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AHL Grand Rapids Griffins

Playoff-Bound Griffins Close out Regular Season with Three Games

April 11, 2017 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Grand Rapids Griffins News Release


This Week's Games

Charlotte Checkers at GRIFFINS // Wed., April 12 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Charlotte Checkers at GRIFFINS // Fri., April 14 // 7 p.m. // Van Andel Arena

Listen: WOOD 106.9 FM/1300 AM at 6:35 p.m. on Wednesday and ESPN 96.1 FM on Friday

Watch: AHLLive.com

Season Series: 0-2-0-0 Home, 2-4-0-0 Overall. Seventh and eighth of eight meetings overall, third and fourth of four at Van Andel Arena.

All-Time Series: 6-10-0-0 Home, 16-17-0-1 Overall.

NHL Affiliation: Carolina Hurricanes

Noteworthy: The Checkers are the only active AHL team with a winning record at the Van (min. two games played).

GRIFFINS at Milwaukee Admirals // Sat., April 15 // 7 p.m. // UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena

Listen: ESPN 96.1 FM at 6:35 p.m.

Watch: AHLLive.com

Season Series: 3-2-0-0 Road, 6-5-0-0 Overall. Twelfth of 12 meetings overall, sixth of six at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

All-Time Series: 36-32-5-5-5 Road, 84-59-7-6-7 Overall.

NHL Affiliation: Nashville Predators

Noteworthy: If the season ended today, the Griffins and Admirals would meet in the first round of the playoffs. Grand Rapids swept Milwaukee last season in the best-of-five Central Division Semifinals.

Last Week's Results

Tues., April 4 GRIFFINS 1 at Manitoba Moose 3 43-22-1-4 (91 points, 1st Central)

Wed., April 5 GRIFFINS 2 at Manitoba Moose 1 OT 44-22-1-4 (93 points, 1st)

Sat., April 8 Cleveland Monsters 4 at GRIFFINS 0 44-23-1-4 (93 points, 2nd)

Sun., April 9 GRIFFINS 3 at Cleveland Monsters 4 SO 44-23-1-5 (94 points, 2nd)

Opening Faceoff: The playoff-bound Griffins enter the final week of the regular season in second place in the Central Division, two points behind Chicago and five points ahead of third-place Milwaukee. Grand Rapids, which still places fourth in the Western Conference and seventh in the AHL, will round out its season with two home games against Charlotte before traveling to Milwaukee to conclude the campaign.

This Week's Promotions: Wednesday against Charlotte is the third annual Bring Your Dog Game. On Friday, fans can enjoy $2 hot dogs/$2 domestic drafts from 6-8 p.m., while supplies last.

Last Week's Recap: The Griffins began the week by splitting a back-to-back against the Moose in Manitoba. Grand Rapids lost 3-1 on Tuesday but bounced back on Wednesday to win 2-1 in overtime as Axel Holmstrom's first career AHL goal was the game-winner. On Saturday against Cleveland, the Griffins were shut out at home for the first time since Jan. 27, 2016 versus Toronto, a span of 50 home games. Finishing off the season series against Cleveland on the shores of Lake Erie on Sunday, Matthew Ford scored the tying goal with 18 seconds remaining, but the Monsters scored twice in the shootout to take the two points.

Playoff Bound: With Grand Rapids' 3-2 win at Milwaukee on March 26, the Griffins clinched a Calder Cup Playoff berth for the 15th time in franchise history and fifth consecutive season. Five straight trips to the postseason ties a franchise record (1999-00 to 2003-04). March 26 is the earliest date that the Griffins have secured a playoff spot since clinching on March 12, 2006. This season's berth marks the sixth time in as many full seasons as an AHL head coach that Todd Nelson has led his team to the Calder Cup Playoffs. The 2013 Calder Cup champion, Grand Rapids is 79-72 (0.523) all time in the postseason and has won at least one series in each of the last four playoffs. In their 18 seasons of being affiliated with an NHL team, this year marks the first time that the Griffins' parent club has not qualified for the postseason. The Ottawa Senators made the Stanley Cup Playoffs from 2000-02 while the Red Wings were playoff participants from 2003-16 as part of their 25-year run.

Follow the Leader(s): Ben Street (25-29 - 54), Matt Lorito (21-33 - 54), Martin Frk (27-23 - 50), Evgeny Svechnikov (19-28 - 47) and Eric Tangradi (15-26 - 41) lead the team in points...Street and Lorito tie for 19th in the AHL in scoring...Svechnikov ties for fourth among league rookies in scoring...Rookie Dan Renouf has a team-high 91 PIM...Rookie Kyle Criscuolo and captain Nathan Paetsch are tied with a team-best plus-15 rating... Jared Coreau ranks 12th with a 2.40 GAA and ties for 15th with a 0.915 save percentage... Eddie Pasquale places 14th in GAA (2.49) and save percentage (0.916).

Reinforcements Arrive: The Detroit Red Wings on Monday assigned forwards Matt Lorito, Tomas Nosek and Ben Street and defenseman Robbie Russo to the Griffins. Lorito picked up his first NHL point on an assist during his debut last Saturday and skated in two games over the weekend, averaging 14:26 of ice time and logging six shots. Nosek played in 11 games with the Wings this season and scored his first NHL goal on March 28 at Carolina. Street appeared in six games in Detroit and picked up one assist, helping on Nosek's first career marker. Russo played in 19 games and averaged 16:04 of ice time and showed a plus-two rating.

Griffins to Wings: A total of 13 players this season were recalled by Detroit from Grand Rapids, including eight who made their NHL debut with the Red Wings. A total of 35 players appeared in at least one game for the Red Wings this year and all but five spent time in Grand Rapids during their careers.

More Roster Moves: On Monday, the Red Wings also reassigned forward Zach Nastasiuk from the Griffins to the ECHL's Toledo Walleye. The Griffins, meanwhile, recalled goaltender Cal Heeter and forward Mathew Santos from Toledo and released forward Dominik Shine from his amateur tryout.

Cholowski Joins Griffins: The Griffins last Friday signed defenseman Dennis Cholowski to an amateur tryout. The Detroit Red Wings agreed to terms with Cholowski last Wednesday to a three-year entry-level contract that will commence next season. Detroit's first-round selection (20th overall) in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, Cholowski, 19, notched 12 points (1-11 - 12) and 14 penalty minutes in 36 games this season during his freshman year at St. Cloud State University (NCHC). Cholowski joins Givani Smith and Filip Hronek in Grand Rapids as Detroit's top three picks from the 2016 Draft are all with the Griffins.

Reunion of Sorts: Former Griffins Tom McCollum and Andrej Nestrasil are expected to be among Charlotte's contingent for the two games this week. Detroit's first choice (30th overall) in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, McCollum spent seven seasons with the Griffins (2009-16) and is the franchise's all-time leader with 226 goalie games played, 12737:53 minutes and 5,653 saves. His 103 wins rank second while his seven shutouts are tied for sixth. McCollum also ranks among the club's all-time playoff leaders with 23 games played (3rd), 1330:31 minutes (3rd), a 2.53 goals against average (9th), 12 wins (T2nd), 608 saves (3rd) and a 0.916 save percentage (T6th). On March 8, the Checkers acquired him on loan from the Stockton Heat. In 14 games with Charlotte, McCollum shows a 11-2-1 record with one shutout, a 2.00 GAA and a 0.926 save percentage. McCollum was named the AHL's Goaltender of the Month in March. Detroit's third choice (75th overall) in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, Nestrasil played in Grand Rapids from 2011-14, totaling 46 points (22-24 - 46) and 32 PIM in 120 games. He has 14 points (5-9 - 14) in 36 games with Charlotte this season. Both McCollum and Nestrasil won the 2013 Calder Cup with the Griffins.

Toppled from the Top: Grand Rapids' loss last Saturday at home to Cleveland, coupled with Chicago's come-from-behind overtime win against Iowa that night, moved the Griffins out of the top spot in the Central Division. Grand Rapids had held the divisional lead for the last three consecutive months, ever since a 6-1 victory against Rockford on Jan. 7 helped the club overtake first place in the standings.

Shots Up: Despite dropping six of their last seven games (1-5-0-1) and scoring 10 goals in that span, the Griffins have outshot all seven of those opponents and by an average of nearly 10 shots a game.

Missing Pieces: Due to either being on recall with Detroit or injured, the Griffins have been without some key components to their lineup in the last seven games:

April 9 at CLE, 3-4 SOL - without five of top nine scorers and second-leading defenseman - 40.1% of team's point total

April 8 vs. CLE, 0-4 L - without five of top nine scorers and second-leading defenseman - 40.1% of team's point total

April 5 at MB, 2-1 OTW - without four of top nine scorers and second-leading defenseman - 31.9% of team's point total

April 4 at MB, 1-3 L - without five of top nine scorers and top-scoring defenseman - 39.0% of team's point total

April 1 at RFD, 1-4 L - without five of top nine scorers and top-scoring defenseman - 40.6% of team's point total

March 31 vs. CHA, 1-3 L - without five of top nine scorers and top-scoring defenseman - 40.8% of team's point total

March 29 vs. MIL, 2-3 L - without four of top six scorers and top-scoring defenseman - 35.6% of team's point total

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