Griffins Game #20 * Home Game #8 * AHL Game #286

Season Series: 4-1-0-0 Home Series: 2-0-0-0 Road Series: 2-1-0-0
All-Time Series: 58-32-5-10 All-Time Home Series: 33-16-1-2 All-Time Road Series: 25-16-4-8

Griffins vs. Monsters

Sixth of 10 meetings overall, third of five at Van Andel Arena…The Griffins improved to 4-1 against the Monsters with last night’s 5-3 comeback win, snapping Cleveland’s six-game winning streak and remaining undefeated in regulation at home this season (4-0-3-0)...Cleveland’s goal-scoring ranks second in the AHL (4.00) while its power play is first both overall (29.9%, tied) and on the road (36.1%) after last night’s 2-for-4 performance...Against all other foes this season, the Monsters are 10-3 and the Griffins are 6-5-3-0…Pat Nagle has earned all four wins and played all five games against the Monsters this season, sporting a 2.21 goals against average and a 0.912 save percentage in the series...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.

Get Busy

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 last Friday began a stretch which has them scheduled to play their final 16 games and 12 home contests over a span of only 30 days. Also in the midst of a seven-game homestand, they’ll conclude a stretch of four home games in six nights tonight.

Last Time Out

The Griffins rallied with three third-period goals last night for a 5-3 victory over Cleveland. It marked their first win of the season when trailing after two periods (1-6-1-0) and the second time in three games that they came back from a third-period deficit to pull out a victory (Friday’s 5-4 win over Iowa). Cleveland’s potent power play struck 6:37 into the opening period on a Carson Meyer redirection past Pat Nagle, but the Griffins answered with a pair of goals 63 seconds apart to seize the 2-1 lead. At 12:52, Troy Loggins put his own rebound home, then Gregor MacLeod got a stick on a puck that Joe Hicketts threw toward the net from the left point. Grand Rapids surrendered the lead and its second shorthanded goal of the season to Liam Foudy 3:43 into the second, and Dillon Simpson connected at 13:07 to make the Monsters 2-for-3 on the power play and give them a 3-2 advantage. Dominic Turgeon tied matters 1:21 into the third, slipping behind the Cleveland defense and reaching out with his stick to deflect Taro Hirose’s pass past Daniil Tarasov. Riley Barber then put Grand Rapids ahead during a power play at 6:55, and Givani Smith capped off the scoring with 1:41 remaining by sending the puck 150 feet into an empty net.

This Date in Griffins History

2006: Jiri Hudler’s laser from the point at 2:21 of triple overtime ends the second-longest game in Griffins history and gives Grand Rapids a 6-5 win over Toronto in Game 1 of the North Division Semifinals at Van Andel Arena. Hudler’s franchise-record fifth overtime goal of his career comes on his team’s playoff-record 63rd shot against Jean-Sebastien Aubin.

That’s a First

The Griffins last Friday began a seven-game April homestand that surpasses their most regular season home games ever during the month. Prior to this season, their high-water mark for regular season games at Van Andel Arena during April had been five, established in 2015.

Congrats Are in Order

Defenseman Jared McIsaac, Detroit's 4th choice (36th overall) in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, made his AHL debut last night. He sustained a shoulder injury in his first game with HPK in Finland’s Liiga last fall and had not played since.

A Long Time Coming

On Saturday, goalie Kaden Fulcher made his AHL debut and played his first game in more than 15 months, due to an injury that ended his 2019-20 season, the pandemic, and bouncing between the Griffins and Detroit's taxi squad this season. His last game had been on Jan. 4, 2020, when he made 24 saves for the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye in a 5-2 home loss to Indy. Fulcher made 25 saves in Saturday’s 4-3 overtime loss to Iowa, including 12 during the third period to help the Griffins rally from a two-goal deficit and earn a point. He and Kevin Boyle traded places on Detroit’s taxi squad first yesterday and then again this morning.

All Hands on Deck

The depleted Griffins enlisted forwards Dominik Shine and Tyler Spezia to play defense during both weekend games against Iowa, helping Grand Rapids earn three out of four points, and Shine reprised his blueliner role last night in the win over Cleveland. In those three games at his foreign position, Shine has a cumulative plus-five rating. Grand Rapids skated one short in its forward ranks each of the last two games.

Life of Riley

Riley Barber has goals in consecutive games and six of the last eight outings, along with points in five straight games (4-1—5) and 16 of 19 contests this season. His 14 goals on the season tie for third in the league, amazing considering that his 19 games played are nine or 10 fewer than each of the other three players in the top four. Barber’s 22 points (14-8—22) tie for 14th in the league while his 11 power play points tie for first. 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

Reassigned to the Griffins from Detroit’s taxi squad last Tuesday, Taro Hirose notched the game-tying goal with 2:48 remaining on Friday in the Griffins’ eventual 5-4 comeback win over Iowa. Now second on the team in scoring with 17 points (4-13—17) in 16 games, he has points in five straight games (1-4—5) and in six of the last seven outings (3-5—8)...Givani Smith, reassigned by the Red Wings to the Griffins from their taxi squad last Wednesday, has goals in consecutive games and points in seven straight games with Grand Rapids (7-2—9)...Turner Elson has assists in three straight contests and points in five of the last six games (1-4—5)...Joe Hicketts and Chase Pearson both have three assists in their last two outings...Troy Loggins (2-0—2), Gregor MacLeod (1-1—2), Jarid Lukosevicius (1-1—2), Dominic Turgeon (2-0—2) and Kyle Criscuolo (2-1—3) all have registered points in two of the last three games.

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 six 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 are off to an even better start this season, currently sitting fifth in the league at 24.3% and fourth on the road at 31.1%. Their home power play, however, ranks 23rd, having converted 13.8% of its chances.

Offense Taken

The Griffins lead the AHL in shots per game (34.47) and are eighth in goals per game (3.37). They’ve racked up at least 40 shots in five of their last 12 outings.

For the Defense

After holding their opposition to two goals or less in five straight contests (March 11-26) and nine times over a stretch of 11 games, the Griffins surrendered at least four goals in five consecutive games (March 27-April 17). Still, Grand Rapids is tied for 10th in the league by allowing 3.00 goals per game…The Griffins have been outshot in only three of their first 19 games, and only twice have they allowed 30 or more shots, a total that they have reached on 14 occasions — including 12 of the last 15 outings. Grand Rapids ranks third in the AHL in shots allowed per game (25.05).

Milestones

Several player milestones were achieved in last Friday’s win over Iowa, including Riley Barber’s 300th AHL game, Turner Elson’s 400th pro game, and Dominic Turgeon’s 300th pro game. Then on Saturday, Joe Hicketts notched his 100th pro assist. Other milestones on the horizon include:

Turner Elson—Seven points from 100 for his Griffins career, two assists for 100 as a pro

Joe Hicketts—Seven goals for 300 as a pro, three assists from 100 for his Griffins/AHL career

Brian Lashoff – Three assists for 100 as a pro

Dylan McIlrath—Three penalty minutes for 1,000 as a pro

Dominik Shine – Three points from 50 for his Griffins/AHL/pro career

Dominic Turgeon—Seven games from 300 for his Griffins/AHL career

It’s a Start

The roar of a Griffins crowd was partially restored on March 13 when the team began welcoming 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 by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins