This Week’s Games
GRIFFINS at Cleveland Monsters // Tues., Feb. 11 // 7 p.m. // Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
GRIFFINS vs. Cleveland Monsters // Fri., Feb. 14 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m. both nights
Watch: AHLTV
Season Series: 1-0-0-0 Road, 0-1-0-0 Home, 1-1-0-0 Overall. Third and fourth of four meetings overall, second of two at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, second of two at Van Andel Arena
All-Time Series: 23-14-4-8 Road, 30-16-1-2 Home, 53-30-5-10 Overall
NHL Affiliation: Columbus Blue Jackets
Noteworthy: Friday will mark the 100th all-time regular season meeting.

GRIFFINS at Chicago Wolves // Sat., Feb. 15 // 8 p.m. EST // Allstate Arena
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 7:35 p.m.
Watch: AHLTV
Season Series: 1-1-0-0 Road, 1-3-0-0 Overall. Fifth of eight meetings overall, third of four at Allstate Arena
All-Time Series: 43-35-0-2-1 Road, 85-64-2-6-3 Overall
NHL Affiliation: Vegas Golden Knights
Noteworthy: Chicago has won seven of the last eight meetings, including three in a row.

Last Week’s Results
Wed., Feb. 5 // GRIFFINS 2 at Milwaukee Admirals 1 // 21-21-2-4 (48 pts., 4th Central Division)
Sat., Feb. 8 // Texas Stars 4 at GRIFFINS 3 OT // 21-21-3-4 (49 pts., 5th Central)
Sun., Feb. 9 // Texas Stars 1 at GRIFFINS 5 // 22-21-3-4 (51 pts., T3rd Central)

Status Update: The Grand Rapids Griffins have points in three straight games (2-0-1-0) and in 11 of their last 13 (8-2-1-2). Beginning the new year in a tie for last place in the Central Division, Grand Rapids has catapulted itself into a tie for third, which is its highest division standing since a 4-3 home win against San Antonio on Nov. 20 also left the Griffins tied for third. The Griffins begin a home-and-home set against the Monsters tonight on the shores of Lake Erie before Cleveland repays the trip on Valentine’s Day. The week concludes on Saturday with a visit to Chicago, who is tied with Grand Rapids in the rankings. Grand Rapids has won two of its last three road outings, with both victories coming against league-leading Milwaukee.

Last Week’s Notes:

Wednesday at Milwaukee – Grand Rapids has won the last three meetings, which have all come at Panther Arena and been one-goal margins...Four of Milwaukee’s nine regulation losses have come against the Griffins...Troy Grosenick had allowed just one goal in a 160:09 span against the Griffins this season before Chase Pearson and Joe Veleno scored 2:35 apart in the opening period...Veleno netted his second game-winning goal of the campaign, which ties for second on the team...Eric Tangradi returned to the lineup after missing the previous 10 games due to injury...Calvin Pickard stopped 29 shots to pick up his 15th win on the year...Since the Admirals moved to Panther Arena at the beginning of the 2016-17 season, the Griffins are 15-5 at Milwaukee in the regular season. Recap | Highlights

Saturday vs. Texas – Grand Rapids played its 11th game of the season tied after regulation, and two of those have come against Texas...Evgeny Svechnikov’s seventh goal of the season at 14:29 of the second period ended Jake Oettinger’s shutout streak against the Griffins at 153:56…Svechnikov added his second power play goal of the contest at 18:45 of the second to mark his second multi-goal game of the season and fifth career…Eric Tangradi netted his seventh goal in his 10th game...Grand Rapids had its third sellout of the season and first since New Year’s Eve…For the fourth time this season, Grand Rapids registered three PPG...Eight power play chances marked a season high. Recap | Highlights

Sunday vs. Texas – Evgeny Svechnikov (1-2—3), Chris Terry (1-1—2), Michael Rasmussen (1-1—2) and Matt Puempel (1-1—2) all recorded multi-point games...Pat Nagle saved a season-high 34 shots...Grand Rapids scored the game’s final five goals and matched its largest margin of victory this season (Jan. 11 vs. Manitoba)...The Griffins have points in eight of the last nine matchups vs. Texas at Van Andel Arena (6-1-1-1), including in each of the last six. Recap | Highlights

Follow the Leaders:

Movin’ On Up: Over the last 13 games, during which the Griffins have risen from last place in the division into a tie for third, Grand Rapids is outscoring opponents 38-30 and outshooting them 435-383 (+52) while operating at 21.8% on the power play (12-for-55) and 81.6% on the penalty kill (31-for-38). Chris Terry (5-6—11), Taro Hirose (0-9—9) and Michael Rasmussen (3-5—8) are the leading scorers in the stretch. Calvin Pickard (5-1-1, 1.99 GA, 0.931%, 1 SO) and Pat Nagle (3-1, 1.98 GAA, 0.933%) have shared crease duties during the run and post near identical numbers.

Adding to the List: Taro Hirose and Gustav Lindstrom became the 183rd and 184th Griffins alumni, respectively, to play in the NHL when they suited up for Detroit last Thursday in the team’s 4-3 shootout win at Buffalo. Hirose was making his return to the Red Wings’ lineup after he opened the campaign on Detroit’s roster. In his NHL debut, Lindstrom logged 12:07 of ice time and recorded two penalty minutes. Lindstrom also became the 102nd player in Griffins history to make his NHL debut after playing for Grand Rapids.

Red Wings Report: There have been 13 players who have played for both Detroit and Grand Rapids this season – Madison Bowey, Dennis Cholowski, Jonathan Ericsson, Jimmy Howard (conditioning), Joe Hicketts, Taro Hirose, Brian Lashoff, Gustav Lindstrom, Dylan McIlrath, Calvin Pickard, Givani Smith, Evgeny Svechnikov and Filip Zadina.

Russian Influence: Evgeny Svechnikov has banked three power play goals among five points in the last two outings for his first back-to-back multi-point games of the season. In fact, five points is the most productive two-game stretch of the third-year pro’s career.

Picks and Pucks: Calvin Pickard has points in six of his last seven starts (5-1-1), posting a 1.99 GAA, a 0.931 save percentage (189 of 203) and one shutout in that stretch. Since Jan. 8, Pickard’s 1.99 GAA is fourth in the league among netminders with 420 or more minutes.

Net Nagle: Pat Nagle has won four of his last six starts, showing a 2.00 GAA and stopping 157 of 169 shots in that stretch (0.929). His 2.19 season GAA ranks fourth among AHL netminders with more than 630 minutes.

Back Up, Terr: 2020 AHL All-Star Classic selection Chris Terry leads the team with 15 points (5-10—15) in 16 GP in the new year. Overall, he ties for sixth in the AHL in points (45) while pacing the Griffins in goals (18), assists (27), multi-point games (14) and power play goals (9). In his 11th year as a pro, Terry needs four more points to reach 550 in the AHL.

Time to Tango: Eric Tangradi lists seven goals among nine points in 11 games this season. He ties for fourth on the team in power play goals (4), ties for seventh in goals overall and places fourth in points per game (0.82). A 2017 Calder Cup champion with Grand Rapids, Tangradi ranks among the club’s all-time leaders with 173 points (9th), 83 goals (5th) and 25 PPG (T3rd).

Terrific Turg: One of only two Griffins (Turner Elson) to play in every game this season, Dominic Turgeon ranks third on the team in goals (10) while tying for fifth in points (20). He has already matched his scoring output from last season when he suited up 72 times.

Streak Busters: In the first two games last week, the Griffins put an end to opposing goalie’s streaks against them. In Wednesday’s 2-1 win at Milwaukee, Troy Grosenick had allowed just one goal in a 160:09 span against Grand Rapids this season before Chase Pearson and Joe Veleno scored 2:35 apart in the opening period. On Saturday, Jake Oettinger’s shutout streak against the Griffins lasted 153:56 over two-plus games before Evgeny Svechnikov netted a power play goal at 14:29 of the second period.

Valentine’s Day:The Griffins will play on Feb. 14 for the 12th time in their history on Friday and for the 10th time on home ice. Grand Rapids is 5-4-0-2 all time on Valentine’s Day, including 5-2-0-2 at Van Andel Arena.

February Finish: The Griffins have points in 20 of their last 24 games in the month of February (16-4-2-2, 0.750). That stretch includes points in 14 of 16 appearances at Van Andel Arena (11-2-2-1), including in six straight (4-0-2-0), and in six of eight contests on foreign ice (5-2-0-1).

Give Me a Break: Since joining the AHL in the 2001-02 season, the Griffins post a 303-217-7-21-27 (0.575) combined record in games played after the all-star break. Grand Rapids has tallied a 0.500 mark or better in each of the last nine seasons after the hiatus, including going a combined 133-71-11-12 (0.637) since 2012-13 – the year its current postseason streak began. The Griffins are 2-1-1-0 after the break so far this season.

Rotating Roster: Five different goaltenders have logged minutes for Grand Rapids this season, the team’s most since five suited up during the 2014-15 campaign (Pat Nagle, Jonas Gustavsson, Petr Mrazek, Jared Coreau, Tom McCollum). Including those five goalies, the Griffins have used 38 players already this season. Here is how the current usage stacks up to the final player counts in recent seasons: 2018-19 – 41 players, 2017-18 – 32, 2016-17 – 39, 2015-16 – 37 and 2014-15 – 39. Since the AHL’s season began on Oct. 4, the Red Wings have recalled or assigned a player from or to Grand Rapids a total of 77 times.

Milestones Within Reach:
Turner Elson – needs five points to reach 150 in the AHL
Brian Lashoff – needs 13 games to reach 500 as a Griffin/in the AHL
Chris Terry – needs four points to reach 550 in the AHL
Eric Tangradi – needs one point to reach 350 in the AHL

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 987-677-27-61-116 (0.583) 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’ 327 regular season wins since the 2012-13 campaign are third, behind only Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s 328 and Toronto’s 341 while the Griffins’ 712 points in that span are fourth, trailing Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (713), Providence (718) and Toronto (740)…Since the affiliation began in 2002-03, 93 Griffins have gone on to play for the Red Wings.

Cleveland Notes: Current record 22-23-2-2, 48 points, T7th North Division…In a rivalry that dates to the 2007-08 season, Friday’s rematch at Van Andel Arena will be the 100th all-time regular season meeting between the teams…In the last matchup on Nov. 12 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Joe Veleno netted his first game-winning goal with 42 seconds remaining in regulation after Cleveland tied the contest 20 seconds prior…The Griffins are on an eight-game point streak at Cleveland (5-0-1-2) and last suffered a regulation defeat on Feb. 28, 2017 (1-4)…Grand Rapids has points in 12 of the last 15 meetings overall (9-3-1-2)…At Van Andel Arena, the Griffins have points in nine of the last 13 (8-4-0-1)…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.

Chicago Notes: Current record 23-21-3-2, 51 points, T3rd Central Division…In the last meeting on New Year’s Eve at Van Andel Arena, Oscar Dansk stopped all 20 shots in a 2-0 Wolves victory…Chicago has won seven of the last eight meetings, including three in a row…The Wolves have also claimed the last three at Allstate Arena…In the season series, Grand Rapids’ power play is 4-for-13 (30.8%) while the Wolves’ is 4-for-14 (28.6%)…Grand Rapids has faced Chicago 160 times in the regular season, the second-most of any Griffins opponent (Milwaukee, 192)…Evgeny Svechnikov (2-3—5 in 4 GP) leads Grand Rapids in the series…As part of his 11-year professional playing career, Ben Simon registered 87 points (37-50—87) in 196 games with the Wolves from 2001-03 and 2004-05 and was a part of Chicago’s first Calder Cup title in 2002.

Win Some, Lose Some: Compare the statistics between the Griffins’ 22 wins and 28 (including OT and SO) losses:

Back-to-Back: This weekend will mark the 17th of 25 times total this season the Griffins will play on consecutive nights.

Photo at top by Sam Iannamico/Griffins