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
Game 5 – 7:15 ET, AHL Live (STJ leads series, 3-1)
St. John’s took a big step closer to the Eastern Conference Finals last night with a 5-1 win over Norfolk in Game 4, grabbing a 3-1 series lead heading into a potential clincher tonight at Scope… The IceCaps are bidding for the second trip to the conference finals in their three-year history… Jason Jaffray (2-4-6) tallied a goal and two assists and Eric O’Dell (4-0-4) scored twice for St. John’s in Game 4… Carl Klingberg (1-1-2) added a goal and an assist for his first two points of the postseason… Defensemen Josh Morrissey (2-4-6) and Will O’Neill (0-6-6) each notched two assists last night… Morrissey, the 13th overall pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, has a five-game scoring streak for St. John’s… Michael Hutchinson (6-2, 1.64, .945) turned aside 28 of 29 shots, allowing only a second-period goal to Andre Petersson (1-3-4)… The IceCaps have scored 10 goals in two games since Norfolk lost standout goaltender John Gibson to recall by the parent Anaheim Ducks on Saturday morning; the Admirals had allowed nine goals in six postseason contests prior… St. John’s scored first in Game 4 for the seventh time in eight playoff outings (6-1)… Up 3-1 to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the second round in 2012, the IceCaps lost Games 5 and 6 before winning the series in seven… The Admirals have trailed a series 3-1 three times previously; they won Game 5 twice (2004 vs. Philadelphia, 2005 vs. Philadelphia).
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 5, NORFOLK 3
Game 4 – Mon., May 12 – St. John’s 5, NORFOLK 1
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
Game 3 – 7:00 ET, AHL Live (TEX leads series, 2-0)
A lopsided start to a highly anticipated series sends Texas north to Grand Rapids with a 2-0 lead heading into tonight’s Game 3… The Stars preserved their home-ice advantage with 5-2 and 4-0 wins in Cedar Park to start the series… Brendan Ranford (5-1-6) and Justin Dowling (3-4-7) each scored twice, Curtis McKenzie (1-4-5) and Travis Morin (2-6-8) notched two assists apiece and Cristopher Nilstorp (3-0, 1.29, .951) made 30 saves in Saturday’s Game 2 shutout… Ranford’s five-game scoring streak includes goals in four consecutive outings, both season longs for the first-year pro… Texas is now 5-0 this postseason and 23-2-0-3 in its last 28 games overall… The Stars have not lost a non-shootout game on the road since Feb. 17 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto (10-0-0-3)… Van Andel Arena hasn’t been particularly kind to the Griffins in the postseason; Grand Rapids is 21-23 on home ice all-time in the AHL playoffs… Grand Rapids enters Game 3 without a goal in the last 95:40… Stars captain Maxime Fortunus played his 99th career Calder Cup Playoff game on Saturday (see below)… Grand Rapids has never won a game in the Calder Cup Playoffs after losing the first two games in a series; three previous 0-2 deficits all ended in sweeps (2009 vs. Manitoba, 2006 vs. Milwaukee, 2004 vs. Chicago).
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 – TEXAS 4, Grand Rapids 0
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
From Calder to Stanley
In Stanley Cup Playoff action last night, Devante Smith-Pelly scored twice and John Gibson made 39 saves as Anaheim took a 3-2 series lead with a 4-3 victory over Los Angeles… Smith-Pelly played 55 games in the AHL with Norfolk this season, leading the Admirals with 27 goals… Thomas Vanek scored twice, Max Pacioretty had a goal and an assist and 2007 Calder Cup MVP Carey Price stopped 26 shots in Montreal’s 4-0 win over Boston in Game 6 of their series… Nathan Beaulieu, who played 57 AHL games with Hamilton in 2013-14, picked up an assist in his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut.
100 Club
Texas Stars captain Maxime Fortunus is set to play his 100th career Calder Cup Playoff game tonight, becoming the 16th player (and fifth defenseman) ever to reach that plateau:
159 – Bryan Helmer
128 – Boyd Kane
123 – Ken Gernander
120 – Fred Glover
118 – Alexandre Giroux
115 – Jody Gage
112 – Les Duff
112 – Willie Marshall
112 – Mike Nykoluk
110 – Darren Haydar
107 – Glenn Merkosky
106 – Terry Virtue
106 – Dennis Bonvie
104 – Alain Nasreddine
102 – John Stevens
99 – Maxime Fortunus
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.
