AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Griffins Set for Three-Game Road Trip

Published on March 18, 2024 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


Grand Rapids Griffins center Marco Kasper
Grand Rapids Griffins center Marco Kasper
(Grand Rapids Griffins, Credit: Nicolas Carrillo)

This Week's Games

GRIFFINS (29-17-7-4) at Manitoba Moose (26-29-1-1) // Tue., March 19 // 11:30 a.m. EDT // Canada Life Centre

GRIFFINS at Manitoba Moose // Wed., March 20 // 8 p.m. EDT // Canada Life Centre

Listen: 96.1 The Game at 11:15 a.m. EDT on Tuesday and WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 7:45 p.m. EDT on Wednesday

Watch: AHLTV

Season Series: 4-1-0-1 overall, 2-0-0-0 road. Seventh and eighth of eight meetings overall, third and fourth of four at the Canada Life Centre

All-Time Series: 74-43-1-1-10 Overall, 34-24-0-0-3 Road

NHL Affiliation: Winnipeg Jets

Noteworthy: The Moose finished a six-game road trip last week with a 5-1-0-0 record and have climbed into the final playoff spot in the Central Division, six points clear of sixth-place Chicago.

GRIFFINS at Rockford IceHogs (28-22-5-2) // Sat., March 23 // 8 p.m. EDT // BMO Center

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 7:45 p.m. EDT

Watch: AHLTV

Season Series: 4-2-2-0 overall, 3-1-0-0 road. Ninth of 12 meetings overall, fifth of six at the BMO Center

All-Time Series: 65-45-11-11 Overall, 26-30-4-6 Road

NHL Affiliation: Chicago Blackhawks

Noteworthy: Rockford is the hottest team in the AHL entering this week, as it is 9-1-0-0 in its last 10 outings. The IceHogs rattled off a seven-game win streak from Feb. 21-March 12 and have catapulted into third place in the Central Division.

Back to Our Old Self: After enduring a season-high five-game losing skid from March 2-12 (0-2-2-1), the Griffins returned to form last weekend with a sweep of the Iowa Wild. The Griffins saw their 18-game point streak (13-0-3-2 from Jan. 13-March 2) come to an end on March 4 in Cleveland, which was one game shy of tying the franchise record of 19 contests (Feb. 4-March 20, 2015 15-0-3-1) and is the second-longest run in the AHL this season. The Griffins' active 16-game home point streak (11-0-3-2) is tied for the franchise record that was established from Jan. 9-Feb. 27, 2004 and is longest run in the AHL this season. Grand Rapids' nine-game road point streak (8-0-0-1) from Dec. 27-Feb. 17 was their longest since an 11-game run (9-0-1-1) from Jan. 29-March 12, 2015 and is tied for the second longest in the AHL this season. The Griffins have secured at least a point in 29 of their last 34 contests (21-5-5-3). The Griffins are 20-4-4-3 since Christmas and have had a trio of winning streaks of five or more games in the same season for the first time since 2013-14. Grand Rapids has points in 22 of its last 26 games (17-4-3-2) inside Van Andel Arena and has points in 11 of its past 14 road appearances (8-3-2-1). The Griffins have been solid at home with a 19-6-4-2 mark, outscoring their opponents 96-71. Grand Rapids has battled on the road this season, earning points in 10 of its last 12 games to move to 10-11-3-2 away from home.

Records are Meant to be Broken: The Griffins have rewritten the record book in multiple categories this season. Most recently, Grand Rapids tied a franchise record with a point in its 16th straight home game, a record that was established more than 20 years ago, from Jan. 9-Feb. 27, 2004. The home point run is the second franchise-record streak that the Griffins have tied in the last two months, piggybacking their seven-game road winning streak from Dec. 27, 2023-Feb. 2, 2024. The Griffins also rattled of an 18-game point streak from Jan. 13-March 2 (13-0-3-2), which was one game shy of tying the franchise record of 19 contests (Feb. 4-March 20, 2015 15-0-3-1). Finally, the Griffins have had a trio of winning streaks of five or more games in the same season for the first time since 2013-14.

Black Magic: As the regular season inches closer to its completion, the Griffins are in second place in the Central Division with a 29-17-7-4 record and 69 points with just 15 games remaining. The Griffins are 21 points above the playoff cutline and have an overall magic number of 10 points to clinch a playoff spot.

It's Taco Time: Taro Hirose is on an active three-game assist streak from March 12-16 (0-4-4), which is one game shy of tying his season-high assist mark set from Nov. 17-27 (0-5-5). Hirose, who is in his fifth season as a Griffin, also has six points (1-5-6) in his last six outings. The Calgary, Alberta, native has logged a total of 30 points (7-23-30) in 41 appearances this season, after having missed 12 straight games from Dec. 29-Jan. 27 due to rehabbing an injury. The 27-year-old is one point away from tying Tomas Tatar for sixth place on the Griffins' all-time points list and his 147 assists rank third in franchise history.

Age is Wisdom: Veteran forwards Zach Aston-Reese, Joel L'Esperance and Dominik Shine have found a groove as of late. Aston-Reese registered two assists in two games from March 15-16 and now has seven points (3-4-7) in his last 10 games. L'Esperance found the back of the net in both games last weekend and has six points (3-3-6) in his last 10 appearances. Finally, Shine recorded four points (2-2-4) in two games last weekend against Iowa and has five points (3-2-5) in his last six outings. Combined, the trio has amassed 413 points (209-204-413) in 824 AHL games throughout 18 campaigns.

Matty Ice: On Feb. 21, Matt Luff made his season debut after rehabbing an injury suffered in training camp that kept him sidelined for the first 45 games of the season. After being held scoreless in his first five outings, Luff went on to record a point in three straight games from March 2-8 and now has six points (3-3-6) in his last seven contests. Last season, the 26-year-old posted 25 points (8-17-25) and six penalty minutes in 28 games with the Griffins on top of producing four points (2-2-4) in 19 outings with the Detroit Red Wings. The Windsor, Ontario, native has 151 points (60-91-151) in 209 career AHL outings from 2016-24.

Thou Shall Not Pass: The Griffins' defense has been much improved since the holiday break, allowing an average of 2.42 goals per game from Dec. 27-March 16. Prior to the holiday break, Grand Rapids allowed 3.31 goals per game from Oct. 13-Dec. 20. The Griffins have allowed a total of 161 goals through 57 games this season, which ranks second in the Central Division and ties for seventh in the AHL. Grand Rapids also ranks ninth on the circuit with 2.82 goals against per game, which is second in the division trailing only Milwaukee (2.68). Netminders Sebastian Cossa (2.58) and Michael Hutchinson (2.69) each possess a goals against average well below 3.00. Defensemen Wyatt Newpower (+10), Antti Tuomisto (+6), Albert Johansson (+6), Simon Edvinsson (+5), Radim Simek (+4), William Wallinder (+4), Eemil Viro (+4), Josiah Didier (+2) and Brogan Rafferty (+1) all have a positive plus-minus rating.

Check out the Grand Rapids Griffins Statistics

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Images from this story

Grand Rapids Griffins center Marco Kasper
Grand Rapids Griffins center Marco Kasper
(Nicolas Carrillo)		   



American Hockey League Stories from March 18, 2024


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