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 || Series Previews
Tonight’s Previews
Game 7 – 7:00 ET, AHL Live
(Series tied, 3-3)
The Western Conference Finals are going the distance for the third time in the last four seasons after Oklahoma City stunned Grand Rapids last night, 4-3… The Barons scored three times in the third period — including twice in the final 2:27 — to avoid elimination and force tonight’s Game 7 at Van Andel Arena… The winner moves on to face the Syracuse Crunch in the Calder Cup Finals beginning Saturday night… After the Barons had trailed 3-1 entering the third period, Toni Rajala (4-11-15) tied the game at 17:33 and Anton Lander (5-3-8) got the game-winner with just 1:05 to play… Lander, who had missed Oklahoma City’s previous seven games due to injury, also notched two assists for a three-point night, and now has eight points in seven playoff games… Mark Arcobello (12-7-19) scored his league-leading 11th and 12th goals of the playoffs, ending a three-game point-less drought… Yann Danis (10-6, 2.25, .928) made 33 saves on the night, including a stop on Tomas Jurco‘s penalty shot with 8:38 to play in the game… Jurco (6-6-12) did score during a 5-on-3 power play in the first period… Mitch Callahan (4-2-6) netted his third goal of the series and fourth of the postseason, and Jeff Hoggan (4-3-7) scored a goal for his first point in eight games…Defensemen Nathan Paetsch (0-7-7) and Adam Almquist (3-6-9), both scoreless through the first five games of the series, had two assists each for Grand Rapids in Game 6… Petr Mrazek (10-7, 2.07, .923) saw his shutout streak end at 175:32, and would finish with 26 saves for the contest… Oklahoma City was 1-for-6 on the power play in Game 6, with Arcobello’s first goal of the night ending the team’s 0-for-19 skid… Grand Rapids was 1-for-4, and is now 4-for-10 (40.0 percent) in the last three games… Tomas Tatar (10-5-15) has four goals and one assist in Grand Rapids’ two series-clinching wins this postseason… After last night’s three-goal outburst, the Barons are outscoring their opponents 23-8 in the third period of their 16 postseason games, and have outscored the Griffins 16-5 in the third period of their 10 regular-season and playoff meetings in 2012-13… Last night was just the Barons’ second one-goal victory (out of 10) this postseason… Grand Rapids is now 2-6 at home all-time (7-9 overall) with a chance to win a Calder Cup Playoff series… The Griffins are 1-2 all-time in AHL Game 7’s; this is Oklahoma City’s first Game 7… Both teams won a winner-take-all Game 5 in the first round of this year’s playoffs… Grand Rapids hosted a Game 7 in the conference finals in 2003 and lost to Houston, 2-1; current Griffins captain Jeff Hoggan assisted on the game-winning goal for the Aeros that night… Barons defenseman Garrett Stafford was on the winning side of two Game 7’s — both on the road — playing with Texas in 2010… The Barons are the fourth club in AHL history to win three elimination games on the road in the same postseason; no team has ever won four.
Western Conference Finals – Series “N” (best-of-7)
3-Grand Rapids Griffins vs. 5-Oklahoma City Barons
Game 1 – Fri., May 24 – GRAND RAPIDS 2, Oklahoma City 1
Game 2 – Sat., May 25 – Oklahoma City 4, GRAND RAPIDS 2
Game 3 – Wed., May 29 – OKLAHOMA CITY 4, Grand Rapids 1
Game 4 – Sat., June 1 – Grand Rapids 4, OKLAHOMA CITY 0
Game 5 – Sun., June 2 – Grand Rapids 3, OKLAHOMA CITY 0
Game 6 – Tue., June 4 – Oklahoma City 4, GRAND RAPIDS 3
Game 7 – Wed., June 5 – Oklahoma City at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
About Last Night…
Slava Voynov had two points, including his fourth game-winning goal of the playoffs, as Los Angeles defeated Chicago, 3-1, in Game 3 of the NHL’s Western Conference Finals… Voynov, a two-time AHL All-Star with the Manchester Monarchs, is the first defenseman in Kings history with five goals in a single postseason, and he is tied for second among NHL blueliners with 11 playoff points… 2012-13 AHL Rookie of the Year Tyler Toffoli assisted on Voynov’s game-winner and 2005 Calder Cup champion Jeff Carter notched two assists in the contest.
Game 7 Histories
There have been 86 Game 7’s played in AHL history… Home teams are 46-40 (.535), but road teams have a 9-5 edge since 2009… Since 1992, teams are 45-12 in Game 7’s when scoring the first goal… Eleven Game 7’s in history have gone to overtime… Every AHL postseason since 1991 has had at least one Game 7… Oklahoma City is appearing in its first Game 7; tonight is Grand Rapids’ fourth Game 7 since joining the AHL in 2001-02.
Grand Rapids Griffins (1-2)
May 1, 2007 – MANITOBA 4, Grand Rapids 1
May 16, 2006 – GRAND RAPIDS 5, Manitoba 4
May 22, 2003 – Houston 2, GRAND RAPIDS 1
Survive and Advance
Oklahoma City, which won Games 4 and 5 in Charlotte to oust the Checkers in the best-of-five conference quarterfinals, is just the fourth team in AHL history to win three elimination games on the road in a single postseason:
2013 – Oklahoma City Barons (3-0)
2011 – Manitoba Moose (3-1)
2010 – Texas Stars (3-1)
2004 – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (3-0)
Homewreckers
Oklahoma City is looking to become just the ninth team in AHL history to win both Game 6 and Game 7 of a series on the road:
2013 – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins def. Providence Bruins
2011 – Manitoba Moose def. Lake Erie Monsters
2011 – Binghamton Senators def. Manchester Monarchs
2010 – Texas Stars def. Hamilton Bulldogs
2010 – Abbotsford Heat def. Rochester Americans
2007 – Providence Bruins def. Hartford Wolf Pack
1996 – Portland Pirates def. Saint John Flames
1983 – Maine Mariners def. Nova Scotia Voyageurs
Road Warriors
AHL teams are 31-34 on the road this postseason, but all four conference finalists have winning records away from home:
1.000 – Syracuse (5-0)
.667 – Hershey (2-1)
.625 – Oklahoma City (5-3)
.625 – Grand Rapids (5-3)
.600 – Providence (3-2)
.556 – W-B/Scranton (5-4)
.500 – Toronto (2-2)
.500 – Charlotte (1-1)
.333 – Houston (1-2)
.250 – Springfield (1-3)
.200 – Texas (1-4)
.000 – Binghamton (0-1)
.000 – Manchester (0-2)
.000 – Milwaukee (0-2)
.000 – Portland (0-2)
.000 – Rochester (0-2)
Eastern Conference Finals History
The Richard F. Canning Trophy is presented each season to the playoff champions of the AHL’s Eastern Conference… Syracuse is the 10th consecutive conference champion to come out of the East Division… Here are the results of the Eastern Conference Finals since the league split into two conferences in 1995-96:
2013 – Syracuse Crunch 4, W-B/Scranton Penguins 1
2012 – Norfolk Admirals 4, St. John’s IceCaps 0
2011 – Binghamton Senators 4, Charlotte Checkers 0
2010 – Hershey Bears 4, Manchester Monarchs 2
2009 – Hershey Bears 4, Providence Bruins 1
2008 – W-B/Scranton Penguins 4, Portland Pirates 3
2007 – Hershey Bears 4, Manchester Monarchs 0
2006 – Hershey Bears 4, Portland Pirates 3
2005 – Philadelphia Phantoms 4, Providence Bruins 2
2004 – W-B/Scranton Penguins 4, Hartford Wolf Pack 3
2003 – Hamilton Bulldogs 4, Binghamton Senators 1
2002 – Bridgeport Sound Tigers 4, Hamilton Bulldogs 3
2001 – Saint John Flames 4, Providence Bruins 1
2000 – Hartford Wolf Pack 4, Providence Bruins 3
1999 – Providence Bruins 4, Fredericton Canadiens 2
1998 – Saint John Flames 4, Hartford Wolf Pack 1
*1997 – Hamilton Bulldogs 4, Albany River Rats 1
*1996 – Portland Pirates 4, Saint John Flames 3
*known as Northern Conference
Western Conference Finals History
The Robert W. Clarke Trophy is presented each season to the playoff champions of the AHL’s Western Conference… Either Grand Rapids or Oklahoma City will be the eighth different conference champion in the last eight years… Here are the results of the Western Conference Finals since the league split into two conferences in 1995-96:
2012 – Toronto Marlies 4, Oklahoma City Barons 1
2011 – Houston Aeros 4, Hamilton Bulldogs 3
2010 – Texas Stars 4, Hamilton Bulldogs 3
2009 – Manitoba Moose 4, Houston Aeros 2
2008 – Chicago Wolves 4, Toronto Marlies 1
2007 – Hamilton Bulldogs 4, Chicago Wolves 1
2006 – Milwaukee Admirals 4, Grand Rapids Griffins 0
2005 – Chicago Wolves 4, Manitoba Moose 0
2004 – Milwaukee Admirals 4, Rochester Americans 1
2003 – Houston Aeros 4, Grand Rapids Griffins 3
2002 – Chicago Wolves 4, Houston Aeros 1
2001 – W-B/Scranton Penguins 4, Hershey Bears 0
2000 – Rochester Americans 4, Hershey Bears 0
1999 – Rochester Americans 4, Philadelphia Phantoms 2
1998 – Philadelphia Phantoms 4, Albany River Rats 2
*1997 – Hershey Bears 4, Springfield Falcons 3
*1996 – Rochester Americans 4, Syracuse Crunch 1
*known as Southern Conference
Working Overtime
There have been 13 overtime games played in the 2013 Calder Cup Playoffs so far… Road teams are 10-3:
Apr. 26 – Texas 3, MILWAUKEE 2 (Brett Ritchie, 11:44)
Apr. 26 – Charlotte 4, OKLAHOMA CITY 3 (Brody Sutter, 3:06)
Apr. 27 – SPRINGFIELD 2, Manchester 1 (Cody Bass, 10:36)
Apr. 27 – W-B/Scranton 3, BINGHAMTON 2 (Chad Kolarik, 8:18)
Apr. 27 – SYRACUSE 4, Portland 3 (Richard Panik, 6:36)
Apr. 28 – Hershey 5, PROVIDENCE 4 (Jon DiSalvatore, 3:05)
Apr. 28 – SPRINGFIELD 3, Manchester 2 (Cody Bass, 18:44)
*May 1 – Toronto 3, ROCHESTER 2 (Will Acton, 5:14)
*May 2 – Syracuse 4, PORTLAND 3 (Ondrej Palat, 19:43)
*May 4 – Springfield 4, MANCHESTER 3 (Nick Drazenovic, 8:06)
May 9 – Oklahoma City 2, TEXAS 1 (Anton Lander, 1:28)
May 15 – Providence 2, W-B/SCRANTON 1 (Carter Camper, 0:31)
May 20 – W-B/Scranton 2, PROVIDENCE 1 (Trevor Smith, 3:26)
*indicates goal ended series
AHL Live
Don’t miss a second on the road to the 2013 Calder Cup championship. AHL Live brings AHL action to your computer all season long with live video webcasts and highlights of every AHL game, as well as behind-the-scenes features and interviews in the Video On Demand section… Visit ahllive.com for details.
