Griffins Game #31 * Home Game #15 * AHL Game #497

Season Series: 1-3-0-0 Home Series: 0-2-0-0 Road Series: 1-1-0-0
All-Time Series: 36-25-4-4 All-Time Home Series: 19-11-1-3 All-Time Road Series: 17-14-3-1

Stars at Griffins
Fifth of eight meetings overall, third of four at Van Andel Arena...Texas has points in all of the last six games (5-0-1-0) against Grand Rapids at Van Andel Arena...In the past five seasons that the Stars and Griffins have met, Grand Rapids is 8-8-1-1 against Texas in West Michigan and have been outscored 65-64...The home team has points in 12 of the past 19 clashes…Through 32 games, Texas is averaging 3.84 goals for while conceding an average of 2.69...Texas is 8-0-2-0 in its last 10 games and have not been beaten in regulation in the past 12 contests (10-0-2-0)...The Stars are 10-4-3-1 on the road...The Stars’ penalty kill unit ranks second on the circuit at 88.1% while their power play places 15th at 20.2%...Former Griffin Riley Barber (2020-22) signed with the Stars’ organization during the offseason and currently leads the team lead with 32 points (19-13—32) in 32 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
The Griffins ended their three-game losing skid in a 3-1 victory over the Cleveland Monsters on Wednesday at Van Andel Arena. Seven Griffins tallied points, including goals from Joel L’Esperance, Alex Chiasson and Dominik Shine as well as assists from Steven Kampfer, Simon Edvinsson, Taro Hirose and Austin Czarnik. In his Griffins debut, Alex Nedeljkovic recorded 26 saves on 27 shots in the first game of his conditioning stint. Cross Hanas returned to the lineup after missing 12 straight games and Kampfer bagged his 100th AHL assist in his 300th AHL contest.

Roster Shakeup
- 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
2006: Down 4-1 entering the third, the Griffins score five power play goals in the final 20 minutes to steal a 6-5 win at Houston. Grand Rapids ties a franchise record for goals in a period, and sets team marks for power play goals both in a period and in a game.

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 games with a 4-2 defeat against Milwaukee on New Year’s Eve. The Griffins are 6-7-1-0 on home ice while they are 6-10-0-0 away from West Michigan.

Get the Boys in Shape
Netminder Alex Nedeljkovic was assigned by Detroit on a conditioning loan on Jan. 4 and made his Griffins debut later that evening, collecting 26 saves in a 3-1 victory. The only other season in Grand Rapids history during which two NHL goalies (Nedeljkovic and Magnus Hellberg) played for the Griffins on conditioning stints was 2005-06, when both Chris Osgood (3 GP, 2-1, 3.34 GAA, 0.882%) and Manny Legace (1 GP, 1-0, 2.00 GAA, 0.909%) donned the Griffins’ wings instead of Detroit’s.

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). On Wednesday, Lashoff was named one of the two playing captain for the 2023 AHL All-Star Classic, becoming just the fifth Griffin to be chosen as a playing captain.

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 5-17-0-0 (0.227) 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 eight games, the 10-year pro has eight points (5-3—8) and a plus-one rating. Chiasson has secured two points in three of the eight 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 4-for-29 on the man-advantage in its last nine outings and have just seven power-play goals in its last 14 contests (7-for-57, 12,3%). The Griffins are tied for 17th in the AHL on the power play with a conversion rate of 19.7%.

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 2.87 goals this season while conceding 4.00. Fifteen of its 30 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 120 goals against while their 86 goals for are tied for 25th 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 seventh
Taro Hirose—21 assists are tied for 13th, 13 power-play assists are tied for fifth
Joel L’Esperance—Seven power-play goals are tied for sixth

Milestones
Steven Kampfer bagged his 100th AHL assist in his 300th AHL game on Jan. 4 against Cleveland. Simon Edvinsson skated in his 100th game as a pro on Dec. 31 against Milwaukee.
Austin Czarnik—Two games from 400 as a pro
Joel L’Esperance—Three 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 Mark Newman/Griffins