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 6 – 6:00 ET, AHL Live (STJ leads series, 3-2)
Norfolk and St. John’s return to Mile One Centre for Game 6 of their series after the Admirals’ 3-2 overtime win on Tuesday night extended their season… The IceCaps still lead the series, three games to two, after winning two of three in Virginia, but Andre Petersson‘s power-play goal 13:10 into extra time prevented St. John’s from wrapping things up in Game 5… Petersson (2-3-5) leads the AHL with 34 shots on goal during the postseason… Shea Theodore (1-1-2), Anaheim’s first-round pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, netted his first professional goal for Norfolk in Game 5… Eric O’Dell (6-0-6) scored both IceCaps goals in Game 5, and the former Ducks draft pick has five goals in the last three games against the organization that traded his rights to Atlanta for Erik Christensen on Mar. 4, 2009… Brad Thiessen (1-2, 3.44, .885), who made 36 saves for Norfolk on Tuesday, is 9-2 in 12 career AHL playoff games (11 starts) when facing elimination and shows a 1.34 GAA and .953 save percentage with three shutouts in those contests… Michael Hutchinson (6-3, 1.75, .942) made 34 saves in Game 5, including 13 in overtime.
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 – NORFOLK 3, St. John’s 2 (OT)
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 4 – 7:05 ET, AHL Live (WBS leads series, 2-1)
Down by three goals in the third period, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton rallied for a 5-4 win on Wednesday night and takes a 2-1 series lead into tonight’s Game 4 in Providence… Tom Kostopoulos (3-3-6), Simon Despres (2-2-4) and Conor Sheary (2-3-5) scored in the final 12:23 of regulation to erase a 4-1 deficit before Despres won it 6:32 into the second overtime period… Two of Despres’ three career AHL playoff goals have come in double OT… Chuck Kobasew (5-4-9) also scored for the Penguins, Sheary added two assists for a three-point night and Brendan Mikkelson (0-4-4) and Harry Zolnierczyk (2-4-6) each picked up two assists as well… Seth Griffith (3-5-8), Joe Morrow (2-3-5), Blake Parlett (2-3-5) and Alexander Khokhlachev (5-3-8) scored for the Bruins, who struck twice late in the second period and twice more early in the third… Peter Mannino (5-2, 2.28, .909) finished with 36 saves in the win for the Penguins… Niklas Svedberg (3-4, 2.54, .906) made 20 of his 38 stops for the Bruins in OT… Wilkes-Barre has 11 goals in the last two games after being shut out in Game 1… The Bruins’ eight goals in the series have all come in two spurts: four in 6:30 during the first period of Game 1, and four in a span of 5:50 during Game 3… The Penguins are now 3-1 in overtime this postseason; the Bruins are 1-2.
Eastern Conference Semifinals – Series “J” (best-of-7)
6-W-B/Scranton Penguins vs. 7-Providence Bruins | Series Snapshot
Game 1 – Fri., May 9 – Providence 4, W-B/SCRANTON 0
Game 2 – Sat., May 10 – W-B/SCRANTON 6, Providence 1
Game 3 – Wed., May 14 – W-B/Scranton 5, PROVIDENCE 4 (2OT)
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
Game 5 – 7:00 ET, AHL Live (Series tied, 2-2)
Grand Rapids has clawed its way back into its Western Conference semifinal series, and now hosts a pivotal Game 5 against Texas at Van Andel Arena tonight… The Griffins were outscored 9-2 in losing the first two games of the series on the road, but have responded with 5-2 and 3-2 victories to square the series at 2-all… Jeff Hoggan (4-1-5), David McIntyre (1-1-2) and Andrej Nestrasil (4-2-6) scored for Grand Rapids in Wednesday’s Game 4 win, while Petr Mrazek (5-3, 2.45, .922) made 33 saves… Dustin Jeffrey (3-0-3) and former Griffins defenseman Derek Meech (2-2-4) scored for the Stars… Brendan Ranford (6-1-7) saw his six-game scoring streak come to an end for Texas, but Travis Morin (2-8-10) extended his own streak to six games with an assist… The Stars have lost back-to-back games in regulation for the first time since Feb. 2-4; their only longer losing streak all season was a four-game skid from Oct. 26 to Nov. 1… In Calder Cup Playoff history, 125 previous best-of-7 series have been tied 2-2; the Game 5 winner has won the series 101 times (80.8 percent).
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 – GRAND RAPIDS 5, Texas 2
Game 4 – Wed., May 14 – GRAND RAPIDS 3, Texas 2
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
Game 4 – 7:00 ET, AHL Live (TOR leads series, 3-0)
Toronto needs one more victory to move on to the Western Conference Finals after Wednesday’s 4-3 overtime win over Chicago in Game 3… Jerry D’Amigo (4-7-11) scored 3:28 into OT to give the Marlies their sixth consecutive victory to open the postseason… D’Amigo also had an assist in Game 3 and leads the AHL with his 11 playoff points… D’Amigo and Trevor Smith (2-6-8) both have points in all six playoff games for the Marlies… T.J. Brennan (3-3-6), Peter Holland (3-2-5) and Brandon Kozun (3-2-5) also scored for Toronto on Wednesday night… Dmitrij Jaskin (4-5-9), Adam Cracknell (3-1-4) and Tyler Shattock (1-1-2) scored for the Wolves, who erased three separate one-goal deficits in regulation of Game 3… Drew MacIntyre (6-0, 1.82, .941) made 32 saves, improving his career AHL playoff record to 38-26… Jake Allen (3-5, 3.30, .877) stopped 26 shots in the loss… Toronto has not trailed in a game all postseason… The Marlies have never swept a best-of-seven playoff series; the Wolves have not been swept since the 2005 Calder Cup Finals vs. Philadelphia.
Western Conference Semifinals – Series “L” (best-of-7)
2-Chicago Wolves vs. 3-Toronto Marlies | Series Snapshot
Game 1 – Fri., May 9 – Toronto 5, CHICAGO 2
Game 2 – Sat., May 10 – Toronto 4, CHICAGO 2
Game 3 – Wed., May 14 – TORONTO 4, Chicago 3 (OT)
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
Working Overtime
There have been 13 overtime games played in the 2014 Calder Cup Playoffs so far… Road teams are 8-5 this year, and 28-11 in the last 39 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)
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)
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.
