AHL Morning Skate: May 9

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 3 – 7:05 ET, AHL Live (MCH leads series, 2-0)
@MonarchsHockey | @WBSPenguins | #MCHvsWBS

Manchester brings a 2-0 series lead into the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza for Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton tonight… The Monarchs, 5-0 at home this postseason but 0-2 on the road, followed Wednesday’s triple-overtime victory with a 5-2 decision in Game 2 on Thursday… Jordan Weal (7-5-12), Brian O’Neill (6-3-9) and Michael Mersch (5-6-11) had three points apiece for the Monarchs in Game 2, and have now combined for 32 points in Manchester’s seven postseason contests, or 41.0 percent of the team’s offense… Jean-Francois Berube (5-2, 2.59, .880) made 18 saves on Thursday for his 11th consecutive home win… Conor Sheary (4-4-8) and Dominik Uher (2-2-4) scored for the Penguins in Game 2, part of a stretch of three combined goals in 24 seconds during the second period that saw a 1-0 Monarchs lead quickly become a 2-2 tie… Matt Murray (3-2, 1.93, .937) stopped 29 of 33 shots, but has now lost back-to-back decisions for the first time since an 0-3-1 slide in December… Manchester has held its opponent to 20 shots or fewer in four of seven playoff games… The Penguins have trailed a best-of-seven playoff series 12 times in their history; they came back to win the series five times.

Eastern Conference Semifinals – Series “I” (best-of-7)
1-Manchester Monarchs vs. 4-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
Game 1 – Wed., May 6 – MANCHESTER 4, W-B/Scranton 3 (3OT)
Game 2 – Thu., May 7 – MANCHESTER 5, W-B/Scranton 2
Game 3 – Sat., May 9 – Manchester at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
Game 4 – Mon., May 11 – Manchester at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
*Game 5 – Tue., May 12 – Manchester at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
*Game 6 – Fri., May 15 – W-B/Scranton at Manchester, 7:00
*Game 7 – Sat., May 16 – W-B/Scranton at Manchester, 7:00
   *if necessary… All times Eastern

Last Night’s Recaps/Highlights
Comets work their own OT magic, win Game 2
Griffins cruise to 2-0 series lead
Bears rally to even series in Game 2
Working Overtime
There have been 12 overtime games played in the 2015 Calder Cup Playoffs so far… Home teams are 7-5:

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
Chris Kreider scored with 1:41 left in regulation and Ryan McDonagh scored 9:37 into overtime as the N.Y. Rangers rallied for a 2-1 win over Washington in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference Second Round series last night… Kreider and McDonagh were two of nine former Hartford Wolf Pack players in the Rangers lineup… Braden Holtby, a member of the Hershey Bears’ 2010 Calder Cup championship team, made 41 saves for the Capitals… Jakob Silfverberg had a goal and an assist and Matt Beleskey netted the winning goal in the third period as Anaheim defeated Calgary, 4-2, to take a 3-1 lead in their Western Conference series.
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.