AHL Morning Skate: June 16

Take a game-day spin around the AHL ice with latest from around the American Hockey League in today’s Morning Skate.

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

Tonight’s Previews

tex  stj
2014 Calder Cup Finals – Game 4 – 6:00 ET | Broadcast Information
After four full days off, the 2014 Calder Cup Finals resume tonight at Mile One Centre with the St. John’s IceCaps hosting the Texas Stars in Game 4 of the best-of-seven series… Texas grabbed a 2-1 series lead last Wednesday night with a 2-1 victory on the strength of Travis Morin‘s goal 7:20 into overtime… Morin (7-12-19), who leads the AHL in playoff scoring after winning the regular-season scoring title as well, has netted the game-winning goal in both Stars victories during the Finals… Brett Ritchie (5-3-8) also scored in Game 3 for Texas, his first point of the series… Brendan Ranford (8-5-13) ran his scoring streak to three games with an assist on Morin’s overtime goal… Cristopher Nilstorp (11-5, 2.10, .920) stopped 31 of 32 shots in Game 3, and still has not lost consecutive decisions (excluding shootouts) since Nov. 13… The Stars are now 8-3 all-time in playoff overtime games on the road, including 4-0 this postseason… Kael Mouillierat (6-5-11) scored the IceCaps’ only goal in Game 3… Mouillierat has a goal in each of the first three games of the Finals after totaling three goals in 16 games over the first three playoff rounds… Michael Hutchinson (12-7, 1.77, .943) made 34 saves in Game 3 and has a .965 save percentage (83/86) in the last two contests… Hutchinson enters Game 4 with a 6-0 record following a loss this postseason, allowing five goals on 204 shots (0.83, .975)… Texas scored first for just the seventh time in 19 playoff contests, but improved to 6-1 in those games… St. John’s is 0-for-10 on the power play in the series, and scoreless in its last 14 chances overall… Texas has killed off 16 consecutive opponent power plays, and 22 of 23 since Toronto’s Spencer Abbott scored three power-play goals in Game 4 of the conference finals… The Stars are 1-for-5 with the man advantage in the Finals… St. John’s has killed off 38 of its last 39 shorthanded chances… Teams leading a best-of-seven Calder Cup Finals series 2-1 have gone on to win the series 34 of 47 times (72.3 percent).

2014 Calder Cup Finals – Series “O” (best-of-7)
W1-Texas Stars vs. E4-St. John’s IceCaps | Series Snapshot
Game 1 – Sun., June 8 – TEXAS 6, St. John’s 3
Game 2 – Mon., June 9 – St. John’s 2, TEXAS 1
Game 3 – Wed., June 11 – Texas 2, ST. JOHN’S 1 (OT)
Game 4 – Mon., June 16 – Texas at St. John’s, 6:00
Game 5 – Tue., June 17 – Texas at St. John’s, 6:00
*Game 6 – Thu., June 19 – St. John’s at Texas, 8:30
*Game 7 – Mon., June 23 – St. John’s at Texas, 8:30
   *if necessary… All times Eastern

Extra Credit
With its win in Game 3 on Wednesday, Texas has tied an AHL record with four overtime victories on the road in a single postseason:

2014 – Texas Stars (4-0)
2011 – Binghamton Senators (4-0)
2010 – Hershey Bears (4-1)
2004 – Milwaukee Admirals (4-0)
2004 – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (4-4)
1996 – Saint John Flames (4-0)

Bouncing Back
IceCaps goaltender Michael Hutchinson is 6-0 following a loss this postseason with five goals allowed on 204 shots:

Game 2 at Texas – W, 2-1 (49 saves)
Game 6 vs. W-B/Scranton – W, 5-0 (34 saves)
Game 2 vs. W-B/Scranton – W, 2-1 (34 saves)
Game 6 vs. Norfolk – W, 5-2 (26 saves)
Game 2 vs. Norfolk – W, 2-1 (32 saves)
Game 3 vs. Albany – W, 1-0 (24 saves)

Working Overtime
There have been 16 overtime games played in the 2014 Calder Cup Playoffs so far:

Apr. 23 – Springfield 3, PROVIDENCE 2 (Andrew Joudrey, 2:21)
Apr. 23 – Texas 3, OKLAHOMA CITY 2 (Mike Hedden, 5:35)
Apr. 25 – Providence 2, SPRINGFIELD 1 (Matt Fraser, 3:54)
Apr. 25 – W-B/Scranton 3, BINGHAMTON 2 (Anton Zlobin, 8:40)
Apr. 25 – Chicago 4, ROCHESTER 3 (Dmitrij Jaskin, 1:06)
Apr. 25 – Grand Rapids 2, ABBOTSFORD 1 (Ryan Sproul, 39:26)
Apr. 26 – BINGHAMTON 4, W-B/Scranton 3 (Stephane Da Costa, 11:07)
Apr. 26 – Texas 3, OKLAHOMA CITY 2 (Brendan Ranford, 15:04)
Apr. 30 – W-B/SCRANTON 3, Binghamton 2 (Chuck Kobasew, 7:32)
Apr. 30 – NORFOLK 1, Manchester 0 (Maxime Sauve, 14:51)
May 13 – NORFOLK 3, St. John’s 2 (Andre Petersson, 13:10)
May 14 – W-B/Scranton 5, PROVIDENCE 4 (Simon Despres, 26:32)
May 14 – TORONTO 4, Chicago 3 (Jerry D’Amigo, 3:28)
May 16 – PROVIDENCE 3, W-B/Scranton 2 (Cory Kane, 6:31)
May 16 – Texas 3, GRAND RAPIDS 2 (Chris Mueller, 3:18)
June 11 – Texas 2, ST. JOHN’S 1 (Travis Morin, 7:20)

Calder Cup Finals History
Results of the last 25 Calder Cup Finals series:

2013 – Grand Rapids Griffins 4, Syracuse Crunch 2
2012 – Norfolk Admirals 4, Toronto Marlies 0
2011 – Binghamton Senators 4, Houston Aeros 2
2010 – Hershey Bears 4, Texas Stars 2
2009 – Hershey Bears 4, Manitoba Moose 2
2008 – Chicago Wolves 4, W-B/Scranton Penguins 2
2007 – Hamilton Bulldogs 4, Hershey Bears 1
2006 – Hershey Bears 4, Milwaukee Admirals 2
2005 – Philadelphia Phantoms 4, Chicago Wolves 0
2004 – Milwaukee Admirals 4, W-B/Scranton Penguins 0
2003 – Houston Aeros 4, Hamilton Bulldogs 3
2002 – Chicago Wolves 4, Bridgeport Sound Tigers 1
2001 – Saint John Flames 4, W-B/Scranton Penguins 2
2000 – Hartford Wolf Pack 4, Rochester Americans 2
1999 – Providence Bruins 4, Rochester Americans 1
1998 – Philadelphia Phantoms 4, Saint John Flames 2
1997 – Hershey Bears 4, Hamilton Bulldogs 1
1996 – Rochester Americans 4, Portland Pirates 3
1995 – Albany River Rats 4, Fredericton Canadiens 0
1994 – Portland Pirates 4, Moncton Hawks 2
1993 – Cape Breton Oilers 4, Rochester Americans 1
1992 – Adirondack Red Wings 4, St. John’s Maple Leafs 3
1991 – Springfield Indians 4, Rochester Americans 2
1990 – Springfield Indians 4, Rochester Americans 2
1989 – Adirondack Red Wings 4, New Haven Nighthawks 1

AHL Live
Don’t miss a second on the road to the 2014 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.