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 4 – 7:00 ET, AHL Live (GR leads series, 2-1)
Wednesday’s 5-4 win gave Grand Rapids a 2-1 series lead over Toronto heading into Game 4 tonight at Van Andel Arena… After dropping Game 2, the Griffins quickly regained momentum with two goals in the opening 5:45 on Wednesday night as Adam Almquist (3-2-5) and Jeff Hoggan (2-3-5) found the net early… The Marlies eventually pulled even at 3-3 in the second period, but Francis Pare (2-6-8) and Jan Mursak (3-3-6) restored Grand Rapids’ two-goal lead and the Griffins’ defense clamped down, allowing just four third-period shots and holding on for the win… Almquist, Hoggan, Pare and Mursak all had a goal and an assist for Grand Rapids; Riley Sheahan (1-5-6) and Landon Ferraro (1-6-7) tallied two assists each; and Petr Mrazek (5-3, 2.01, .918) finished with 16 saves… Spencer Abbott (1-1-2) and Carter Ashton (1-2-3) picked up a goal and an assist each for Toronto… Marlies captain Ryan Hamilton (1-0-1) returned from the parent Maple Leafs and scored his fifth career playoff goal… Drew MacIntyre (4-2, 3.10, .905) stopped 27 of 32 shots in the loss… Grand Rapids has scored 21 goals in its last four games, with Pare and Tomas Tatar (6-2-8) leading the way with seven points each in that span.
Western Conference Semifinal – Series “L” (best-of-7)
2-Toronto Marlies vs. 3-Grand Rapids Griffins
Game 1 – Fri., May 10 – Grand Rapids 7, TORONTO 0
Game 2 – Sat., May 11 – TORONTO 4, Grand Rapids 2
Game 3 – Wed., May 15 – GRAND RAPIDS 5, Toronto 4
Game 4 – Fri., May 17 – Toronto at Grand Rapids, 7:00
Game 5 – Sat., May 18 – Toronto at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*Game 6 – Tue., May 21 – Grand Rapids at Toronto, 7:00
*Game 7 – Wed., May 22 – Grand Rapids at Toronto, 7:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
Game 4 – 7:00 ET, AHL Live (SYR leads series, 3-0)
Syracuse took a 3-0 series lead with a 3-0 win over Springfield on Wednesday night, moving to within one victory of the franchise’s first trip to the conference finals since 1996… Ondrej Palat (4-11-15) scored one goal and assisted on the other two in Game 3, and now has at least two points in nine of his last 10 games dating back to the regular season… Tyler Johnson (7-7-14) scored his fifth goal of the series for the Crunch, giving him 12-9-21 in nine games since returning from Tampa Bay… Richard Panik (4-3-7) also scored in Game 3, and Cedrick Desjardins (6-0, 2.02, .912) stopped 24 shots for his second career playoff shutout… Palat (1-7-8), Johnson (5-3-8) and Panik (3-2-5) have combined for 21 points in the first three games of the series… Syracuse scored two shorthanded goals on Wednesday, and now has three shorties in the series and a league-leading four on the postseason… Curtis McElhinney (3-4, 2.97, .895) made 22 saves in the Game 3 loss… Springfield has not scored a goal in its last 132:19 of play at the Onondaga County War Memorial, going back to a 5-2 loss on Dec. 28, 2011… The Falcons are 6-6 all-time when facing elimination; the Crunch are 5-12 all-time with a chance to close out a series.
Eastern Conference Semifinal – Series “J” (best-of-7)
2-Springfield Falcons vs. 3-Syracuse Crunch
Game 1 – Fri., May 10 – Syracuse 5, SPRINGFIELD 2
Game 2 – Sat., May 11 – Syracuse 5, SPRINGFIELD 3
Game 3 – Wed., May 15 – SYRACUSE 3, Springfield 0
Game 4 – Fri., May 17 – Springfield at Syracuse, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sat., May 18 – Springfield at Syracuse, 7:00
*Game 6 – Tue., May 21 – Syracuse at Springfield, 7:00
*Game 7 – Wed., May 22 – Syracuse at Springfield, 7:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
Game 4 – 7:05 ET, AHL Live (PRO leads series, 3-0)
Carter Camper‘s goal 31 seconds into overtime on Wednesday night gave Providence a 2-1 victory and a commanding three-games-to-none lead over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in their Eastern Conference semifinal series… Camper (7-5-12) extended his scoring streak to seven games with the goal, his seventh on 16 shots this postseason (43.8 percent)… Jared Knight (1-1-2) scored the Bruins’ other goal in Game 3, and Niklas Svedberg (6-2, 3.18, .902) made 32 saves to lead Providence to its sixth consecutive victory after losing the first two games in the opening round to Hershey… B’s forwards Chris Bourque (5-8-13) and Jamie Tardif (7-3-10) were held scoreless in Game 3 after combining for 13 points in Games 1 and 2… Trevor Smith (1-4-5), who tied for the AHL playoff scoring lead with 16 points for Norfolk in 2012, netted his first goal of this postseason for the Penguins… Brad Thiessen (1-1, 1.51, .932), earning his second start of the playoffs, stopped 20 of 22 shots in defeat… Wednesday’s loss marked the third time since 2008 that the Penguins have lost a playoff game in the opening minute of overtime… Providence is now 19-10 all-time in playoff OT games, including 10-4 on the road… Wilkes-Barre is 22-18, including 9-9 at home… The Penguins, who have won four series in their history after trailing 0-2, are 17-11 all-time when facing elimination… The Bruins own a record of 17-8 when trying to wrap up a series, including nine straight wins since their last loss in Game 7 of the 2000 conference finals vs. Hartford.
Eastern Conference Semifinal – Series “I” (best-of-7)
1-Providence Bruins vs. 5-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
Game 1 – Fri., May 10 – PROVIDENCE 8, W-B/Scranton 5
Game 2 – Sat., May 11 – PROVIDENCE 4, W-B/Scranton 2
Game 3 – Wed., May 15 – Providence 2, W-B/SCRANTON 1 (OT)
Game 4 – Fri., May 17 – Providence at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
*Game 5 – Sat., May 18 – Providence at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
*Game 6 – Mon., May 20 – W-B/Scranton at Providence, 7:05
*Game 7 – Wed., May 22 – W-B/Scranton at Providence, 7:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern
About Last Night…
Oklahoma City earned a return trip to the Western Conference Finals with a convincing 5-1 win over the top-seeded Texas Stars, finishing off their best-of-seven series in five games… The Barons are the fourth team to reach back-to-back West finals since the 2001 expansion (Houston 2002-03, Chicago 2007-08, Hamilton 2010-11)… Mark Arcobello, who notched a goal and two assists in Game 5, scored in each game of the series vs. Texas (6-2-8) and leads the AHL in goals (9) and points (15, tied) this postseason… C.J. Stretch scored for a third straight game, and Yann Danis made 33 saves for his sixth win in the last seven games… Oklahoma City outscored Texas 16-4 over the last three games after the Stars had allowed eight goals total in their first six playoff contests… In the Stanley Cup Playoffs last night, Torey Krug — who has three assists in seven Calder Cup Playoff games for Providence this postseason — scored his first career National Hockey League goal and fellow P-Bruins alumnus Brad Marchand scored 15:40 into overtime as Boston defeated the N.Y. Rangers, 3-2, in Game 1 of their second-round series… Former Manchester Monarchs Dustin Brown and Trevor Lewis scored in the final 1:43 of regulation to give Los Angeles a 4-3 win over San Jose and a 2-0 series lead.
It’s Been Done Before
The Springfield Falcons and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are looking to do what two teams have pulled off in league history… Of the 124 previous teams to trail a best-of-seven series 3-0, only the 1960 Rochester Americans (vs. Cleveland) and the 1989 Adirondack Red Wings (vs. Hershey) came back to win the series:
1960 Semifinals
Game 1 – Cleveland 2, ROCHESTER 0
Game 2 – Cleveland 2, ROCHESTER 1
Game 3 – CLEVELAND 7, Rochester 5
Game 4 – Rochcester 5, CLEVELAND 3
Game 5 – ROCHESTER 4, Cleveland 1
Game 6 – Rochester 5, CLEVELAND 3
Game 7 – ROCHESTER 4, Cleveland 1
1989 Southern Division Finals
Game 1 – Hershey 4, ADIRONDACK 3
Game 2 – Hershey 5, ADIRONDACK 3
Game 3 – HERSHEY 1, Adirondack 0
Game 4 – Adirondack 6, HERSHEY 3
Game 5 – ADIRONDACK 3, Hershey 2 (OT)
Game 6 – Adirondack 4, HERSHEY 2
Game 7 – ADIRONDACK 2, Hershey 1 (OT)
Playoff Streakers
Oklahoma City’s Mark Arcobello extended his scoring streak to seven games last night with three points in the Barons’ series-clinching win over Texas, tying Providence’s Carter Camper for the longest such streak of these playoffs. Here are the longest postseason scoring streaks since 2006:
14 – Darren Haydar, Milwaukee (2006)
13 – Alexandre Giroux, Hershey (2009)
13 – Jason Krog, Chicago (2008)
12 – Keith Aucoin, Hershey (2010)
12 – Darren Haydar, Chicago (2008)
12 – Zenon Konopka, Portland (2006)
11 – Jason Krog, Chicago (2007)
10 – Bud Holloway, Manchester (2010)
10 – Alexandre Giroux, Hartford (2006)
10 – P.A. Parenteau, Portland (2006)
9 – David Desharnais, Hamilton (2010)
9 – Tomas Fleischmann, Hershey (2006)
9 – Kris Beech, Hershey (2006)
Arcobello has also scored a goal in five consecutive playoff games, matching the longest playoff goal-scoring streak in the last five years:
7 – Joel Kwiatkowski, Chicago (2008)
5 – Mark Arcobello, Oklahoma City (2013, active)
5 – Bobby Butler, Binghamton (2011)
5 – Chris Minard, W-B/Scranton (2009)
5 – Jason Krog, Chicago (2008)
With a win tonight, Syracuse would become the 10th team in AHL history to begin a postseason with at least seven consecutive wins:
12 – Hershey Bears (1988, finished 12-0)
10 – Hershey Bears (2006)
9 – Rochester Americans (1996)
9 – Cleveland Barons (1964, finished 9-0)
8 – Nova Scotia Voyageurs (1973)
8 – Springfield Indians (1961, finished 8-0)
8 – Indianapolis Capitals (1950, finished 8-0)
7 – Providence Bruins (2000)
7 – Pittsburgh Hornets (1951)
It Was Twenty Years Ago Today
The Cape Breton Oilers won the 1993 Calder Cup championship on the strength of a remarkable postseason by forward Bill McDougall, who shattered AHL records with 26 goals and 52 points in just 16 playoff games.
On May 17, 1993, McDougall notched four goals and three assists — tying a single-game playoff record with seven points — as Cape Breton advanced to the Calder Cup Finals with a 9-3 win over the Springfield Indians, the Oilers’ 10th consecutive victory. At that point, McDougall had recorded 23-17-40 through his first 11 playoff games.
Working Overtime
There have been 12 overtime games played in the 2013 Calder Cup Playoffs so far… Road teams are 9-3:
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)
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.
