LEADERS OF THE WEST

This Week’s Games
GRIFFINS at Cleveland Monsters // Wed., Dec. 28 // 7 p.m. // Quicken Loans Arena
GRIFFINS at Cleveland Monsters // Fri., Dec. 30 // 7 p.m. // Quicken Loans Arena
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m. (Wednesday) and ESPN 96.1 FM at 6:35 p.m. (Friday)
Watch: SportsTime Ohio (Wednesday), Fox Sports Ohio (Friday), AHLLive.com (both nights)
Season Series: 1-0-1-0 Road, 4-0-1-1 Overall. Seventh and eighth of 12 meetings overall, third and fourth of six at Quicken Loans Arena.
All-Time Series: 17-12-3-6 Road, 42-24-4-8 Overall
NHL Affiliation: Columbus Blue Jackets
Noteworthy: Cleveland is on an eight-game point streak (7-0-0-1) and five of those contests have been decided in overtime or a shootout.

Rockford IceHogs at GRIFFINS // Sat., Dec. 31 // 6 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 5:35 p.m.
Watch: AHLLive.com
Season Series: 1-1-0-0 Home, 2-1-0-0 Overall. Fourth of 10 meetings overall, third of five at Van Andel Arena.
All-Time Series: 20-9-1-2 Home, 31-24-3-5 Overall
NHL Affiliation: Chicago Blackhawks
Noteworthy: Since the start of the 2012-13 season, the Griffins are 14-3-1-1 in 19 regular season games against the IceHogs at Van Andel Arena.

Last Week’s Results
Wed., Dec. 21 Milwaukee Admirals 0 at GRIFFINS 3 18-7-1-2 (39 points, 2nd)

Opening Faceoff: The Grand Rapids Griffins have won four straight games to match a season-long streak (Nov. 9-16) and have points in 12 of the last 13 games (9-1-1-2). Suffering just one regulation loss since Nov. 23, the Griffins lead the Western Conference and place second in the AHL with an 18-7-1-2 record (0.696). Grand Rapids’ 0.696 points percentage marks the best start through the season’s first 28 games since the 2013-14 team showed a 0.786 percentage (21-5-1-1). After a week between games for the holidays, Grand Rapids resumes play on Wednesday and Friday at Cleveland before returning home on Saturday to play Rockford.

Last Week’s Recap: Grand Rapids earned its second home win in two weeks against the Milwaukee Admirals last Wednesday, who, at the time of both matchups, were leading the Western Conference. Evgeny Svechnikov notched his first professional multi-goal game and Eddie Pasquale recorded his first shutout in a Griffins uniform in the 3-0 victory. Grand Rapids has allowed only five goals to the Admirals over their six regular season meetings at Van Andel Arena since the start of last season.

This Week’s Promotions: Saturday is the 20th annual New Year’s Eve Celebration presented by Farm Bureau Insurance. After the game, fans are encouraged to stick around Van Andel Arena for West Michigan’s Largest Indoor Fireworks Show as well as participate in the open skate.

Follow the Leader(s): Matt Lorito (10-20—30), Kyle Criscuolo (9-11—20), Mitch Callahan (8-12—20) and Ben Street (5-14—19) lead the team in points...Lorito’s 30 points tie for second in the league, 10 goals tie for 18th and 20 assists tie for fourth…Criscuolo’s 20 points (9-11—20) tie for sixth among rookies…Robbie Russo’s 16 points (4-12—16) are tied for 18th among league defensemen…Evgeny Svechnikov paces the club with 30 penalty minutes and Nick Jensen has a team-best +8 rating.

Pasquale’s Point Streak: Goaltender Eddie Pasquale has not lost in regulation since his first start of the year on Oct. 29, earning points in his last eight starts (5-0-3) to mark the longest such streak of his career. Pasquale’s shutout on Dec. 21 versus Milwaukee marked his 11th career AHL shutout and first since Dec. 6, 2013 when he a member of the St. John’s IceCaps. The first-year Griffin and sixth-year pro ranks ninth with a 2.07 goals against average and fourth with a 0.931 save percentage.

On the Power Play: The Griffins lead the league with a power play percentage of 27.0% (34/126), and have recorded at least one goal while on the man advantage in 17 of the last 19 games, including the last four. Grand Rapids has converted on the power play in 10 of 13 road games and 11 of 15 home games. The Griffins have relied on the power play for 35.4% of their goals (34-of-96), the fourth-highest percentage in the AHL behind only Toronto’s 38.8% (31-of-80), Tucson’s 37.3% (28-of-75) and Utica’s 35.8% (24-of-67). The power play has been keyed by first-year Griffin Matt Lorito, who ties for fourth in power play points (4-12—16) and ties for sixth in power play assists (12), and Martin Frk, who ties for fourth in power play goals as six of his 10 markers on the year have come on the man advantage.

Spreading the Wealth: The Griffins are outscoring their opponents 19-3 in the last four games and have tallied at least one marker in 11 of the last 12 periods.

Penalty Killing: After allowing seven opponent power play goals in 13 opportunities (53.85%) from Dec. 2-7, Grand Rapids has been successful in 20 consecutive penalty kills spanning the last six games. Earlier this season, the Griffins fended off 28 straight opponent power play chances (Oct. 29-Nov. 23).

Limiting Chances: The Griffins have allowed just a single goal or less in five of the last six games, including the last four in a row. Grand Rapids has allowed a goal or less in four consecutive games for the first time since Dec. 4-12, 2015 (four goals total in four games). After allowing 20 shots in the third period at Cleveland on Dec. 6 and 21 in the first period versus Chicago on Dec. 7, the Griffins have averaged 22.8 shots against in the last six games.

Jensen Debuts: Defenseman Nick Jensen became the 159th Griffins alumnus to play in the NHL when he debuted on Dec. 20 in Detroit’s 4-1 loss at Tampa Bay. Jensen logged 15:33 of ice time and picked up his first NHL point while assisting on Anthony Mantha’s third-period goal. In his fourth professional season, Jensen has recorded six points (1-5—6), six penalty minutes and a team-best plus-eight rating in 27 games with the Griffins this year.

Coreau Wins: Goaltender Jared Coreau earned his first NHL victory last Friday when he made 31 saves to help Detroit defeat Florida 4-3 in a shootout. Coreau became the ninth goalie to earn his first NHL victory after having played for the Griffins, joining Jimmy Howard, Jani Hurme, Dieter Kochan, Joey MacDonald, Tom McCollum, Tyler Moss, Petr Mrazek and Martin Prusek. Earlier this season, Coreau became the 158th Griffins alumnus to play in the NHL when he debuted on Dec. 3 in a loss at the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

Griffins on New Year’s Eve: With the exception of the 1999-00 season, Grand Rapids has hosted a game on New Year’s Eve every year since the franchise’s inception in 1996. The Griffins post an 8-9-1-1 (0.444) record on NYE and have been outscored 51-49 in those 19 games. Saturday’s tilt will mark the third time Grand Rapids and Rockford have met up to bring in the New Year, with the Griffins owning a 1-0-0-1 record. The most lopsided game on NYE came during the 2008-09 season when Grand Rapids shut out Iowa 6-0 at Van Andel Arena.

Current Streaks: Ben Street has 10 points (2-8—10) in his last 11 games…Tomas Nosek has four goals and five points in his first seven games back in Grand Rapids since being assigned by Detroit on Dec. 7…Rookie Dominic Turgeon has six points (1-5—6) in the last six games…Rookie Kyle Criscuolo has five points (2-3—5) in the last five games…Aided by his first professional multi-goal game last week versus Milwaukee, first-year pro Evgeny Svechnikov has six points (4-2—6) over the last six games.

Milestones: With 86 career goals, Mitch Callahan needs just one more to tie Tomas Tatar for third in franchise history…Callahan’s 163 points (86-77—163) place eighth…Captain Nathan Paetsch’s 114 career assists tie Jiri Hudler for sixth all-time and are 16 behind Derek King for fifth…Second-year pro Robbie Russo needs one game played to reach 100 in the AHL…Matt Lorito needs four points to reach 100 as a pro.

Cool Ranch Lorito: Tied for second in the AHL with 30 points (10-20—30), the longest that first-year Griffin and second-year pro Matt Lorito has gone without a point is three games and that occurred back on Oct. 22-29. On the contrary, Lorito has nine multi-point games, including five three-point games, both of which are the most on the team. Lorito is on pace for 81 points, which would tie for seventh most in a single season in team history, and 54 assists, which would be the fourth-highest season total.

Goal Scoring: The Griffins are averaging a full goal more than opponents as they rank sixth in goals for (3.43) and second in goals against (2.43). Grand Rapids has a plus-28 goal differential, tied for fourth best in the AHL.

Showing Discipline: The Griffins are the least penalized team in the league, averaging just 9.36 penalty minutes per contest. In fact, Grand Rapids is on pace to log 711 PIM, which would break the franchise record for fewest PIM in a season set by the 2014-15 team with 869. Evgeny Svechnikov has 30 PIM and is on track for 81 this season, which would make him the first team PIM leader to not break the century mark (previous low: Brennan Evans, 111 PIM in 2013-14). Svechnikov has recorded 0 PIM since Dec. 7.

Holiday Tradition: The Griffins are continuing a December tradition of winning, as they are 7-1-1-1 this month and are a combined 39-15-2-3 (0.703) in the month since the 2012-13 season. All time, Grand Rapids shows a 147-96-10-15-8 (0.592) mark in December.

Five in Detroit: Tyler Bertuzzi, Jared Coreau, Nick Jensen, Brian Lashoff and Anthony Mantha remain on recall with the Detroit Red Wings. Bertuzzi became the 157th Griffins alumnus to play in the NHL when he debuted with the Red Wings during Detroit’s 3-2 shootout win at Philadelphia on Nov. 8. He has appeared in seven games and recorded a minus-one rating but is currently on injured reserve. Coreau, the 158th Griffins alumnus to play in the NHL, shows a 1-1 record, a 3.41 GAA and a 0.900 save percentage. Jensen, the 159th Griffins alumnus to play in the NHL, has skated in two games, recording one assist and a plus-one rating. Lashoff has skated in five games and is averaging 12:30 of ice time. Mantha has 11 points (6-5—11), a plus-six rating and seven PIM in 19 games.

Magic Numbers: The Griffins are 15-2-1-1 when scoring the game’s first goal, 13-1 when leading after one period and 15-1-1-0 when leading after two periods…Grand Rapids is 18-1-0-1 when scoring three goals or more and 0-6-1-1 when scoring two or less.

Walleye Report: Under first-year head coach Dan Watson, the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye have points in nine of their last 10, including five straight, and continue to lead the league with a 21-4-0-1 record (0.827). Rookie Tylor Spink (10-19—29) and former Griffin A.J. Jenks (12-16—28) lead the team in scoring while second-year pro Jake Paterson, Detroit’s second pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, is 11-3 while ranking ninth with a 2.50 goals against average and tying for 12th with a 0.912 save percentage. Griffins-contracted Cal Heeter, who is on recall in Grand Rapids, is 10-1 between the pipes and shows a 3.03 GAA and a 0.898 save percentage.

Every Goal Counts: Since the Monsters joined the AHL in 2007-08, the Griffins have matched up against them 78 times. Forty of those 78 games have been decided by just a single tally, including 24 in overtime or a shootout. The Griffins and Monsters both have 20 wins apiece in the one-goal games. Dating back to the start of the 2014-15 campaign, 17 of the last 28 meetings between the clubs have been decided by one goal, including four of six encounters this season (Oct. 22: 3-2 W, Nov. 9: 5-4 SOW, Nov. 30: 2-3 SOL, Dec. 6: 2-3 OTL).

Same Team, Different Day: The Griffins and Monsters will square off on Wednesday and Friday for the seventh and eighth of 12 games this season, respectively. In the last 11 months (Oct. 2015-May 2016, Oct. 2016-present) of Griffins hockey, Grand Rapids has played Cleveland 26 times. The two teams faced each other 20 times last season, including twice in the preseason, 12 times in the regular season and six times in the postseason.

Cleveland Connections: Griffins head coach Todd Nelson played one season (1992-93) on the shores of Lake Erie for the IHL’s Lumberjacks, totaling 42 points (7-35—42) and 115 penalty minutes in 76 games...Assistant coach Ben Simon is a native of Shaker Heights, a Cleveland suburb...Robbie Russo and T.J. Tynan were teammates at Notre Dame from 2011-14 and helped the Irish win the 2012-13 CCHA Championship...Griffins newcomer and assistant captain Matthew Ford spent most of his first three pro seasons (2008-11) with the Monsters, totaling 69 points (39-30—69) in 126 appearances...First-year Griffin and assistant captain Ben Street played in 44 games with the Monsters in 2014-15 and accumulated 39 points (9-30—39).

Back-to-Backs: The Griffins will play back-to-back games a total of 27 times this season. Compare the statistics for when the Griffins have played on consecutive nights:

Win Some, Lose Some: Compare the statistics for the Griffins during their 18 wins and 10 (including overtime and shootout) losses: