AHL Morning Skate: May 8

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

   
Game 3 – 4:00 ET, AHL Live
(Lake Erie leads series, 2-0)
Follow @monstershockey Follow @griffinshockey Tweet #LEvsGR

Grand Rapids looks to get back in the Central Division Finals as it hosts Game 3 this afternoon… Lake Erie improved to 5-0 on the postseason and grabbed a 2-0 series lead with a come-from-behind 4-3 win yesterday… Down a goal with six minutes remaining, the Monsters got late goals from Ryan Craig (2-3-5) and Daniel Zaar (2-2-4) to win for just the fourth time all season when trailing after two periods (4-20-2-0)… Sonny Milano (2-2-4) and Steve Eminger (1-0-1) staked Lake Erie to an early 2-0 lead in Game 2 with a pair of power-play goals; but Grand Rapids pulled even on goals by Eric Tangradi (2-3-5) and Xavier Ouellet (1-1-2) before Andy Miele (1-2-3) scored late in the second period to put the Griffins ahead before the Monsters staged their comeback… Joonas Korpisalo (5-0, 2.11, .915) made 23 saves in the win… Zach Werenski (2-3-5) tallied two assists for the Monsters in Game 2… Making his 19th consecutive postseason start going back to last spring, Tom McCollum (3-2, 1.94, .935) finished with 16 saves in defeat… Andreas Athanasiou (0-1-1) picked up an assist yesterday for his first AHL point since Dec. 19… Lake Erie was 2-for-6 on the power play in Game 2 and is 4-for-12 (33.3 percent) in the series and 9-for-23 (39.1 percent) for the postseason… Grand Rapids also scored two power-play goals in Game 2 (2-for-7), after having started the playoffs 2-for-17.

Central Division Finals – Series “K” (best-of-7) 
C2-Lake Erie Monsters vs. C4-Grand Rapids Griffins 
Game 1 – Thu., May 5 – LAKE ERIE 3, Grand Rapids 2 (OT)
Game 2 – Sat., May 7 – LAKE ERIE 4, Grand Rapids 3
Game 3 – Sun., May 8 – Lake Erie at Grand Rapids, 4:00
Game 4 – Tue., May 10 – Lake Erie at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sat., May 14 – Grand Rapids at Lake Erie, 7:00
*Game 6 – Mon., May 16 – Lake Erie at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*Game 7 – Tue., May 17 – Grand Rapids at Lake Erie, 7:00
   *if necessary… All times Eastern

   
Game 3 – 5:00 ET, AHL Live
(Series tied, 1-1)
Follow @TorontoMarlies Follow @AlbanyDevils Tweet #TORvsALB

The North Division Finals series heads to the Times Union Center this evening for Game 3 with Toronto and Albany all square at a game apiece… The Marlies evened the series with a crucial 5-3 win on Friday night, getting two goals each from T.J. Brennan (4-0-4) and Zach Hyman (3-1-4) and a 40-save effort from Antoine Bibeau (2-0, 3.16, .908)… Connor Carrick (5-5-10) tallied two assists in Game 2, and his 10 points are tied for the most in the AHL this postseason… Sam Carrick (0-3-3) also had two assists in the win for Toronto… Defenseman Dan Kelly (1-2-3) tallied a goal and an assist for the Devils in Game 2, his first multiple-point effort since Feb. 28, 2015 vs. Hershey… Matt Lorito (3-2-5) scored a goal for the third game in a row, and Nick Lappin (1-1-2) potted his first playoff goal… Albany played Friday night without forwards Pavel Zacha (1-2-3) and Jim O’Brien (2-2-4), both injured in Game 1… Albany was 27-7-3-1 at home and Toronto was 27-7-3-1 on the road during the regular season, both good for the best records in the AHL.

North Division Finals – Series “J” (best-of-7)
N1-Toronto Marlies vs. N2-Albany Devils
Game 1 – Wed., May 4 – Albany 2, TORONTO 1
Game 2 – Fri., May 6 – TORONTO 5, Albany 3
Game 3 – Sun., May 8 – Toronto at Albany, 5:00
Game 4 – Tue., May 10 – Toronto at Albany, 7:00
Game 5 – Thu., May 12 – Toronto at Albany, 7:00
*Game 6 – Sat., May 14 – Albany at Toronto, 3:00
*Game 7 – Mon., May 16 – Albany at Toronto, 7:30
   *if necessary… All times Eastern

   
Game 3 – 10:00 ET, AHL Live
(Ontario leads series, 2-0)
Follow @SDGullsAHL Follow @ontarioreign Tweet #ONTvsSD

Justin Auger scored 11:55 into overtime last night to give Ontario a 2-1 win and a 2-0 lead in the Pacific Division Finals… With the teams alternating home ice every game, the series shifts back to the Inland Empire for tonight’s Game 3… San Diego, which had scored 15 goals in its previous three games, was shut out for the final 68:33 of last night’s contest after Nick Ritchie (4-2-6) put the Gulls on the board at 3:22 of the first period… Ritchie has a point in all six playoff games for San Diego thus far… Kris Newbury (1-1-2) tied things up on a Reign power play early in the third, his first postseason tally in 18 games going back to 2012… Auger (2-2-4) scored the winning goal off a rebound of a Kevin Gravel (0-3-3) shot after Adrian Kempe (2-1-3) won an offensive-zone faceoff… Matt Hackett (1-2, 2.60, .916) was brilliant in net for the Gulls, finishing with 42 saves in defeat… Peter Budaj (5-1, 1.62, .921) stopped 26 of 27 shots for the Reign, who are outshooting their opponents 224-126 through six postseason games… Chris Mueller (2-5-7) had an assist for San Diego last night, his team-leading seventh point of the playoffs… Jacob Larsson, Anaheim’s first-round pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, made his North American pro debut for the Gulls in Game 2… Ontario was 4-for-4 on the penalty kill last night, improving to 16-for-16 this postseason.

Pacific Division Finals – Series “L” (best-of-7)
P1-Ontario Reign vs. P2-San Diego Gulls
Game 1 – Thu., May 5 – ONTARIO 5, San Diego 3
Game 2 – Sat., May 7 – Ontario 2, SAN DIEGO 1 (OT)
Game 3 – Sun., May 8 – San Diego at Ontario, 10:00
Game 4 – Fri., May 13 – Ontario at San Diego, 10:05
*Game 5 – Sat., May 14 – San Diego at Ontario, 10:00
*Game 6 – Mon., May 16 – Ontario at San Diego, 10:05
*Game 7 – Wed., May 18 – San Diego at Ontario, 10:00
   *if necessary… All times Eastern

#LEvsGR: Down a goal with six minutes left, Lake Erie rallied for a 4-3 win over Grand Rapids in Game 2 of the Central Division Finals

#ONTvsSD: Justin Auger scored 11:55 into overtime to give Ontario a 2-1 win over San Diego in Game 2 of the Pacific Division Finals

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)

At the IIHF World Championships in Russia yesterday, 2015 Eddie Shore Award winner Chris Wideman tallied a goal and an assist and 2016 Red Garrett Award co-winner Frank Vatrano notched two assists as the United States defeated Belarus, 6-3… Nicklas Jensen, who had 19-18-37 between Utica and Hartford this season, scored twice for Denmark in a 3-0 shutout of Norway… 2013 Calder Cup champion Tomas Jurco had a goal and an assist in Slovakia’s 4-1 win over Hungary… 2005 AHL All-Star Tomas Plekanec scored twice for the Czech Republic in a 4-3 shootout win over Latvia… Former 35-goal AHL scorer Nigel Dawes netted the decisive shootout goal for Kazakhstan in a 3-2 victory over Switzerland.

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