Griffins Game #63 * Road Game #30 * AHL Game #989

Season Series: 2-4-1-1 Home Series: 1-3-1-0 Road Series: 1-1-0-1
All-Time Series: 42-22-5-3 All-Time Home Series: 21-10-4-2 All-Time Road Series: 21-12-1-1

Griffins at Wild
Ninth of 10 meetings overall, fourth of five at Wells Fargo Arena…The Griffins are 18-18-5-1 (0.500) overall since the 2017-18 seasons against the Wild but have been outscored by Iowa 141-121...Grand Rapids is 9-9-1-1 (0.500) on the road against Iowa since the 2017-18 season with a minus-11 scoring margin (72-61)...The Griffins have points in 11 of the last 18 overall meetings (8-7-2-1, 0.528) against the Wild...The Wild are 12-13-2-3 at home this season while Grand Rapids is 14-14-0-1 on the road...Iowa is 7-3-0-0 in its last 10 outings and the Griffins are 4-4-1-1 in their last 10...The last time the Griffins were above 0.500 against the Wild in Iowa was in 2018-19 (2-1-0-0)...2017 Calder Cup champion with the Griffins, Joe Hicketts (2016-21) is in his final year of a two-year contract with the Minnesota Wild...Former Griffin Patrick Curry (2020-22) signed with the Iowa Wild this past offseason...Wild forward Mitchell Chaffee grew up 20 minutes north of Grand Rapids in Rockford, Mich., and played a season of youth hockey with the Michigan Nationals 18U AAA team located in Bryon Center, Mich., which is 10 miles south of Grand Rapids.

Last Time Out
The Griffins completed a stunning comeback in the final frame, scoring six goals to win 6-3 over the Chicago Wolves on Wednesday at Van Andel Arena. After trailing 2-0 entering the third, Danny O’Regan, Chase Pearson, Pontus Andreasson, Taro Hirose, Riley Sawchuk and Joel L’Esperance each lit the lamp to take the lead and eventually the win. Six goals in a home period was a franchise record for Grand Rapids after scoring five on 13 previous occasions. Dominik Shine tallied a career-high three assists, pushing his season total to 10. O’Regan, who kicked off the rally, recorded his 15th point in 13 outings with a goal and a helper on Andreasson’s game-tying tally. Charlie Curti made his AHL debut and added an assist to the scoresheet after Hirose deflected his pass into the back of the cage for the eventual game-winner.

Roster Shake Up
- March 17—F Austin Czarnik and D Simon Edvinsson recalled by Detroit
- March 19—D Simon Edvinsson reassigned by Detroit
- March 20—D Simon Edvinsson recalled by Detroit
- March 21—F Matt Luff recalled by Detroit; D Simon Edvinsson reassigned by Detroit
- March 22—D Charlie Curti signed to a PTO by Grand Rapids; D Simon Edvinsson recalled by Detroit
- March 23—G Alex Nedeljkovic recalled by Detroit
- March 23—G Dylan St. Cyr signed to an ATO by Grand Rapids

This Date in Griffins History
2000: Grand Rapids becomes the first IHL team to clinch a playoff berth and sets a team record for wins (41) with a 5-3 home triumph over Milwaukee. Kevin Miller ties Pavol Demitra’s franchise mark with his second hat trick of the year.

Win Some, Lose Some
After enduring a season-high four-game winless streak from March 1-7, the Griffins battled back and enjoyed a four-game point streak (3-0-0-1) from March 10-16. However, Grand Rapids dropped two straight last weekend but still has points in six of its last nine games (4-3-1-1). The Griffins are sixth in the Central Division and are 10 points out of a playoff spot with 10 games remaining. Grand Rapids has points in 18 of its last 29 contests (13-11-3-2, 0.534). Since the new year, the Griffins have lost in regulation just 12 times through 33 games (15-12-3-3, 0.545).

History Was Made
On Wednesday, the Griffins exploded for six goals in the third period against the Chicago Wolves, which set a new regular-season home period franchise record. They had scored five on 13 previous occasions, most recently on Dec. 4, 2021 against Rockford (1st period). It took 1,027 regular-season home games and 3,081 regular-season home period before the Griffins scored six goal in a period. Grand Rapids trailed 2-0 entering the final frame against the Wolves before completing the comeback and taking a 6-3 victory. The Griffins’ overall record for goals in a period is seven, set on Nov. 27, 2010 in the second period of a 10-8 win at Chicago.

Thank You, Fans
On Sunday, the Griffins hosted a sellout crowd of 10,834 at Van Andel Arena, which included 221 dogs for the Jake Engel Memorial Dog Game. The capacity crowd was the fourth sellout of the season and the first non-Friday/Saturday sellout since Dec. 31, 2019 (Tuesday). Grand Rapids also sold out a Sunday game for the first time since March 31, 2019. The Griffins rank fifth in the AHL in average attendance at 7,427 this season.

Matty Ice
Matt Luff has been a welcome addition to the roster since returning from injury on Jan. 28. Since his return, Luff has 17 points in 23 games (5-12—17) and enjoyed a five-game point streak (2-4—6) from March 4-12, which was one game shy of tying his career high. Through 28 games with the Griffins, the Windsor, Ontario, native has 25 points (8-17—25) and six penalty minutes. Luff also appeared in seven games with Detroit this season, scoring one goal. He was recalled by the Red Wings on Tuesday.

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 enjoyed a five-game point streak (2-5—7) from Feb. 24-March 4 and now has eight points (3-5—8) in his last seven outings. O’Regan also has 18 points in his last 16 games (7-11—18).

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 119 assists he now ranks seventh in franchise history, passing Jiri Hudler (114). Hirose is now three 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 36 helpers in 62 games this year. In addition, his 19 power-play assists this season are tied for eighth in the AHL. Hirose also leads the roster with 51 points (15-36—51) in 62 appearances.

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 14-2-4-3 (0.761) in games decided by one goal and 6-0-4-0 in overtime contests. In comparison, the Griffins are just 12-27-0-0 (0.308) 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 eighth, three short-handed goals are tied for first
Simon Edvinsson—22 assists are tied for fifth among rookie defensemen, 27 points are tied for sixth among rookie defensemen, five goals are tied for ninth among rookie defensemen
Taro Hirose—19 power-play assists are tied for eighth, 36 assists are tied for 15th
Albert Johansson—Five goals are tied for ninth among rookie defensemen
Joel L’Esperance—12 power-play goals are tied for third, 207 shots rank fourth
Alex Nedeljkovic—0.913 save percentage is tied for 16th

Milestones
Danny O’Regan notched his 300th pro point with a goal on March 16 at Cleveland, while Dominik Shine scored his 50th pro goal with the game-winner, which was also his 100th pro point. Alex Nedeljkovic collected his 100th AHL victory in a 3-1 win at Chicago on March 12. Wyatt Newpower appeared in his 100th game as a Griffin on March 12 and Donovan Sebrango suited up in his 150th pro game.
Austin Czarnik—Two assists from 200 as a pro
Simon Edvinsson—One assist from 50 as a pro
Matt Luff—Two assists from 100 as a pro, three games from 200 in the AHL
Alex Nedeljkovic—One win from 150 as a pro
Chase Pearson—One assist from 50 as a pro, in the AHL and as a Griffin
Elmer Soderblom—Two games from 150 as a pro
Tyler Spezia—Two goals from 50 as a pro

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins