Griffins Game #35 * Road Game #19 * AHL Game #519

Season Series: 1-0-0-0 Home Series: 1-0-0-0 Road Series: 0-0-0-0
All-Time Series: 51-28-1-5-2 All-Time Home Series: 27-12-1-3-1 All-Time Road Series: 24-16-0-2-1

Griffins at Rampage
Second of eight meetings overall, first of four at the AT&T Center…Since being swept in all four meetings during the 2015-16 campaign, Grand Rapids has won 15 of the last 17 matchups and outscored the Rampage 66-34…The Griffins have claimed the last five matchups with a +9 goal differential (17-8)…Grand Rapids has won six of the last eight at the AT&T Center…In the first meeting of the season on Nov. 20 in West Michigan, Turner Elson scored 23 seconds into the game to mark the fastest tally to open any period by a Griffin this season, Calvin Pickard earned his 100th AHL win and Moritz Seider recorded his first AHL goal…Pickard appeared in 21 games with the Rampage during the 2015-16 season and posted a 9-8-4 record to go along with a 2.75 GAA, 0.917 save percentage and one shutout…Elson spent the 2016-17 with San Antonio and scored three points (1-2—3) while being limited by injury to 13 games…Zach Nastasiuk was a second-round draft selection, 48th overall, by Detroit in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft and skated in 65 games with the Griffins from 2013-18, tallying 14 points (4-10—14) and four PIM.

Last Time Out (Tuesday): Wolves 2 at Griffins 0 - Recap
Grand Rapids had its four-game winning streak in New Year’s Eve games snapped…The Griffins have been shut out in consecutive home games for just the third time in franchise history and own a goal drought of 160:36 at Van Andel Arena, having been blanked since Eric Tangradi scored at the 4:24 mark of the second period of their 2-1 SOL to Rockford on Dec. 6…Grand Rapids previously suffered consecutive home shutouts Jan. 23-27, 2016 and Nov. 10-19, 2010…Pat Nagle extended his career-best by making his fourth consecutive start for the Griffins and finished with 22 saves…The Griffins’ lineup was missing eight regulars due to injuries, loans to the World Junior Championship and recalls to Detroit…The crowd of 10,834 marked Grand Rapids’ seventh straight sellout on New Year’s Eve.

Status Update
The Griffins enter 2020 with a 13-17-2-2 record (30 points). Grand Rapids, owning a 4-2-1-0 mark in its last seven outings on foreign ice, opens the new year with a four-game road trip that begins tonight in San Antonio and ends next Wednesday in Milwaukee. Grand Rapids is starting a fresh calendar on the road for the fourth time in the last five seasons. The Griffins will then enjoy an eight-game homestand from Jan. 10-25, which is the team’s longest since an eight-game stretch from Oct. 14-Nov. 4, 2006.

Three’s Company
The Griffins will play three games in three nights for the first and only time of the season this weekend in Texas. Having just one stretch of three consecutive games comes as a stark contrast to previous seasons as Grand Rapids did so three times last year, four times in 2017-18, twice in 2016-17, four times in 2015-16, five times in 2014-15, six times in 2013-14, nine times in 2012-13, six times in 2011-12 and 10 times in 2010-11.

December Leaders
Taro Hirose paced the club in scoring (4-5—9 in 11 GP) while tying Givani Smith (1-5—6 in 10 GP) for the team lead in assists. Eric Tangradi netted a team-high five goals in seven games. Goalie Pat Nagle tallied a 2.59 goals against average and a 0.906 save percentage in five games while posting a 1-3-1 record.

Ford Named Playing Captain
The AHL announced on Dec. 18 that Matthew Ford will serve as one of the two playing captains for the 2020 AHL All-Star Classic, to be held January 26-27 in Ontario, Calif. Hershey Bears forward Matt Moulson was also selected. A SoCal native, Ford is in his third season as the Griffins’ captain, fourth in Grand Rapids and 12th in the AHL. He becomes the fourth Griffin to be chosen as a playing captain for an AHL All-Star Classic, joining Jeff Hoggan (2016, West), Kip Miller (2007, PlanetUSA) and Travis Richards (2004, PlanetUSA).

Seider, Veleno at WJC
Moritz Seider and Joe Veleno are representing their respective countries at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship. Through Jan. 2, Seider has five assists in five games as captain of Germany and Veleno shows five points (1-4—5) in four games for semifinal-bound Canada. This marks the second consecutive year a player has left the Griffins mid-season to compete in the World Junior Championship after Filip Zadina represented the Czech Republic at the 2019 event. Tomas Tatar also suited up for Slovakia during his rookie campaign with Grand Rapids in 2009-10.

Rotating Roster
Including four goalies, the Griffins have used 37 players already before the halfway mark this season. Here is how the current usage stacks up to the final player counts in recent seasons: 2018-19 – 41 players, 2017-18 – 32, 2016-17 – 39, 2015-16 – 37 and 2014-15 – 39. Since the AHL’s season began on Oct. 4, the Red Wings have recalled or assigned a player from or to Grand Rapids a total of 62 times.

Lights Out
Despite Milwaukee scoring on the man-advantage in back-to-back games last weekend, Grand Rapids’ penalty killers have gone 48 for their last 51 (94.1%) since the third period at Chicago on Nov. 27. In fact, from the third period on Dec. 4 to the second period on Dec. 27, the Griffins fended off 32 consecutive penalties. On Nov. 28, the Griffins sat 30th in the league in penalty killing and have since climbed into a tie for 14th.

Teenage Dream
From 2010-19, the franchise’s second full decade, Grand Rapids captured its first two Calder Cups (2017, 2013), won two division championships (2012-13, 2014-15), advanced to the Calder Cup Playoffs seven times, and collected a 403-282-37-45 regular season record (0.579). Of the 182 Griffins to play in the NHL, 74 came during this decade.

Tar-Oh!
Assigned by Detroit on Dec. 3, rookie Taro Hirose has found the scoresheet in six of his first 11 games and his nine points (4-5—9) in December were a team high.

Time to Tango
Signed to a one-year contract by Grand Rapids 90 minutes prior to the opening faceoff against Rockford on Dec. 6, Eric Tangradi has seven points (5-2—7) in his first seven outings during his return to a Griffins uniform. His seven points finished second on the team in December and his current three-game goal streak ties for the longest by a Griffin in 2019-20. A 2017 Calder Cup champion with Grand Rapids, Tangradi ranks among the team’s all-time leaders with 171 points (9th), 81 goals (5th), 23 PPG (T8th), 14 GWG (4th), three OT goals (T3rd) and nine unassisted goals (3rd) in 207 games since 2015-16. Tangradi posted nine points (5-4—9) in 22 games for Astana Barys of the KHL this season and spent the 2018-19 campaign in the New Jersey organization.

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 978-673-27-60-114 (0.583) 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’ 318 regular season wins since the 2012-13 campaign tie Providence for third, behind Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s 321 and Toronto’s 336 while the Griffins’ 691 points in that span are fourth, trailing Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (696), Providence (703) and Toronto (728)…Since the affiliation began in 2002-03, 92 Griffins have gone on to play for the Red Wings.

This Date in Griffins History
2004: The Griffins drop a 7-0 stunner at Milwaukee, marking the worst shutout defeat in their history and tying their record for largest margin of defeat. The defeat also gives Grand Rapids its first three-game losing streak in regulation since December 2002.
2010: A nightmarish defensive stretch continues for the Griffins, who drop a 7-2 decision to Lake Erie while allowing at least five goals for the fourth straight home game and the sixth time in their last seven contests overall.
2019: The Griffins’ top point producer and the league’s leading goal scorer, Chris Terry, is selected to play for the Central Division All-Star Team at the 2019 Lexus AHL All-Star Classic.

Photo by Sam Iannamico/Griffins