Griffins Game #59 * Road Game #27 * AHL Game #906

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

Griffins at Reign
Third of four meetings overall, first of two at Toyota Arena…The teams are meeting for just the fifth-time ever...The Griffins are 13-15-1-3 all-time against current Pacific-Division foes in the regular season, including 5-7-1-2 on the road...Grand Rapids is 11-13-1-3 (0.464) against current California teams...The Reign come in to the contest with a 19-4-3-2 home record while holding a 5-4-1-0 ledger in their last 10 outings...The Griffins are 12-12-1-1 on the road and 5-5-0-0 in their last 10 games...Ontario has the AHL’s best power play, as they convert on 26.5% of its opportunities. However, the penalty kill for the Reign ranks 28th in the league at 76.3%...Ontario’s T.J. Tynan ranks second in the league with 75 points (11-64—75) and his 64 assists pace the AHL...Former Griffin Martin Frk (4th) also places in the top five for points with 58 (31-27—58)...Calvin Pickard and Ontario’s Garret Sparks won the Harry Hap Holmes Memorial Award during the 2017-18 season when the pair combined for a 2.02 goals against average, en route to winning the 2018 Calder Cup with Toronto.

Last Time Out
Rockford’s three-goal middle frame lifted the IceHogs past the Griffins 5-1 on Saturday at the BMO Harris Bank Center. Grand Rapids suffered just its second lost in seven games against Rockford this season (5-2-0-0). The Griffins avoided a shutout when Tyler Spezia notched his 13th goal of the campaign in the third period. Dominik Shine extended his point streak (2-2—4) to three games with a helper. Turner Elson saw his career-high five-game goal streak come to an end. Dan Renouf skated in his 350th game as a professional while Luke Witkowski and Jonatan Berggren returned to the lineup. Calvin Pickard’s three-game win streak came to a close.

Roster Shake Up
- March 18, 2022—D Luke Witkowski reassigned by Detroit
- March 21, 2022—D Luke Witkowski recalled by Detroit and traded to St. Louis Blues; F Joe Veleno reassigned by Detroit; F Joe Veleno recalled by Detroit

Road Trip!
The Griffins have set off on their season-long five-game road trip. Grand Rapids began the stretch with a 5-1 defeat at Rockford on Saturday. The Griffins will now head 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 12-12-1-1 this season away from West Michigan while they are 14-13-4-1 at home. Grand Rapids will play 12 of its remaining 18 games on foreign ice.

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. 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.

This Date in Griffins History
2009: Darren Haydar and Francis Pare score third-period goals in a span of 1:41 to pace Grand Rapids to a 3-2 comeback win at Lake Erie, kicking off the Griffins’ franchise-record eight-game road trip. Pare’s 22nd goal of the campaign ties him with teammate Justin Abdelkader for the Griffins’ all-time record for goals by a rookie.

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 45 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 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 have had a remarkable stretch of success during the month of March throughout their 25 seasons. Grand Rapids has 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. All time, the Griffins have only had a losing March record three times in 25 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.

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 23-14-4-0 (0.610) against the rest of the AHL.

Old Friends Reunited
Former teammates with the Toronto Marlies, Calvin Pickard and Ontario’s Garret Sparks, will return to the same ice this week. The goaltending pair won the AHL’s Harry “Hap” Holmes Memorial Award during the 2017-18 season, given to the goaltenders with the lowest combined goals against average. Pickard (2.31 GAA) and Sparks (1.79 GAA) combined for a goals against average of 2.02 en route to winning the 2018 Calder Cup with the Marlies.

Calvin’s University
Goaltender Calvin Pickard has had a stellar season thus far, as he ranks near the top in multiple categories in the AHL. The 10-year-pro currently places 11th in the AHL with a 2.49 goals against average while his 0.921 save percentage ranks fifth in the league. Pickard also ranks second with 2501:52 minutes played and is tied for fourth with 21 wins. Pickard has got it done on the offensive end as well with four assists on the season, which is two more than his previous career high. The netminder has been a work horse for the Griffins this season, appearing in 42 of the 58 games.

Murphy’s Law
Reigning AHL defenseman of the year Ryan Murphy has started to find a rhythm offensively for the Griffins. Murphy recorded two points in back-to-back games from March 11-13 and enjoyed a four-game point streak (1-5—6) from March 9-16. The defenseman registered an assist in four consecutive games during his point streak, which tied for the longest assist streak this season by a Griffin. The nine-year pro places fifth on the roster and leads all Grand Rapids’ blueliners with 29 points (11-18—29) in 53 outings. Murphy has climbed up the defensemen leaderboard in the AHL, as his 11 goals rank second and his 29 points are tied for 15th.

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 38 points (14-24—38) ranks ninth among first-year players on the circuit and rank second on the Griffins’ roster. His 24 assists are tied for eighth among league rookies. Berggren is also tied for ninth in the league with five game-winning goals, which is tied for second among rookies.

Rarified Air
Brian Lashoff’s 562 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 eight games behind No. 4 Paul Larivee (Providence Reds 1952-62). Lashoff is still 93 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—38 points (14-24—38) ranks ninth among first-year players, 24 assists are tied for eighth among rookies, five game-winning goals are tied for ninth in the league and are tied for second among rookies
Taro Hirose—31 assists are tied for 14th, 14 power play assists are tied for 15th
Ryan Murphy—11 goals rank second among blueliners, 29 points (11-18—29) are tied for 15th among defenseman
Calvin Pickard—2.49 goals against average places 11th, 0.921 save percentage ranks fifth, 21 wins are tied for fourth, 2501:52 minutes played places second
Dominik Shine—102 penalty minutes ranks sixth

Milestones
Dan Renouf skated in his 350th game as a pro on March 19 at Rockford. Brian Lashoff appeared in his 700th game as a pro on March 18 against Texas while Kyle Criscuolo bagged his 100th assist in the AHL. Turner Elson also earned his 200th point in the AHL on March 18. Other upcoming milestones include:
Riley Barber—Three games from 350 in the AHL
Jonatan Berggren—Two points from 100 as a pro
Jan Drozg—Three goals from 50 as a pro
Turner Elson—Three goals from 100 as a pro
Jon Martin—Two games from 250 in the AHL
Calvin Pickard—One game from 400 as a pro
Dan Renouf—One game from 350 as a pro

Photo by Mark Newman/Griffins