Griffins Game #42 * Road Game #22 * AHL Game #694

Season Series: 2-3-0-1 Home Series: 1-2-0-1 Road Series: 1-1-0-0
All-Time Series: 37-25-4-5 All-Time Home Series: 20-11-1-4 All-Time Road Series: 17-14-3-1

Griffins at Stars
Seventh of eight meetings overall, third of four at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park...The Griffins have points in four of the last six games (3-2-1-0) against Texas at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park...Since the 2017-18 season, Grand Rapids is 6-8-2-1 (0.441) against the Stars in Texas and have been outscored 55-42...The home team has points in 14 of the past 21 clashes…Through 42 games, Texas is averaging 3.76 goals for while conceding an average of 2.86...Texas is 5-3-2-0 in its last 10 games and are 13-5-1-1 at home this season...The Stars’ penalty kill unit ranks third on the circuit at 85.1% while their power play places 10th at 21.9%...Former Griffin Riley Barber (2020-22) signed with the Stars’ organization during the offseason and currently leads the team lead with 38 points (20-18—38) in 41 appearances...Joel L’Esperance competed with the Texas Stars from 2017-22 and totaled 136 points (80-56—136) in 183 games while Alex Chiasson was with the Stars from 2011-13 and recorded 40 points (14-26—40) in 66 contests.

Last Time Out
Elmer Soderblom buried the game-winner in the third period to defeat the Milwaukee Admirals 2-1 on Tuesday at Panther Arena. Soderblom and Joel L’Esperance capitalized on an odd-man rush to allow the Swede to score an empty-net goal with 2:42 remaining in the contest to avenge last Sunday’s loss against the Admirals. After not tallying a point in his first six games as a Griffin, Soderblom has four in his last two outings (3-1–4). Alex Nedeljkovic was nearly unbeatable in net until Milwaukee tacked on a goal with 2:05 left to prevent the shutout. Jakub Vrana tallied a goal for the second straight contest and now has four goals in his last five appearances.

Roster Shakeup
- Jan. 16—G Alex Nedeljkovic recalled by Detroit; G Alex Nedeljkovic assigned by Detroit
- Jan. 18—Detroit traded F Kyle Criscuolo to San Jose (NHL) for F Jasper Weatherby; F Patrick McGrath acquired by Grand Rapids from San Jose (AHL) for future considerations
- Jan. 24—F Matt Luff reassigned by Detroit
- Jan. 27—F Patrick McGrath assigned to Toledo by Grand Rapids; F Drew Worrad reassigned to Toledo by Grand Rapids
- Feb. 1—G Jussi Olkinuora recalled by Detroit for the purpose of mutually terminating his contract
- Feb. 2—F Filip Zadina assigned by Detroit on a conditioning loan

This Date in Griffins History
2003: Mark Mowers tallies a goal and an assist for PlanetUSA, but Marc Lamothe’s Canadian squad takes a 10-7 victory at the 2003 AHL All-Star Game in Portland. Lamothe, the sixth Griffins goalie in seven years to be chosen to play in an all-star game, stops 14 of 18 shots in the second period, one night after winning the goaltenders’ portion of the AHL All-Star Skills Competition.

Keep Chugging Along
The Griffins enjoyed a season-high four-game point streak (2-0-1-1) from Jan. 14-21. The run was halted by the Milwaukee Admirals on Jan. 28 in a 4-2 defeat. Since the new year, Grand Rapids has lost in regulation just three times through 12 games (6-3-1-2, 0.625). The Griffins jumped into sixth in the Central Division but are still 10 points out of a playoff spot with 31 games left.

Back with Authority
Matt Luff returned to the lineup this past weekend for Grand Rapids, tallying an assist on Jan. 28 at Milwaukee in his first game since sustaining an injury with the Detroit Red Wings on Nov. 8 and his first contest with the Griffins since Oct. 23. Luff returned the following night with a helper against the Chicago Wolves. The Windsor, Ontario, native has been held off the scoresheet just twice with the Griffins and has nine points (3-6—9) in eight appearances.

Blossoming Swedes
Last Saturday against Chicago, Simon Edvinsson and Elmer Soderblom combined for five points (3-2—5), with one of the two Swedes either providing a goal or an assist on all five scores by Grand Rapids. Edvinsson, a 6-foot-6 defenseman, saw his three-game point streak (2-2—4) end on Tuesday but still has five points (2-3—5) in his last six appearances. The 6-foot-8 Soderblom was held off the scoresheet in his first six AHL games but exploded for three points (2-1—3) on Jan. 29 against the Wolves and now has goals in consecutive games from Jan. 29-31.

The Last Czar
Veteran forward Austin Czarnik has been a major boost to the Griffins lineup, totaling 29 points (12-17—29) in 28 games. Czarnik has at least one point in 17 of the 28 contests and at least two points in seven outings. Last weekend, he totaled three assists in two games and now has seven points (3-4—7) in his last six games. He has also spent a decent amount of time with the Detroit Red Wings, amassing three points (2-1—3) in 12 appearances. The Washington Township, Mich., native was named the Howies Hockey Tape/AHL Player of the Week on Oct. 17 when he registered five points (3-2—5) in two games and became the first Griffins forward to win the award since Matt Lorito on Nov. 20, 2016.

Vroom Vroom Vrana
After being held off the scoresheet in the first four games of his Griffins career, Jakub Vrana is starting to find the back of the net. He earned his first AHL point of the season on an assist against the Texas Stars on Jan. 6. Vrana had goals in consecutive games from Jan. 18-21 and posted his first two-point outing (1-1—2) last game against Chicago on Jan. 29. He now has a two-game goal streak from Jan. 29-31 and has four goals in his last five appearances. The veteran has totaled six points (4-2—6) in 13 outings for Grand Rapids.

Power Struggle
After beginning the season with a 29.3% power-play conversion rate in the first nine games of the year, the Griffins have struggled as of late. Grand Rapids is 7-for-69 (10.1%) on the man-advantage in its last 20 outings and have just 10 power-play goals in its last 25 contests (10-for-97, 10.3%). Grand Rapids was held off the scoresheet on the power play in seven straight games (0-for-21) from Jan. 7-21 but stopped that stretch when it tallied a power-play goal at Milwaukee on Jan. 28. The Griffins are tied for 27th in the AHL on the power play with a conversion rate of 16.9%.

On the Road Again
The Griffins wrapped up their season-high seven-game homestand that spanned from Dec. 31-Jan. 14. Grand Rapids finished with a 3-3-0-1 mark and are now 8-9-2-1 in West Michigan this season. The Griffins are now in the midst of a stretch of seven out of their next eight games on the road, which began on Jan. 16. Grand Rapids played its only home contest during the run on Jan. 21 against Springfield, a 3-2 overtime defeat. Grand Rapids holds a 9-11-0-1 ledger on foreign ice this season and are just two wins away from 500 on the road in franchise history (498-412-12-34-60).

Just Keep it Close
The Griffins have had an up-and-down start to the season, but they have excelled at winning close games. In fact, Grand Rapids is 9-0-2-2 (0.846) in games decided by one goal and 4-0-2-0 (0.833) in overtime contests. In comparison, the Griffins are just 8-20-0-0 (0.286) in games decided by two or more tallies. In the 2021-22 season, the Griffins finished with a 13-7-6-2 (0.607) mark in games decided by one goal.

AHL Leaderboard Tracker
Pontus Andreasson—Four power-play goals are tied for 11th among rookies
Austin Czarnik—Five game-winning goals are tied for second, three short-handed goals are tied for first
Simon Edvinsson—14 assists are tied for sixth among rookie defensemen, 17 points are tied for sixth among rookie defensemen
Joel L’Esperance—Eight power-play goals are tied for seventh, 137 shots rank fourth

Milestones
Jakub Vrana skated in his 100th AHL game on Jan. 29 at Chicago and bagged his 300th pro point in the process (151-149—300). Austin Czarnik recorded his 300th pro point with an assist on Jan. 28 at Milwaukee.
Simon Edvinsson—Four points from 50 as a pro
Brian Lashoff—One game from 750 as a pro
Joel L’Esperance—One goal from 100 as a pro
Chase Pearson—Two assists from 50 as a pro, in the AHL and as a Griffin
Dominik Shine—One assist from 50 as a pro, as a Griffin and in the AHL
Jakub Vrana—One assist from 150 as a pro

Photo by Mark Newman/Griffins