Time to Grind

This Week’s Games

GRIFFINS at Cleveland Monsters // Thu., March 16 // 7 p.m. // Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:45 p.m.

Watch: AHLTV and Bally Sports Great Lakes

Season Series: 2-3-0-1 Overall, 0-2-0-0 Road. Seventh of eight meetings overall, third of four at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

All-Time Series: 70-37-6-11 Overall, 30-19-4-8 Road

NHL Affiliation: Columbus Blue Jackets

Noteworthy: Cleveland enters the week in seventh in the North Division and are in a battle for a playoff spot, as it is two points out of fifth place. The Monsters hold a 25-25-4-2 ledger with 16 games remaining.

GRIFFINS at Milwaukee Admirals // Sat., March 18 // 7 p.m. EDT // Panther Arena
GRIFFINS vs. Milwaukee Admirals // Sun., March 19 // 5 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:45 p.m. EDT on Saturday and at 4:45 p.m. on Sunday

Watch: AHLTV on Saturday and Sunday

Season Series: 2-3-0-0 Overall, 1-1-0-0 Home, 1-2-0-0 Road. Sixth and seventh of eight meetings overall, third of four at Van Andel Arena, fourth of four at Panther Arena

All-Time Series: 109-77-7-8-8 Overall, 58-36-2-3-3 Home, 51-41-5-5-5 Road

NHL Affiliation: Nashville Predators

Noteworthy: The Griffins and Admirals match up for the first time since Jan. 31, a 2-1 victory for Grand Rapids. The Griffins will play Milwaukee three more times in the final 14 games of the season.

Promotion: Jake Engel Memorial Dog Game presented by Nestle Purina

Last Week’s Results
Tue., March 7 // GRIFFINS 1 at Cleveland 4 // 22-27-4-2 (50 pts., 0.455, 7th Central)
Fri., March 10 // GRIFFINS 2 vs. Rockford 1 (OT) // 23-27-4-2 (52 pts., 0.464, 7th Central)
Sat., March 11 // GRIFFINS 2 vs. Cleveland 3 (SO) // 23-27-4-3 (53 pts., 0.465, 7th Central)
Sun., March 12 // GRIFFINS 3 at Chicago 1 // 24-27-4-3 (55 pts., 0.474, T6th Central)

Last Week’s Notes
Tuesday at Cleveland (1-4 L) - The Griffins’ late push was denied in a 4-1 loss to the Monsters at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Matt Luff tallied the lone goal on a power play for Grand Rapids, sparking a late run in the final period where Grand Rapids outshot Cleveland 11-9, but the Griffins fell short after an empty-netter sealed the defeat. Luff’s goal was his sixth of the year and the third since returning from injury on Jan. 28. Simon Edvinsson also recorded an assist and now ranks fifth among rookie defenseman in points and assists (5-21-26) in the AHL. Recap | Highlights

Friday vs. Rockford (2-1 OTW) - Jared McIsaac buried the game-winner in overtime to propel the Griffins to a 2-1 win over the IceHogs in the 11th annual Purple Community Game at Van Andel Arena. Just 17 seconds into the overtime period, McIsaac deflected in Danny O’Regan’s pass from the left circle to secure the win. McIsaac recorded his third goal and 14th assist of the year in the contest. Joel L’Esperance achieved a pair of significant milestones, tallying his 20th goal of the season and his 100th in the AHL. With an assist on L’Esperance’s goal, Matt Luff extended his point streak to three games (1-2–3). Recap | Highlights

Saturday vs. Cleveland (2-3 SOL) - The Griffins lost in heartbreaking fashion to the Monsters in a 3-2 shootout defeat at Van Andel Arena. Victor Brattstrom made 34 saves on 36 shots prior to suffering an injury with 23 seconds left in overtime, including seven saves in the extra session. Matt Luff extended his point streak to four games with a 5-on-3 goal in the second. Since returning from injury on Jan. 28, Luff has 14 points (4-10—14) in 19 outings. Danny O’Regan added two assists to the scoresheet, pushing him to 13 points in the last 11 games (4-9—13). Recap | Highlights

Sunday at Chicago (3-1 W) - The Griffins ended the three-game weekend in style with a 3-1 win over the Wolves at Allstate Arena. The Griffins finished the weekend with five of six possible points in three matchups. Matt Luff, Danny O’Regan and Taro Hirose each extended their point streaks, with Luff pushing his run to five games (2-4–6) and Hirose (1-3–4) and O’Regan (1-3–4) recording a point or more in each game this weekend. In his last eight appearances, Hirose has 10 points (2-8-10) and is currently tied for 13th in assists in the AHL with 35. Alex Nedeljkovic secured his 100th victory in the AHL with 28 saves on 29 shots as well as an assist on Dominik Shine’s empty-netter to seal the win. Recap | Highlights

Win Some, Lose Some: After enduring a season-high four-game winless streak from March 1-7, the Griffins battled back and are now on a three-game point streak (2-0-0-1) and have points in four of their last five games (2-1-1-1). Grand Rapids is now tied for sixth in the Central Division and is eight points out of a playoff spot with 14 games remaining. Grand Rapids has points in 16 of its last 25 contests (11-9-3-2, 0.540). Since the new year, Grand Rapids has lost in regulation just 10 times through 29 games (13-10-3-3, 0.552).

Power Surge: The Griffins have had an up-and-down season when it comes to their special teams. Currently, Grand Rapids is enjoying a five-game streak of scoring on the power play, which is tied for the season high. During the run, the Griffins are 7-for-23 (30.4%) on the man-advantage. The penalty kill have been improved as well, going 17-for-20 (85.0%) in its last six contests. The Griffins rank 21st in the AHL with a power-play rate of 18.0%, while their penalty kill places 26th at 77.5%.

Matty Ice: Matt Luff has been a welcomed addition to the roster since returning from injury on Jan. 28. Since his return, Luff has 15 points in 20 games (4-11—15) and is currently on a five-game point streak (2-4—6), which is one game shy of tying his career high. Through 25 games with the Griffins, the Windsor, Ontario, native has 23 points (7-16—23) and six penalty minutes. Luff also appeared in seven games with Detroit this season, scoring one goal. He was recalled by the Red Wings on Monday.

Rewrite the Record Book: Taro Hirose has been known for his passing abilities throughout four seasons with the Griffins. The former Michigan State Spartan has continued to climb the Griffins’ all-time assist leaderboard, and with 118 assists he now ranks seventh in franchise history, passing Jiri Hudler (114). Hirose is now four assists from tying Nathan Paetsch for sixth all time. Hirose is as consistent as they come, as he has had at least 22 assists in each AHL campaign in his career. The Calgary, Alberta, native has totaled a team-leading 35 helpers in 58 games this year. In addition, his 18 power-play assists this season are tied for seventh in the AHL. Hirose also leads the roster with 49 points (14-35—49) in 58 appearances.

Danny Boy: Danny O’Regan is starting to find a rhythm with the Griffins after joining the team on Dec. 19. After exploding for three points (2-1—3) in his Griffins debut, O’Regan had just three points in his next 12 games from Dec. 28-Feb. 15. However, the German-born forward enjoyed a five-game point streak (2-5—7) from Feb. 24-March 4 and now has four points (1-3—4) in his last three outings. O’Regan also has 14 points in his last 12 games (5-9—14).

Just Keep it Close: The Griffins have had their ups and downs this season, but they have excelled at winning close games. In fact, Grand Rapids is 13-1-4-3 (0.786) in games decided by one goal and 5-0-4-0 in overtime contests. In comparison, the Griffins are just 11-26-0-0 (0.297) 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.

AHL Leaderboard Tracker:
Austin Czarnik—Five game-winning goals are tied for seventh, three short-handed goals are tied for first
Simon Edvinsson—22 assists rank fifth among rookie defensemen, 27 points are tied for fifth among rookie defensemen, five goals are tied for seventh among rookie defensemen
Taro Hirose—18 power-play assists are tied for seventh, 35 assists are tied for 13th
Albert Johansson—Five goals are tied for seventh among rookie defensemen
Joel L’Esperance—12 power-play goals are tied for third, 191 shots rank fourth
Alex Nedeljkovic—0.913 save percentage is tied for ninth

Milestones:
Alex Nedeljkovic collected his 100th AHL victory in a 3-1 win at Chicago on March 12. Wyatt Newpower appeared in his 100th game as a Griffin on March 12 and Donovan Sebrango suited up in his 150th pro game.
Austin Czarnik—Two assists from 200 as a pro
Simon Edvinsson—One assist from 50 as a pro
Albert Johansson—One game from 200 as a pro
Matt Luff—Three assists from 100 as a pro
Danny O’Regan—One point from 300 as a pro
Chase Pearson—Two assists from 50 as a pro, in the AHL and as a Griffin
Dominik Shine—One goal from 50 as a pro, as a Griffin and in the AHL, one point from 100 as a pro, in the AHL and as a Griffin
Elmer Soderblom—Two games from 150 as a pro

Photo by Nicolas Carrillo/Griffins