End of the Road

This Week’s Games

GRIFFINS at Chicago Wolves // Thu., April 28 // 8 p.m. EDT // Allstate Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 7:35 p.m. EDT

Watch: AHLTV

Season Series: 1-9-1-0 Overall, 1-4-0-0 Away. Twelfth of 12 meetings overall, sixth of six at Allstate Arena.

All-Time Series: 91-80-2-7-3 Overall, 47-42-0-2-1 Away

NHL Affiliation: Carolina Hurricanes

Noteworthy: With a 2-1 overtime victory at Chicago on March 13, the Griffins halted their nine-game winless streak against the Wolves (0-8-1-0) that dated back to the 2020-21 season. However, the Wolves regained their power with back-to-back wins last week. Grand Rapids is now (1-10-1-0) against Chicago in the last 12 meetings.

GRIFFINS at Cleveland Monsters // Sat., April 30 // 7 p.m. // Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

Listen: 96.1 The Game at 6:35 p.m.

Watch: AHLTV

Season Series: 6-0-1-0 Overall, 3-0-0-0 Away. Eighth of eight meetings overall, fourth of four at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

All-Time Series: 67-34-6-10 Overall, 29-17-4-8 Away

NHL Affiliation: Columbus Blue Jackets

Noteworthy: The Griffins are 13-3-1-0 (0.794) against the Monsters over the last two seasons, with points in all seven contests this campaign (6-0-1-0). Grand Rapids is also 7-2-2-0 (0.727) against teams from the North Division this year, while it is a combined 25-32-4-2 (0.445) versus the Central and Pacific Divisions.

Last Week’s Results
Tue., April 19 // GRIFFINS 2 at Iowa 5 // 31-32-6-2 (70 pts., 0.493, 7th Central)
Wed., April 20 // GRIFFINS 5 at Rockford 3 // 32-32-6-2 (72 pts., 0.500, 7th Central)
Fri., April 22 // GRIFFINS 2 vs. Chicago 4 // 32-33-6-2 (72 pts., 0.493, 7th Central)
Sun., April 24 // GRIFFINS 2 at Chicago 6 // 32-34-6-2 (72 pts., 0.486, 7th Central)

Last Week’s Notes
Tuesday at Iowa (5-2 L) - The Iowa Wild defeated the Griffins 5-2 courtesy of Nick Swaney’s four-point outing at Wells Fargo Arena. The Griffins dropped the final season meeting against the Wild and ended the series with a 5-3-0-0 record. Jonatan Berggren notched his 19th goal of the season, which tied him with Eric Himelfarb for the 10th-most tallies for a Griffins rookie. Berggren also moved into a tie for third place with Glen Metropolit (1997-98) for points by a Griffins rookie in a single season with 55 (19-36—55). Taro Hirose recorded his 36th assist on the campaign, tying Berggren for the team lead. Kyle Criscuolo tallied his third goal in just as many games, which extended his point streak (3-2—5) to three outings. Jan Drozg appeared in his 100th game in the AHL. Recap | Highlights

Wednesday at Rockford (5-3 W) - The Griffins remained in the playoff hunt with a crucial 5-3 victory over the Rockford IceHogs at the BMO Harris Center. The Griffins used three goals in the third period to collect the important two points. Riley Barber extended his point streak to 13 games (11-6—17), marking the longest by a Griffin in more than 16 years, since Donald MacLean’s franchise-record 19-game run in 2005-06. Turner Elson tallied his team-leading 21st goal of the season. Barber and Elson became the first Grand Rapids teammates with 20-plus goals each since Chris Terry (29) and Matt Puempel (24) in 2018-19. Drew Worrad and Butrus Ghafari recorded their first AHL goals. Jonatan Berggren pushed his point streak to seven games (4-7—11) while Kyle Criscuolo saw his climb to four (3-3—6). The Griffins finished the season series against Rockford with a 6-2-0-0 record. Head coach Ben Simon, goaltending coach Brian Mahoney-Wilson and defenseman Jared McIsaac were all sidelined due to COVID-19 protocols. Recap | Highlights

Friday vs. Chicago (4-2 L) - In the final home game of the regular season, the Griffins fell to the Chicago Wolves 4-2 at Van Andel Arena. This was the second straight sellout crowd of 10,834 and the third of the campaign. The Griffins put in a valiant effort against the Central Division champions despite a severely depleted roster. Head coach Ben Simon and defenseman Jared McIsaac were not at the arena due to COVID-19 protocols, Chase Pearson and Seth Barton left the game early, leaving Grand Rapids short two skaters for much of the night, and several other players battled through a flu bug. Local goaltender David DeSander was signed by the Griffins as an emergency backup netminder just prior to the game, as Victor Brattstrom was unable to play. Recap | Highlights

Sunday at Chicago (6-2 L) - The Chicago Wolves’ power-play offense showed its dominance against the Griffins when it went 3-for-3 en route to a 6-2 victory at Allstate Arena. Jonatan Berggren became the new leader on the Griffins’ rookie single-season scoring list when he bagged his 60th point (20-40—60) of the campaign. Grand Rapids was eliminated from the Calder Cup Playoffs after Texas’ 2-1 win on Saturday over the Iowa Wild. With two assists in the contest, Berggren became the first rookie in franchise history to reach the 60-point plateau. In addition to having the rookie scoring title, Berggren’s 40 assists are the most by a Griffins rookie and 20 goals are tied for eighth-most. The Swede also pushed his point streak to a season-high nine games (5-10—15). Riley Barber extended his AHL-leading and career-high point streak to 15 games (14-7—21), scoring both goals for Grand Rapids. Recap | Highlights

All Good Things Must End: The Griffins currently sit in seventh place in the Central Division standings with a 32-34-6-2 (0.486) mark and only two games remaining. The top five teams from the division will qualify for the Calder Cup Playoffs, with the top three receiving a first-round bye. The Griffins were eliminated from playoff contention when Texas defeated Iowa on April 23. Grand Rapids has appeared in the last seven Calder Cup Playoffs, dating back to the 2012-13 season when it lifted the cup for the first time. During this playoff stretch, the Griffins went 52-31-3-0 (0.598) and outscored their opponents 282-233. In addition, Grand Rapids went 12-5 in playoff series since 2013 with two Calder Cups. Excluding the NHL lockout season of 2004-05, and the 2019-21 COVID seasons, this is the first time since Grand Rapids’ inception that neither the Griffins nor the Red Wings have qualified for the playoffs. Sunday’s contest in Chicago was the first game the Griffins played after having been eliminated from playoff contention since April 15, 2012.

Rewrite the History Books: Jonatan Berggren on April 24 became the first rookie in Griffins history to record 60 points when he bagged two assists in the outing. With those two points, Berggren passed Teemu Pulkkinen (2013-14) for the Griffins’ rookie single-season scoring title. Berggren has 22 points (6-16—22) in his last 16 games, including an active season-high nine-game point streak (5-10—15). The Uppsala, Sweden, native paces the Griffins and ranks third among rookies with his 60 points, while his 40 assists are second in the league among first-year players. Berggren is also second among rookies with seven game-winning goals. His 40 assists are the most by a rookie in a Griffins uniform while his 20 goals are tied for eighth among Griffin rookies. Berggren is on pace for 62 points, three more than the previous record held by Pulkkinen. Berggren is on track to become the first rookie to ever lead the Griffins in assists, and the third to pace the team in either points (Teemu Pulkkinen 59 in 2013-14, Gustav Nyquist 58 (tied) in 2011-12) or game-winning goals (Landon Ferraro 4 in 2011-12 and Petr Schastlivy 6 in 1999-00). His seven game-winning goals and three overtime goals are both franchise records for a rookie.

Welcome to the Barber Shop: Riley Barber has been on a tear as of late, with points in a career-high 15 straight games (14-7—21), including his third-ever hat trick on April 9 at Toronto. There have been only two longer point streaks in franchise history (Derek King 17, 2000-01; Donald MacLean 19, 2005-06). Barber’s 15-game streak is the longest in the AHL this season and the longest by a Griffin in more than 16 years, since MacLean’s franchise-record run. Since being reassigned by Detroit on March 2, Barber has notched 29 points (16-13—29) in 24 games, including eight multi-point outings. The Pittsburgh, native ranks third on the roster with 48 points (24-24—48) in 47 outings. Through 79 contests with the Griffins, the 28-year-old veteran has 82 points (44-38—82) and 46 penalty minutes.

Work Horse: Netminder Victor Brattstrom appeared in 14 consecutive games from March 22-April 20. His 14 straight appearances are tied for second all time among Griffins rookie goaltenders with Jimmy Howard (2005-06) and trailed only Jordan Pearce (2010-11, 26 GP). Brattstrom has a 3-1 record in his last four starts with a 2.50 goals against average and a 0.902 save percentage. Through 30 games this season, the Goteborg, Sweden, native shows a 10-15-3 mark with a 0.894 save percentage and a 3.30 goals against average. Brattstrom’s 30 games played are the fifth-most ever for a Griffins rookie goaltender and the most since Petr Mrazek made 42 appearances in 2012-13.

The Roaring 20s: Turner Elson reached the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career on April 9. The ninth-year pro has had a career-high season on the offensive end, with a career-best 21 goals, 24 assists and 45 points so far. Elson, Riley Barber (24) and Jonatan Berggren (20) are the first three Griffins teammates with 20-plus goals each since Eric Tangradi (31), Matt Lorito (23), Matthew Ford (22), Matt Puempel (22) and Ben Street (21) in 2017-18. The alternate captain has turned it on as of late with 18 points (8-9—17) in his last 24 games. In comparison, Elson had just nine points (3-6—9) in the 24 contests before this run. On Monday, Elson signed with Detroit for the remainder of the 2021-22 NHL season.

Traffic Jam: The Griffins have won just three games in their last 11 contests away from West Michigan, having been outscored 50-32. Grand Rapids has secured seven out of 16 points in its past eight outings away from home. Grand Rapids went on a season-high five-game road trip from March 19-27 and finished with a 1-3-1-0 mark. The Griffins are 15-18-2-1 (0.458) this season away from Van Andel Arena while they are 17-16-4-1 (0.513) at home. Grand Rapids will play both of its remaining games on foreign ice.

AHL Leaderboard Tracker:
Jonatan Berggren—60 points (20-40—60) place third among first-year players, 40 assists are second among rookies, seven game-winning goals are second among rookies
Jared McIsaac—24 points are tied for ninth among rookie defensemen, 19 assists are tied for eighth among rookie defensemen
Ryan Murphy—11 goals are tied for fourth among defensemen
Dominik Shine—141 penalty minutes are tied for second

Milestones:
Riley Barber scored his 150th goal as a pro on April 24 at Chicago. Ben Simon collected his 200th win as a pro head coach on April 20 with a 5-3 victory over Rockford. Other upcoming milestones include:
Riley Barber—One assist from 150 in the AHL and as a pro, one point from 300 as a pro and in the AHL
Kyle Criscuolo—One point from 100 as a Griffin
Jan Drozg—Three goals from 50 as a pro
Ryan Murphy—Three assists from 200 as a pro, two points from 250 as a pro
Chase Pearson—Three games from 150 in the AHL
Donovan Sebrango—One game from 100 as a pro

Photo by Ross Dettman/Wolves