This Week’s Games
GRIFFINS at Cleveland Monsters // Tue., Nov. 12 // 7 p.m. // Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m.
Watch: AHLTV
Season Series: 0-0-0-0 Road, 0-1-0-0 Overall. Second of four meetings overall, first of two at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
All-Time Series: 22-14-4-8 Road, 52-30-5-10 Overall
NHL Affiliation: Columbus Blue Jackets
Noteworthy: Cleveland won the first meeting of the season last Wednesday by a 5-3 margin during the Griffins’ annual school day game.

GRIFFINS vs. Rockford IceHogs // Fri., Nov. 15 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
Griffins at Rockford IceHogs // Sat., Nov. 16 // 7 p.m. EST // BMO Harris Bank Center
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m. both nights
Watch: AHLTV
Season Series: 0-0-0-0 Home, 1-0-0-0 Road, 1-0-0-0 Overall. Second and third of 10 meetings overall, first of five at Van Andel Arena, second of five at the BMO Harris Bank Center
All-Time Series: 29-11-3-2 Home, 15-21-4-6 Road, 44-32-7-8 Overall
NHL Affiliation: Chicago Blackhawks
Noteworthy: Filip Larsson picked up his first pro win in his debut in Grand Rapids’ 4-2 triumph at Rockford on Oct. 12.

Last Week’s Results
Wed., Nov. 6 | Cleveland Monsters 5 at GRIFFINS 3 | 5-5-1-1 (12 pts., T5th Central Division)
Fri., Nov. 8 | Toronto Marlies 1 at GRIFFINS 4 | 6-5-1-1 (14 pts., 5th Central)
Sat., Nov. 9 | Toronto Marlies 5 at GRIFFINS 2 | 6-6-1-1 (14 pts., 5th Central)

Status Update: The Grand Rapids Griffins picked up one win in their three-game homestand last week and tie for fifth in the Central Division standings with a 6-6-1-1 record (14 points). Grand Rapids travels to Cleveland tonight to play the Monsters for the second time in less than a week before a weekend home-and-home set against the Rockford IceHogs looms.

Last Week’s Notes:
Wednesday vs. Cleveland – The Griffins surrendered a franchise-record three shorthanded goals...The last time an AHL team scored three shorthanded goals was Dec. 28, 2018, when Syracuse beat Utica 10-1...Entering Wednesday, Grand Rapids had allowed two shorthanded goals in a single home game on just two occasions (Nov. 16, 2016 vs. Texas and Oct. 27, 2006 vs. Toronto)...Rookie Chase Pearson and Brian Lashoff both scored their first goals of the season...Grand Rapids had its four-game home point streak snapped...The Griffins had their three-game winning streak in home matinees come to an end and are 12-6-0-1 all time in home weekday games with an early start time...Chris Terry extended his goal streak to three games and his point streak to seven...Matt Puempel also pushed his point streak to seven with an assist. Recap | Highlights

Friday vs. Toronto – The teams met for the first time overall since April 2, 2016, and for the first time in Grand Rapids since Jan. 29, 2016...The Griffins picked up their first win against the Marlies since April 4, 2015 at Van Andel Arena, snapping a four-game winning streak for Toronto in the series...Grand Rapids finished 3-for-6 on the power play and 6-for-6 on the penalty kill...Chris Terry and Matt Puempel both extended their point streaks to eight games...Filip Zadina (4), Givani Smith (3) and Puempel (7) all scored on the power play...Dominic Turgeon (2) added an empty-net goal...Calvin Pickard picked up the win against his former team with 23 saves...Joe Hicketts was assigned back to Grand Rapids by Detroit on Thursday, and the Griffins are 6-2-0-1 this season with him in the lineup…Prior to the game, the Griffins held a moment of silence in memory of longtime video coach Bill LeRoy, who passed away one week ago. Recap | Highlights

Saturday vs. Toronto – Grand Rapids finished 1-for-6 on the power play to extend its power play goal streak to five games…Filip Zadina (PP, 5) and Dominic Turgeon (3) were the goal scorers and both have lit the lamp in back-to-back games…Matt Puempelpicked up an assist to stretch his point streak to a career-high-tying nine games…Grand Rapids outshot Toronto 34-23….The Griffins and Marlies will conclude their four-game season series on March 19 and 22 in Ontario. Recap | Highlights

Follow the Leaders:

Lighting It Up: The Griffins place second in the AHL in power play efficiency at 28.1% (18-for-64) and have scored in 11 of 14 games, including five consecutive. The five-game power play streak, during which the Griffins are 8-for-24 (33.3%), is the longest since a six-game stretch from Feb. 11-25, 2017 (9-for-25, 36%). Grand Rapids has netted two or more PPGs in a single game five times already this season, compared to eight in all of 2018-19. Chris Terry (5-6—11), Matt Puempel (3-5—8) and Joe Hicketts (0-6—6) lead the way in power play points. The PP accounts for 37.5% of Grand Rapids’ goals.

Puemped Up: In his seventh pro year, Matt Puempel is on a nine-game point streak (6-7—13) to equal his career high that was set Jan. 12-Feb. 4, 2018, during his first season as a Griffin. It is also the longest active streak in the AHL. Puempel’s streak in 2018 is the last time a Griffin had a nine-game run and the last double-digit streak was a 12-game stretch by Evgeny Svechnikov from Jan. 20-Feb. 17, 2017. In his third season as a Griffin, Puempel is the team’s active goal scoring leader with 53. He ties for fourth in the AHL in scoring with 16 points overall (7-9—16).

Back Up, Terr: Chris Terry ties for the AHL lead in points (21) while pacing the Griffins in goals (8), assists (13) and multi-point games (7). During his season-high eight-game point streak that concluded in Saturday’s loss to Toronto, Terry averaged nearly two points per outing (6-9—15). He has found the scoresheet in 11 of 14 appearances. In his 11th-year pro, Terry led the Griffins with 61 points last season and the most recent player to lead the Griffins in scoring in back-to-back seasons was Andy Miele in 2014-15 and 2015-16.

Blueline Points: Joe Hicketts has at least one assist in four of his last five games and leads all team defensemen with eight points (0-8—8). Moritz Seider ties for sixth among AHL rookie defensemen in scoring with seven points (0-7—7).

McIlrath, Smith in Detroit: Recalled last Tuesday, defenseman Dylan McIlrath remains with the Red Wings and has played in each of Detroit’s last three games, averaging 13:33 of ice time. Givani Smith was recalled yesterday by Detroit for the second time this season. Smith skated in three games with Detroit from Oct. 25-29 during his NHL debut and averaged 10:32 of ice time.

November to Remember: Despite an uneasy 1-4 start to the month, November has historically been a fruitful one for Grand Rapids as the Griffins have posted a 0.500 record or better in the month 17 times in franchise history. Since the 2012-13 season, Grand Rapids has tallied a combined 52-21-1-5 (0.696) record in the 11th month of the year.

First Things First: Grand Rapids’ roster currently features five recent Detroit first-round draft picks (Moritz Seider 2019, Filip Zadina 2018, Joe Veleno 2018, Michael Rasmussen2017, Evgeny Svechnikov 2015). Five of the Red Wings’ last six first rounders are on the west side of the state, with the exception being Dennis Cholowski (2016), who made Detroit’s roster following training camp. From 2002-15, the Griffins had only seven Detroit first rounders total suit up for them: Jakub Kindl (2005-11; 14-15), Niklas Kronwall (2003-06), Dylan Larkin (2015 playoffs only), Anthony Mantha (2014-15), Tom McCollum (2009-15), Riley Sheahan (2011-14) and Brendan Smith (2010-13). The Griffins’ opening night lineup had five Detroit first rounders in it, far surpassing the previous record of two. The Griffins had never seen more than three Red Wings first rounders suit up for the club at any point in the same season until this year. Adding in Matt Puempel (24th overall by Ottawa in 2011), Grand Rapids’ roster boasts six former first-round draft selections.

Griffins in General: Grand Rapids is in the franchise’s 24th overall season of play, 19th as a member of the American Hockey League and 18th as the primary affiliate of the 11-time Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings…Grand Rapids is 971-662-27-59-113 (0.585) in the regular season since 1996-97 to go along with 17 playoff appearances, seven division titles and two Calder Cups (2017, 2013)…The Griffins have earned 40 or more wins and accumulated 90 or more points in six of the last seven seasons…Grand Rapids has qualified for the Calder Cup Playoffs in a franchise-record seven consecutive seasons and advanced to at least the second round on five occasions…The Griffins’ 8-5 season-opening win at Chicago on Oct. 5 marked the club’s 750th win in the AHL…Grand Rapids’ 311 regular season wins since the 2012-13 campaign tie Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for second behind Toronto’s 325 and the Griffins’ 675 points in that span are third, trailing Providence (678) and Toronto (706)…Since the affiliation began in 2002-03, 90 Griffins have gone on to play for the Red Wings.

Milestones Within Reach:
Calvin Pickard – needs three wins to reach 100 in the AHL
Brian Lashoff – needs four games to reach 600 as a pro
Dominic Turgeon – needs one assist to reach 50 as a Griffin/in the AHL
Matthew Ford – needs one goal to reach 200 in the AHL
Dominik Shine – needs one game to reach 150 as a Griffin/in the AHL

Cleveland Notes: Current record 8-5-0-1, 17 points, T4th North Division…In the first meeting of the season last Wednesday during Grand Rapids’ annual school day game, Cleveland won 5-3 and scored three shorthanded goals…Three SHG set a Griffins record for most SHG against in a single game…Brian Lashoff, Chase Pearson and Chris Terry all scored in the first matchup…Grand Rapids has points in 11 of the last 14 meetings (8-3-1-2)…At Cleveland, the Griffins have points in seven in a row (4-0-1-2)…Head coach Ben Simon is a native of Shaker Heights, a Cleveland suburb…Captain Matthew Ford spent most of his first three pro seasons (2008-11) with the Monsters, totaling 69 points (39-30—69) in 126 appearances...Monsters first-year head coach Mike Eaves was Ford’s college coach at Wisconsin and they won the 2006 NCAA Championship together…Calvin Pickard began his pro career with the Monsters, appearing in 142 games from 2011-15 and posting a 60-54-21 record to go along with a 2.63 GAA, a 0.913 save percentage and 10 shutouts…Pickard is the Monsters’ all-time leader in goalie wins.

Rockford Notes: Current record 7-6-0-0, 14 points, T5th Central Division…Grand Rapids won the first meeting of the season at Rockford on Oct. 12, 4-2…In that Oct. 12 game, Filip Larsson became the fifth Griffins rookie goalie in the team’s AHL era (since 2001-02) to pick up the win in his AHL debut after his 24-save performance, joining Petr Mrazek (Nov. 3, 2012 at Texas), Tom McCollum (Oct. 3, 2009 at Peoria), Jimmy Howard (Oct. 28, 2005 vs. Iowa) and Simon Lajeunesse (Dec. 12, 2001 at Utah)…Rookie Jarid Lukosevicius scored his first pro goal at Rockford in the initial matchup…In their history, the Griffins are 29-11-3-2 against the IceHogs at Van Andel Arena and 15-21-4-6 at the BMO Harris Bank Center…Dating to April 1, 2017, Grand Rapids has points in seven of its last 12 games at Rockford (2-5-2-3)…Since the 2016-17 season, the home team in the series has posted a 21-8-2-0 record (0.710)…Head coach Ben Simon served as an assistant in Rockford for two seasons (2011-13)…Rockford head coach Derek King played in Grand Rapids from 1999-01 and 2002-04 and is the franchise’s all-time leading playoff scorer (16-25—41) and ranks fifth in regular season points (73-130—203).

Back-to-Back: This weekend will mark the sixth of 25 times total this season the Griffins will play on consecutive nights.

Win Some, Lose Some: Compare the statistics between the Griffins’ six wins and eight (including OT and SO) losses: