GRIFFINS FACE OFF AGAINST REIGNING CALDER CUP CHAMPIONS IN TEXAS

This Week’s Games
Fri., March 27 GRIFFINS at Texas Stars 8:30 p.m. WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM / AHLLive.com
Sat., March 28 GRIFFINS at Texas Stars 8 p.m. WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM / AHLLive.com

Last Week’s Results
Fri., March 20 Milwaukee Admirals 1 at GRIFFINS 3 38-17-6-2, 84 pts. (1st, Midwest Division)
Sat., March 21 GRIFFINS 3 at Lake Erie Monsters 4 38-18-6-2, 84 pts. (1st)
Sun., March 22 Adirondack Flames 4 at GRIFFINS 1 38-19-6-2, 84 pts. (1st)

All Good Things Must Come to an End: Last weekend’s three-in-three began on the right note for the Griffins, who gained two points with a 3-1 victory over the Milwaukee Admirals at Van Andel Arena on Friday. With the score knotted at one apiece late in the third period, Milwaukee’s Johan Alm took a delay of game penalty for lifting the puck out of play, setting up a power play that resulted in Andreas Athanasiou’s game-winning goal. With the Admirals’ net abandoned during the final minute, Kevin Porter intercepted the puck and deposited it in Milwaukee’s net for the insurance tally. The victory extended the Griffins’ franchise-record point streak to 19 games and would ultimately prove to be the final win in the historic stretch, as the team fell to the Lake Erie Monsters on Saturday, 4-3, at Quicken Loans Arena. The Griffins held a lead at two different points throughout the game (2-1, 3-2), but Tomas Vincour’s second goal of the night 8:31 into the second gave the Monsters a 4-3 lead and an eventual win. Neither team struck in the third period, despite a late-game push from Grand Rapids. The Griffins returned home for their only Sunday game in Grand Rapids of the season, in which the Adirondack Flames doused the Griffins with a 4-1 loss. Adirondack took control of the contest just 18 seconds in with a goal by Ken Agostino and never looked back. Grand Rapids’ lone goal was scored shorthanded by Landon Ferraro at 6:01 of the third period, the team’s second shorthanded goal in as many nights. It wasn’t enough though, as the Flames capitalized on Grand Rapids’ empty net with 1:55 left in the game to put the contest out of reach.

The Midwest: Grand Rapids (38-19-6-2, 84 pts.) remains in first place in the Midwest Division, but the Rockford IceHogs (37-19-5-2, 81 pts.) are barreling ahead, posting an 8-1-1-0 record in their last 10 outings and a four-game winning streak with two games in hand to the Griffins. The Milwaukee Admirals (32-24-5-4, 73 pts.) land in third place, but both the Chicago Wolves (31-25-6-1, 69 pts., 4th) and the Lake Erie Monsters (28-25-6-4, 66 pts., 5th) are not far behind with two games in hand each.

Soaring Comets: With the Griffins’ loss to the Adirondack Flames on Sunday, the team surrendered its Western Conference lead to the Utica Comets (39-19-6-1, 85 pts.), who have strung together a five-game winning streak and a six-game point streak. Grand Rapids’ recently-broken point production (42 of 48 possible points in 24 games from Jan. 23-March 20) began at Van Andel Arena with a 5-1 victory over Utica. Just one day after Lake Erie snapped Grand Rapids’ 19-game point streak, the Comets exacted revenge and reclaimed the conference on Sunday by defeating Rochester 4-1. The San Antonio Rampage (39-20-5-1, 84 pts.), one of the AHL’s hottest teams, edged out the Oklahoma City Barons (37-20-5-3, 82 pts.) for the first place in the West Division over the course of last weekend. Both the Griffins and Rampage are just one point behind the Comets, all with 65 games played.

Chapter Closed: Upon knocking off the Milwaukee Admirals, 3-1, last Friday, the Griffins extended their franchise record for the longest point streak to 19 games (15-0-3-1). The impressive run will be logged in the history books at 19, as the team suffered a regulation loss to the Monsters the following night. The previous record was 16 games set during the team’s second AHL season, from Oct. 25-Nov. 30, 2002 (11-0-3-2 = W-L-T-OTL).

Playoff Path: With just 11 games remaining on the 2014-15 regular season docket, the Griffins’ magic number stands at 12. Grand Rapids’ remaining opponents are the Texas Stars (two games), Rockford IceHogs (two games), Toronto Marlies, Milwaukee Admirals, San Antonio Rampage (two games), Lake Erie Monsters and Charlotte Checkers (two games). The combined winning percentage of those seven opponents is 0.573%. While it’s not possible to secure a playoff spot this week in any situation, the Griffins could clinch at some point in early April.

23/24: The Griffins picked up points in 23 of 24 games from Jan. 23-March 20 and banked 42 of 48 possible points within that span (19-1-3-1) before their recent back-to-back regulation losses. In February, the Griffins didn’t lose a single game during regulation.

Griffins Leaders: Although it’s been nearly three weeks since being recalled to the Detroit Red Wings (March 7), Teemu Pulkkinen still leads the Griffins in scoring with 61 points (34-27—61) in 46 games. However, Andy Miele is nipping at his heels with his point-per-game pace. Miele owns 60 points (20-40—60) in 60 games this season, just one behind Pulkkinen, and he’s followed by right wing Mitch Callahan in third with 38 points (16-22—38) in 48 games. Callahan suffered a season-ending injury on Feb. 13 and has been out ever since. Grand Rapids’ best plus/minus ratings go to defensemen Nick Jensen and Nathan Paetsch, who tie with a plus-19 rating.

Quarter Mark: Before falling to Lake Erie, 4-3, on Saturday at Quicken Loans Arena, the Griffins had gone exactly a quarter of the season (Feb. 4-March 20) without a regulation loss.

Bicentennial Man: Grand Rapids captain Jeff Hoggan logged his 200th regular season game as a Griffin in Sunday’s 4-1 loss to Adirondack. Coincidentally, Hoggan’s 200th game as a Griffin was also his 800th professional regular season game.

Paetsch It Forward: Griffins defenseman Nathan Paetsch ranks fifth on the team in scoring (6-28—34), and he ties for 10th overall among league D-men along with former Griffin and current Texas Star Derek Meech. Meech ranks as the second highest-scoring defenseman in Griffins history with 102 points (27-75—102), while Paestch ranks third with 96 points (14-82—96). Now in his third season with Grand Rapids, the 31-year-old Paetsch played in his 200th regular season game in a Griffins sweater last Friday versus the Milwaukee Admirals, and his next point will mark his 200th career AHL point. In 202 total games with Grand Rapids since joining in the 2012-13 season, Paetsch has recorded 96 points, 108 PIM and a plus-50 rating.

Veteran Resilience: After missing 11 games due to injury, veteran defenseman Brennan Evans returned to action last Friday.

Rootin’-Tootin’ Shooter: Landon Ferraro ranks second in the AHL in shots, having fired off 221 in 65 games. He’s led only by Milwaukee’s scoring leader Viktor Arvidsson (237), who has logged 63 games with the Ads. Ferraro’s 221 shots have already eclipsed the shots leaders from the Griffins’ last two seasons, which were Teemu Pulkkinen in 2013-14 (201) and Tomas Tatar in 2012-13 (205).

Goalie Snaps: Grand Rapids’ set of weekend losses were shared between goaltenders Jared Coreau and Tom McCollum, both of whom had lengthy streaks broken in their defeats. On Saturday, Coreau was between the pipes for the Griffins’ 4-3 loss to the Lake Erie Monsters, effectively ending his seven-game winning streak recorded from Jan. 24-Feb. 18. On Sunday, McCollum served goaltending duty in a 4-1 loss to the Adirondack Flames. Prior to losing the game, McCollum had not lost a contest in regulation time in either the AHL or NHL since Dec. 13. He was also on a 12-game point streak with the Griffins.

Regulation Losses: Grand Rapids’ current two-game losing streak is the first time the team has dropped consecutive games in regulation since a four-game stretch of regulation losses from Jan. 14-21.

Walleye World: The ECHL’s Toledo Walleye (43-13-4-2) extended their winning streak to six games with a 2-1 shootout win over Florida on Sunday at the Huntington Center. Griffins-contracted forward Shane Berschbach scored Toledo’s only goal in regulation and Tyler Barnes, Troy Schwab and A.J. Jenks all connected in the shootout to secure the victory. On Tuesday, goaltender Jeff Lerg was named as the CCM/ECHL Goaltender of the Week for the period ending March 22. Last week, Lerg shut out the Elmira Jackals 3-0 on Monday, made 34 saves in a 3-1 win over Missouri on Friday and posted 22 saves in Sunday’s shootout win. The Walleye rank first in the North Division, two points ahead of the Fort Wayne Komets (42-15-2-4, 90 pts.) with a game in hand, and have already clinched a berth into the Kelly Cup Playoffs.

Scouting Report

Fri., March 27 at Texas Stars (31-19-13-1) – Cedar Park Center – 8:30 p.m.
Sat., March 28 at Texas Stars – Cedar Park Center – 8 p.m.
Radio: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 8:05 p.m. (Fri.) and 7:35 p.m. (Sat.) Web Casts: Video web cast at AHLLive.com, free audio available through woodradio.com. All-Time Series: 15-8-1-2 Overall, 6-5-1-0 Road. Season Series: 2-0-0-0 Overall, 0-0-0-0 Road. Third and fourth of four meetings overall, first and second of two at Cedar Park Center. NHL Affiliation: Dallas Stars. Head Coach: Derek Laxdal (1st season). Notes: The Texas Stars rank third in the West Division, sixth in the Western Conference and tie for 12th overall…Travis Morin is the team’s most-potent scorer, tying for 10th in scoring in the AHL and logging 53 points (18-35—53) in exactly 53 games. Morin is followed on the team by Brendan Ranford in second with 43 points (15-28—43) in 61 games and Justin Dowling in third with 40 points (17-23—40) in 53 games…Last season, Morin earned the Jack A. Butterfield trophy as the league’s MVP during the 2014 Calder Cup Playoffs. The trophy was awarded to former Griffin and Calder Cup champion Tomas Tatar the year prior…The Griffins and Stars last met for back-to-back games at Van Andel Arena on Nov. 14 (3-2 OTW) and 15 (2-1 OTW), when Grand Rapids defeated Texas during the three-on-three portion of overtime both nights…Former Griffin Derek Meech leads all Stars defensemen in scoring and ties with Nathan Paetsch (6-28—34) for 10th overall among league blueliners. Meech has 34 points (10-24—34) in 59 games this season. While with the Griffins, Meech logged 304 games over five seasons (2004-08; 10-11) in West Michigan, played in the 2007 AHL All-Star Classic, and still ranks as the No. 2 scoring blueliner in franchise history with 102 points (27-75—102).

This Week’s Games
Fri., March 27 GRIFFINS at Texas Stars 8:30 p.m. WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM / AHLLive.com
Sat., March 28 GRIFFINS at Texas Stars 8 p.m. WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM / AHLLive.com

Last Week’s Results
Fri., March 20 Milwaukee Admirals 1 at GRIFFINS 3 38-17-6-2, 84 pts. (1st, Midwest Division)
Sat., March 21 GRIFFINS 3 at Lake Erie Monsters 4 38-18-6-2, 84 pts. (1st)
Sun., March 22 Adirondack Flames 4 at GRIFFINS 1 38-19-6-2, 84 pts. (1st)

All Good Things Must Come to an End: Last weekend’s three-in-three began on the right note for the Griffins, who gained two points with a 3-1 victory over the Milwaukee Admirals at Van Andel Arena on Friday. With the score knotted at one apiece late in the third period, Milwaukee’s Johan Alm took a delay of game penalty for lifting the puck out of play, setting up a power play that resulted in Andreas Athanasiou’s game-winning goal. With the Admirals’ net abandoned during the final minute, Kevin Porter intercepted the puck and deposited it in Milwaukee’s net for the insurance tally. The victory extended the Griffins’ franchise-record point streak to 19 games and would ultimately prove to be the final win in the historic stretch, as the team fell to the Lake Erie Monsters on Saturday, 4-3, at Quicken Loans Arena. The Griffins held a lead at two different points throughout the game (2-1, 3-2), but Tomas Vincour’s second goal of the night 8:31 into the second gave the Monsters a 4-3 lead and an eventual win. Neither team struck in the third period, despite a late-game push from Grand Rapids. The Griffins returned home for their only Sunday game in Grand Rapids of the season, in which the Adirondack Flames doused the Griffins with a 4-1 loss. Adirondack took control of the contest just 18 seconds in with a goal by Ken Agostino and never looked back. Grand Rapids’ lone goal was scored shorthanded by Landon Ferraro at 6:01 of the third period, the team’s second shorthanded goal in as many nights. It wasn’t enough though, as the Flames capitalized on Grand Rapids’ empty net with 1:55 left in the game to put the contest out of reach.

The Midwest: Grand Rapids (38-19-6-2, 84 pts.) remains in first place in the Midwest Division, but the Rockford IceHogs (37-19-5-2, 81 pts.) are barreling ahead, posting an 8-1-1-0 record in their last 10 outings and a four-game winning streak with two games in hand to the Griffins. The Milwaukee Admirals (32-24-5-4, 73 pts.) land in third place, but both the Chicago Wolves (31-25-6-1, 69 pts., 4th) and the Lake Erie Monsters (28-25-6-4, 66 pts., 5th) are not far behind with two games in hand each.

Soaring Comets: With the Griffins’ loss to the Adirondack Flames on Sunday, the team surrendered its Western Conference lead to the Utica Comets (39-19-6-1, 85 pts.), who have strung together a five-game winning streak and a six-game point streak. Grand Rapids’ recently-broken point production (42 of 48 possible points in 24 games from Jan. 23-March 20) began at Van Andel Arena with a 5-1 victory over Utica. Just one day after Lake Erie snapped Grand Rapids’ 19-game point streak, the Comets exacted revenge and reclaimed the conference on Sunday by defeating Rochester 4-1. The San Antonio Rampage (39-20-5-1, 84 pts.), one of the AHL’s hottest teams, edged out the Oklahoma City Barons (37-20-5-3, 82 pts.) for the first place in the West Division over the course of last weekend. Both the Griffins and Rampage are just one point behind the Comets, all with 65 games played.

Chapter Closed: Upon knocking off the Milwaukee Admirals, 3-1, last Friday, the Griffins extended their franchise record for the longest point streak to 19 games (15-0-3-1). The impressive run will be logged in the history books at 19, as the team suffered a regulation loss to the Monsters the following night. The previous record was 16 games set during the team’s second AHL season, from Oct. 25-Nov. 30, 2002 (11-0-3-2 = W-L-T-OTL).

Playoff Path: With just 11 games remaining on the 2014-15 regular season docket, the Griffins’ magic number stands at 12. Grand Rapids’ remaining opponents are the Texas Stars (two games), Rockford IceHogs (two games), Toronto Marlies, Milwaukee Admirals, San Antonio Rampage (two games), Lake Erie Monsters and Charlotte Checkers (two games). The combined winning percentage of those seven opponents is 0.573%. While it’s not possible to secure a playoff spot this week in any situation, the Griffins could clinch at some point in early April.

23/24: The Griffins picked up points in 23 of 24 games from Jan. 23-March 20 and banked 42 of 48 possible points within that span (19-1-3-1) before their recent back-to-back regulation losses. In February, the Griffins didn’t lose a single game during regulation.

Griffins Leaders: Although it’s been nearly three weeks since being recalled to the Detroit Red Wings (March 7), Teemu Pulkkinen still leads the Griffins in scoring with 61 points (34-27—61) in 46 games. However, Andy Miele is nipping at his heels with his point-per-game pace. Miele owns 60 points (20-40—60) in 60 games this season, just one behind Pulkkinen, and he’s followed by right wing Mitch Callahan in third with 38 points (16-22—38) in 48 games. Callahan suffered a season-ending injury on Feb. 13 and has been out ever since. Grand Rapids’ best plus/minus ratings go to defensemen Nick Jensen and Nathan Paetsch, who tie with a plus-19 rating.

Quarter Mark: Before falling to Lake Erie, 4-3, on Saturday at Quicken Loans Arena, the Griffins had gone exactly a quarter of the season (Feb. 4-March 20) without a regulation loss.

Bicentennial Man: Grand Rapids captain Jeff Hoggan logged his 200th regular season game as a Griffin in Sunday’s 4-1 loss to Adirondack. Coincidentally, Hoggan’s 200th game as a Griffin was also his 800th professional regular season game.

Paetsch It Forward: Griffins defenseman Nathan Paetsch ranks fifth on the team in scoring (6-28—34), and he ties for 10th overall among league D-men along with former Griffin and current Texas Star Derek Meech. Meech ranks as the second highest-scoring defenseman in Griffins history with 102 points (27-75—102), while Paestch ranks third with 96 points (14-82—96). Now in his third season with Grand Rapids, the 31-year-old Paetsch played in his 200th regular season game in a Griffins sweater last Friday versus the Milwaukee Admirals, and his next point will mark his 200th career AHL point. In 202 total games with Grand Rapids since joining in the 2012-13 season, Paetsch has recorded 96 points, 108 PIM and a plus-50 rating.

Veteran Resilience: After missing 11 games due to injury, veteran defenseman Brennan Evans returned to action last Friday.

Rootin’-Tootin’ Shooter: Landon Ferraro ranks second in the AHL in shots, having fired off 221 in 65 games. He’s led only by Milwaukee’s scoring leader Viktor Arvidsson (237), who has logged 63 games with the Ads. Ferraro’s 221 shots have already eclipsed the shots leaders from the Griffins’ last two seasons, which were Teemu Pulkkinen in 2013-14 (201) and Tomas Tatar in 2012-13 (205).

Goalie Snaps: Grand Rapids’ set of weekend losses were shared between goaltenders Jared Coreau and Tom McCollum, both of whom had lengthy streaks broken in their defeats. On Saturday, Coreau was between the pipes for the Griffins’ 4-3 loss to the Lake Erie Monsters, effectively ending his seven-game winning streak recorded from Jan. 24-Feb. 18. On Sunday, McCollum served goaltending duty in a 4-1 loss to the Adirondack Flames. Prior to losing the game, McCollum had not lost a contest in regulation time in either the AHL or NHL since Dec. 13. He was also on a 12-game point streak with the Griffins.

Regulation Losses: Grand Rapids’ current two-game losing streak is the first time the team has dropped consecutive games in regulation since a four-game stretch of regulation losses from Jan. 14-21.

Walleye World: The ECHL’s Toledo Walleye (43-13-4-2) extended their winning streak to six games with a 2-1 shootout win over Florida on Sunday at the Huntington Center. Griffins-contracted forward Shane Berschbach scored Toledo’s only goal in regulation and Tyler Barnes, Troy Schwab and A.J. Jenks all connected in the shootout to secure the victory. On Tuesday, goaltender Jeff Lerg was named as the CCM/ECHL Goaltender of the Week for the period ending March 22. Last week, Lerg shut out the Elmira Jackals 3-0 on Monday, made 34 saves in a 3-1 win over Missouri on Friday and posted 22 saves in Sunday’s shootout win. The Walleye rank first in the North Division, two points ahead of the Fort Wayne Komets (42-15-2-4, 90 pts.) with a game in hand, and have already clinched a berth into the Kelly Cup Playoffs.

Scouting Report

Fri., March 27 at Texas Stars (31-19-13-1) – Cedar Park Center – 8:30 p.m.
Sat., March 28 at Texas Stars – Cedar Park Center – 8 p.m.
Radio: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 8:05 p.m. (Fri.) and 7:35 p.m. (Sat.) Web Casts: Video web cast at AHLLive.com, free audio available through woodradio.com. All-Time Series: 15-8-1-2 Overall, 6-5-1-0 Road. Season Series: 2-0-0-0 Overall, 0-0-0-0 Road. Third and fourth of four meetings overall, first and second of two at Cedar Park Center. NHL Affiliation: Dallas Stars. Head Coach: Derek Laxdal (1st season). Notes: The Texas Stars rank third in the West Division, sixth in the Western Conference and tie for 12th overall…Travis Morin is the team’s most-potent scorer, tying for 10th in scoring in the AHL and logging 53 points (18-35—53) in exactly 53 games. Morin is followed on the team by Brendan Ranford in second with 43 points (15-28—43) in 61 games and Justin Dowling in third with 40 points (17-23—40) in 53 games…Last season, Morin earned the Jack A. Butterfield trophy as the league’s MVP during the 2014 Calder Cup Playoffs. The trophy was awarded to former Griffin and Calder Cup champion Tomas Tatar the year prior…The Griffins and Stars last met for back-to-back games at Van Andel Arena on Nov. 14 (3-2 OTW) and 15 (2-1 OTW), when Grand Rapids defeated Texas during the three-on-three portion of overtime both nights…Former Griffin Derek Meech leads all Stars defensemen in scoring and ties with Nathan Paetsch (6-28—34) for 10th overall among league blueliners. Meech has 34 points (10-24—34) in 59 games this season. While with the Griffins, Meech logged 304 games over five seasons (2004-08; 10-11) in West Michigan, played in the 2007 AHL All-Star Classic, and still ranks as the No. 2 scoring blueliner in franchise history with 102 points (27-75—102).