AHL Morning Skate: May 25

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

   
Game 3 – 7:30 ET, AHL Live, 
(Hershey leads series, 2-0)
Follow @TheHersheyBears Follow @TorontoMarlies Tweet #TORvsHER

The Eastern Conference Finals resume tonight with Game 3 in Toronto, as the regular-season champion Marlies face an 0-2 deficit in the best-of-seven… Hershey won the first two games on home ice but now face playing four of the last five games of the series at Ricoh Coliseum… Carter Camper (6-7-13) leads all scorers with 2-2-4 in the series, and brings an eight-game scoring streak into tonight’s contest… Camper has scored six goals on just 14 shots during those eight games… Chandler Stephenson (1-4-5) and Jakub Vrana (5-5-10) also scored for the Bears in Game 2… Justin Peters (9-4, 1.72, .938) made 38 saves in Game 2 and has allowed three goals on 60 shots (.950) in the series thus far… Connor Brown (7-2-9) scored his seventh goal of the postseason on Saturday night, tying him for the AHL playoff lead… Connor Carrick (6-9-15) notched an assist in Game 2 for his league-best 15th point of the postseason… Toronto has scored 18 goals in four games following a loss this postseason… The Marlies have lost back-to-back games for the first time since Mar. 12-13; they have lost three straight only once all season (Mar. 4-6)… Twenty-four teams in AHL history have won a best-of-seven series after losing the first two games, including Toronto in 2008 (vs. Syracuse)… Hershey is 29-1 all-time in best-of-seven series when taking a 2-0 lead (only loss: 1989 vs. Adirondack Red Wings, up 3-0)… Tonight is the Bears’ first playoff game in Canada since their 2009 Calder Cup clinching win over Manitoba at MTS Centre in Winnipeg.

Eastern Conference Finals – Series “M” (best-of-7) 
N1-Toronto Marlies vs. A1-Hershey Bears
Game 1 – Fri., May 20 – HERSHEY 3, Toronto 1
Game 2 – Sat., May 21 – HERSHEY 3, Toronto 2 (OT)
Game 3 – Wed., May 25 – Hershey at Toronto, 7:30
Game 4 – Fri., May 27 – Hershey at Toronto, 7:30
*Game 5 – Sun., May 29 – Hershey at Toronto, 3:00
*Game 6 – Tue., May 31 – Toronto at Hershey, 7:00
*Game 7 – Thu., June 2 – Hershey at Toronto, 7:30
   *if necessary… All times Eastern

   
Game 4 – Thursday, 7:00 ET, AHL Live, 
(Lake Erie leads series, 3-0)
Follow @ontarioreign Follow @monstershockey Tweet #ONTvsLE

Anton Forsberg made 26 saves as Lake Erie closed in on a trip to the Calder Cup Finals with a 4-0 win over Ontario last night… The Monsters have a commanding 3-0 series lead and can sew up their first conference championship in Game 4 on Thursday… Lake Erie, 10-2 this postseason and 19-4 in its last 23 games overall, scored three times in a span of 4:27 during the first period to break Game 3 open; the Monsters scored three goals in 2:36 during Game 1 and scored twice in 12 seconds in Game 2… Oliver Bjorkstrand (5-5-10), Sonny Milano (4-3-7), Josh Anderson (7-4-11) and Markus Hannikainen (2-5-7) scored for Lake Erie last night, chasing Baz Bastien Award winner Peter Budaj after the second period… It was just the second time in his 72 starts this season that Budaj (7-5, 2.27, .900) was replaced… Forsberg (4-0, 1.52, .947) has won four consecutive decisions since taking over the starting duties for the Monsters last round… The Reign had allowed a total of two first-period goals all postseason (10 games) before the Monsters scored five times in the opening frames of Games 2 and 3… Ontario has scored 13 goals in its last seven games — 10 in the third period or overtime, but just three in the second period and none in the first… Three teams in AHL history have won a series after falling behind 0-3: the Rochester Americans (vs. Cleveland, 1960), the Adirondack Red Wings (vs. Hershey, 1989) and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (vs. Providence, 2013).

Western Conference Finals – Series “N” (best-of-7)
P1-Ontario Reign vs. C2-Lake Erie Monsters
Game 1 – Sat., May 21 – Lake Erie 4, ONTARIO 3
Game 2 – Sun., May 22 – Lake Erie 3, ONTARIO 2
Game 3 – Tue., May 24 – LAKE ERIE 4, Ontario 0
Game 4 – Thu., May 26 – Ontario at Lake Erie, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sat., May 28 – Ontario at Lake Erie, noon
*Game 6 – Tue., May 31 – Lake Erie at Ontario, 10:00
*Game 7 – Wed., June 1 – Lake Erie at Ontario, 10:00
   *if necessary… All times Eastern

May 21 – HERSHEY 3, Toronto 2 (Carter Camper, 9:09)
May 16 – Lake Erie 4, GRAND RAPIDS 3 (Zach Werenski, 12:32)
May 15 – HERSHEY 3, W-B/Scranton 2 (Travis Boyd, 10:57)
May 13 – Ontario 4, SAN DIEGO 3 (Mike Amadio, 6:29)
May 9 – W-B/SCRANTON 2, Hershey 1 (Kael Mouillierat, 2:31)
May 8 – ALBANY 3, Toronto 2 (Nick Lappin, 18:40)
May 7 – Ontario 2, SAN DIEGO 1 (Justin Auger, 11:55)
May 5 – LAKE ERIE 3, Grand Rapids 2 (Oliver Bjorkstrand, 12:23)
Apr. 28 – Portland 2, HERSHEY 1 (Rob Flick, 43:10)
Apr. 26 – UTICA 2, Albany 1 (Alexandre Grenier, 9:13)
Apr. 23 – W-B/Scranton 5, PROVIDENCE 4 (Jake Guentzel, 33:52)
Apr. 21 – W-B/SCRANTON 4, Providence 3 (Daniel Sprong, 5:13)
Apr. 20 – W-B/SCRANTON 3, Providence 2 (Carter Rowney, 1:09)

Bruce Cassidy, who won 207 games in five seasons as head coach of the AHL’s Providence Bruins, was named an assistant on Claude Julien’s staff in Boston for next season… Cassidy guided the P-Bruins to four Calder Cup Playoff appearances and a division title in 2012-13, and has helped develop players such as current Bruins Torey Krug, David Pastrnak, Kevan Miller, Ryan Spooner and Frank Vatrano.

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