Griffins Game #61 * Road Game #29 * AHL Game #929

Season Series: 1-2-0-0 Home Series: 1-1-0-0 Road Series: 0-1-0-0
All-Time Series: 2-5-0-0 All-Time Home Series: 1-2-0-0 All-Time Road Series: 1-3-0-0

Griffins at Condors
Fourth of four meetings overall, second of two at Mechanics Bank Arena…Friday’s contest marked the Griffins first trip to Bakersfield since Dec. 14, 2019 when they were defeated 2-1 by the Condors...Bakersfield has earned points in all seven matchups in the all-time series (5-0-1-1)...The Griffins hold a 13-17-1-3 record (0.441) against current teams in the Pacific Division, including a 5-9-1-2 (0.382) mark on the road...Grand Rapids will play eight games against the Pacific Division this season and are 2-4-0-0 so far...Bakersfield comes into the contest with a 6-4-0-0 mark in its past 10 games...Grand Rapids is 4-6-0-0 in its last 10 outings...The Condors are 15-7-1-2 at home this season while the Griffins are 12-14-1-1 on the road...In the power-play rankings, Bakersfield is tied for 18th at 18.9% while it is tied for 21st in the penalty kill at 79.7%...Bakersfield’s interim head coach Colin Chaulk skated with the Griffins in the 2001-02 season, totaling four points (3-1—4) in 13 games...Condors’ center Luke Esposito played his rookie season with Grand Rapids, registering eight points (1-7—8) in 31 outings.

Last Time Out
Five unanswered goals lifted the Bakersfield Condors over the Grand Rapids Griffins 7-3 on Friday at Mechanics Bank Arena. This was the Griffins first trip to Bakersfield since Dec. 14, 2019. Seth Barton notched his second goal of the season, coming one game after being reassigned to Grand Rapids from the Toledo Walleye (ECHL). Dominik Shine extended his career-high point streak to five outings (4-2—6) and has scored in consecutive contests. Jan Drozg recorded his first point as a Griffin with a helper. Tyler Spezia and Jonatan Berggren both notched multi-point games with two assists each. Bakersfield now has points in all seven meetings against the Griffins (5-0-1-1). Grand Rapids’ current three-game road losing skid is tied for a season-high. Jon Martin skated in his 250th game in the AHL. With the loss the Griffins’ 13-year streak of possessing a winning record in March was snapped.

Roster Shake Up
- March 22, 2022—F Taro Hirose recalled by Detroit
- March 24, 2022—F Chase Pearson recalled by Detroit
- March 25, 2022—G Kaden Fulcher reassigned to Grand Rapids by Detroit; G Calvin Pickard recalled by Detroit

Road Trip!
The Griffins have set off on their season-high five-game road trip. Grand Rapids began the stretch with a 5-1 defeat at Rockford on Saturday and are 0-3-0-0 so far on the trip. The Griffins headed west to California for two games apiece against Bakersfield and Ontario. Grand Rapids went on a four-game trip earlier in the season and finished with a 2-2 mark. The Griffins are 12-14-1-1 this season away from West Michigan while they are 14-13-4-1 at home. Grand Rapids will play 10 of its remaining 16 games on foreign ice.

California Dreamin’
The Griffins have not fared well against current teams in the Pacific Division, as the team holds a 13-17-1-3 (0.441) overall record against them and a 5-9-1-2 (0.382) ledger on the road. Narrowing it down even more, Grand Rapids is 11-14-1-3 (0.448) all-time against AHL teams from California, including a 2-4-0-0 record this year.

This Date in Griffins History
2017: Eddie Pasquale turns away 37 shots for his fourth shutout of the season, a 4-0 victory at Rockford. It marks the Griffins' eighth shutout on the campaign, their most in a single season since the 2008-09 edition blanked nine opponents.

Trade Deadline Moves
On Monday, the Detroit Red Wings traded defensemen Nick Leddy and Luke Witkowski to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for defenseman Jake Walman, center Oskar Sundqvist and a second-round pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. In addition, the Red Wings sent center Vladislav Namestnikov to the Dallas Stars in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. Detroit now holds 18 selections in the next two NHL Entry Drafts. In 44 games with the Griffins, Witkowski logged seven points (3-4—7), 62 penalty minutes and a plus-six rating. Sundqvist, 27, has skated in 41 games with the Blues this season, recording 15 points (4-11-15), 12 penalty minutes and a plus-four rating. Walman, 26, has suited up in 32 contests for St. Louis this campaign, tallying six points (3-3-6), six penalty minutes and a plus-three rating. Both Sundqvust (selected 81st overall by Pittsburgh in 2012) and Walman (selected 82nd overall by St. Louis in 2014) were drafted in the third round of the NHL Entry Draft.

Overtime Magic
Turner Elson rattled off a career-high five-game goal streak from March 9-18, which is the longest goal streak this season by a Griffin. The 29-year-old recorded overtime winners in two straight outings from March 13-16, joining Filip Hronek as the only Griffins to score overtime goals in consecutive games. After registering zero overtime tallies in his first 233 regular-season games as a Griffin, Elson scored consecutive overtime goals from March 13-16 and in three of his last 47 contests. With three OT tallies apiece, Elson and Jonatan Berggren have tied Grand Rapids’ single-season record (Andy Miele in 2014-15 and Kevin Miller in 2003-04) and along with Brian Lashoff sit one shy of the career mark shared by Miele and Jiri Hudler. Grand Rapids’ five road overtime wins this season (5-1) are a franchise record. The Griffins’ four home overtime losses this campaign (2-4) tie the franchise record set in 2014-15.

Welcome Back, March
The Griffins had a remarkable stretch of success during the month of March throughout their 25 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 can only finish 6-7 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 five-game point streak (4-2—6) and has tallied a goal in four of his last five outings. Before this run, the Detroit, native registered just one tally and four assists in his previous 28 games. Shine scored in consecutive contests from March 16-18 and March 22-25, which tied a career-high goal streak. The 28-year-old has already set career-best numbers in goals (10), assists (13), points (23), penalty minutes (102) and shots (91) this campaign with 16 games remaining.

Huffin’ and Puffin’
So far this season, the Griffins are 3-11-1-2 (0.265) against the Central Division-leading Chicago Wolves and the second-place Manitoba Moose. However, Grand Rapids is 23-16-4-0 (0.581) against the rest of the AHL.

Johnny Apple Seed
Rookie Jonatan Berggren registered a career-high four assists on Jan. 18 at Cleveland, which set a new single-game high for any Griffin this season. Berggren’s four helpers were one shy of tying the Griffins’ rookie single-game record of five assists set by Chris Bala (1/10/02). Berggren’s 42 points (14-28—42) are tied for seventh among first-year players on the circuit and rank second on the Griffins’ roster. His 28 assists are tied for fourth among league rookies. Berggren is also tied for 12th in the league with five game-winning goals, which ranks third among rookies.

Rarified Air
Brian Lashoff’s 564 games played for the Griffins ranks first among active AHL players who have spent their entire AHL career with the same club and fifth in league history among one-team players. Of the players ahead of him on that list, the most recent – and, coincidentally, the record-holder – last played during the 1970-71 season (Bill Needham of the Cleveland Barons, 981 games played). Lashoff overtook Pete Backor (Pittsburgh Hornets 1945-54) for the No. 5 spot on Jan. 14 against Manitoba and is now six games behind No. 4 Paul Larivee (Providence Reds 1952-62). Lashoff is still 91 games away from breaking the Griffins’ all-time games played record, held by Travis Richards with 655 games (1995-2006).

AHL Leaderboard Tracker
Jonatan Berggren—42 points (14-28—42) is tied for seventh among first-year players, 28 assists are tied for fourth among rookies, five game-winning goals are tied for 12th in the league and rank third among rookies
Taro Hirose—31 assists are tied for 15th, 14 power play assists are tied for 17th
Ryan Murphy—11 goals rank second among blueliners, 29 points (11-18—29) are tied for 18th among defenseman
Calvin Pickard—2.58 goals against average is tied for 13th, 0.918 save percentage is tied for seventh, 21 wins rank fifth, 2534:30 minutes played places second
Dominik Shine—102 penalty minutes ranks eighth

Milestones
Jon Martin skated in his 250th AHL game on March 25 at Bakersfield. Jonatan Berggren notched his 100th point as a pro during a two-assist night on March 22 at Ontario. In that same contest, Calvin Pickard appeared in his 400th game as a pro and Dan Renouf skated in his 350th contest at the pro level. Other upcoming milestones include:
Riley Barber—One game from 350 in the AHL
Jan Drozg—Three goals from 50 as a pro
Turner Elson—Three goals from 100 as a pro

Photo by Bakersfield Condors