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This Week’s Games

GRIFFINS at Ontario Reign // Tue., March 22 // 10 p.m. EDT // Toyota Arena
GRIFFINS at Ontario Reign // Sun., March 27 // 6 p.m. EDT // Toyota Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 9:35 p.m. EDT on Tuesday and 5:35 p.m. EDT on Sunday

Watch: AHLTV

Season Series: 1-1-0-0 Overall, 0-0-0-0 Away. Third and fourth of four meetings overall, first and second of two at Toyota Arena.

All-Time Series: 1-3-0-0 Overall, 0-1-0-0 Away

NHL Affiliation: Los Angeles Kings

Noteworthy: Grand Rapids picked up its first-ever win against Ontario on Feb. 5 with a 5-3 victory. This will be the Griffins’ first trip to Ontario since April 3, 2019.

GRIFFINS at Bakersfield Condors // Fri., March 25 // 10 p.m. EDT // Mechanics Bank Arena
GRIFFINS at Bakersfield Condors // Sat., March 26 // 10 p.m. EDT // Mechanics Bank Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 9:35 p.m. EDT on Friday and on Saturday (Saturday’s broadcast will air on 96.1 The Game if there is a time conflict with Michigan in the NCAA Tournament.)

Watch: AHLTV

Season Series: 1-1-0-0 Overall, 0-0-0-0 Away. Third and fourth of four meetings overall, first and second at Mechanics Bank Arena.

All-Time Series: 2-4-0-0 Overall, 1-2-0-0 Away

NHL Affiliation: Edmonton Oilers

Noteworthy: Bakersfield and Grand Rapids split the two games in West Michigan and the Griffins are 2-4-0-0 all-time against the Condors. This will be Grand Rapids’ first trip to Bakersfield since Dec. 14, 2019.

Last Week’s Results
Wed., March 16 // GRIFFINS 5 vs. Texas 4 (OT) // 26-23-5-2 (59 pts., 0.527, 4th Central Division)
Fri., March 18 // GRIFFINS 2 vs. Texas 4 // 26-24-5-2 (59 pts., 0.518, 4th Central Division)
Sat., March 19 // GRIFFINS 1 at Rockford 5 // 26-25-5-2 (59 pts., 0.509, 5th Central Division)

Last Week’s Notes
Wednesday vs. Texas (5-4 OTW) - The Griffins withstood a late comeback from the Texas Stars, winning 5-4 in overtime courtesy of Turner Elson’s game-winner at Van Andel Arena. Elson’s tally six seconds into the extra frame was the fastest goal to start any period in Griffins history, for or against. Grand Rapids pushed its home point streak to seven games against the Stars (6-0-1-0). Ryan Murphy tied the team’s longest assist streak this year (4), joining Kyle Criscuolo and Jonatan Berggren. Elson (1-1—2), Dennis Yan (1-1—2), Josh Dickinson (1-2—3), and Dominik Shine (1-1—2) all registered multi-point outings. Elson recorded overtime winners in back-to-back games for the first time in his career. Recap | Highlights

Friday vs. Texas (2-4 L) - Four different Stars scored to help lift Texas over Grand Rapids 4-2 at Van Andel Arena. The loss snapped the Griffins’ seven-game point streak in West Michigan against the Stars (6-1-1-0). Turner Elson recorded his fifth goal in just as many games, which is the longest goal streak of the season by any Griffin. Brian Lashoff skated in his 700^th game as a pro while Elson recorded his 200^th point in the AHL. Riley Barber registered a multi-point game with helpers on both tallies. Elson extended his point streak to five games (5-2—7). Victor Brattstrom tied his season-high for saves with 36. Dominik Shine bagged a goal for the second consecutive game while Kyle Criscuolo recorded his 100th assist in the AHL. Recap | Highlights

Saturday at Rockford (1-5 L) - Rockford’s three-goal middle frame lifted the IceHogs past the Griffins 5-1 at the BMO Harris Bank Center. Grand Rapids suffered just its second lost in seven games against Rockford this season (5-2-0-0). The Griffins avoided a shutout when Tyler Spezia notched his 13th goal of the campaign in the third period. Dominik Shine extended his point streak (2-2—4) to three games with a helper. Turner Elson saw his career-high five-game goal streak come to an end. Dan Renouf skated in his 350th game as a professional while Luke Witkowski and Jonatan Berggren returned to the lineup. Calvin Pickard saw his three-game win streak come to a close. Recap | Highlights

Overtime Magic: Turner Elson rattled off a career-high five-game goal streak from March 9-18, which is the longest goal streak this season by a Griffin. The 29-year-old recorded overtime winners in two straight outings from March 13-16, joining Filip Hronek as the only Griffins to score overtime goals in consecutive games. After registering zero overtime tallies in his first 233 regular-season games as a Griffin, Elson scored consecutive overtime goals from March 13-16 and in three of his last 45 contests. With three OT tallies apiece, Elson and Jonatan Berggren have tied Grand Rapids’ single-season record (Andy Miele in 2014-15 and Kevin Miller in 2003-04) and along with Brian Lashoff sit one shy of the career mark shared by Miele and Jiri Hudler. Grand Rapids’ five road overtime wins this season (5-1) are a franchise record. The Griffins’ four home overtime losses this campaign (2-4) tie the franchise record set in 2014-15.

Trade Deadline Moves: On Monday, the Detroit Red Wings traded defensemen Nick Leddy and Luke Witkowski to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for defenseman Jake Walman, center Oskar Sundqvist and a second-round pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. In addition, the Red Wings sent center Vladislav Namestnikov to the Dallas Stars in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. Detroit now holds 18 selections in the next two NHL Entry Drafts. In 44 games with the Griffins, Witkowski logged seven points (3-4—7), 62 penalty minutes and a plus-six rating. Sundqvist, 27, has skated in 41 games with the Blues this season, recording 15 points (4-11-15), 12 penalty minutes and a plus-four rating. Walman, 26, has suited up in 32 contests for St. Louis this campaign, tallying six points (3-3-6), six penalty minutes and a plus-three rating. Both Sundqvust (selected 81st overall by Pittsburgh in 2012) and Walman (selected 82nd overall by St. Louis in 2014) were drafted in the third round of the NHL Entry Draft.

Road Trip!: The Griffins have set off on their season-high five-game road trip. Grand Rapids began the stretch with a 5-1 defeat at Rockford on Saturday. The Griffins will now head west to California for two games apiece against Bakersfield and Ontario. Grand Rapids went on a four-game trip earlier in the season and finished with a 2-2 mark. The Griffins are 12-12-1-1 this season away from West Michigan while they are 14-13-4-1 at home. Grand Rapids will play 12 of its remaining 18 games on foreign ice.

Welcome Back, March: The Griffins have had a remarkable stretch of success during the month of March throughout their 25 seasons. Grand Rapids has earned a winning record in March for 13 straight years, in large part by going 0.500 or better on the road during each of those months and despite playing 62% of its games on the road. All time, the Griffins have only had a losing March record three times in 25 years. The last time Grand Rapids suffered a losing record in March was back in 2008. Things that were also happening in March of 2008: Jimmy Howard was playing his third of four full seasons in Grand Rapids; Ben Simon was an alternate captain for the Springfield Falcons, 2.5 years from starting his coaching career; Donovan Sebrango was six years old; President George W. Bush was serving his final year in the White House; and the Red Wings were three months from winning their most recent Stanley Cup.

Old Friends Reunited: Former teammates with the Toronto Marlies, Calvin Pickard and Ontario’s Garret Sparks, will return to the same ice this week. The goaltending pair won the AHL’s Harry “Hap” Holmes Memorial Award during the 2017-18 season, given to the goaltenders with the lowest combined goals against average. Pickard (2.31 GAA) and Sparks (1.79 GAA) combined for a goals against average of 2.02 en route to winning the 2018 Calder Cup with the Marlies.

Murphy’s Law: Reigning AHL defenseman of the year Ryan Murphy has started to find a rhythm offensively for the Griffins. Murphy recorded two points in back-to-back games from March 11-13 and enjoyed a four-game point streak (1-5—6) from March 9-16. The defenseman registered an assist in four consecutive games during his point streak, which tied for the longest assist streak this season by a Griffin. The nine-year pro places fifth on the roster and leads all Grand Rapids’ blueliners with 29 points (11-18—29) in 53 outings. Murphy has climbed up the defensemen leaderboard in the AHL, as his 11 goals rank second and his 29 points are tied for 15th.

Johnny Apple Seed: Rookie Jonatan Berggren registered a career-high four assists on Jan. 18 at Cleveland, which set a new single-game high for any Griffin this season. Berggren’s four helpers were one shy of tying the Griffins’ rookie single-game record of five assists set by Chris Bala (1/10/02). Berggren’s 38 points (14-24—38) ranks ninth among first-year players on the circuit and rank second on the Griffins’ roster. His 24 assists are tied for eighth among league rookies. Berggren is also tied for ninth in the league with five game-winning goals, which is also tied for second among rookies.

Milestones:
Dan Renouf skated in his 350th game as a pro on March 19 at Rockford. Brian Lashoff appeared in his 700th game as a pro on March 18 against Texas while Kyle Criscuolo bagged his 100th assist in the AHL. Turner Elson also earned his 200th point in the AHL on March 18. Other upcoming milestones include:
Riley Barber—Three games from 350 in the AHL
Jonatan Berggren—Two points from 100 as a pro
Jan Drozg—Three goals from 50 as a pro
Turner Elson—Three goals from 100 as a pro
Jon Martin—Two games from 250 in the AHL
Calvin Pickard—One game from 400 as a pro
Dan Renouf—One game from 350 as a pro

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins