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Grand Rapids Griffins

Division-Leading Griffins Conclude Homestand with Set Against Admirals

February 21, 2017 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


This Week's Games

Milwaukee Admirals at GRIFFINS // Fri., Feb. 24 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Milwaukee Admirals at GRIFFINS // Sat., Feb. 25 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m. both nights

Watch: AHLLive.com

Season Series: 2-1-0-0 Home, 4-2-0-0 Overall. Seventh and eighth of 12 meetings overall, fourth and fifth of six at Van Andel Arena.

All-Time Series: 47-24-2-1-2 Home, 82-55-7-6-7 Overall.

NHL Affiliation: Nashville Predators

Noteworthy: Milwaukee snapped a nine-game losing streak at Van Andel Arena with a 5-4 victory on Feb. 4.

Last Week's Results

Wed., Feb. 15 Manitoba Moose 5 at GRIFFINS 7 32-14-1-2 (67 points, 1st Central)

Fri., Feb. 17 San Antonio Rampage 1 at GRIFFINS 5 33-14-1-2 (69 points, 1st)

Sat., Feb. 18 San Antonio Rampage 0 at GRIFFINS 6 34-14-1-2 (71 points, 1st)

Opening Faceoff: The Griffins have won four in a row and seven of their last nine as they continue to lead the Central Division while placing second in the Western Conference and third in the AHL with a 0.696 points percentage. Grand Rapids concludes its five-game homestand with a pair of contests against the Milwaukee Admirals this weekend before departing for a season-high seven-game road trip.

This Week's Promotions: On Friday, fans can enjoy $2 hot dogs/$2 domestic drafts from 6-8 p.m., while supplies last. Saturday is Star Wars Night presented by DTE Energy.

Last Week's Recap: On Wednesday, in the club's 16th annual matinee game, the Griffins scored four goals in the third period to defeat Manitoba 7-5. Behind Cal Heeter's 32-save performance and goals from five different scorers, Grand Rapids came out on top in Friday's annual Purple Game, winning by a 5-1 count against San Antonio. Eddie Pasquale notched his third shutout of the season and the Griffins made it a weekend sweep of the Rampage with a 6-0 victory on Saturday.

Follow the Leader(s): Ben Street (16-24 - 40), Matt Lorito (14-26 - 40), Tomas Nosek (14-23 - 37), Martin Frk (18-16 - 34) and Mitch Callahan (13-21 - 34) lead the team in points...Street and Lorito tie for 20th in the AHL in scoring... Evgeny Svechnikov's 31 points (15-16 - 31) tie for 16th among rookies in scoring while Kyle Criscuolo's 30 points (13-17 - 30) tie for 18th... Robbie Russo's 29 points (6-23 - 29) are the most among team defensemen and tie for 12th among league blueliners...A season after leading the league with a +40 rating, Russo's +15 ties for 14th this year...Rookie Dan Renouf has 50 PIM to pace the team... Eddie Pasquale's 2.26 GAA places fifth in the AHL and his 0.922 save percentage is fourth...If he met the 1,020 minutes benchmark (currently with 664:04 minutes), Cal Heeter's 2.08 GAA would be second and his 0.934 save percentage would tie for the league lead.

On Track: Owning a 34-14-1-2 record (71 points), the Griffins are on pace for 50 wins and 105 points. Grand Rapids has reached 50 wins three times previously (55 in 2005-06, 53 in 2000-01 and 51 in 1999-00) and amassed 100 or more points five times (115 in 2005-06, 113 in 2000-01, 111 in 1999-00, 106 in 2002-03 and 100 in 2013-14).

On the Power Play: The Griffins have scored seven goals on their last 17 power play opportunities (41.2%) spanning the last four contests. Grand Rapids continues to lead the league with a power play percentage of 28.1% (62/221) and has recorded at least one goal while on the man advantage in four straight games, seven of the last eight and 18 of the last 21. The Griffins have relied on the power play for 34.8% of their goals (62 of 178), the highest percentage in the AHL. The power play has been keyed by Tomas Nosek (7-16 - 23), Matt Lorito (4-16 - 20), Martin Frk (11-9 - 20) and Ben Street (6-13 - 19), who lead the team in points. Nosek's 23 points tie for fifth in the AHL while Frk is third in the league in power play tallies, as 11 of his team-leading 18 markers on the year have come with more skaters. Mitch Callahan has been on the ice 37 times during a power play goal, tops on the team. Of the Griffins' 62 power play goals, 28 have been scored with five forwards on the ice, 20 with four forwards and one defensemen, 12 with three forwards and two defensemen, one with three forwards and one defenseman and one with six forwards.

Chasing PP History: To put in perspective the success of the Griffins' power play thus far, the franchise record for highest power play percentage in a season is 21.8%, set in 2005-06. Through 51 games, the 2005-06 team stood at 22.8% while on the man advantage (79/347). The 2005-06 club, which played 80 regular season games, also scored 120 PPG, the most in team history. The Springfield Indians hold the AHL record for highest power play percentage in a season, finishing at 26.78% in 1993-94.

Russian Influence: Rookie Evgeny Svechnikov picked up an assist in last Friday's victory to extend his point streak to 12 games, which ties for the fourth-longest run in franchise history. Svechnikov has already established a new record for point streak by a rookie, besting the previous mark of eight. Svechnikov has accumulated 14 points (5-9 - 14) during his streak. Detroit's first choice, 19th overall, in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Svechnikov has skated in 50 games this year and ties for ninth among first-year AHL players with 15 goals. Take a look at the longest single season point streaks in club history:

Year Length Player Dates

2005-06 19 Donald MacLean Jan. 6-Feb. 18

2000-01 17 Derek King Dec. 7-Jan. 13

2005-06 14 Jiri Hudler Oct. 8-Nov. 15

2016-17 12 Evgeny Svechnikov Jan. 20-Feb. 17

2003-04 12 Jiri Hudler Nov. 23-Jan. 17

1998-99 11 Glen Metropolit Jan. 30-Feb. 21

Fantastic Frk: Martin Frk paces the team with 18 goals and has tied a career high with 11 power play tallies. Eleven PPGs tie for 10th-most in a single season in franchise history. One more and he can tie Carl Corazzini (2007-08), Glen Metropolit (1998-99) and Michel Picard (1996-97) for seventh. Donald MacLean owns the club record when he scored 21 PPGs in 2005-06. Frk has 23 career PPGs, tied with MacLean for sixth all time in team history.

Goal Output: Third in the AHL in goals per game (3.49), the Griffins have tallied at least one marker in each of the last 10 periods. Grand Rapids scored 18 goals total in three games last week, the most over a three-game span since notching 18 from Dec. 18-26, 2015, which also marked the last time the Griffins scored five or more goals in three consecutive outings. The Griffins have scored five or more goals in three straight home games for the first time since April 1-8, 2015, when Grand Rapids totaled 19 goals in three contests. Grand Rapids has scored four or more goals in seven of eight games since returning from the all-star break.

Current Streaks: Rookie Joe Hicketts has six points (1-5 - 6) in the last five games... Ben Street has eight points (3-5 - 8) in the last eight games... Mitch Callahan has four points (2-2 - 4) during his three-game point streak... Tyler Bertuzzi has recorded at least one point in nine of the last 10 games (4-8 - 12), including four straight... Conor Allen posted the first three-assist game of his career and the second three-point night during last Saturday's win against San Antonio, duplicating his feat from Nov. 19, 2014 (Hartford vs. Syracuse)... Matthew Ford has seven points (2-5 - 7) during his four-game point streak.

Tango Cashes In: Second-year Griffin and eighth-year pro Eric Tangradi accumulated a team-high seven points (4-3 - 7) and a plus-four rating in three games last week. Tangradi banked a season-high four points (2-2 - 4) during last Wednesday's 7-5 victory versus Manitoba. The 28-year-old has goals in three straight and six in the last seven games.

Between the Pipes: With Jared Coreau on recall in Detroit, goaltenders Eddie Pasquale and Cal Heeter have stepped up their games. Pasquale has points in 16 of his 21 starts on the season, ranks fifth with a 2.26 goals against average and has three shutouts. Heeter has won nine of his 11 starts for the Griffins this season and is a combined 19-3 between the ECHL's Toledo Walleye and Grand Rapids. If he met the 1,020 minutes requirement, Heeter's 2.08 GAA would be second and his 0.934 save percentage would tie for the league lead. In fact, if Heeter and Coreau both met the 1,020 minutes benchmark, all three goalies who have played more than two games with the Griffins this season would rank inside the league's top seven in GAA.

The Puck Stops Here: Leading the league in goals against per game (2.37), the Griffins are on pace to allow only 180 goals total and 2.37 per game, both of which would be the fourth-lowest amounts ever in franchise history (166 and 2.08 in 2003-04, 177 and 2.21 in 2002-03, 178 and 2.23 in 2001-02).

Specialty Teams: In addition to having the league's top power play unit, the Griffins tie for 13th in penalty killing at 82.0%. Grand Rapids' combined power play and penalty kill percentage of 110.1 is second on the circuit behind only San Jose's 110.8.

First Things First: Defenseman Matt Caito added his name to the list of rookies who have scored their first AHL goal with the Griffins this season, joining Dan Renouf (Dec. 31 vs. Rockford), Dylan Sadowy (Dec. 9 vs. Milwaukee), Dominic Turgeon (Nov. 26 at Cleveland), Joe Hicketts (Nov. 12 at Milwaukee), Kyle Criscuolo (Oct. 18 at Iowa) and Evgeny Svechnikov (Oct. 15 at Chicago). A product of Miami University, Caito's initial marker came on a third-period power play during last Saturday's 6-0 win versus San Antonio.

Fast Starts: The Griffins are outscoring opponents 56-33 in the first period, and their plus-23 difference is the largest in the league. Grand Rapids' 56 first-period markers are the most in the AHL. The Griffins have 32 first goals, tied for most in the league, and are 27-3-1-1 (0.875) when striking first.

You Again: Grand Rapids has played 51 games thus far with 45 coming against Central Division foes. The Griffins post 30 divisional victories, the most among teams in the Central. Grand Rapids has held either of the top two spots in the division since Nov. 12 and been the division leaders since Jan. 7. Six of the next nine games for the Griffins will come against Pacific Division teams.

Home Sweet Home: Winners in four straight on home ice, the Griffins are 20-7-0-2 at Van Andel Arena this season and their 42 points are tied for most in the league. Grand Rapids owns a plus-40 goal differential inside friendly confines, the highest on the circuit. After Saturday's game against Milwaukee, the Griffins will not play at home again until March 17.

Showing Discipline: The Griffins are the least penalized team in the league, averaging just 10.02 penalty minutes per contest. In fact, Grand Rapids is on pace to log 761 PIM, which would break the franchise record for fewest PIM in a season set by the 2014-15 team with 869. Dan Renouf leads the team with 50 PIM and is on track for 74 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).

Magic Numbers: The Griffins are 27-3-1-1 when scoring the game's first goal, 24-1 when leading after one period and 26-1-1-0 when leading after two periods...Grand Rapids is 33-2-0-1 when scoring three goals or more and 1-12-1-1 when scoring two or less.

All About Chances: The Griffins are averaging the most shots in the league (34.12) and the third-most goals (3.49) while surrendering the fewest goals against (2.37) and the 14th-fewest shots (29.45).

Spreading the Wealth: Eric Tangradi notched his 10th goal of the campaign last Saturday to become the eighth Griffins player with a double-digit goal total. Eight players in double digits is tied for second-most in the league. Martin Frk paces Grand Rapids with 18 goals.

Miller Time: Assigned by Detroit on Jan. 31, forward Drew Miller has two points (1-1 - 2) and a plus-two rating in five games with the Griffins. Miller notched his first AHL goal since March 17, 2009, with his third-period tally during last Wednesday's win against Manitoba. Drew is the fourth Miller cousin to skate with the Griffins, joining Kelly (1999-00), Kevin (1999-00, 2003-04) and Kip (2000-02, 2004-05, 2006-07).

Rookie Production: The Griffins have played eight rookies this season, which surpasses last year's total of seven. Those eight rookies have combined for 116 points (46-70 - 116), which equates to 25.8% of the team's goals (46/178), 23.3% of the assists (70/300) and 24.4% of the points (116/476).

Milestones: With 13 goals this season, Mitch Callahan has 91 in his career to rank third all-time in franchise history...He trails only Francis Pare (102) and Michel Picard (158) in the record books...Callahan's 177 career points (91-86 - 177) are eighth-most in team history, two behind Jiri Hudler for seventh...Callahan has played in 349 games as a Griffin, ranking fourth all time...With five more penalty minutes, Callahan can become the ninth player in franchise history to log 400 or more career PIM...Captain Nathan Paetsch has 118 career assists to rank sixth all-time in team history...Paetsch is 12 behind Derek King for fifth...The Griffins have had 10 players in franchise history play in 300 or more regular season contests with the club, including three who reached the benchmark this season - Callahan on Oct. 14 vs. Chicago, Paetsch on Nov. 18 vs. Texas and Brian Lashoff on Jan. 28 vs. Stockton.

Sinking their Battleship: Since the 2013-14 season, the Milwaukee Admirals are 11-18-2-3 (0.397) against the Griffins, including a 3-12-1-1 (0.235) mark at Van Andel Arena. Over that same time frame, Milwaukee is 139-74-18-15 (0.632) against the rest of the AHL. Milwaukee snapped a nine-game losing streak at Van Andel Arena with a 5-4 victory on Feb. 4. In the last 10 meetings on home ice, Grand Rapids is outscoring the Admirals 38-16.

Immovable Object vs. Unstoppable Force: Friday's matchup will mark the sixth straight time in seven meetings this season that Milwaukee and Grand Rapids will play with both teams occupying the top two spots in the Central Division. The only exception came in the first matchup on Nov. 12 when Milwaukee led the division while Grand Rapids was in third. In fact, Friday will be the 12th time in the last 15 regular season meetings between the teams that either the Admirals or Griffins were the division leaders at the time of the game.

Three in Detroit: Jared Coreau, Nick Jensen and Anthony Mantha remain on recall with the Detroit Red Wings. Coreau, the 158th Griffins alumnus to play in the NHL, shows a 5-3-3 record, a 3.27 GAA, an 0.893 save percentage and two shutouts in 13 games. Jensen, the 159th Griffins alumnus to play in the NHL, has skated in 26 games, recording eight points (3-5 - 8), a plus-two rating and eight PIM. Jensen scored his first NHL goal on Jan. 31 versus New Jersey. Mantha ranks third on the team with 31 points (13-18 - 31), a plus-14 rating and 31 PIM in 44 contests.

Walleye Report: Under first-year head coach Dan Watson, the ECHL's Toledo Walleye are on a five-game point streak and have the most points in the league with a 36-12-2-1 mark (75 points). Rookies Tyson Spink (26-32 - 58), Tylor Spink (19-34 - 53) and former Griffin Shane Berschbach (10-41 - 51) lead the team in scoring. Second-year pro Jake Paterson, Detroit's second pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, is 25-9-1 while tying for fifth with a 2.52 goals against average and placing 10th with a 0.909 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.

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:

First Night Second Night

W 9 14

L (incl. OT, SO) 8 3

GF 2.88 4.06

GA 2.24 2.18

PP % 22.54% 30.30%

PK % 80.33% 85.71%

SF 34.00 32.41

SA 29.18 31.94

Win Some, Lose Some: Compare the statistics for the Griffins during their 34 wins and 17 (including overtime and shootout) losses:

GF GA PP % PK % SF SA

W (34) 4.44 1.85 31.82% 86.40% 34.79 29.68

L (17) 1.59 3.41 21.21% 71.70% 32.76 29.00

Check out the Grand Rapids Griffins Statistics

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