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AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Griffins Head North of Border to Take on Manitoba

December 7, 2021 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


This Week's Games

GRIFFINS at Manitoba Moose // Fri., Dec. 10 // 8 p.m. EST // Canada Life Centre

GRIFFINS at Manitoba Moose // Sat., Dec. 11 // 7 p.m. EST // Canada Life Centre

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 7:35 p.m. on Friday, 96.1 The Game at 6:35 p.m. on Saturday

Watch: AHLTV

Season Series: 1-2-0-1 Overall, 0-1-0-1 Road. Fifth and sixth of eight meetings overall, third and fourth of four at Canada Life Centre.

All-Time Series: 66-35-1-1-8 Overall, 30-20-0-0-3 Road

NHL Affiliation: Winnipeg Jets

Noteworthy: Since the Moose rejoined the AHL in 2015-16, Grand Rapids is 22-11-0-1 against them, including a 9-6-0-1 ledger in Winnipeg. The Griffins are winless in the past four games at Manitoba with a 0-3-0-1 record, dating back to the 2019-20 season.

Last Week's Results

Fri., Dec. 3 // GRIFFINS 1 vs. Rockford IceHogs 4 // 7-8-2-1 (17 pts., 0.472, 5th Central Division)

Sat., Dec. 4 // GRIFFINS 6 vs. Rockford IceHogs 2 // 8-8-2-1 (19 pts., 0.500, T4th Central Division)

Mon., Dec. 6 // GRIFFINS 4 at Cleveland Monsters 1 // 9-8-2-1 (21 pts., 0.525, 4th Central Division)

Last Week's Notes

Friday vs. Rockford (4-1 L) - Kyle Criscuolo extended his point streak (5-5-10) to five games, as the center recorded the only goal for Grand Rapids in the contest. Despite the loss, the Griffins recorded 41 shots, which marked the highest shot total they have achieved this season. Ryan Murphy appeared in his 250th game in the AHL, Riley Barber notched his 50th game as a Griffin and Matt Berry skated in his 250th game as a pro. Dennis Yan returned from an injury that kept him sidelined for 12 games. Recap | Highlights

Saturday vs. Rockford (6-2 W) - Grand Rapids exploded for five goals in the opening frame and defeated Rockford 6-2, as six different Griffins recorded goals. Five tallies in the first set a new season high for Grand Rapids for most goals in a period. Kyle Criscuolo bagged his team-high eighth goal of the season, which pushed his point streak (6-6-12) to six games. Ryan Murphy and Jonatan Berggren joined Criscuolo with two points (1-1-2) each. Matt Berry and Luke Witkowski each bagged his first point as a Griffin. Donovan Sebrango skated in his 50th game as a Griffin at the age of 19. Calvin Pickard recorded his third assist of the season, which is a new AHL career high for the goaltender. Recap | Highlights

Monday at Cleveland (4-1 W) - The Griffins' three-goal first period was all they needed to take a 4-1 victory over the Monsters. Going back to Dec. 4 when Grand Rapids put up five goals in the opening frame against Rockford, the Griffins have now outscored their opponents 8-0 in the last two first periods. Kyle Criscuolo added his fifth multi-point game in the past seven outings. The center also extended his point streak to seven games (7-7-14), which is a new career high. Jonatan Berggren also pushed his point streak (1-3-4) to three games. Goaltender Calvin Pickard made his 17th appearance out of 20 games and has allowed two goals or less in nine outings. Recap | Highlights

Huffin' and Puffin': So far this season, the Griffins are 0-4-1-0 (0.100) against the Central Division-leading Chicago Wolves and 9-4-1-1 (0.667) against the rest of the AHL.

Cris-COOL-o: After being sidelined in the first four games due to an injury, center Kyle Criscuolo has made up for his lost time with 17 points (9-8-17) in 15 contests. The Harvard University graduate logged a two-game point streak (1-1-2) from Oct. 30-31 and surpassed that mark with an active seven-game point streak (7-7-14) from Nov. 20-Dec. 6, which is a new career high for the forward. He posted back-to-back three-point (1-2-3) nights against Milwaukee and Chicago on Nov. 24 and 26. Criscuolo's three-game goal streak (Nov. 20-26) tied Jonatan Berggren (Oct. 30-Nov. 5) for the longest on the team this season while his four-game assist streak (Nov. 20-28) set a new season high for Grand Rapids. The sixth-year pro is second on the roster with 17 points while his nine goals pace the team and are tied for eighth in the AHL. On Nov. 29, Criscuolo was recalled by Detroit and made his NHL season debut on Dec. 1 against Seattle, marking his first NHL game since March 5, 2018. Criscuolo was then reassigned to Grand Rapids the following morning and returned to Detroit on Dec. 7.

Sweet Berries: Matt Berry was named the Warrior Hockey ECHL Player of the Month for November when he led the ECHL with a plus-13 rating while scoring eight goals with 13 assists in 12 games. The former Michigan State Spartan logged at least one point in 10 of Toledo's 12 contests. His four assists on Nov. 14 started a stretch in which he totaled 10 points (3-7-10) in three games, which was enough to make him the Player of the Week in the ECHL. In total, the Canton, Mich., native bagged five multi-point outings in November. Berry was signed to a PTO by Grand Rapids on Nov. 28 and has appeared in four games, registering one assist and two penalty minutes.

Calvin's University: Goaltender Calvin Pickard is off to a fast start, as he has allowed two goals or less in nine of his 17 appearances this season. The 10-year pro currently places 11th in the AHL with a 2.40 goals against average while his 0.928 save percentage ranks fifth. The netminder made his sixth straight start on Nov. 28 and 10th consecutive appearance, both personal highs as a Griffin. In fact, Pickard has seen action in 17 of the 20 games this season, including 13 straight. The goaltender recorded his third assist of the season on Dec. 4 versus Rockford, which set a new AHL career high for assists in a season. Pickard recorded his first shutout of the season and fourth as a Griffin on Nov. 12 against Manitoba, moving him into a tie for 10th place in franchise history with Jani Hurme, Martin Prusek, and Eddie Pasquale. Pickard played in just nine games in North America a season ago due to being assigned to Detroit's taxi squad for much of the year. The Moncton, New Brunswick, native also spent some time with Vienna in the ICEHL last season, logging six games and a 1.96 goals against average.

Jonny on the Spot: Rookie Jonatan Berggren saw his six-game point streak (3-4-7 from Oct. 30-Nov. 13) come to a close on Nov. 17 against Chicago. The Uppsala, Sweden, native bagged his first AHL goal and two-point (1-1-2) night on Oct. 30, which began a three-game goal scoring streak for the right winger. The forward recorded his first two-goal night in the AHL on Nov. 20 at Texas. The former second-round draft choice notched his 50th pro assist on Nov. 12 against Manitoba and is tied for fourth among league rookies with seven goals while his 16 points (7-8-16) place sixth among first-year players.

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