AHL Morning Skate: April 29

Take a game-day spin around the AHL ice with latest news and notes from
the 2016 Calder Cup Playoffs in today’s Morning Skate.

Complete Schedule || Playoff Brackets || Today’s Scoreboard || League Leaders

   
Game 4 – 10:00 ET, AHL Live
(Ontario leads series, 2-1)

 

The Ontario Reign are a win away from the second round as they host San Jose in Game 4 tonight… Adrian Kempe scored his first two goals of the series as the Reign reclaimed the series lead with a 3-1 victory last night… Kempe (2-0-2), who scored eight goals in 17 playoff games for Manchester last spring, had just three goals in his previous 35 games… Nic Dowd (1-2-3) scored a power-play goal for Ontario, and also missed on a penalty-shot attempt… Peter Budaj (2-1, 1.69, .918) saw his shutout bid end on Nikolay Goldobin‘s goal with 6:32 remaining… The Reign finished with a 43-17 advantage in shots on goal, and has outshot the Barracuda 116-61 in the series… Aaron Dell (1-2, 2.44, .938) had another busy night, stopping 36 of 39 shots in 53:06 of work; Dell has faced at least 36 shots in each of his last five starts vs. Ontario, and has a .942 save percentage in 11 appearances against the Reign this season overall… Reign head coach Mike Stothers and Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer were Calder Cup winning teammates with the Maine Mariners in 1983-84.

Pacific Division Semifinals – Series “G” (best-of-5) 
P1-Ontario Reign vs. P4-San Jose Barracuda
Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 22 – Ontario 2, SAN JOSE 1
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 23 – SAN JOSE 3, Ontario 2
Game 3 – Thu., Apr. 28 – ONTARIO 3, San Jose 1
Game 4 – Fri., Apr. 29 – San Jose at Ontario, 10:00
*Game 5 – Sun., May 1 – San Jose at Ontario, 6:00
   *if necessary… All times Eastern

   
Game 4 – 10:05 ET, AHL Live
(San Diego leads series, 2-1)

  

San Diego turned the tables on their Texas foes, avenging a 5-1 loss in Game 2 with a 6-1 rout in Game 3 last night… The Gulls host the Stars again in Game 4 tonight with a chance to move on to the division finals… Chris Wagner, who played two games for Anaheim during their Stanley Cup Playoff series vs. Nashville, returned to the Gulls lineup and recorded a goal and two assists in Game 3… Shea Theodore, coming off six playoff games with the Ducks, recorded three assists… Mike Sgarbossa (1-3-4) had a goal and two assists and Stefan Noesen (1-2-3) added a goal and an assist… Nick Ritchie (3-0-3) scored a goal for the third consecutive game for the Gulls… Anton Khudobin (2-1, 2.34, .930) made 28 saves in the win… Texas, which allowed six or more in a game eight times during the regular season, had won its previous three visits to the Valley View Casino Center… Esa Lindell (2-2-4) scored the Stars’ only goal in Game 3, giving him a team-leading four points in the series.

Pacific Division Semifinals – Series “H” (best-of-5) 
P2-San Diego Gulls vs. P3-Texas Stars 
Game 1 – Thu., Apr. 21 – San Diego 3, TEXAS 1
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 23 – TEXAS 5, San Diego 1
Game 3 – Thu., Apr. 28 – SAN DIEGO 6, Texas 1
Game 4 – Fri., Apr. 29 – Texas at San Diego, 10:05
*Game 5 – Mon., May 2 – Texas at San Diego, 10:05
   *if necessary… All times Eastern

Thursday’s Recaps
#ALBvsUTI: Devils get their due
#TORvsBRI: Marlies rally to sweep away Sound Tigers
#HERvsPOR: Flick ends marathon with 3OT winner
#ONTvsSJ: Kempe scores twice in Reign win
#SDvsTEX: Gulls hand Stars big loss in Game 3
Working Overtime
There have been 5 overtime games played in the 2016 Calder Cup Playoffs so far:

Apr. 28 – Portland 2, HERSHEY 1 (Rob Flick, 43:10)
Apr. 26 – UTICA 2, Albany 1 (Alexandre Grenier, 9:13)
Apr. 23 – W-B/Scranton 5, PROVIDENCE 4 (Jake Guentzel, 33:52)
Apr. 21 – W-B/SCRANTON 4, Providence 3 (Daniel Sprong, 5:13)
Apr. 20 – W-B/SCRANTON 3, Providence 2 (Carter Rowney, 1:09)

Bears-Pirates Make History
Last night’s triple-overtime battle between the Hershey Bears and Portland Pirates was both the longest game in Pirates franchise history and the longest game ever played at Giant Center… At 43:10 of extra time played, it was also the second-longest game in the 78-year history of the Bears, falling just 1:20 short of the top spot.

Longest games, Portland Pirates:
43:10 – Apr. 28, 2016 at Hershey (W, 2-1)
42:06 – Apr. 15, 2001 vs. Saint John (L, 2-3)
29:24 – Apr. 17, 2008 at Hartford (W, 3-2)
28:28 – Apr. 23, 2004 vs. Hartford (L, 1-2)

Longest games, Hershey Bears:
44:30 – Mar. 31, 1951 vs. Pittsburgh (L, 2-3)
43:10 – Apr. 28, 2016 vs. Portland (L, 1-2)
40:50 – May 17, 1986 at Adirondack (L, 3-4)
40:42 – May 11, 1997 vs. Philadelphia (W, 3-2)

Alumni Watch
In Stanley Cup Playoff action last night, Braden Holtby made 42 saves as Washington defeated Pittsburgh in overtime, 4-3, in Game 1 of their second-round series.

AHL Live
Don’t miss a second on the road to the 2016 Calder Cup championship. AHL Live brings AHL action to your desktop, laptop, smartphone or tablet all season long with live video webcasts and free highlights of every AHL game… Visit ahllive.com for details.