Dancing with the Stars

This Week’s Games

GRIFFINS vs. Texas Stars // Fri., April 1 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
GRIFFINS vs. Texas Stars // Sat., April 2 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m. on Friday and 7 p.m. on Saturday

Watch: AHLTV on Friday and WXSP-TV and AHLTV on Saturday

Season Series: 3-2-1-0 Overall, 1-1-0-0 Home. Seventh and eighth of eight meetings overall, third and fourth of four at Van Andel Arena.

All-Time Series: 35-20-4-4 Overall, 19-7-1-3 Home

NHL Affiliation: Dallas Stars

Noteworthy: The Griffins have points in seven of the last eight games against Texas at Van Andel Arena (6-1-1-0).

GRIFFINS at Milwaukee Admirals // Sun., April 3 // 6 p.m. EDT // Panther Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 5:35 p.m. EDT

Watch: AHLTV

Season Series: 5-5-1-0 Overall, 2-3-0-0 Road. Twelfth of 12 meetings overall, sixth of six at Panther Arena.

All-Time Series: 107-73-7-8-8 Overall, 50-38-5-5-5 Road

NHL Affiliation: Nashville Predators

Noteworthy: After starting the season series 5-1-1-0, Grand Rapids has dropped the past four contests against the Admirals, having been outscored 17-4.

Last Week’s Results
Tue., March 22 // GRIFFINS 2 at Ontario 6 // 26-26-5-2 (59 pts., 0.500, 5th Central Division)
Fri., March 25 // GRIFFINS 3 at Bakersfield 7 // 26-27-5-2 (59 pts., 0.492, 5th Central Division)
Sat., March 26 // GRIFFINS 4 at Bakersfield 3 (OT) // 27-27-5-2 (61 pts., 0.500, T5th Central Division)
Sun., March 27 // GRIFFINS 3 at Ontario 4 (OT) // 27-27-6-2 (62 pts., 0.500, T5th Central Division)

Last Week’s Notes
Tuesday at Ontario (2-6 L) - Ontario’s Martin Frk, T.J. Tynan and Taylor Ward combined for 11 points, as the Reign defeated the Griffins 6-2 at Toyota Arena. This was the first matchup in Ontario between the two clubs since April 3, 2019, and the fifth-ever meeting overall. Jonatan Berggren recorded two assists and notched his 100th point as a professional. Dominik Shine earned his third goal in the last five contests, which extended his point streak to four games (3-2—5). Calvin Pickard played in his 400th game as a pro, while Dan Renouf skated in his 350th pro contest. Seth Barton returned to the lineup for the first time since Jan. 1, due to rehabbing an injury. With the win, Ontario became the second team to clinch a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs, joining the Stockton Heat. Recap | Highlights

Friday at Bakersfield (3-7 L) - Five unanswered goals lifted the Bakersfield Condors over the Griffins 7-3 at Mechanics Bank Arena. This was the Griffins’ first trip to Bakersfield since Dec. 14, 2019. Dominik Shine extended his career-high point streak to five outings (5-2—7) with two goals in the contest. Tyler Spezia and Jonatan Berggren both notched multi-point games with two assists each. Jon Martin skated in his 250th AHL game. Grand Rapids’ three-game road losing skid from March 19-25 tied for a season-high. Grand Rapids went 2-for-3 on the power play, notching its fifth game of the campaign with multiple goals on the man-advantage. With the loss, the Griffins’ 13-year streak of possessing a winning record in March was snapped. Recap | Highlights

Saturday at Bakersfield (4-3 OTW) - After Josh Dickinson scored the game-tying goal on a redirection with just 22 seconds remaining in regulation, Riley Barber tallied 1:48 into overtime to lift the Griffins to a dramatic 4-3 win over the Bakersfield Condors at Mechanics Bank Arena. Dominik Shine continued his dominance, as he notched his sixth goal in as many games and extended his career-high point streak to six games (6-2—8). Tyler Spezia recorded his second consecutive multi-point outing with two helpers. Goaltender Victor Brattstrom recorded his first AHL point of his career with an assist on the overtime tally. Barber has scored in three straight games from March 22-26. Jan Drozg earned his first point as a Griffin with an assist. Wyatt Newpower returned to the lineup for the first time since Feb. 19, due to rehabbing an injury. The Griffins ended the season series against Bakersfield with a 2-2 record. Recap | Highlights

Sunday at Ontario (3-4 OTL) - The Griffins’ rally fell short on at Toyota Arena, as Cameron Gaunce’s overtime goal propelled the Ontario Reign past Grand Rapids, 4-3. The Griffins ended the season series 1-2-1-0 against the Reign. Jonatan Berggren recorded a goal and an assist in the contest, giving him six points (1-5—6) in four outings. Dominik Shine extended his career-high point streak to seven games (7-3—10) with two points (1-1—2) in the contest. Riley Barber notched a helper and pushed his point streak (3-1—4) to four games. Victor Brattstrom appeared in his fourth straight game and logged 25 saves, none better than his highlight-reel stop on Brett Sutter with 11 seconds remaining in regulation to secure the point for Grand Rapids. The Griffins ended their season-high five-game road trip with a 1-3-1-0 mark. Grand Rapids is now 14-17-2-3 (0.458) all time against current teams in the Pacific Division, including a 3-4-1-0 record this season. Recap | Highlights

Traffic Jam: The Griffins concluded their season-high five-game road trip last week with a 1-3-1-0 record. It was not a kind trip for Grand Rapids, as it was outscored 25-13. However, after beginning the trip 0-3, the Griffins secured three out of four points in the final two outings. Grand Rapids went on a four-game trip earlier in the season and finished with a 2-2 mark. The Griffins are 13-14-2-1 this season away from West Michigan while they are 14-13-4-1 at home. Grand Rapids will play eight of its remaining 14 games on foreign ice.

California Dreamin’: The Griffins have not fared well against current teams in the Pacific Division, as the team holds a 14-17-2-3 (0.458) overall record against them and a 6-9-2-2 (0.421) ledger on the road. Narrowing it down even more, Grand Rapids is 12-14-2-3 (0.468) all time against AHL teams from California, including a 3-4-1-0 (0.438) record this year.

Not the Same March: The Griffins have had a remarkable stretch of success during the month of March throughout their 26 seasons. Grand Rapids earned a winning record in March for 13 straight years, in large part by going 0.500 or better on the road during each of those months and despite playing 62% of its games on the road. However, that streak ended this season, as the Griffins finished 5-7-1-0 this season in March. All time, the Griffins have only had a losing March record four times in 26 years. The last time Grand Rapids suffered a losing record in March was back in 2008. Things that were also happening in March of 2008: Jimmy Howard was playing his third of four full seasons in Grand Rapids; Ben Simon was an alternate captain for the Springfield Falcons, 2.5 years from starting his coaching career; Donovan Sebrango was six years old; President George W. Bush was serving his final year in the White House; and the Red Wings were three months from winning their most recent Stanley Cup.

Shine Bright: Dominik Shine is in the midst a career-high seven-game point streak (7-3—10) and has tallied a goal in six of his last seven outings. Before this run, the Detroit, native registered just one tally and four assists in his previous 28 games. Shine has scored in four straight games from March 22-27, which is a new career-high goal streak. The 28-year-old has set career-best numbers in goals (13), assists (14), points (27), penalty minutes (121) and shots (96) this campaign with 14 games remaining. Shine has incurred a one-game suspension for his third instigator penalty this season. He will serve that suspension this Friday, April 1.

Race to the Top: Jonatan Berggren has cracked the Griffins’ top-10 rooking single-season scoring list, as he currently places eighth with 44 points (15-29—44) in 56 games. Berggren has logged two points in three of his last four games, with one goal and five helpers during the run. The Uppsala, Sweden, native is tied for sixth among rookies with his 44 points, while his 29 assists are tied for fourth. Berggren ranks third among rookies with five game-winning goals. Berggren is on pace for 54 points, which would place fourth in Griffins’ rookie-scoring history.

AHL Leaderboard Tracker:
Jonatan Berggren—44 points (15-29—44) is tied for sixth among first-year players, 29 assists are tied for fourth among rookies, five game-winning goals are tied for 13th in the league and rank third among rookies
Taro Hirose—31 assists are tied for 18th, 14 power play assists are tied for 17th
Ryan Murphy—11 goals are tied for second among blueliners
Calvin Pickard—2.58 goals against average ranks 13th, 0.918 save percentage is tied for eighth, 21 wins place fifth, 2534:30 minutes played places second
Dominik Shine—121 penalty minutes rank third

Milestones:
Riley Barber appeared in his 350th game in the AHL on March 26 at Bakersfield. Jon Martin skated in his 250th AHL game on March 25 at Bakersfield. Other upcoming milestones include:
Kyle Criscuolo—Two games from 300 in the AHL
Jan Drozg—Three goals from 50 as a pro, three games from 150 as a pro
Turner Elson—Three goals from 100 as a pro
Tyler Spezia—Four goals from 50 as a pro

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins