Griffins Game #55 * Road Game #26 * AHL Game #883

Season Series: 2-2-0-0 Home Series: 2-1-0-0 Road Series: 0-1-0-0
All-Time Series: 70-36-6-10 All-Time Home Series: 40-18-2-2 All-Time Road Series: 30-18-4-8

Griffins at Monsters
Fifth of eight meetings overall, second of four at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse…Grand Rapids is 16-5-1-0 (0.750) against Cleveland in the past two seasons and has points 11 out of the last 13 games overall (10-2-1-0, 0.808)...In the past five years, the Griffins are 26-9-2-1 (0.724) against Cleveland and have outscored them 134-98. On foreign ice during that span, Grand Rapids is 12-4-1-1 (0.722) against the Monsters with a +16 scoring margin (67-51)...The Griffins have points in five of the last seven trips to Cleveland (5-2-0-0)...Cleveland’s power play ranks sixth in the AHL at 22.8% but its penalty kill ranks 27th at 76.9%...The Monsters are 12-12-3-0 at home and the Griffins are 12-12-0-1 on the road...The Monsters are the third-most frequent opponent of the Griffins, as this game marks the 123rd meeting between the two franchises (Milwaukee 209, Chicago 189)...Griffins head coach Ben Simon is a native of the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights...Defenseman Wyatt Newpower played for Cleveland during the 2020-21 season.

Last Time Out
The Griffins picked up a point in an 4-3 overtime loss to the Iowa Wild on Star Wars Night at Van Andel Arena. With two assists, Taro Hirose passed Juri Hudler for the seventh-most all time by a Griffin with 115 helpers. Danny O’Regan extended his point streak to five outings with a goal (2-5–7) and has 10 points in his last eight games (4-6–10). John Lethemon made his Griffins debut in net, securing 37 saves on 41 shots. Michigan State has produced the most Griffins of any school, with Lethemon becoming the 22nd Spartan to play for Grand Rapids.

Roster Shake Up
- March 2—F Adam Erne recalled by Detroit
- March 3—F Alex Chiasson released from PTO by Grand Rapids and signed to a one-year contract by Detroit; G Alex Nedeljkovic recalled by Detroit; G John Lethemon released from AHL contract and signed to a one-year contract by Detroit; G John Lethemon reassigned to Grand Rapids by Detroit from Toledo
- March 5—G Alex Nedeljkovic reassigned by Detroit
- March 6—G John Lethemon reassigned to Toledo (ECHL) by Detroit from Grand Rapids; F Trenton Bliss recalled by Grand Rapids from Toledo

This Date in Griffins History
2001: For the first time since the 1998-99 season, the Griffins lose a game in regulation that they led after two periods. Manitoba rallies from a 2-0 deficit for a 3-2 win.

Didn’t go as Planned
The Griffins dropped three straight games last week against Chicago and Iowa, the two teams that Grand Rapids is trying to catch for the final playoff spot. Grand Rapids finished its five-game homestand last Saturday with a 1-2-2-0 record. The Griffins return this week with four games in six days, which includes three games in three days this weekend. Grand Rapids is in seventh in the division and is now nine points out of a playoff spot with two games in hand (18 remaining) on fifth-place Iowa. Grand Rapids has points in 13 of its last 21 contests (9-7-3-1, 0.524). Since the new year, Grand Rapids has lost in regulation just nine times through 25 games (11-9-3-2, 0.540).

Momma We Made It
On Thursday, Adam Erne became the 200th Griffins alum to compete in the NHL and on Saturday, Alex Chiasson became the 201th alum to play in the NHL. Since 1996, 201 Griffins players (25 goalies, 176 skaters) have gone on to play at least one game in the NHL. Some of the more accomplished members of the Griffins’ alumni class include 18 Stanley Cup champions, two members of the Triple Gold Club — Stanley Cup champ, Olympic gold medalist, World Championship gold medalist — (Niklas Kronwall and Valtteri Filppula), one Calder Trophy winner (Moritz Seider), one Calder Trophy finalist (Jimmy Howard), and two Lady Byng winners (Pavol Demitra and Jiri Hudler).

Griffin Tenders
On Saturday, John Lethemon became the sixth goaltender to man the Griffins’ pipes this season, tying the franchise record for most goalies used that was set in 2005-06. That season, Jimmy Howard made his pro debut and was a stalwart for Grand Rapids, appearing in 38 games for the AHL’s regular season champions and earning a spot on the league’s All-Rookie Team. Joey MacDonald (32), Drew MacIntyre (13) and Logan Koopmans (1) saw action along with Chris Osgood (3) and Manny Legace (1), who both came to the Griffins on conditioning stints from Detroit.

Rewrite the Record Book
Taro Hirose has been known for his passing abilities throughout four seasons with the Griffins. The former Michigan State Spartan has continued to climb the Griffins’ all-time assist leaderboard, and with 115 assists he now ranks seventh in franchise history, passing Jiri Hudler (114). Hirose is now seven assists from tying Nathan Paetsch for sixth all time. Hirose is as consistent as they come, as he has had at least 22 assists in each AHL campaign in his career. The Calgary, Alberta, native has totaled a team-leading 32 helpers in 54 games this year. In addition, his 16 power-play assists this season are tied for 12th in the AHL. Hirose also leads the roster with 45 points (13-32—45) in 54 appearances.

Danny Boy
Danny O’Regan is starting to find a rhythm with the Griffins after joining the team on Dec. 19. After exploding for three points (2-1—3) in his Griffins debut, O’Regan had just three points in his next 12 games from Dec. 28-Feb. 15. However, the German-born forward is now on a five-game point streak (2-5—7) and has 10 points in his last eight games (4-6—10).

Just Keep it Close
The Griffins have had their ups and downs this season, but they have excelled at winning close games. In fact, Grand Rapids is 12-1-4-2 (0.789) in games decided by one goal and 4-0-4-0 in overtime contests. In comparison, the Griffins are just 10-25-0-0 (0.286) in games decided by two or more tallies. In the 2021-22 season, the Griffins finished with a 13-7-6-2 (0.607) mark in games decided by one goal.

AHL Leaderboard Tracker
Austin Czarnik—Five game-winning goals are tied for sixth, three short-handed goals are tied for first
Simon Edvinsson—20 assists are tied for fifth among rookie defensemen, 25 points are tied for fifth among rookie defensemen, five goals are tied for sixth among rookie defensemen
Joel L’Esperance—10 power-play goals are tied for sixth, 172 shots are tied for fourth

Milestones
Ben Simon coached in his 300th game as head coach for the Griffins on March 3, making him just the second coach in franchise history to reach 300 games. Joel L’Esperance recorded his 100th goal as a pro on Feb. 19 at Manitoba. Adam Erne eclipsed 50 assists in the AHL on Feb. 17 against the Cleveland Monsters.
Austin Czarnik—Two assists from 200 as a pro
Albert Johansson—One game from 200 as a pro
Steven Kampfer—One assist from 150 as a pro
Joel L’Esperance—One goal from 100 in the AHL
Alex Nedeljkovic—Two wins from 100 in the AHL
Wyatt Newpower—Four games from 100 as a Griffin
Danny O’Regan—Five points from 300 as a pro
Chase Pearson—Two assists from 50 as a pro, in the AHL and as a Griffin
Donovan Sebrango—Three games from 150 as a pro
Dominik Shine—Two goals from 50 as a pro, as a Griffin and in the AHL, two points from 100 as a pro, in the AHL and as a Griffin
Elmer Soderblom—Three games from 150 as a pro

Photo by Mark Newman/Griffins