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Grand Rapids Griffins

Griffins Hit the Road for Crucial Midwest Division Games

February 24, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


This Week's Games

Tue., Feb. 24 GRIFFINS at Iowa Wild 8 p.m. WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM / AHLLive.com

Fri., Feb. 27 GRIFFINS at Milwaukee Admirals 8 p.m. WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM / AHLLive.com

Sat., Feb. 28 GRIFFINS at Chicago Wolves 8 p.m. WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM / AHLLive.com

Last Week's Results

Wed., Feb. 18 Milwaukee Admirals 3 at GRIFFINS 4 OT 28-17-5-1, 62 pts. (3rd, Midwest Division)

Fri., Feb. 20 Hamilton Bulldogs 2 at GRIFFINS 3 OT 29-17-5-1, 64 pts. (T2nd)

Sat., Feb. 21 Hamilton Bulldogs 0 at GRIFFINS 2 30-17-5-1, 66 pts. (T1st)

Rollin' Along : The Griffins picked up six of six possible points last week and, as a result, find themselves in a three-way knot for first place in the Midwest Division. It's the first time this season that the team has had a taste of first place. Andy Miele turned in a performance for the ages over the final 130 seconds on Wednesday, forcing overtime in the last second of regulation before scoring 2:09 into the extra session to give Grand Rapids an unbelievable 4-3 victory over the Milwaukee Admirals at Van Andel Arena. After burying a pass from Kevin Porter into a gaping net with 0.4 seconds showing on the third-period clock, Miele finished off a give-and-go with Xavier Ouellet by redirecting the return feed past Magnus Hellberg at the right post for the game-winner in overtime. The Griffins also enjoyed regulation goals from Martin Frk, his second of the year, and Detroit defenseman Jakub Kindl, reunited with the Griffins on a conditioning stint and playing in his first game at Van Andel Arena since Dec. 22, 2010. Friday saw yet another overtime thriller for the Griffins, with Andreas Athanasiou's long-distance breakaway goal 4:45 into overtime giving the team an exhilarating 3-2 victory over the Hamilton Bulldogs, extending Grand Rapids' recent tear and continuing its climb up the Midwest Division standings. Following a huge save on a 2-on-1 by Petr Mrazek, who made eight stops in overtime to put an exclamation point on his return from the Detroit Red Wings, Nathan Paetsch chipped the puck to Athanasiou. The speedy center raced 150 feet up the ice before deking former Griffin Joey MacDonald and igniting the crowd of 8,388. The game marked Grand Rapids' fifth foray into overtime in its last six games at home. On Saturday, the Griffins finally ended things in regulation thanks to a 26-save shutout performance by Mrazek, leading Grand Rapids to a 2-0 victory over Hamilton and a clean sweep of the week. With the two teams deadlocked for nearly the duration of the first 40 minutes, Mark Zengerle potted the game-winning goal off of a power play knuckler from the slot. Set up by Miele, Zengerle put the puck past Bulldogs goaltender Mike Condon with just one second remaining in the advantage to extend his point streak to seven games. Defenseman Nick Jensen provided the Griffins with their insurance goal 10:57 into the third period.

Griffins Leaders : Right wing Teemu Pulkkinen leads the Griffins, and the entire league, in scoring with 57 points (30-27 - 57) in 44 games, despite being recalled to Detroit last Tuesday. Center Andy Miele ranks second on the team, and third in the AHL, with 51 points (18-33 - 51) in 48 games, while third-place Mitch Callahan has 16 goals and 22 assists in 48 games. Callahan's output will stop, however, as the left wing suffered a season-ending injury on Feb. 13. Landon Ferraro leads the Griffins in shots with 180 and ranks second in the AHL. Among active skaters, center Andreas Athanasiou and defenseman Brennan Evans lead the team in plus/minus with plus-12. They're led only by Alexey Marchenko's plus-15 rating, but Marchenko is currently on recall with the Wings.

13/14 : The Griffins have picked up points in 13 of their last 14 games (1/23/15-2/21/15) and have banked 24 of 28 possible points within that span (11-1-2-0). Grand Rapids is currently on a five-game winning streak, the team's longest of the season, and is also currently on its longest point streak of the season (nine games).

Three's Company : With the return of Petr Mrazek from the Detroit Red Wings last Tuesday, Grand Rapids is stocked in terms of goaltenders. Now carrying three on their active roster, Mrazek joins Tom McCollum and Jared Coreau, both of whom have proven to be forces between the net during Mrazek's 38-game absence. Coreau earned the start last Wednesday and produced his seventh consecutive victory, while Mrazek won both of his starts on Friday and Saturday versus the Hamilton Bulldogs. McCollum played backup to Mrazek on Friday, but was a healthy scratch the other two nights.

The Midwest : Saturday's win over Hamilton, coupled with Milwaukee's loss to Iowa and Rockford's win at Lake Erie, created a three-way tie for first place in the Midwest Division, giving the Griffins (30-17-5-1, 66 pts.) a share of the division lead for the first time this season. Grand Rapids and Milwaukee (29-16-4-4, 66 pts.) each have a game in hand to Rockford (30-18-4-2, 66 pts.). The Chicago Wolves (27-20-5-1, 60 pts.) rank fourth in the division, while the Lake Erie Monsters (24-20-4-3, 55 pts.) round out the division in fifth place. The Griffins have also notched more goals than any other team in the Midwest, scoring 12 more goals than the Admirals, who have the second-most at 156.

Brick Wall : Rookie goaltender Jared Coreau extended his winning streak to seven games last Wednesday, turning aside 25 of the 28 shots he faced from Milwaukee. The current streak is one game longer than the six-game winning streak he ran to begin the season, which tied a Griffins franchise record for the most consecutive wins to begin a season, previously set by Petr Mrazek in 2012-13 and Tom McCollum last season. All three Griffins record-holders are currently with the team. Coreau is the second-highest active rookie goaltender in the AHL with a 2.15 GAA and ties for ninth overall, while owning a 13-6-1 record and a 0.926 save percentage.

League Leaders : Right wing Teemu Pulkkinen ranks first in scoring in the league (57 pts.), first in goals (30), ties for second in power play goals (10), ranks third in shots (178) and ties for second in game-winning goals (6). Andy Miele has also been making his mark as of late, ranking third in scoring (51 pts.) and tying for third in power play points (21).

Lightning Strikes : After breaking his jaw in a Dec. 12 game at Oklahoma City, rookie center Andreas Athanasiou missed 20 games while recovering from his injury. Athanasiou returned to the lineup on Feb. 6. The decision proved fruitful for the Griffins, as the London, Ontario, native has scored in six of his eight games since his return (4-4 - 8) and has earned a total of 24 points (11-13 - 24) in 33 games this season. Athanasiou scored Grand Rapids' game-winning overtime goal on Friday against Hamilton, deking former Griffin Joey MacDonald on a breakaway to give the Griffins a 3-2 victory.

Miele Steps Up : With the absence of the Griffins' leading point scorer Teemu Pulkkinen, center Andy Miele has stepped up while his line mate is on recall. Miele chipped in at least a point in all three of Grand Rapids' games last week, including his epic three-point heroics in Wednesday's game, scoring with 0.4 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime and notching the game-winner during the extra session. Miele now ranks third among all AHL scorers with 51 points (18-33 - 51) in 48 games.

Rookie Sharpshooter : Rookie center Mark Zengerle ranks second in the league in shooting percentage at 25.0%. Zengerle has connected on 10 of the 40 shots he has taken in his debut campaign with Grand Rapids. Zengerle is currently on a seven-game point streak, picking up three goals and four assists from Feb. 7-21.

Last-Minute Antics : While the team has points in its last seven games at home, Grand Rapids has been to overtime in five of those games. Three resulted in victories and two resulted in losses.

Boss Blashill : Friday's 3-2 overtime win over the Hamilton Bulldogs was Jeff Blashill's 117th (117-66-11-10) as head coach of the Griffins, moving him past Danton Cole (116-72-16-3-1) into sole possession of second place on the franchise's all-time list, behind only Curt Fraser (146-130-18-22). In addition to Saturday's 2-0 win over Hamilton, Blashill's all-time record now stands at 118-66-11-10.

Overtime Nugget : Last Wednesday marked the third time this season that the Griffins tied a game in the final 75 seconds of regulation before winning in either overtime or the shootout:

Nov. 14 vs. Texas - 3-2 OTW

Mitch Callahan tied it at 18:46 of the 3rd and Teemu Pulkkinen won it at 6:59 of (and with one second left in) overtime

Dec. 7 at Milwaukee - 2-1 SOW

Pulkkinen tied it at 19:10 of the 3rd before the Griffins prevailed 2-1 in the shootout

Feb. 18 vs. Milwaukee - 4-3 OTW

Andy Miele tied it at 19:59 of the 3rd and won it at 2:09 of overtime.

Callahan Out : On Feb. 13 versus San Antonio, right wing Mitch Callahan took a hit from Rampage captain Greg Zanon and caught a rough patch of ice, tumbling awkwardly into the boards. He was helped off the ice and did not return to the game. The next day, Callahan was diagnosed with a torn right ACL and is expected to be out for the remainder of the season. Callahan is the Griffins' third-highest scorer with 38 points (16-22 - 38) in 48 games. Last season, Callahan missed eight games between the end of the season and the beginning of the playoffs due to an infamous mouth injury he sustained after taking a slapshot to the face from teammate Ryan Sproul on Apr. 2 vs. Iowa. While his injury last season wasn't as prolonged, his torn ACL will result in his second regular season in a row finished prematurely by injury. Callahan is in the final season of his entry-level contract with Detroit.

Mrazek's Mojo : Goaltender Petr Mrazek made his return to the Griffins' net on Friday to backstop the team to a 3-2 overtime victory over the Hamilton Bulldogs behind a 33-save performance, including eight saves in the extra frame. He then earned his first AHL shutout of the season behind 26 saves in Saturday's rematch with Hamilton. While on extended recall with the Detroit Red Wings, Mrazek missed 38 consecutive games. In eight games with Grand Rapids this season, Mrazek owns a 2.63 goals against average, a 0.903 save percentage and a 5-2-0 record. Mrazek, 23, has accumulated a 13-5-1 record in 20 games with the Wings this season, alongside a 2.55 goals against average, a 0.909 save percentage and one shutout. Detroit's fifth choice (141st overall) in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Mrazek helped Grand Rapids to its first-ever Calder Cup in 2012-13, turning out a 15-9 record with a 2.31 GAA and four shutouts in the playoffs.

Walleye World : The ECHL's Toledo Walleye (33-10-3-2, 71 pts.) have returned to their winning ways following a recent losing skid, picking up victories in every game of their home three-in-three last weekend. On Friday, Alden Hirschfeld nabbed the game-winner in a 3-1 victory over the Cincinnati Cyclones. Saturday saw the Walleye shut out the Wheeling Nailers, 5-0, with Griffins-contracted forward Shane Berschbach turning out a two-point performance (1-1 - 2). The Walleye capped off the weekend with another shutout, this time an explosive 12-0 win over the Gwinnett Gladiators at the Huntington Center. The relentless onslaught was led by a four-point night from Justin Mercier, good for a hat trick and assist, while Anthony Luciani had six points (2-4 - 6), Tyler Barnes had three points (2-1 - 3) and Hirschfeld had six of his own (1-5 - 6) with a plus-seven rating. Toledo ranks second in the North Division, three points behind the first-place Fort Wayne Komets (35-12-1-3, 74 pts.) with three games in hand.

Bonis Departs, Nightingale Joins : The Griffins on Saturday assigned forward Kyle Bonis to the ECHL's Toledo Walleye and signed defenseman Jared Nightingale to a professional tryout on Sunday. A native of Lindsay, Ontario, Bonis is the Walleye's leading goal scorer and has gathered 33 points (23-10 - 33) in 41 games with the club. Last season, the 26-year-old picked up 45 points (25-20 - 45) in 65 games with the ECHL's Florida Everblades and ranked among team leaders in scoring (4th), goals (2nd) and assists (8th). The 5-foot-11, 185-pound forward also went scoreless in three AHL appearances with the Charlotte Checkers during his 2013-14 campaign and tallied two points (1-1 - 2) in six games with the Norfolk Admirals late in 2012-13. A 10-year AHL veteran, Nightingale made his Griffins debut in an overtime loss to the Rochester Americans on Feb. 7 at Van Andel Arena. The Jackson, Mich., native has also notched one assist in six games with the Hartford Wolf Pack and one assist in 20 games with the Norfolk Admirals this season. After being released from his professional tryout with the Griffins on Feb. 8, Nightingale temporarily joined the Milwaukee Admirals and appeared for the team when Grand Rapids and Milwaukee squared off last Wednesday. In addition, the 32-year-old defenseman has spent 13 games with the ECHL's Toledo Walleye this season, where he tallied three points (1-2 - 3) and 17 PIM. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound defenseman has amassed 51 points (14-37 - 51) and 892 PIM in 420 career games between the Griffins, Springfield Falcons (2005-06), Iowa Stars (2006-07), Wolf Pack (2007-11; 2014-15), Chicago Wolves (2007-08), Connecticut Whale (2011-12), Syracuse Crunch (2012-13), Rockford IceHogs (2013-14), Norfolk Admirals (2014-15) and Milwaukee Admirals (2014-15). Prior to turning pro, Nightingale spent four seasons with Michigan State University, where he picked up 23 points (2-21 - 23) in 156 career CCHA games.

Scouting Report

Tue., Feb. 24 at Iowa Wild (18-36-1-1) - Wells Fargo Arena - 8 p.m.

Radio : WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 7:35 p.m. Web Casts : Video web cast at AHLLive.com, free audio available through woodradio.com. All-Time Series : 11-2-0-0 Overall, 6-0-0-0 Road. Season Series : 3-0-0-0 Overall, 1-0-0-0 Road. Fourth of four meetings overall, second of two at Wells Fargo Arena. NHL Affiliation : Minnesota Wild. Head Coach : John Torchetti (1st season). Notes : The Wild rank fifth in the West Division, 15th in the Western Conference and 30th overall. The last time the Wild and Griffins met, Grand Rapids goaltender Jared Coreau turned out a 38-save shutout performance to backstop his team to a 6-0 victory at Wells Fargo Arena. In all, the Wild post an 8-18-0-0 record at home and a 10-18-1-1 record on the road. Forward Tyler Graovac leads Iowa in scoring with 37 points (17-20 - 37) in 53 games, while the Wild's next two highest scorers, Michael Keranen (9-23 - 32) and Jordan Schroeder (10-18 - 28) are on recall with Minnesota. Forward Kurtis Gabriel is the team's most physical active presence with 102 penalty minutes in 47 games. The Wild's power play ties for 20th overall (15.7%) and its penalty kill record ranks 30th (77.0%). Iowa also ranks 28th in both goals for (2.29) and goals against (3.29) per game. This is the fourth and final time that the Griffins and Wild meet this season.

Fri., Feb. 27 at Milwaukee Admirals (29-16-4-4) - BMO Harris Bradley Center - 8 p.m.

Radio : WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 7:35 p.m. Web Casts : Video web cast at AHLLive.com, free audio available through woodradio.com. All-Time Series : 70-51-7-5-7 Overall, 31-27-5-4-5 Road. Season Series : 4-2-0-0 Overall, 2-1-0-0 Road. Seventh of 10 meetings overall, fourth of five at BMO Harris Bradley Center. NHL Affiliation : Nashville Predators. Head Coach : Dean Evason (3rd season). Notes : The Admirals tie for first in the Midwest Division, tie for third in the Western Conference and tie for seventh in the AHL...When the Griffins and Admirals met last Wednesday at Van Andel Arena, Andy Miele tied the game with 0.4 seconds remaining in regulation before also scoring the game-winner for Grand Rapids...Rookie right wing Viktor Arvidsson ranks first on the team with 43 points (17-26 - 43) in 53 games. Arvidsson ranks second among league rookies in scoring and ties for 10th overall...Left wing Richard Clune posts the most penalty minutes for the Admirals with 120 in 40 games, and left wing Michael Liambas is the second-most physical presence with 119 PIM in 36 games...Former Griffin and Calder Cup Champion Triston Grant is a member of the Admirals this season. In 51 games, Grant has clocked 18 points (10-8 - 18), 63 PIM and a minus-four rating...Goaltender Magnus Hellberg ties for third overall among goaltenders with a 2.02 GAA, alongside a 14-5-4 record and a 0.925 save percentage...The Admirals only register 27.75 shots per game (28th) but limit their opponents to 27.74 shot per game (4th).

Sat., Feb. 28 at Chicago Wolves (27-20-5-1) - Allstate Arena - 8 p.m.

Radio : WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 7:35 p.m. Web Casts : Video web cast at AHLLive.com, free audio available through woodradio.com. All-Time Series : 64-47-3-5-2 Overall, 32-26-1-2-0 Road. Season Series : 3-3-1-0 Overall, 2-1-0-0 Road. Eighth of eight meetings overall, fourth of four at Allstate Arena. NHL Affiliation : St. Louis Blues. Head Coach : John Anderson (13th season). Notes : The Wolves rank fourth in the Midwest Division, eighth in the Western Conference and tie for 16th overall...The Griffins and Wolves last met on Feb. 15 at Allstate Arena, where the Griffins took a decisive 5-1 victory...Center Pat Cannone leads the squad in scoring with 39 points (12-27 - 39) in 52 games, second place belongs to right wing Shane Harper (23-13 - 36) and in third is center Philip McRae (15-16 - 31)...Defenseman Brett Regner registers the highest plus/minus rating for the Wolves (plus-20) and ties for fourth overall...Harper leads the entire league in shooting percentage with 25.3%, notching 23 goals on 90 shots...Chicago goaltenders Matt Climie and Jordan Binnington rank 16th and 17th overall, respectively. Climie owns a 2.36 GAA, a 9-9-3 record and 0.911 save percentage, and Binnington owns a 2.37 GAA, an 18-11-3 record and a 0.914 save percentage...Chicago's power play ranks fourth (20.1%) and its penalty killing record ranks 15th (83.2%).

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