Griffins Game #66 * Home Game #35 * AHL Game #998

Season Series: 4-0-1-0 Home Series: 1-0-1-0 Road Series: 3-0-0-0
All-Time Series: 65-34-6-10 All-Time Home Series: 36-17-2-2 All-Time Road Series: 29-17-4-8

Griffins vs. Monsters
Sixth of eight meetings overall, third of four at Van Andel Arena…Grand Rapids is 11-3-1-0 against Cleveland in the past two seasons and has points in all five games this season (4-0-1-0)...In the past five years, the Griffins are 27-10-3-3 against Cleveland and have outscored them 144-114. On home ice during that span, Grand Rapids is 14-5-1-1 against the Monsters with a +19 scoring margin (70-51)...After finishing in second in the AHL a year ago with a 26.9% power play rating, Cleveland is currently tied for 26th in the league with a conversion rate of 16.7%. The Monsters’ penalty kill places 24th with a kill percentage of 78.2%...Cleveland comes into the outing with a 3-5-2-0 record in its last 10 contests and a 13-12-4-3 ledger on the road...The Monsters are the third-most frequent opponent of the Griffins, as this game marks the 116th meeting between the two franchises...Defenseman Wyatt Newpower skated for Cleveland a season ago, logging 10 points (3-7—10) and 14 penalty minutes in 24 games...Netminder Calvin Pickard began his pro career with Cleveland and was with the team from 2012-15, posting a 60-54-21 record and a 2.64 goals against average...Griffins head coach Ben Simon is a native of the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights.

Last Time Out
Two power-play tallies in the third period gave the Milwaukee Admirals a 3-1 victory over Grand Rapids at Panther Arena. The Griffins dropped the final five contests against the Admirals and finished the season series with a 5-6-1-0 mark. Riley Barber extended his point streak to seven outings (5-3—8) with a helper. After seeing his career-high seven-game point streak end on April 2, Dominik Shine returned with his eighth goal in his last nine games. Turner Elson pushed his point streak to three outings (1-2—3). The Griffins have two wins in their last 10 contests (2-7-1-0) and have not won in regulation since March 11 against Cleveland.

Roster Shake Up
- April 2, 2022—F Kyle Criscuolo recalled by Detroit
- April 4, 2022—F Kyle Criscuolo reassigned by Detroit
- April 5, 2022—F Samuel Dove-McFalls signed to an ATO; F Kyle Criscuolo recalled by Detroit

This Date in Griffins History
2002: With a 3-2 victory at Chicago, the Griffins win the AHL's inaugural Bud Poile Trophy as 2001-02 West Division champions and secure the Western Conference's number-two seed in the 2002 AHL Calder Cup playoffs.

Shine Bright
Dominik Shine recorded a career-high seven-game point streak (7-3—10) from March 16-27 and has tallied eight goals in his last nine outings. Before this run, the Detroit, native registered just one tally and four assists in his previous 28 games. Shine scored in four straight games from March 22-27, which is a new career-high goal streak. The 28-year-old has set career-best numbers in goals (14), assists (14), points (28), penalty minutes (121) and shots (100) this campaign with 11 games remaining.

No Time to Waste
The Griffins currently sit in seventh place in the Central Division standings with a 27-30-6-2 (0.477) mark and only 11 games remaining. The top five teams from the division will qualify for the Calder Cup Playoffs, with the top three receiving a first-round bye. The Griffins’ magic number over Texas, who sits in the final playoff spot, is 28 points heading into the week. The Griffins have the fourth-toughest remaining schedule in the division with a remaining opponent win percentage of 0.563 while Texas has the toughest at 0.603. Grand Rapids has appeared in the last seven Calder Cup Playoffs, dating back to the 2012-13 season when it lifted the cup for the first time.

Welcome to the Barber Shop
Riley Barber has been on a tear as of late, with points in seven straight games (5-3—8). Since being reassigned by Detroit on March 2, Barber has notched 16 points (7-9—16) in as many games, including four multi-point outings. The Pittsburgh, Pa., native ranks fourth on the roster with 35 points (15-20—35) in 39 games. Last season, Barber paced the Griffins with 34 points (20-14—34) in 32 contests and finished second in the league with 20 goals. Through 71 games with the Griffins, the 28-year-old veteran has 69 points (35-34—69) and 42 penalty minutes.

Race to the Top
Jonatan Berggren has cracked the Griffins’ top-10 rookie single-season scoring list, as he currently places eighth with 45 points (15-30—45) in 58 games, which is also tied for the team lead this season. Berggren has logged two points in three of his last seven games, with one goal and six helpers during the run. The Uppsala, Sweden, native is tied for seventh among rookies with his 45 points, while his 30 assists are tied for fifth. Berggren is tied for third among rookies with five game-winning goals. Berggren is on pace for 53 points, which would place fourth in Griffins’ rookie single-season scoring history.

Traffic Jam
The Griffins have won just one game in their last six contests away from West Michigan, having been outscored 27-15. However, Grand Rapids has secured three out of six points in its past three outings away from home. Grand Rapids went on a season-high five-game road trip from March 19-27 and finished with a 1-3-1-0 mark. The Griffins are 13-15-2-1 this season away from West Michigan while they are 14-15-4-1 at home. Grand Rapids will play seven of its remaining 11 games on foreign ice.

Rarified Air
Brian Lashoff’s 569 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 one game behind No. 4 Paul Larivee (Providence Reds 1952-62). Lashoff is still 86 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—45 points (15-30—45) are tied for seventh among first-year players, 30 assists are tied for fifth among rookies, five game-winning goals are tied for third among rookies
Jared McIsaac—23 points (5-18—23) are tied for sixth among rookie defensemen
Ryan Murphy—11 goals are tied for third among defensemen
Calvin Pickard—2.58 goals against average ranks 14th, 0.918 save percentage is tied for 10th, 21 wins are tied for fifth, 2534:30 minutes played places third
Dominik Shine—121 penalty minutes are tied for fourth

Milestones
Riley Barber appeared in his 350th game in the AHL on March 26 at Bakersfield. Other upcoming milestones include:
Kyle Criscuolo—One game from 300 in the AHL
Jan Drozg—Three goals from 50 as a pro, two games from 150 as a pro, three games from 100 in the AHL
Turner Elson—Two goals from 100 as a pro
Jon Martin—Two games from 300 as a pro
Dan Renouf—Two games from 200 as a Griffin
Tyler Spezia—Four goals from 50 as a pro, two games from 200 as a pro
Dennis Yan—Two games from 200 in the AHL

Photo by Mark Newman/Griffins