Griffins Game #30 * Home Game #14 * AHL Game #434

Season Series: 0-1-0-0 Home Series: 0-0-0-0 Road Series: 0-1-0-0
All-Time Series: 68-35-6-10 All-Time Home Series: 38-17-2-2 All-Time Road Series: 30-18-4-8

Monsters at Griffins
Second of eight meetings overall, first of four at Van Andel Arena…This game was rescheduled from Dec. 23 due to a serve winter storm...Grand Rapids is 14-4-1-0 against Cleveland in the past two seasons and has points nine out of the last 10 games overall (8-1-1-0)...In the past five years, the Griffins are 24-8-2-1 against Cleveland and have outscored them 123-89. On home ice during that span, Grand Rapids is 12-4-1-0 against the Monsters with a +18 scoring margin (56-38)...The Griffins have points in five straight home games against Cleveland (4-0-1-0)...Cleveland comes into the contest with a five-game losing streak while the Griffins have lost three straight...Cleveland’s power play ranks first in the AHL at 30.0% but its penalty kill ranks second to last at 71.7%...The Monsters are 6-6-0-2 on the road and the Griffins are 5-7-1-0 at home...The Monsters are the third-most frequent opponent of the Griffins, as this game marks the 120th meeting between the two franchises (Milwaukee 204, Chicago 184)...Griffins head coach Ben Simon is a native of the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights...Defenseman Wyatt Newpower played for Cleveland during the 2020-21 season.

Last Time Out
The Griffins suffered their third-consecutive loss in a 4-2 contest against the Admirals in a New Year’s Eve matchup at Van Andel Arena. Pontus Andreasson tallied his eighth goal of the season along with an assist, pushing him to first in goals scored by Griffins rookies this season and tying him with Simon Edvinsson in helpers by a Grand Rapids rookie. Brian Lashoff recorded his first goal of the 2022-23 campaign in the second period, the 32nd of his Griffins career.

Roster Shake Up

- Dec. 20—F Austin Czarnik reassigned by Detroit; G Sebastian Cossa reassigned from Toledo by Detroit
- Dec. 27—G Sebastian Cossa reassigned to Toledo by Detroit; F Trenton Bliss reassigned by Grand Rapids
- Dec. 28—F Jakub Vrana assigned by Detroit on a conditioning loan
- Dec. 29—F Cedric Lacroix assigned to Toledo by Grand Rapids
- Jan. 4—G Alex Nedeljkovic assigned by Detroit on a conditioning loan

This Date in Griffins History
2013: Down 1-0 to Oklahoma City through 20 minutes, the Griffins explode for five second-period goals en route to a 5-2 win, tying a franchise record for goals scored in a home period.

Nothing Like Some Home Cooking
The Griffins are in the midst of a season-high seven-game homestand that began on Dec. 31 and will conclude on Jan. 14. Grand Rapids began the stretch of game with a 4-2 defeat against Milwaukee on New Year’s Eve. The Griffins are 5-7-1-0 on home ice while they are 6-10-0-0 away from West Michigan.

O Captain! My Captain!
Captain Brian Lashoff competed in his 600th game as a Griffin and in the AHL on Saturday, Dec. 10 at Hartford. Lashoff’s 605 games played for the Griffins rank first among active AHL players who have spent their entire AHL career with the same club and is tied for third 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 tied Howie Yanosik (Hershey Bears, 1957-67) for the No. 3 spot on Dec. 31, 2022 against Milwaukee and is now 148 games behind No. 2 Arnie Kullman (Hershey Bears, 1948-60). Lashoff is still 50 games away from breaking the Griffins’ all-time regular-season games played record, held by Travis Richards with 655 games (1995-2006).

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 7-0-1-0 (0.938) in games decided by one goal and 4-0-1-0 (0.900) in overtime contests. In comparison, the Griffins are just 4-17-0-0 (0.190) 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.

Welcomed Offensive Production
On Wednesday Dec. 7, veteran Alex Chiasson made his Griffins debut against the Iowa Wild, collecting two helpers. Chiasson followed that performance with another two points (1-1—2) on Dec. 9 at Springfield. Through seven games, the 10-year pro has seven points (4-3—7) and a plus-two rating. Chiasson has secured two points in three of the seven contests. Through parts of 10 seasons in the NHL, Chiasson has 224 points (114-110—224) and 353 penalty minutes in 631 games. The Griffins signed the Montreal, Quebec, native to a professional tryout on Nov. 26.

History was Made
On Thursday, Dec. 22, the Griffins pulled of a miraculous four-goal comeback and defeated the Chicago Wolves 8-7 in overtime. After trailing 6-2 after the first period, Grand Rapids roared back with two goals in the second and three in the third before Austin Czarnik tallied the game-winner just 16 seconds into overtime. This was the Griffins’ first four-goal comeback in franchise history. The Detroit Red Wings also notched a comeback for the ages on Wednesday, Dec. 28 when they too came back from a four-goal deficit. After spotting the Pittsburgh Penguins four goals in the opening stanza, the Red Wings stormed back with two goals in each of the final two periods. Defenseman Jake Walman played the role of hero 2:13 into overtime and Detroit skated away with a 5-4 victory. This was the largest comeback victory for Detroit since 1984 and just the fourth ever in franchise history.

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 3-for-27 on the man-advantage in its last eight outings and have just six power-play goals in its last 13 contests (6-for-55, 10.9%). However, the Griffins did score three power-play tallies in their game on Dec. 22 at Chicago (3-for-5, 60%). The Griffins place 19th in the AHL on the power play with a conversion rate of 19.2%.

Take the Over
The Griffins averaged just 2.75 goals a game during the 2021-22 season while giving up 3.16. However, Grand Rapids is averaging 2.86 goals this season while conceding 4.10. Fifteen of its 29 games so far have had seven or more total goals scored, with 10 of those contests having eight or more tallies. The Griffins rank 29th on the circuit with 119 goals against while their 83 goals for are tied for 26th in the AHL.

AHL Leaderboard Tracker
Pontus Andreasson—Four power-play goals are tied for seventh among rookies
Austin Czarnik—Three game-winning goals are tied for sixth
Taro Hirose—20 assists are tied for 13th, 12 power-play assists are tied for seventh
Joel L’Esperance—Seven power-play goals are tied for fifth

Milestones
Simon Edvinsson skated in his 100th game as a pro on Dec. 31 against Milwaukee.
Austin Czarnik—Three games from 400 as a pro
Steven Kampfer—One assist from 100 in the AHL, one game from 300 in the AHL
Joel L’Esperance—Four goals from 100 as a pro
Dominik Shine—Two assists from 50 as a pro, as a Griffins and in the AHL
Tyler Spezia—Two goals from 50 as a pro
Jakub Vrana—Two goals from 150 as a pro, three assists from 150 as a pro

Photo by Cleveland Monsters