Griffins Game #29 * Road Game #15 * AHL Game #482

Season Series: 5-2-0-0 Home Series: 3-1-0-0 Road Series: 2-1-0-0
All-Time Series: 59-33-5-10 All-Time Home Series: 34-17-1-2 All-Time Road Series: 25-16-4-8

Griffins at Monsters

Eighth of 10 meetings overall, fourth of five at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse…Cleveland’s final three games are against the Griffins, while three of Grand Rapids’ final four games are against the Monsters...The Griffins’ only chance to win the Central Division is if they win each of their last four games while Chicago loses each of its last three games in regulation...Grand Rapids is coming off consecutive wins against the division-leading Wolves, while Cleveland begins the week on a three-game point streak (2-0-0-1)...Riley Barber (4-3—7) and Turner Elson (1-6—7) are averaging a point per game versus the Monsters...In two games against Cleveland, Kaden Fulcher is 1-1 with a 2.01 GAA and a 0.938 save percentage...Pat Nagle has played the other five games in the series, going 4-1 with a 2.21 GAA and a 0.912 save percentage...Against all other foes this season, the Monsters are 13-4-0-2 and the Griffins are 9-8-3-1…Cleveland ranks third in the AHL in both goals (3.62 pg) and power play (26.5%)...In their last four games against the Griffins, the Monsters have gone 7-for-17 (41.2%) with the man-advantage…Grand Rapids and Cleveland are Central Division foes for the first time since 2017-18, following the Monsters’ two-year foray into the North Division and Eastern Conference...These teams split a four-game series in 2019-20, with each winning and losing once on the other’s ice...Griffins head coach Ben Simon is a native of the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights.

Busy Bodies

After playing just 16 games overall and only four times at home during the first 70 days of this season – owing to both a light early schedule and six postponements since March 16 – the Griffins on April 16 began a stretch which has them scheduled to play their final 16 games and 12 home contests over a span of only 30 days. Updating those numbers, Grand Rapids will play its final four games over the next five days.

Last Time Out

Tyler Spezia and Turner Elson scored goals 1:02 apart late in the second period on Saturday to break open a 1-1 game and send the Griffins to a 3-1 victory over Chicago at the Triphahn Center Ice Arena. The Griffins defeated the Central Division leaders for the second straight night and earned their first win in the Chicago suburbs in their fifth and final visit of the season. With the victory, Grand Rapids remained alive in the race for the division title entering the season’s final week. Patrick Curry struck first for the Griffins 5:26 into the opening frame, banging Hayden Verbeek’s centering feed past Antoine Bibeau from the slot. A flurry around the Grand Rapids net resulted in the tying tally by Tommy Novak at 5:44 of the second period, the only goal that Pat Nagle would allow among the 23 shots he faced. Spezia notched the game-winner with 2:33 left in the middle frame, as he got a step on his defender while entering the Chicago zone, took Chase Pearson’s pass from the left boards and slipped a shot behind Bibeau. Elson added insurance 62 seconds later, pouncing on the puck in the left circle after Dominic Turgeon’s faceoff win and quickly whipping it into the top of the net. The Griffins finished off the Wolves by limiting them to five shots in the third period.

This Date in Griffins History

2009: Former Griffins take home medals of every color at the IIHF World Championship in Switzerland. Konstantin Gorovikov earns a gold medal for the second straight year with Russia, Jason Spezza and Joel Kwiatkowski claim silver for Canada, and Stefan Liv stops 37 shots in Sweden’s 4-2 win over the United States in the bronze medal game.

Welcome Back

With the end of the Detroit Red Wings’ season, goalie Kaden Fulcher and forwards Givani Smith and Joe Veleno were reassigned to the Griffins from the taxi squad on Saturday night. Goalie Calvin Pickard was subsequently assigned to Grand Rapids on Monday after clearing waivers.

Second Thoughts

The four-point performances by Riley Barber (2-2—4) and Kyle Criscuolo (2-2—4) on Friday versus Chicago were the second of each player’s career and the first by any Griffins players this season. Criscuolo accomplished it on Feb. 16, 2018 while playing for Rochester against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, while Barber did it on Jan. 30, 2016 against Syracuse as a rookie with Hershey.

Life of Riley

Riley Barber has registered points in five of the last seven games (3-5—8) and in 21 of 28 contests this season. His 17 goals are tied for second in the league with Texas’ Adam Mascherin (34 GP) — four behind Bakersfield’s Cooper Marony, who has played in 36 games — his 30 points (17-13—30) tie for 11th and his 13 power play points tie for third. Barber’s projected numbers over a normal 76-game season would be 46 goals and 81 points; in franchise history, only Donald MacLean (56 during his MVP 2005-06 season) and Michel Picard (46 in 1996-97) have scored as many goals while only eight players have registered as many points. He posted a nine-game point streak from Feb. 5-March 11 that was the longest ever to start a player's Griffins career as well as the longest from the start of a Griffins season.

High-Flying Griffins

Chase Pearson has seven points (2-5—7) in the last seven games...Second on the Griffins in scoring with 23 points (5-18—23) in 25 games, Taro Hirose has points in four of six contests (1-4—5) and 10 of the last 14 games (2-9—11)…Turner Elson has points in eight of the last 12 games (2-7—9)...Kyle Criscuolo has points in three of his last five appearances (3-3—6)...Dominic Turgeon has a point in three of the last five games (1-2—3).

Youth is Served

On April 29 against Chicago, the Griffins had four rookie defensemen in their lineup – Charle-Edouard D’Astous, Tory Dello, Jared McIsaac and Donovan Sebrango – for the first time in more than four years, dating to a 5-1 win at Milwaukee on April 15, 2017 when five first-year blueliners took to the ice: Hicketts, Dennis Cholowski, Filip Hronek, Patrick McCarron and Dan Renouf. Grand Rapids again had four rookie D in the lineup during each of their last five games, with Patrick Holway taking the place of D’Astous in the lineup for four of those games.

Congrats Are in Order

Joe Veleno made his NHL debut with the Detroit Red Wings on April 27 in their 1-0 shootout loss at Columbus, logging two shots and winning 57% (4 of 7) of his faceoffs in 14:59 of ice time. He became the 185th Griffins alum to play in the NHL, after recording 23 points (11-12—23) in 54 games with Grand Rapids last season. Veleno, who on Friday tallied his first NHL goal during a power play to begin a rally from a 0-2 deficit in Detroit’s 5-2 victory at Columbus, played five games with Detroit, totaling one goal, eight shots and four penalty minutes while winning 50% of his faceoffs.

Rarified Air

Brian Lashoff’s 513 games played for the Griffins rank first among active AHL players who have spent their entire AHL career with the same club and tie for eighth 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, who has been unfit to play the last 15 games, tied No. 8-ranked Stan Smrke (Rochester 1957-67) on March 26 and is now four games behind No. 7 Pete Kapusta (Providence Reds 1946-55).

Powerful Play

Following a 2019-20 campaign in which they finished sixth in the AHL’s power play rankings at 20.9%, the Griffins have been nearly as good this season, currently tying for seventh in the league at 20.2% and standing fourth on the road at 27.5%. Their home power play, however, ranks 25th, having converted 13.2% of its chances.

Offense Taken

Prior to scoring five goals in Friday’s 5-4 win over Chicago, the Griffins had been held to two goals in four straight games and had scored as many as three goals just once in their previous seven outings. They stand eighth in the AHL in shots per game (31.79) and 20th in goals per game (3.07).

For the Defense

Grand Rapids is 10th in the league in goals allowed per game (2.96)…The Griffins have been outshot in only eight of their first 28 games, but it’s happened in five of the last eight contests. Only five times have they allowed 30 or more shots, a total that they have reached on 16 occasions. Grand Rapids ranks third in the AHL in shots allowed per game (26.18).

Milestones

Last Wednesday’s contest against Cleveland marked the 300th Griffins/AHL game of Dominic Turgeon’s career. Upcoming player milestones include:

Turner Elson—One point from 100 for his Griffins career

Joe Hicketts—Two assists from 100 for his Griffins/AHL career

Brian Lashoff – Three assists for 100 as a pro

It’s a Start

The roar of a Griffins crowd was partially restored on March 13 when the team began welcoming up to 750 fans per home game, pursuant to the most recent order from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Griffins 2021-22 season ticket members are being given the first opportunity to purchase tickets to home games during the remainder of the 2020-21 season. Other fans can sign up for Griffins Nation, the team’s official email newsletter, to receive priority access to 2020-21 tickets whenever limited seats are made available for sale throughout the season. On occasion, single-game tickets may also be purchased online at griffinshockey.com.

We Miss You, Bob!

On Feb. 8, the beloved 21-year Voice of the Griffins, Bob Kaser, underwent successful heart surgery at the Meijer Heart Center in Grand Rapids to repair several blocked arteries. Released from the hospital on Feb. 14, his recovery at home continues to go well. Everyone in Griffins Nation, the Griffins organization, the AHL, and the Michigan hockey community wishes Bob all the best in his recovery and a quick return to health. We can’t wait until he is back in the booth.

Photo courtesy of the Cleveland Monsters