AHL Morning Skate: May 10

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

pro  wbs
Game 2 – 7:05 ET, AHL Live (PRO leads series, 1-0)
Following their most lopsided home playoff loss since Game 3 of the 2008 Calder Cup Finals vs. Chicago (6-1), Wilkes-Barre/Scranton looks to rebound in Game 2 vs. Providence tonight… The Bruins jumped out to an early lead and cruised to a 4-0 win in last night’s series opener… Providence, which scored five unanswered goals in Game 5 to close out its first-round series with Springfield last Saturday, struck four times on seven shots in the first 8:03 against Wilkes-Barre… Alexander Khokhlachev (4-3-7) led Providence with two goals and an assist, and is now tied for the AHL scoring lead with seven postseason points… Craig Cunningham (2-2-4) and Andrew Cherniwchan (1-0-1) added single tallies… Matt Lindblad (3-3-6) recorded two assists in Game 1, and Niklas Svedberg (3-2, 1.63, .935) finished with 20 saves for his first career playoff shutout… Peter Mannino (3-2, 2.38, .903) stopped 24 of 28 for Wilkes-Barre… Between Game 5 vs. Springfield and last night, the Bruins outscored their opponents 9-0 in a span of 57:08 of playing time… Providence has scored 11 first-period goals in its last three games; Wilkes-Barre has allowed 18 first-period goals in its last 11 outings.

Eastern Conference Semifinals – Series “J” (best-of-7) 
6-W-B/Scranton Penguins vs. 7-Providence Bruins
Game 1 – Fri., May 9 – Providence 4, W-B/SCRANTON 0
Game 2 – Sat., May 10 – Providence at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
Game 3 – Wed., May 14 – W-B/Scranton at Providence, 7:05
Game 4 – Fri., May 16 – W-B/Scranton at Providence, 7:05
*Game 5 – Sat., May 17 – W-B/Scranton at Providence, 7:05
*Game 6 – Mon., May 19 – Providence at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
*Game 7 – Wed., May 21 – Providence at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
   *if necessary… All times Eastern

stj  nor
Game 3 – 8:00 ET, AHL Live (Series tied, 1-1)
St. John’s and Norfolk resume their series with Game 3 at Scope tonight… The IceCaps and Admirals split two games in St. John’s earlier in the week, most recently a 2-1 win for St. John’s on Wednesday to salvage a split… Josh Morrissey (1-2-3) and Jason Jaffray (1-2-3) scored for the IceCaps in Game 2, while Chris Wagner (2-1-3) had the Admirals’ goal… Norfolk is expected to be without standout rookie goaltender John Gibson (4-2, 1.45, .955) after Frederik Andersen was injured in Anaheim’s Game 3 win over Los Angeles on Thursday night… Gibson has allowed just nine goals on 198 shots this postseason and leads the AHL in playoff wins (tied), goals-against average, save percentage, minutes played, saves and shots faced… Brad Thiessen, who has served as Gibson’s backup this postseason, has a 1.81 GAA and a .932 save percentage in 37 career Calder Cup Playoff appearances (18-17), including 1.38 and .952 in 12 appearances with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last spring… Michael Hutchinson (4-2, 1.52, .951) has given up nine goals on 182 shots for the IceCaps in the playoffs… St. John’s forward Andrew Gordon (4-1-5) is tied for the AHL lead in playoff goals… Rookie Nic Kerdiles (3-1-4) leads Norfolk in goals and points this postseason… Norfolk has won eight consecutive home playoff games.

Eastern Conference Semifinals – Series “I” (best-of-7)
4-St. John’s IceCaps vs. 8-Norfolk Admirals
| Series Snapshot
Game 1 – Tue., May 6 – Norfolk 3, ST. JOHN’S 1
Game 2 – Wed., May 7 – ST. JOHN’S 2, Norfolk 1
Game 3 – Sat., May 10 – St. John’s at Norfolk, 8:00
Game 4 – Mon., May 12 – St. John’s at Norfolk, 7:15
Game 5 – Tue., May 13 – St. John’s at Norfolk, 7:15
*Game 6 – Fri., May 16 – Norfolk at St. John’s, 6:00
*Game 7 – Sat., May 17 – Norfolk at St. John’s, 6:00
   *if necessary… All times Eastern

gr
  tex
Game 2 – 8:00 ET, AHL Live (TEX leads series, 1-0)
Texas blitzed Grand Rapids for a 5-2 win in Game 1 on Thursday night, setting up a crucial bounce-back game for the defending Calder Cup champions on the road this evening… The Stars scored twice in a 13-second span to take a 2-0 lead just 3:32 into the series opener and had scored five times off Second Team AHL All-Star Petr Mrazek by the midway point of the contest… Dustin Jeffrey (2-0-2) scored twice — his first playoff goals since 2009 — and Brendan Ranford (3-1-4), Mike Hedden (3-1-4) and Curtis McKenzie (1-2-3) added single tallies for the Stars… Travis Morin (2-4-6) and Jyrki Jokipakka (0-3-3) each notched two assists for the Stars, who are 4-0 this postseason and 22-2-0-3 in their last 27 games overall… Cory Emmerton (2-1-3) and Tomas Jurco (2-1-3) scored for the Griffins, who saw their seven-game playoff road winning streak come to an end… Jack Campbell (2-0, 1.79, .938) made 23 saves in Game 2; Mrazek (3-2, 2.33, .919) finished with 31 stops in defeat… The Griffins were 2-0 last postseason in games when they trailed a series.

Western Conference Semifinals – Series “K” (best-of-7)
1-Texas Stars vs. 4-Grand Rapids Griffins
| Series Snapshot
Game 1 – Thu., May 8 – TEXAS 5, Grand Rapids 2
Game 2 – Sat., May 10 – Grand Rapids at Texas, 8:00
Game 3 – Tue., May 13 – Texas at Grand Rapids, 7:00
Game 4 – Wed., May 14 – Texas at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*Game 5 – Fri., May 16 – Texas at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*Game 6 – Sun., May 18 – Grand Rapids at Texas, 8:00
*Game 7 – Mon., May 19 – Grand Rapids at Texas, 8:30
   *if necessary… All times Eastern

tor  chi
Game 2 – 8:00 ET, AHL Live (TOR leads series, 1-0)
Chicago hosts Toronto in Game 2 tonight after dropping the series opener at Allstate Arena yesterday… Peter Holland, returning to the Marlies lineup from injury to make his professional playoff debut, recorded a goal and two assists to help Toronto to a 5-2 victory… It was the Marlies’ fourth straight win to begin the 2014 Calder Cup Playoffs… Trevor Smith (1-5-6), Greg McKegg (2-1-3), Carter Ashton (1-0-1) and Sam Carrick (4-0-4) also scored for Toronto… Spencer Abbott (0-2-2), in his first game back from injury after being sidelined nearly six weeks, and Josh Leivo (1-4-5) notched two assists each… Drew MacIntyre (4-0, 1.50, .953) made 37 saves for his 36th career Calder Cup Playoff win… Chicago cut a 3-0 deficit to 3-2 on second-period goals by Christian Hanson (2-0-2) and Michael Davies (1-3-4)… Jake Allen (3-3, 3.24, .882) finished with 30 saves on 35 shots for the Wolves, who have alternated wins and losses over their first six playoff contests… Toronto was 2-for-5 on the power play, improving to 8-for-28 (28.6 percent) for the postseason and dropping Chicago’s penalty kill to 22-for-32 (68.8 percent)… The Wolves were 0-for-3 with the man advantage; the Marlies have now killed off 17 of 18 chances this postseason (94.4 percent).

Western Conference Semifinals – Series “L” (best-of-7)
2-Chicago Wolves vs. 3-Toronto Marlies

Game 1 – Fri., May 9 – Toronto 5, CHICAGO 2 
Game 2 – Sat., May 10 – Toronto at Chicago, 8:00
Game 3 – Wed., May 14 – Chicago at Toronto, 7:00
Game 4 – Fri., May 16 – Chicago at Toronto, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sat., May 17 – Chicago at Toronto, 7:00
*Game 6 – Mon., May 19 – Toronto at Chicago, 8:00
*Game 7 – Wed., May 21 – Toronto at Chicago, 8:00
   *if necessary… All times Eastern

From Calder to Stanley
In last night’s Stanley Cup Playoff action, Derick Brassard, who had 13 points in 13 games for Syracuse during the 2008 Calder Cup Playoffs, notched two goals and an assist and 2012 AHL All-Star Mats Zuccarello recorded three assists in the New York Rangers’ 5-1 win over Pittsburgh in Game 5… Chris Kreider, who played six AHL games with Hartford earlier this season, added a goal and an assist for the Rangers… Jared Spurgeon, who helped Mike Yeo’s Houston Aeros reach the Calder Cup Finals in 2011, talllied a goal and an assist to help Minnesota to a 4-2 win over Chicago in Game 4… Former AHL All-Stars Nino Niederreiter (1g), Mikko Koivu (1a) and Zach Parise (1a) chipped in on offense for the Wild… Both Blackhawks goals were scored by former AHL All-Stars: Patrick Sharp and Michal Handzus.

Road Warriors
Road teams are 18-19 overall during the 2014 Calder Cup Playoffs, but an impressive 10-2 in Game 1’s:

Conference Semifinals
Game 1 – Norfolk 3, ST. JOHN’S 2
Game 1 – Providence 4, W-B/SCRANTON 0
Game 1 – TEXAS 5, Grand Rapids 2
Game 1 – Toronto 5, CHICAGO 2

Conference Quarterfinals
Game 1 – MANCHESTER 2, Norfolk 0
Game 1 – Springfield 3, PROVIDENCE 2 (OT)
Game 1 – W-B/Scranton 3, BINGHAMTON 2 (OT)
Game 1 – St. John’s 2, ALBANY 1
Game 1 – Texas 3, OKLAHOMA CITY 2 (OT)
Game 1 – Chicago 4, ROCHESTER 3 (OT)
Game 1 – Toronto 6, MILWAUKEE 2
Game 1 – Grand Rapids 2, ABBOTSFORD 1 (2OT)

Working Overtime

There have been 10 overtime games played in the 2014 Calder Cup Playoffs so far… Road teams are 7-3 this year, and 27-9 in the last 36 playoff OT games overall:

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)

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.