AHL Quick Hits is now the Morning Skate… Every morning, take a spin around the AHL ice with recaps and previews, news and notes, facts and figures, and the top headlines from around the American Hockey League.
SUNDAY’S SCORES:
Syracuse 3, TORONTO 1 (SYR leads, 2-0)
ROCKFORD 3, Chicago 1 (CHI leads, 2-1)
SUNDAY’S THREE STARS:
1.
2. Simon Ferguson netted his first goal of the playoffs
3. Kris Versteeg showed a goal and an assist in
MONDAY’S SCHEDULE (all times ET):
Game 3 – W-B/Scranton at
2008 CALDER CUP PLAYOFFS:
Atlantic Division Finals – Series “I” (best-of-7)
A1-Providence Bruins vs. A3-Portland Pirates || Preview
Game 1 – Sat., Apr. 26 – PROVIDENCE 4, Portland 0
Game 2 – Sun., Apr. 27 – PROVIDENCE 7, Portland 1
Game 3 – Fri., May 2 – PORTLAND 4, Providence 3 (OT)
Game 4 – Sun., May 4 –
Game 5 – Tue., May 6 –
Game 6 – Fri., May 9 –
*Game 7 – Sat., May 10 –
East Division Finals – Series “J” (best-of-7)
E1-W-B/Scranton Penguins vs. E2-Philadelphia Phantoms || Preview
Game 1 – Thu., May 1 – Philadelphia 5, W-B/SCRANTON 2
Game 2 – Sat., May 3 – W-B/SCRANTON 5, Philadelphia 4 (OT)
Game 3 – Mon., May 5 – W-B/Scranton at
Game 4 – Wed., May 7 – W-B/Scranton at
Game 5 – Fri., May 9 –
*Game 6 – Sat., May 10 – W-B/Scranton at
*Game 7 – Tue., May 13 –
North Division Finals – Series “K” (best-of-7)
N1-Toronto Marlies vs. N2-Syracuse Crunch || Preview
Game 1 – Fri., May 2 – Syracuse 5, TORONTO 1
Game 2 – Sun., May 4 – Syracuse 3, TORONTO 1
Game 3 – Tue., May 6 –
Game 4 – Wed., May 7 –
*Game 5 – Fri., May 9 –
*Game 6 – Sat., May 10 –
*Game 7 – Mon., May 12 –
West Division Finals – Series “L” (best-of-7)
W1-Chicago Wolves vs. W2-Rockford IceHogs || Preview
Game 1 – Thu., May 1 – CHICAGO 4, Rockford 1
Game 2 – Sat., May 3 – CHICAGO 7, Rockford 3
Game 3 – Sun., May 4 – ROCKFORD 3, Chicago 1
Game 4 – Wed., May 7 –
Game 5 – Fri., May 9 –
*Game 6 – Sun., May 11 –
*Game 7 – Tue., May 13 –
*if necessary… All times Eastern… (WC) –
GAME NOTES (all times ET):
Game 3 – W-B/Scranton at
The East Division finals shift down I-476 for Game 3 tonight as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and
MORNING HEADLINES:
DESPERATION HOCKEY SUITS ICEHOGS
Reed Schreck,
The Rockford IceHogs finally got it right against the Chicago Wolves. That was the prevailing theme in the locker room after a 3-1 victory in Game 3 of their AHL West Division best-of-seven finals. Trailing only 2-1 in the series suddenly doesn’t seem as overwhelming as being down 2-0 felt 18 hours earlier. “That’s really huge, going against one of the best teams in the league,” said IceHogs goalie Corey Crawford of avoiding a third straight loss. “It was fun to come back here and play in front of our fans.” The entire team had to respond after Saturday’s 7-3 setback at Allstate Arena. Crawford knows he was at the top of the list. “Even if you lost that big, a loss is a loss,” he said about Saturday.
http://www.rrstar.com/rockford/x677446668
SUDDENLY, IT’S A SERIOUS SERIES
Len Ziehm,
Corey Crawford has long been touted as the Blackhawks’ goaltender of the future, and Sunday he played like it. The Wolves scored 11 goals on Crawford’s IceHogs in the first two games of their AHL West Division championship series, but there was no such picking on Crawford on Sunday, when his team won 3-1 at the MetroCentre. Crawford stopped 27 of 28 shots, allowing only Bryan Little’s power-play goal with 76 seconds left in the game and his team safely ahead. “[Crawford] was better, but it made it an easier game with guys getting in their shooting lanes and blocking shots,” IceHogs coach Mike Haviland said. “We played playoff hockey. It was a huge game for us.”
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/hockey/wolves/931516,CST-SPT-wolves05.article
HALFWAY HOME
Lindsay Kramer,
The Syracuse Crunch headed back to its barn on Sunday night already feeling all of the comforts of home. The players rolled out of
http://www.syracuse.com/sports/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1209977868172380.xml&coll=1
MARLIES DIGGING DEEP HOLE
Mark Zwolinski,
There were a lot of blank faces and empty gazes in the Marlie dressing room yesterday after they dropped a second consecutive game to the Syracuse Crunch. It wasn’t so much the Marlies lost 3-1 to the Crunch, it was the way the home side again failed to play up to its potential. Down 1-0 in the best-of-seven North Division final,
http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Hockey/article/421403
NOW THEY’RE EVEN
Paul Betit,
The Portland Pirates went into overtime for the second consecutive game in their AHL playoff series with the Providence Bruins and came out a winner again. Right wing Simon Ferguson scored his first goal of the playoffs on a shot from the left point 6:30 into sudden-death overtime to lift the Pirates to a 3-2 win in Game 4 of the Atlantic Division finals before 3,268 fans at the Cumberland County Civic Center.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=185610&ac=PHspt
NIGHTMARE LOSS HAUNTS ONE PEN
Jonathan Bombulie, The Citizen’s Voice
With one possible exception, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins probably got a good night’s sleep Sunday before heading to
http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19660884&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=416049&rfi=6
ALUMNI WATCH:
Lauri Korpikoski, who has appeared in 23 Calder Cup Playoff games with
Former Calder Cup champions Patrick Sharp (2005) and Mike Green (2006) netted a goal apiece, as did
BY THE NUMBERS:
6 – Years since two sets of NHL and AHL affiliates met each other in playoff series at the same time in both leagues (Toronto/N.Y. Islanders, St. John’s/Bridgeport in 2002)… The Penguins and Flyers organizations will officially be squaring off in both leagues when the NHL’s Eastern Conference Finals begin on Friday.
ON THIS DATE:
ON THE AIR:
B2 Networks brings AHL action to your computer all season long with live video webcasts of every AHL game… Visit theahl.com for details.