AHL Morning Skate: May 14

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

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

   
Game 4 – 8:00 ET, AHL Live, SiriusXM NHL Network Radio (GR leads series, 2-1)

Rockford got in the win column last night, and now looks to even the best-of-seven series with another win over Grand Rapids in Game 4 tonight… The IceHogs’ 4-1 victory in Game 3 ended the Griffins’ five-game winning streak and dropped them to 0-3 on the road this postseason… Mark McNeill (2-1-3) scored shorthanded, Ryan Hartman (2-1-3) added a power-play goal and Stephen Johns (3-4-7) recorded a goal and an assist to spark the IceHogs, who had been outscored 10-4 in the first two games of the series… Michael Leighton (4-2, 2.51, .922) stopped 23 of 24 shots and helped Rockford kill off seven of eight Grand Rapids power plays on the night… Teemu Pulkkinen (12-1-13) scored a power-play goal for the Griffins in Game 3, his sixth goal of the series and his league-leading 12th goal in eight postseason games… Tom McCollum (5-2, 2.87, .910) made 23 saves in defeat… Tonight’s game can be heard live on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio (Sirius 211, XM 218).

Western Conference Semifinals – Series “L” (best-of-7)
2-Grand Rapids Griffins vs. 4-Rockford IceHogs

Game 1 – Wed., May 6 – GRAND RAPIDS 5, Rockford 3
Game 2 – Fri., May 8 – GRAND RAPIDS 5, Rockford 1
Game 3 – Wed., May 13 – ROCKFORD 4, Grand Rapids 1
Game 4 – Thu., May 14 – Grand Rapids at Rockford, 8:00
Game 5 – Sun., May 17 – Grand Rapids at Rockford, 5:00
*Game 6 – Tue., May 19 – Rockford at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*Game 7 – Wed., May 20 – Rockford at Grand Rapids, 7:00
   *if necessary… All times Eastern

   
Game 5 – 8:00 ET, AHL Live (Series tied, 2-2)

Oklahoma City evened up its Western Conference semifinal series with a 7-4 win over Utica in Game 4 last night… The seven goals scored matched a season high for the Barons, previously done in an 8-7 shootout loss to Rochester on Jan. 18… Jujhar Khaira (3-0-3) scored twice in Game 4, including the go-ahead goal late in the second period… Brad Hunt (1-6-7), held without a point over the first three games of the series, broke out with a goal and three assists… Darnell Nurse (0-3-3), the seventh overall pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft by Edmonton, made his first AHL appearance of the season and recorded three assists for the Barons… Andrew Miller (3-3-6), Matthew Ford (2-7-9), Ryan Hamilton (4-0-4) and Brandon Davidson (1-0-1) all scored power-play goals as Oklahoma City went 4-for-6 with the man advantage in Game 4… The Barons are 10-for-24 (41.7 percent) at home on the power play this postseason, but 0-for-8 on the road… Ford has points in all seven playoff games for Oklahoma City… Richard Bachman (4-2, 1.63, .949) made 38 saves in the win… Hunter Shinkaruk (3-1-4), Sven Baertschi (2-5-7), Alex Friesen (2-4-6) and Brendan Gaunce (3-0-3) scored for the Comets in last night’s loss, and Jacob Markstrom (5-4, 2.09, .918) finished with 17 saves on 23 shots… Alexandre Grenier (2-6-8) had an assist for Utica in Game 4 and leads all scorers with 2-3-5 in the series.

Western Conference Semifinals – Series “K” (best-of-7)
1-Utica Comets vs. 6-Oklahoma City Barons

Game 1 – Thu., May 7 – Oklahoma City 2, UTICA 1 (4OT)
Game 2 – Fri., May 8 – UTICA 2, Oklahoma City 1 (OT)
Game 3 – Mon., May 11 – Utica 3, OKLAHOMA CITY 2
Game 4 – Wed., May 13 – OKLAHOMA CITY 7, Utica 4
Game 5 – Thu., May 14 – Utica at Oklahoma City, 8:00
Game 6 – Mon., May 18 – Oklahoma City at Utica, 7:00
*Game 7 – Wed., May 20 – Oklahoma City at Utica, 7:00
   *if necessary… All times Eastern

Last Night’s Recaps/Highlights
Mueller gives Wolf Pack a 3-2 series lead
Barons square series with Comets
IceHogs break through in Game 3
Working Overtime
There have been 13 overtime games played in the 2015 Calder Cup Playoffs so far… Home teams are 7-6:

May 13 – Hartford 5, HERSHEY 4 (Chris Mueller, 11:39)
May 8 – UTICA 2, Oklahoma City 1 (Alexandre Grenier, 3:32)
May 7 – Oklahoma City 2, UTICA 1 (Curtis Hamilton, 60:16)
May 6 – MANCHESTER 4, W-B/Scranton 3 (Zach O’Brien, 44:13)
May 6 – Hartford 2, HERSHEY 1 (Chris Bourque, 16:47)
May 1 – Chicago 4, UTICA 3 (Joel Edmundson, 2:19)
*May 1 – HARTFORD 3, Providence 2 (Tommy Hughes, 4:35)
*Apr. 29 – ROCKFORD 3, Texas 2 (Stephen Johns, 0:23)
*Apr. 29 – Oklahoma City 2, SAN ANTONIO 1 (Jujhar Khaira, 5:01)
Apr. 29 – UTICA 2, Chicago 1 (Darren Archibald, 10:58)
Apr. 26 – PROVIDENCE 2, Hartford 1 (Seth Griffith, 42:00)
Apr. 25 – OKLAHOMA CITY 4, San Antonio 3 (Connor Jones, 4:01)
Apr. 22 – Utica 3, CHICAGO 2 (Bobby Sanguinetti, 23:10)
  *series clincher

Alumni Watch
Dan Girardi and former AHL All-Star Keith Yandle drew the assists on the game-winning goal as the N.Y. Rangers downed Washington, 2-1 in overtime, to win Game 7 of their Eastern Conference Second Round series last night… The Rangers will meet Tampa Bay in the conference finals; the Lightning are coached by 2012 AHL coach of the year Jon Cooper and have been led offensively by 2013 AHL MVP Tyler Johnson, both members of the Norfolk Admirals’ 2012 Calder Cup championship team… The Western Conference final will pit Chicago against AHL Hall of Famer Bruce Boudreau and his Anaheim Ducks..
AHL Live
Don’t miss a second on the road to the 2015 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.