GRIFFINS (26-14-3-4) vs. San Antonio Rampage (22-21-2-0)

Griffins Game #48 * Road Game #24 * AHL Game #690

Season Series: 2-1-0-0 Home Series: 2-0-0-0 Road Series: 0-1-0-0
All-Time Series: 46-27-1-5-2 All-Time Home Series: 24-12-1-3-1 All-Time Road Series: 22-15-0-2-1

Griffins at Rampage
Fourth of eight meetings overall, second of four at the AT&T Center…Grand Rapids has won 10 of the last 11 meetings overall against the Rampage, including six straight at Van Andel Arena and four of the last five at the AT&T Center…In the last 11 matchups, the Griffins are outscoring their Texan counterpart 49-24…In the last meeting at the Van on Dec. 5, the Griffins notched a 4-2 win courtesy of two-point games from Filip Hronek and Turner Elson and a 25-save effort from Patrik Rybar…On Oct. 6, during Grand Rapids' first trip to the AT&T Center, the Rampage blanked Grand Rapids 4-0 to earn their first win over the Griffins since March 22, 2016 and snap GR’s eight-game winning streak in the series…With four points apiece, Hronek (2-2—4 in 2 GP) and Elson (1-3—4 in 3 GP) lead both teams in scoring in the series…Rybar is 2-0-0 against the Rampage with a 2.50 GAA and a 0.911 save percentage while Harri Sateri is 0-1-0 with a 4.00 GAA and a 0.862 save mark…Grand Rapids’ power play is 4-for-12 (33.3%) against the Rampage this season…Second-year Griffin Turner Elson spent the 2016-17 season with San Antonio and scored three points (1-2—3) while being limited to 13 games due to injury…First-year Griffin Wade Megan appeared in 115 games with the Rampage from 2012-15 and totaled 31 points (20-11—31)…While making his AHL debut with the Rampage on March 28, 2013, against Grand Rapids, Megan scored his first pro goal against Petr Mrazek…Today marks San Antonio’s last home game until March 1 as the club will then embark on its annual rodeo road trip…San Antonio leads the AHL with 18 home victories and ranks last with just four road wins…The Rampage are on a 13-game home point streak (12-0-1-0).

They Went to Jared
Acquired by the St. Louis Blues from the Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 3, former Griffin Jared Coreau is 5-4-1 with a 3.15 GAA, a 0.889 save percentage and one shutout in 10 GP with the Rampage this season. Suiting up for Grand Rapids from 2013-18, Coreau ranks among the franchise’s all-time goalie leaders in nearly every major statistical category with 148 GP (4th), 8614:11 minutes (4th), a 2.44 GAA (T8th), 85 wins (4th), 13 shutouts (3rd), 3930 saves (4th), a 0.918 save percentage (T7th) and seven shootout wins (T5th). Backstopping the team to its second Calder Cup in 2017, Coreau started all 19 games during the championship run and posted a 2.84 GAA and a 0.909 save mark to go along with a 15-4 record.

Last Game (Thursday): Griffins 5 at Stars 3 - Read the full recap here
For the second consecutive game, Grand Rapids came back from a two-goal deficit and won...The Griffins trailed 3-1 at the 5:18 mark of the second period before tallying the game’s final four goals...Rookie Michael Rasmussen, assigned by the Red Wings for conditioning on Wednesday, made his AHL debut and scored two goals...Dominik Shine (4) netted the game-winner while Dominic Turgeon (5) and Chris Terry (24) also lit the lamp...Harri Sateri made 25 saves to run his winning streak to five, matching a career high...The Griffins recorded 23 shots in the second period, equaling a club record for shots in a single frame (achieved twice previously and most recently during the third period of a 5-4 OTW on March 31, 2006 at Manitoba)...Turner Elson and Filip Hronek both skated in their 100th games as a Griffin...Grand Rapids finished 7-3-0-2 in January.

Status Update
The Griffins have totaled points in 14 of their last 17 outings (11-3-1-2), including wins in five of their last six, and pace the Central Division by four points with 59 to go along with a 26-14-3-4 overall record. The Griffins conclude a two-game swing through Texas tonight at San Antonio and will look to move their road record above 0.500 for the first time this season. When playing a back-to-back, Grand Rapids has won 11 of its last 13 on the second night and six of the last seven. The Griffins will return to Van Andel Arena next Wednesday to begin a seven-game homestand, the team’s longest since a seven-game stretch from Nov. 29-Dec. 14, 2013.

Road Trippin’
After a four-game winless stretch on the road (0-3-1-0) from Dec. 7-16, the Griffins have points in seven of their last nine on foreign ice (5-2-1-1) and are a +5 in goal differential in that span. Grand Rapids has evened up its road record at 10-10-2-1.

All That Ras
Nineteen-year-old rookie Michael Rasmussen, assigned by Detroit for conditioning on Wednesday, made his AHL debut last night and tallied two goals, one on the power play and an empty-netter. The ninth overall selection by the Red Wings in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, Rasmussen’s marker on the man-advantage at 12:29 of the second period helped Grand Rapids end a 0-for-25 stretch on the power play in road games.

You’re a Wizard, Harri
Harri Sateri is on a five-game winning streak to equal an AHL career high (twice previously and most recently Feb. 18-March 4, 2018) and is good for a 1.75 GAA and a 0.943 save percentage (148 of 157) in that span. The Finnish netminder has points in 14 of his last 16 starts (12-2-2) and in nine of his last 10 (8-1-1). Sateri’s 16 wins on the season, which is two shy of matching his AHL career best, tie for fourth in the league.

Coming Up After the Break
Since joining the AHL in the 2001-02 season, the Griffins post a 289-203-7-16-27 (0.579) record in games played after the all-star break. Grand Rapids has tallied a 0.500 mark or better in each of the last eight seasons after the hiatus, including going 20-7-1-3 last season and a combined 85-37-4-7 (0.680) since 2014-15.

Griffins in General
The Griffins’ 3-0 win against Milwaukee on Jan. 19 marked the franchise’s 950th all-time regular season victory…Grand Rapids is 953-643-27-54-112 (0.587) in the regular season since 1996-97…Grand Rapids’ 293 regular season wins and 633 points since the 2012-13 campaign are both the second-most in the AHL in that time, trailing only Toronto (300 / 646) and just ahead of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (290 / 624).

Wading Back In
Wade Megan paced the team with 11 points (6-5—11) in 11 January games. Since being assigned by Detroit on Jan. 3 following nearly a month’s stay in the NHL, Megan has points in seven of his 11 games back in Grand Rapids’ lineup, including six (4-2—6) in the last five.

Puemped Up
Matt Puempel leads the team with 13 multi-point efforts on the season. His 10 points (4-6—10) in January placed second on the club. The sixth-year pro ranks second on the Griffins in both goals (17) and points (36) and his team-leading 151 shots are first in the league.

Rybar Supports
Patrik Rybar has points in six of his last eight games (4-2-2) and shows a 2.20 GAA and a 0.919 save percentage with one shutout in that span. Rybar, who led the Czech Extraliga with seven shutouts last season, recorded his first clean sheet on North American soil after stopping 24 shots during Jan. 19’s 3-0 victory against Milwaukee. He ties for fifth in the AHL with a 2.38 overall GAA.

(Don’t) Put It In Reverse Terr
The AHL’s leading scorer from a season ago, Chris Terry is tied atop the league’s goal leaderboard with 24. The 10th-year pro has reached the 20-goal plateau for the sixth time in his AHL career and is on pace to become just the third Griffin ever to bank 40 or more goals in a single season. He is bidding to join Teemu Pulkkinen (34 in 2014-15) and Donald MacLean (56 in 2005-06) as the only Griffins to lead the league in goals. He ties for sixth in the league with 43 points overall. Competing for the Central Division at the 2019 AHL All-Star Classic, Terry earned his third consecutive AHL All-Star bid and fourth overall (2012).

Page Turner
Turner Elson places fourth on the team with 28 points (12-16—28) and is just two shy of leveling his career high of 30, which he has attained twice previously (2014-15 with Adirondack and 2015-16 with Stockton). Sixteen assists has already equaled his career best total from 2015-16. He has also bettered his output from his first season with the Griffins in 2017-18 (9-12—21 in 57 GP). Elson has all three of the Griffins’ shorthanded goals this season, which ties for second in the AHL. Three shorties is the most by a Griffin in a single season since Landon Ferraro and Tomas Nosek both collected three in 2014-15.

This Date in Griffins History
2000: A 1-0 win at Cincinnati gives the Griffins consecutive shutouts over the same opponent for the first time in franchise history.
2006: Donald MacLean notches two goals for the Canadian AHL All-Star team and Jiri Hudler records an assist for the PlanetUSA squad, as Canada takes a 9-4 win in the 2006 AHL All-Star game in Winnipeg.
2013: Tomas Tatar records the only hat trick of his Griffins career, leading Grand Rapids to a 5-1 win at Hamilton.

Photo by Sam Iannamico/Griffins