AHL Morning Skate: Nov. 18

Last night’s results || Today’s scoreboard || Standings || League Leaders

nor @ stj 6:00 ET, AHL Live
The top two offenses in the AHL collide at Mile One Centre as Norfolk visits St. John’s in the opener of a two-game set tonight… The Admirals have scored 3.69 goals per game this season, second only to the IceCaps’ 3.88 goals per game… St. John’s owns the best record in the league at 11-2-3-0, including six straight wins and points in eight straight (6-0-2-0)… Aaron Gagnon has found the scoresheet in each of his last six games for the IceCaps (2-5-7)… Norfolk was 7-2-0-1 in October but has lost four of six in November so far… Admirals forwards Cory Conacher (8-10-18), Trevor Smith (6-12-18) and Carter Ashton (11-6-17) are all among the top eight scorers in the league.

rfd @ cha 7:00 ET, AHL Live
Rockford begins a two-game weekend visit to Charlotte at the Time Warner Cable Arena tonight… The Checkers are back home after a 5-4-0-0 road trip, and will play 12 of their next 15 games in the Queen City… Zac Dalpe, who has appeared in nine NHL games this season, was assigned to Charlotte by Carolina yesterday, while defenseman Justin Faulk was recalled by the Hurricanes… The IceHogs have lost three in a row, including a 5-4 setback to Oklahoma City on Wednesday night… Peter LeBlanc scored his first two goals of the season and added an assist in Wednesday’s loss.

bri @ ct 7:00 ET, AHL Live
Bridgeport heads upstate to Hartford to take on Connecticut at the XL Center tonight… The Sound Tigers have already beaten the Whale twice this season, once in a shootout (5-4 on Oct. 15) and once in overtime (4-3 on Nov. 2)… Bridgeport’s last 10 games have all been decided by one goal (6-3-1-0)… David Ullstrom has scored a goal in six straight games for the Sound Tigers, including three game-winning goals… The Whale have lost four of their last five games (1-3-1-0) after a 6-1-0-2 start to the season… Rookie forward Carl Hagelin has 3-2-5 in his last four games for Connecticut… The Sound Tigers and Whale enter play tied in the Northeast Division, one point behind idle first-place Albany.

sa @ gr 7:00 ET, AHL Live
San Antonio begins a seven-game road trip in Grand Rapids tonight… The Griffins, kicking off a five-game homestand, dropped a 2-1 decision to Rochester in their most recent action last Saturday… Jamie Johnson had a five-game scoring streak (6-3-9) snapped in the loss… Grand Rapids’ Chris Conner is tied for third in the AHL in scoring (6-13-19)… The Rampage (5-9-0-0) were blanked at home by Abbotsford, 4-0, on Tuesday night… Jacob Markstrom (1-3-0, 3.51, .880) has started four straight games for San Antonio since being assigned by Florida… Three of Grand Rapids’ six wins this season have been shutouts.

wor @ mch 7:00 ET, AHL Live
Worcester, with one win in its last six games (1-4-1-0), visits Manchester to take on the Monarchs tonight… It’s the Sharks’ first trip of the season to the Verizon Wireless Arena; the teams have split a pair of meetings back in Worcester… The Monarchs have been off since last Saturday’s 2-1 win over Worcester, in which Jeff Zatkoff made 46 saves… Sharks rookie Mike Connolly has 2-2-4 in the season series; 20 other skaters (eight Sharks and 12 Monarchs) have one point apiece… Worcester (22.25 PIM per game) and Manchester (20.59) are the two most penalized teams in the AHL.

wbs @ por 7:00 ET, AHL Live
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton brings a perfect 8-0-0-0 road record north for a three-game trip through New England, beginning tonight in Portland… The Penguins, who have won 12 straight regular-season games away from home going back to last season, have also won nine of 10 overall to move into first place in the East Division… Wilkes-Barre’s Scott Munroe (1-1-1, 1.82, .928) made 25 saves in a 3-0 win over Binghamton on Tuesday for his second shutout in three starts this season… Portland is coming off a come-from-behind 4-2 win over Adirondack on Tuesday night… Rookie Andy Miele had a goal and an assist in the win, and now shows 2-4-6 in his last four contests.

spr @ pro 7:05 ET, AHL Live
Providence, having alternated losses and wins over its last eight games, goes for its first winning streak in a month as Springfield invades the Dunkin’ Donuts Center tonight… The Bruins got 47 saves from Anton Khudobin (7-6-0, 2.74, .921) in a 3-2 win at Worcester on Sunday… Zach Hamill, in his first game back from a stint in Boston, had a goal and an assist in the victory… Alexandre Giroux‘s 344th career AHL goal was the winner in Springfield’s 3-2 overtime victory over Worcester on Wednesday night… Martin St. Pierre extended his scoring streak to eight games (3-8-11) with two assists in the win.

her @ syr 7:30 ET, AHL Live
Hershey tries to put the brakes on a three-game road slide as the Bears visit Syracuse tonight… The only previous meeting of the season between the teams was a 7-0 Hershey victory on Oct. 23, with Dany Sabourin making 36 saves and Chris Bourque, Jacob Micflikier and Julien Brouillette notching three points each… Hershey has lost five of seven since then (2-3-2-0) and sits in third place in the East Division, two points ahead of Syracuse… The Crunch got 41 saves from Iiro Tarkki in a 3-2 loss at Rochester on Wednesday… Peter Holland (3-3-6) scored a goal in the loss, his first game back from Anaheim.

bng vs. ham 7:30 ET at Montreal, AHL Live
After facing off in Ottawa on Sunday, Hamilton and Binghamton take to the Bell Centre ice in Montreal for another showdown tonight… The Bulldogs have won their last three "home" games in Montreal, including a 5-2 win over the Senators on Nov. 5, 2010… Andreas Engqvist and Frederic St. Denis both scored against Binghamton in Ottawa last week, and both have since been recalled by the parent Canadiens… Mike Blunden and Phil DeSimone scored for Hamilton in a 3-2 shootout loss to Peoria on Tuesday… Binghamton’s winless streak hit eight games (0-7-0-1) with a 3-0 loss in Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday… The Sens have scored 10 goals those eight games, and Mike Hoffman has points on five of them (1-4-5).

tor @ rch 7:35 ET, AHL Live
Toronto wraps up a nine-game road stretch in Rochester tonight with the opener of a home-and-home against the Americans… The Marlies are 2-4-1-1 on the trip so far, which has included stops in Cleveland, Cedar Park, San Antonio, Houston, Oklahoma City, Glens Falls and Albany… Nazem Kadri has 1-6-7 in his last six games and scored the winning goal in Toronto’s 4-3 overtime win at Albany on Sunday… Jussi Rynnas ended a personal five-game losing streak with 23 saves vs. the Devils… Rochester is looking to close out a perfect five-game homestand and can secure the club’s first five-game win streak since they won 11 in a row early in the 2009-10 season… Colin Stuart has a goal in three straight games and points in four straight (3-3-6) for the Amerks.

abb @ okc 8:00 ET, AHL Live
First place in the West Division is on the line as Oklahoma City welcomes Abbotsford to town for a pair of games… The Barons (11-4-0-1) and Heat (11-4-1-0) come in with nearly identical records, but Oklahoma City swept two games up in B.C. on Nov. 3 and 5 — the only Abbotsford losses in their last nine games (7-1-1-0)… Krys Kolanos had two goals and an assist — already his fourth game with at least three points — in Tuesday’s 4-0 Heat win in San Antonio, and he now shows 9-7-16 in just eight games… Leland Irving (11-4-0, 1.93, .927) made 34 saves for his second shutout of the year, and he leads the AHL in wins and minutes played while ranking second in GAA… Teemu Hartikainen recorded two goals and an assist in a 5-4 Barons win in Rockford on Wednesday… Ryan Keller and Philippe Cornet added a goal and an assist each; Cornet is tied for the AHL lead with 11 goals on the year.

chi @ mil 8:00 ET, AHL Live
Craig MacTavish’s Chicago Wolves and Kirk Muller’s Milwaukee Admirals meet for the fifth time this season as the Wolves head to the Bradley Center tonight… Chicago has won three in a row, most recently a 6-3 decision in Milwaukee last Saturday… Kevin Connauton (4-2-6) scored twice in that win and former Admiral Darren Haydar (5-9-14) had two assists, giving him 1-5-6 in his last two games… Kyle Wilson leads Milwaukee in scoring with 4-7-11 on the season, including 3-1-4 in his last four outings… Jeremy Smith (7-2-1, 1.98, .925) has allowed two goals or fewer in eight of his 10 starts for the Admirals.

tex @ hou 8:35 ET, AHL Live
Texas makes its first appearance of the season at Toyota Center in Houston tonight as the Stars and Aeros play for the first of four meetings in the next nine days… The Stars have six players in double digits in scoring already, led by Travis Morin (4-11-15) and Raymond Sawada (4-10-14)… Six of Texas rookie Matt Fraser‘s nine goals have come on the power play, as the Stars rank first in the league on the man advantage at 29.2 percent efficiency (21-for-72)… Jon DiSalvatore scored twice in Houston’s 5-2 win over Charlotte last Sunday, upping his team-leading totals to 7-9-16… The Aeros lost Casey Wellman (10-5-15) and Kris Fredheim (0-2-2, +7) to recall by Minnesota this week… Houston is fourth in the league in offense (3.40 goals per game); Texas is 28th in defense (3.43 goals allowed per game).