.

Stalled Engine
The Griffins have struggled out of the gate recently, allowing the first goal in nine straight contests. Grand Rapids has four wins in those nine games, showing a 4-4-1-0 mark. During this run, Grand Rapids has not won a first period and have been outscored 12-3. However, in the past nine second periods the Griffins have a +5 scoring margin (14-9). Narrowing it down even more, Grand Rapids has been outscored 8-2 in the last three first frames while it has outscored its opponents 8-1 in the past three second periods.

Northern Exposure
The Griffins have fared well against opponents from the North Division, as they hold a 7-2-2-0 record (0.682) and have outscored their opponents 38-28. In comparison, Grand Rapids is 20-25-3-2 (0.450) against Central-Division foes and 3-4-1-0 (0.438) against teams from the Pacific. One game remains on the schedule for the Griffins against clubs from the North Division.

Traffic Jam
The Griffins have won two games in their last eight contests away from West Michigan, having been outscored 36-23. However, Grand Rapids has secured five out of 10 points in its past five outings away from home. Grand Rapids went on a season-high five-game road trip from March 19-27 and finished with a 1-3-1-0 mark. The Griffins are 14-16-2-1 this season away from West Michigan while they are 16-15-4-1 at home. Grand Rapids will play five of its remaining seven games on foreign ice.

The Roaring 20’s
Turner Elson reached the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career on April 9. The ninth-year pro has had a career-high season on the offensive end, with a career-best 20 goals and 41 points so far. Elson has also tied his career-high assist total with 21. The alternate captain has turned it on as of late with 14 points (7-7—14) in his last 19 games. In comparison, Elson had just eight points (3-5—8) in the 19 contests before this run. Elson is tied for third on the roster with his 41 points (20-21—41).

Rarified Air
Brian Lashoff’s 573 games played for the Griffins ranks first among active AHL players who have spent their entire AHL career with the same club and fourth 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 Paul Larivee (Providence Reds, 1952-62) for the No. 4 spot on April 6 against Cleveland and is now 35 games behind No. 3 Howie Yanosik (Hershey Bears, 1957-67). Lashoff is still 82 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—52 points (17-35—52) rank fifth among first-year players, 35 assists rank fourth among rookies, six game-winning goals are tied for second among rookies
Jared McIsaac—24 points are tied for seventh among rookie defensemen, 19 assists are tied for sixth among rookie defensemen
Ryan Murphy—11 goals are tied for third among defensemen
Calvin Pickard—2.58 goals against average is tied for 14th, 0.918 save percentage places 10th, 21 wins are tied for fifth, 2534:30 minutes played places fourth
Dominik Shine—127 penalty minutes place fourth

Milestones
Victor Brattsrom and Jan Drozg each made their 150th appearance as a pro on April 10 at Toronto. Other upcoming milestones include:
Jan Drozg—One game from 100 in the AHL, three goals from 50 as a pro
Turner Elson—One goal from 100 as a pro
Jon Martin—One game from 300 as a pro
Ryan Murphy—Three assists from 200 as a pro, two points from 250 as a pro
Tyler Spezia—Four goals from 50 as a pro

Photo by Mark Newman/Griffins