Griffins Game #32 * Home Game #16 * AHL Game #512

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

Stars at Griffins
Sixth of eight meetings overall, fourth of four at Van Andel Arena...Texas has points in six of the last seven games (5-1-1-0) against Grand Rapids at Van Andel Arena...In the past five seasons that the Stars and Griffins have met, Grand Rapids is 9-8-1-1 against Texas in West Michigan and have outscored the Stars 68-67...The home team has points in 13 of the past 20 clashes…Through 33 games, Texas is averaging 3.76 goals for while conceding an average of 2.67...Texas is 7-1-2-0 in its last 10 games and have only one loss in regulation in the past 13 contests (10-1-2-0)...Texas has been limited to fewer than three goals just twice in its last 13 games and four times in its last 21...The Stars are 10-5-3-1 on the road...The Stars’ penalty kill unit ranks first on the circuit at 88.0% while their power play places 16th at 20.0%...Former Griffin Riley Barber (2020-22) signed with the Stars’ organization during the offseason and currently leads the team lead with 33 points (19-14—33) in 33 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 Grand Rapids Griffins snapped the Texas Stars’ 12-game point streak with a 4-2 win on Friday at Van Andel Arena. Austin Czarnik recorded two goals, moving him into a tie with Pontus Andreasson for second place in goals scored by a Griffins’ skater this season. In his last six outings since returning to Grand Rapids, Czarnik has tallied eight points (3-5–8) while Andreasson has three points (2-1–3) in his last three contests after tallying the first goal of the game. Alex Nedeljkovic continued his stretch of dominant play for Grand Rapids (0.952 save percentage in two games), bagging 33 saves on 35 shots. Jakub Vrana found the scoresheet with his first point as a Griffin on an assist.

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; F Jakub Vrana assigned by Detroit

This Date in Griffins History
2015: Teemu Pulkkinen ties a Griffins record by scoring a goal in his eighth straight game, and Landon Ferraro’s tally 1:18 into overtime gives Grand Rapids a 3-2 victory over Charlotte.

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 and are 2-1-0-0 during the homestand. The Griffins are 7-7-1-0 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 6-17-0-0 (0.261) 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 nine games, the 10-year pro has eight points (5-3—8) and a plus-two rating. 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 5-for-36 on the man-advantage in its last 10 outings and have just eight power-play goals in its last 15 contests (8-for-64, 12.5%). The Griffins rank 18th in the AHL on the power play with a conversion rate of 19.4%.

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 2.90 goals this season while conceding 3.94. Fifteen of its 31 games so far have had seven or more total goals scored, with 10 of those contests having eight or more tallies. The Griffins rank 28th on the circuit with 122 goals against while their 90 goals for are tied for 24th in the AHL.

AHL Leaderboard Tracker
Pontus Andreasson—Four power-play goals are tied for seventh among rookies
Austin Czarnik—Four game-winning goals are tied for third
Taro Hirose—22 assists are tied for ninth, 13 power-play assists are tied for sixth
Joel L’Esperance—Eight power-play goals are tied for third

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—One game from 400 as a pro
Joel L’Esperance—Two 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, two assists from 150 as a pro

Photo by Mark Newman/Griffins