This Week’s Games

GRIFFINS vs. Texas Stars // Wed., Dec. 13 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
GRIFFINS vs. Texas Stars // Fri., Dec. 15 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday and at 7 p.m. on Friday

Watch: AHLTV on Wednesday, WXSP-TV and AHLTV on Friday

Season Series: 0-2-0-0 Overall, 0-0-0-0 Home. Third and fourth of eight meetings overall, first and second of four at Van Andel Arena

All-Time Series: 39-27-4-5 Overall, 20-11-1-4 Home

NHL Affiliation: Dallas Stars

Noteworthy: Texas’ Mavrik Bourque (8-24—32) and rookie Logan Stankoven (14-15—29) are ranked first and second, respectively, in the AHL for points, while Bourque also paces the league in assists and Stankoven leads the circuit in goals. The Griffins’ next four games are all against the Central Division-leading Stars.

Home Sweet Home: The Griffins concluded their five-game road trip on Sunday with a 1-3-1-0 mark, which included three games in three days. Now, Grand Rapids returns home for a pair of contests against the Texas Stars. The Griffins have faired well at home, showing a 6-3-1-0 record with a plus-eight scoring margin compared to a 2-8-1-1 road ledger and a minus-19 margin. The Griffins have won four of their last five home games, dating back to Nov. 15. However, Grand Rapids will play just three out of its next nine games inside Van Andel Arena. Despite struggling to string together wins, the Griffins are just one point out of third place in the Central Division standings.

Simon Says: Defenseman Simon Edvinsson has 12 points (3-9—12) in his last 11 games and enjoyed a seven-game point streak (3-7—10) from Nov. 18-Dec. 8, which is tied for the longest run by a Griffin this season. Edvinsson exploded for his first two-goal game in North America on Dec. 1 against the Milwaukee Admirals and logged two assists in consecutive games from Nov. 18-24. The 6-foot-6 defensive prospect ranks second on the team with 16 points (6-10—16) in 21 games. Edvinsson is also tied for ninth among AHL defensemen with 16 points and places fourth among blueliners with six goals. The Onsala, Sweden, native, who was selected with the sixth overall pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, saw action in nine NHL games with the Red Wings last season and scored two goals.

Great Tidings of Joel: After being held without a goal for the first 11 games of the season, Joel L’Esperance has started to find a rhythm offensively, scoring six goals in his last nine outings. L’Esperance broke his drought with two goals against Manitoba on Nov. 24 and now has scored three goals in his last four contests from Dec. 5-10, which included goals in consecutive games from Dec. 5-8. The Brighton, Michigan, native has scored at least 24 goals in each full AHL season since 2018-19, including 25 tallies last season for the Griffins.

Power Surge: Grand Rapids’ power play has been a bright spot for the team thus far, as it ranks 14^th in the AHL with a conversion rate of 19.5%. On the road, the Griffins are tied for 14^th at 20.5% compared to 18.4% at home (13^th). Grand Rapids is 2-for-7 on the man-advantage in its last two games and has scored at least one power-play goal in five out of the previous six contests (6-for-26, 23.1%). Taro Hirose leads the team with three power-play goals and six power-play assists. Simon Edvinsson is tied for second among AHL defensemen with two power-play goals.

Under Three is Key: Unsurprisingly, the Griffins have done well in games where they have scored four or more goals, going 6-1-1-0 (.813). Although, when scoring three goals or less the team is just 2-10-1-1 (.214). Grand Rapids has scored four or more goals in six of its last 10 outings. On the flip side, Grand Rapids is just 1-10-2-1 (.179) when allowing at least three goals, compared to a 7-1-0-0 mark (.875) when allowing two goals or less. In their last 10 appearances, the Griffins have allowed three or more goals seven times.

Add Him to the List: Last night with the Red Wings, Zach Aston-Reese became the 204^th Griffins alum to play in the NHL, logging 6:21 of ice time in a 6-3 defeat at the Dallas Stars. The 29-year-old has competed in 308 NHL games across seven seasons and totaled 80 points (42-38—80) and a plus-33 rating. In 2022-23, Aston-Reese appeared in a career-high 77 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs and accumulated 14 points (10-4—14) and 25 penalty minutes. Aston-Reese has seven points (4-3—7) in 20 games with the Griffins this season, making his Grand Rapids debut on Oct. 13 against the Colorado Eagles.

Uncharted Territory: Defensemen Josiah Didier and Albert Johansson have produced uncharacteristic offense as of late, as they have combined for eight points (1-7—8) in the last six games for the Griffins. Johansson, a former 2019 second-round draft pick by the Red Wings, has five points (1-4—5) in his last six outings, which included two points on Dec. 1 against Milwaukee (0-2—2) and on Dec. 5 at Toronto (1-1—2). In the AHL, Johansson has averaged just .32 points per game through 69 appearances. Didier logged three assists in a two-game span from Dec. 8-9, which tripled his scoring output in the previous 16 games. Throughout 396 career AHL contests, the 30-year-old has averaged just .18 points per game.

AHL Leaderboard Tracker
Simon Edvinsson—16 points are tied for ninth among defensemen, six goals rank fourth among defensemen, two power-play goals are tied for second among defensemen
Carter Mazur—24 penalty minutes rank ninth among rookies

Milestones
On Sunday, Wyatt Newpower skated in his 150^th pro game. Last Saturday, netminder Michael Hutchinson recorded his 200th win as a pro in a 4-3 overtime victory over Belleville.
Austin Czarnik—Two goals from 100 in the AHL
Taro Hirose—Two points from tying Mitch Callahan for seventh on the team’s all-time point list
Joel L’Esperance—One point from 200 as a pro
Nolan Stevens—Three goals from 50 as a pro

Photo by Texas Stars