Chicago Showdown Continues Griffins' Six-Game Road Swing
March 31, 2021 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release
Grand Rapids Griffins right wing Jarid Lukosevicius (left) vs. the Chicago Wolves
(Grand Rapids Griffins, Credit: Chris Dubiel/Wolves)
Upcoming Games
GRIFFINS at Chicago Wolves (12-2-0-1) // Thurs., April 1 // 3 p.m. // Triphahn Center Ice Arena
Watch: AHLTV
Listen: ESPN 96.1 FM
Season Series: 1-3-0-0 Overall, 1-0-0-0 Home, 0-3-0-0 Road. Fifth of 10 meetings overall, fourth of five in Hoffman Estates
All-Time Series: 88-67-2-6-3 Overall, 43-29-2-4-2 Home, 45-38-0-2-1 Road
NHL Affiliations: Carolina Hurricanes (primary), Nashville Predators (2020-21)
Noteworthy: The Griffins are 7-1-2-0 against all opponents besides Chicago.
GRIFFINS at Cleveland Monsters (6-5-1-0) // Sat., April 3 // 7 p.m. // Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
GRIFFINS at Cleveland Monsters // Fri., April 9 // 7 p.m. // Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
Watch: AHLTV
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM
Season Series: 3-0-0-0 Overall, 1-0-0-0 Home, 2-0-0-0 Road. Fourth of eight meetings overall, third of four in Cleveland
All-Time Series: 57-31-5-10 Overall, 32-16-1-2 Home, 25-15-4-8 Road
NHL Affiliation: Columbus Blue Jackets
Noteworthy: Excluding games against the Griffins, the Monsters have a 6-3 record.
Rockford IceHogs (6-11-1-0) at GRIFFINS // Sat., April 10 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena
Watch: WXSP-TV and AHLTV
Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM
Season Series: 3-0-2-0 Overall, 0-0-2-0 Home, 3-0-0-0 Road. Sixth of eight meetings overall, third of four in Grand Rapids
All-Time Series: 50-35-9-10 Overall, 32-11-5-4 Home, 18-24-4-6 Road
NHL Affiliation: Chicago Blackhawks
Noteworthy: The IceHogs earned nearly identical 2-1 overtime wins at Van Andel Arena on March 13 and 16. In each game, Rockford rallied from a 1-0 deficit, Matt Tomkins made more than 40 saves to help his team survive a massive shot deficit, and Dylan McLaughlin secured the second point for the visitors by scoring in the extra session.
Last Week's Results
Fri., March 26 // GRIFFINS 5 at Iowa Wild 2 // 8-3-2-0 (18 pts., 2nd Central Division) Recap | Highlights
Sat., March 27 // GRIFFINS 4 at Iowa Wild 5 // 8-4-2-0 (18 pts., 2nd) Recap
Chicago Showdown
The Griffins will return to action on Thursday with a 3 p.m. EDT tilt at Chicago, where they are 0-3 this season against the Central Division leaders. However, the second-place Griffins handed the Wolves one of their two regulation losses of the campaign, taking a 4-1 win at home on Feb. 26. Grand Rapids will then play two straight in Cleveland - this Saturday, April 3 and next Friday, April 9 - and try to improve upon its 3-0 mark against the Monsters, before returning to Van Andel Arena to host Rockford on Saturday, April 10, the team's first home game since March 16. The Griffins are 3-0-2-0 versus the IceHogs this season.
Keep It Rollin'
While last Saturday's 5-4 loss at Iowa broke the Griffins' four-game road winning streak, they've still earned points in six of their last seven games (4-1-2-0) and 10 of their last 12 contests (8-2-2-0). They've also grabbed points in all four home games (2-0-2-0) this season.
Another Rung Up The Ladder
Brian Lashoff's 513 games played for the Griffins rank first among active AHL players who have spent their entire AHL career with the same club and tie for eighth in league history among one-team players. Of the players ahead of him on that list, the most recent - and, coincidentally, the record-holder - last played during the 1970-71 season (Bill Needham of the Cleveland Barons, 981 games played). Lashoff, who was unfit to play on Saturday, tied No. 8-ranked Stan Smrke (Rochester 1957-67) last Friday and is now four games behind No. 7 Pete Kapusta (Providence Reds 1946-55).
Last Time Out
Despite outshooting the Wild 40-21 on Saturday, the Griffins dropped a 5-4 decision at Iowa that marked their only regulation loss during the month of March. Connor Dewar started and finished the scoring for Iowa, as his second goal with 3:35 remaining broke a 4-4 tie. Tyler Spezia notched his second two-goal game of the season while Patrick Curry recorded his first two-point game (1-1-2) as a pro.
Images from this story
Grand Rapids Griffins right wing Jarid Lukosevicius (left) vs. the Chicago Wolves (Chris Dubiel/Wolves) |
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