Busy Bodies

This Week’s Games

GRIFFINS vs. Rockford IceHogs // Wed., Feb. 15 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:45 p.m.

Watch: AHLTV

Season Series: 1-3-0-0 Overall, 0-1-0-0 Home. Fourth of eight meetings overall, second of four at Van Andel Arena

All-Time Series: 59-41-9-11 Overall, 36-13-5-5 Home

NHL Affiliation: Chicago Blackhawks

Noteworthy: The Griffins exploded for four goals in the opening 3:58 of play in their last contest against the IceHogs (5-2 W) on Jan. 18 after being held to just three total goals in the previous 120:00 against Rockford.

Promotions: Winning Wednesday presented by Michigan First Credit Union

GRIFFINS vs. Cleveland Monsters // Fri., Feb. 17 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:45 p.m.

Watch: AHLTV

Season Series: 1-1-0-0 Overall, 1-0-0-0 Home. Third of eight meetings overall, second of four at Van Andel Arena

All-Time Series: 69-35-6-10 Overall, 39-17-2-2 Home

NHL Affiliation: Columbus Blue Jackets

Noteworthy: Monsters’ center Justin Richards is the nephew of Griffins legend Travis Richards. Justin is in his first season with Cleveland and has 29 points (8-21—29) through 37 games.

Promotions: $2 beers & $2 hot dogs

GRIFFINS at Manitoba Moose // Sun., Feb. 19 // 7 p.m. EST // Canada Life Centre
GRIFFINS at Manitoba Moose // Mon., Feb. 20 // 3 p.m. EST // Canada Life Centre

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:45 p.m. EST on Sunday and 3 p.m. EST on Monday

Watch: AHLTV on Sunday and Monday

Season Series: 1-3-0-0 Overall, 0-0-0-0 Road. Fifth and sixth of eight meetings overall, first and second of four at the Canada Life Centre

All-Time Series: 68-40-1-1-9 Overall, 30-22-0-0-3 Road

NHL Affiliation: Winnipeg Jets

Noteworthy: The Griffins have been held to just one goal in each of their previous three meetings against Manitoba. Grand Rapids has been outscored 13-6 through four contests against the Moose this season.

Last Week’s Results
Fri., Feb. 10 // GRIFFINS 1 vs. Manitoba 4 // 19-21-2-2 (42 pts., 0.477, 6th Central)
Sat., Feb. 11 // GRIFFINS 1 vs. Manitoba 5 // 19-22-2-2 (42 pts., 0.467, 6th Central)

Last Week’s Notes
Friday vs. Manitoba (1-4 L) - Four third-period goals, including two empty-net tallies by the Moose snapped the Griffins’ four-game win streak in a 4-1 contest at Van Andel Arena. Arvid Holm allowed just one score in 24 shots on net, with Steven Kampfer burying the lone goal for Grand Rapids on a power play in the initial stanza. The veteran defenseman is riding a two-game point stretch and has six points in his last seven outings (1-5–6). Adam Erne made his Griffins debut, recording an assist on Grand Rapids’ opening goal and Jakub Vrana continued his five-game point streak with an apple as well (4-3–7). Recap | Highlights

Saturday vs. Manitoba (1-5 L) - In front of a sellout crowd, the Griffins suffered a weekend series sweep to the Moose in a 5-1 loss at Van Andel Arena. Jakub Vrana’s opening-frame assist pushed his point streak to six games, the longest by a Griffin this season (4-4–8). The Prague, Czechia, native also has 10 points in his last nine outings (6-4–10). Austin Czarnik lit the lamp in the first period and has 10 points in as many outings (4-6–10). Saturday’s game was the third sellout crowd this season and the second consecutive Saturday sellout for the Griffins. Recap | Highlights

Tough Sledding: The Griffins saw their season-high four-game win streak come to an end this past weekend against the Manitoba Moose, dropping two straight. This pushed Grand Rapids further back in the standings and are now 11 points out of a playoff spot with 27 games remaining. However, Grand Rapids does have points in eight of its last 11 contests (6-3-1-1). Since the new year, Grand Rapids has lost in regulation just five times through 16 games (8-5-1-2, 0.594).

Vroom Vroom: After being held off the scoresheet in the first four games of his Griffins career, Jakub Vrana is starting to find the back of the net. Vrana is currently riding a six-game point streak (4-4—8) from Jan. 29-Feb. 11, which is the longest run by a Griffin this season. He recorded a season-high two goals on Feb. 4 at the Texas Stars. The veteran also has points in eight of his last nine appearances (6-4—10). Since being assigned to the Griffins on Dec. 28, Vrana has 11 points (6-5—11) in 17 games.

Keep Them Coming: Last Saturday, the Griffins posted their third sellout of the season and their second sellout in the last three home games. The capacity crowd of 10,834 was also the second straight Saturday sellout for Grand Rapids. The Griffins rank fifth in the AHL with an average attendance of 7,456 per game.

Starting to Find a Groove: After going 0-for-21 on the power play from Jan. 7-21, the Griffins are starting to find a rhythm on the man-advantage. Grand Rapids recorded a power-play goal in four straight games from Jan.31-Feb. 10 (5-for-12, 41.7%), which was the first four-game stretch of goals since Oct. 29-Nov. 4. However, the special teams faltered in its last contest on Saturday, as it went 0-for-5 on the power play and 2-for-4 on the penalty kill. Since Jan. 28, the Griffins are 6-for-22 (27.3%) on the man-advantage and now rank 23rd in the AHL with a conversion rate of 17.7%. The penalty kill has also been much improved, killing off 10 straight penalties in four games from Jan. 31-Feb. 10. The Griffins are 28-for-34 (82.4%) on the PK since Jan. 14 and are tied for 25th on the circuit at 77.4%.

Alexander The Great: Netminder Alex Nedeljkovic has been a welcomed addition to the Griffins roster, as the goaltender was assigned by Detroit on Jan. 4. Nedeljkovic was on a three-game win streak, which tied for the longest run by a Griffins goaltender this campaign. Through 14 outings, Nedeljkovic has a 7-4-2 record with one shutout along with a 2.38 goals against average and a 0.922 save percentage. On Jan. 14, Nedeljkovic posted a 27-save shutout against the Chicago Wolves, his first in the AHL since Feb. 7, 2020 against Hartford (17 saves). On Jan. 11, Nedeljkovic recorded his fourth assist and fifth point of his AHL career, which was his first AHL point since Jan. 19, 2020.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity, Jig: The Griffins concluded their five-game road trip on Feb. 4 with a 4-1-0-0 (0.800) record, which included their 500th road win in franchise history on Feb. 4 at the Texas Stars (500-412-12-34-60). Grand Rapids also finished a stretch of seven out of eight games on the road from Jan. 16-Feb. 4 with a 5-1-1-1 (0.750) mark. The Griffins are now on a four-game home stand and will also play nine of their next 11 contests in friendly confines from Feb. 10-March 4. Grand Rapids is 8-11-2-1 (0.432) at home this season and 11-11-0-1 (0.500) on the road.

Just Keep it Close: The Griffins have had an up-and-down start to the season, but they have excelled at winning close games. In fact, Grand Rapids is 10-0-2-2 (0.857) in games decided by one goal and 4-0-2-0 (0.833) in overtime contests. In comparison, the Griffins are just 9-22-0-0 (0.290) 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 second, three short-handed goals are tied for first
Simon Edvinsson—15 assists are tied for sixth among rookie defensemen, 18 points rank seventh among rookie defensemen
Taro Hirose—14 power-play assists are tied for 11th
Joel L’Esperance—Eight power-play goals are tied for eighth, 147 shots rank sixth

Milestones:
Brian Lashoff appeared in his 750th game as a pro on Feb. 3 at Texas and Jakub Vrana registered his 150th assist as a pro. Vrana skated in his 100th AHL game on Jan. 29 at Chicago and bagged his 300th pro point in the process (151-149—300). Austin Czarnik recorded his 300th pro point with an assist on Jan. 28 at Milwaukee.
Simon Edvinsson—Three points from 50 as a pro
Adam Erne—Two assists from 50 in the AHL, five assists from 100 as a pro
Albert Johansson—One assist from 50 as a pro
Steven Kampfer—Two assists from 150 as a pro
Joel L’Esperance—One goal from 100 as a pro
Alex Nedeljkovic—Four wins from 100 in the AHL
Chase Pearson—Two assists from 50 as a pro, in the AHL and as a Griffin
Dominik Shine—One assist from 50 as a pro, as a Griffin and in the AHL
Tyler Spezia—One game from 250 as a pro

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins