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Griffins Game #10 * Road Game #5 * AHL Game #153

Season Series: 1-0-0-0 Home Series: 1-0-0-0 Road Series: 0-0-0-0
All-Time Series: 63-30-1-1-7 All-Time Home Series: 33-13-1-1-5 All-Time Road Series: 30-17-0-0-2

Griffins at Moose
Second of eight meetings overall, first of four at Bell MTS Place…In the initial meeting of the season on Oct. 25 at Van Andel Arena, Matt Puempel recorded his first AHL hat trick, Joe Veleno banked his first pro goal and Calvin Pickard posted 36 saves in a 4-1 Grand Rapids victory…The Griffins have claimed 12 of the last 14 regular season matchups with a 43-23 scoring margin…Since Manitoba rejoined the AHL in 2015-16, Grand Rapids is 19-6 against the Moose and outscored them 82-51…On away ice in that span, the Griffins are 9-3 with a 35-19 scoring advantage…Dylan McIlrath was born in Winnipeg and Pickard lives there during the offseason...Moose forward Derek Hulak skated in 35 regular season games with the Griffins last season and tallied four points (1-3—4) before showing a goal and an assist in four games during the Central Division Semifinals against Chicago.

Last Game (Wednesday): Wild 4 at Griffins 3 OT - Recap
Grand Rapids concluded its four-game homestand with a 3-0-1-0 record...Rookie Gregor MacLeod scored his second goal in as many games at 6:58 of the second period...Filip Zadina netted the game’s first goal at 2:58 of the opening period to extend his point streak to three...Joe Veleno tied the game with 6:54 remaining on his second goal of the year...Chris Terry and Matt Puempel both moved their point streaks to four games...Grand Rapids outshot Iowa 38-31...The Griffins were tied after regulation for the second time this season (Oct. 18 at TEX).

Status Update
The Griffins had their three-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday against Iowa but still show points in four consecutive outings and place fourth in the Central Division Standings with a 5-2-1-1 record (12 points). After rounding out a four-game home stretch, Grand Rapids is on the road for a two-game set at Manitoba beginning this afternoon and ending tomorrow. The Griffins will return to Van Andel Arena for a three-game homestand starting next Wednesday for their annual school day game against Cleveland.

Getting Started
The Griffins’ 5-2-1-1 start marks their best since the 2013-14 season, when they had an identical record through nine games. Should Grand Rapids win today, it would still be its best start through 10 games since 2013-14 (6-2-1-1).

Two to Tango
Chris Terry (4-8—12) and Matt Puempel (5-5—10) are the first Griffins teammates with 10 or more points each through a season’s first nine games since Gustav Nyquist and Tomas Jurco both posted 10 points to open 2013-14.

Back Up, Terr
Chris Terry paces the team in points (12), assists (8) and multi-point games (4). He has found the scoresheet in seven of nine outings, including four in a row. In his 11th-year pro, Terry led the Griffins with 61 points last season and the most recent player to lead the Griffins in scoring in back-to-back seasons was Andy Miele in 2014-15 and 2015-16.

Puemped Up
In his seventh year as a pro and third season as a Griffin, Matt Puempel is tied with Ed Patterson (1997-98; 1999-01) for 22nd on the franchise’s all-time goal scoring chart with 51. Puempel is on a season-high four-game point streak (4-3—7) to match Chris Terry for the longest by a Griffin.

October’s Best
The Griffins finished with 12 points in the season’s opening month, marking only the second time in the last nine seasons the team has reached the double-digit point total in October (2013-14, 12 points). In fact, Grand Rapids’ 12 October points tie for the fifth-most in team history.

Between the Pipes
Calvin Pickard has points in four straight starts (2-0-2), showing a 1.96 GAA and a 0.936 save percentage with one shutout in that span. Filip Larsson has won two of his first three pro starts, including becoming the fifth Griffins rookie goalie in the team’s AHL era (since 2001-02) to pick up the win in his AHL debut after his 24-save performance on Oct. 12 at Rockford, joining Petr Mrazek (Nov. 3, 2012 at Texas), Tom McCollum (Oct. 3, 2009 at Peoria), Jimmy Howard (Oct. 28, 2005 vs. Iowa) and Simon Lajeunesse (Dec. 12, 2001 at Utah

First Things First
Grand Rapids’ roster currently features five recent Detroit first-round draft picks (Moritz Seider 2019, Filip Zadina 2018, Joe Veleno 2018, Michael Rasmussen 2017, Evgeny Svechnikov 2015). Five of the Red Wings’ last six first rounders are on the west side of the state, with the exceptions being Dennis Cholowski (2016), who made Detroit’s roster following training camp. From 2002-15, the Griffins had only seven Detroit first rounders total suit up for them: Jakub Kindl (2005-11; 14-15), Niklas Kronwall (2003-06), Dylan Larkin (2015 playoffs only), Anthony Mantha (2014-15), Tom McCollum (2009-15), Riley Sheahan (2011-14) and Brendan Smith (2010-13). The Griffins’ opening night lineup had five Detroit first rounders in it, far surpassing the previous record of two. The Griffins had never seen more than three Red Wings first rounders suit up for the club at any point in the same season until this year. Adding in Matt Puempel (24th overall by Ottawa in 2011) and Dylan McIlrath (10th overall by the New York Rangers in 2010), Grand Rapids’ roster boasts seven former first-round draft selections.

This Date in Griffins History
1999: Longtime Griffin Danton Cole retires from a distinguished playing career to become an assistant coach for the team.
2007: The Griffins lose their first road game of the season by a 5-3 count in Rochester after starting the campaign 5-0 away from Van Andel Arena. Grand Rapids’ 5-1 record in foreign territory ties its third-best road start in team history.
2011: Joey MacDonald denies all 27 shots he faces to record his 19th shutout as a Griffin, a 3-0 triumph over Lake Erie at Van Andel Arena.

Griffins in General
Grand Rapids is in the franchise’s 24th overall season of play, 19th as a member of the American Hockey League and 18th as the primary affiliate of the 11-time Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings…Grand Rapids is 970-658-27-59-113 (0.585) in the regular season since 1996-97 to go along with 17 playoff appearances, seven division titles and two Calder Cups (2017, 2013)…The Griffins have earned 40 or more wins and accumulated 90 or more points in six of the last seven seasons…Grand Rapids has qualified for the Calder Cup Playoffs in a franchise-record seven consecutive seasons and advanced to at least the second round on five occasions…The Griffins’ 8-5 season-opening win at Chicago on Oct. 5 marked the club’s 750th win in the AHL…Grand Rapids’ 310 regular season wins since the 2012-13 campaign are second behind Toronto’s 324 and the Griffins’ 673 points in that span are third, trailing Providence (676) and Toronto (703)...Since the affiliation began in 2002-03, 90 Griffins have gone on to play for the Red Wings.