AHL Quick Hits

LOOKING BACK:
In Wednesday’s action, Nick Johnson had three points (1-2-3) in his first game since Oct. 24 as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton took a 6-0 win at Syracuse… Kris Newbury tallied the game-winner as Grand Rapids doubled up San Antonio, 4-2… Cedrick Desjardins made 28 saves in Hamilton’s 5-1 win over Abbotsford… Barry Tallackson posted a goal and an assist to help Peoria past Texas, 5-1.

Wed 12/9
GRAND RAPIDS 4, San Antonio 2
W-B/Scranton 6, SYRACUSE 0
HAMILTON 5, Abbotsford 1
Peoria 5, TEXAS 1

Thu 12/10
No games scheduled


LOOKING AHEAD:
Sitting second in the Atlantic Division, Worcester takes its franchise-record eight-game points streak (7-0-0-1) on the road Friday to battle first-place Manchester, which is 11-2-0-1 at home this season… Sharks rookie goaltender Alex Stalock is on a personal seven-game winning streak and ranks second in the AHL with 13 victories for the year (13-6-1, 2.28, .915)… Steven Zalewski shows seven points (1-6-7) in his last four games and leads the Sharks with 22 points (8-14-22) in 26 tilts overall… Worcester’s Logan Couture ranks second among AHL rookies with nine goals (tied) and 21 points in just 15 AHL games… Manchester has racked up 18 goals during its current three-game winning streak, which includes a 5-4 shootout win over the Sharks on Dec. 5… Kevin Westgarth (4-1-5), Gabe Gauthier (0-7-7) and David Meckler (3-0-3) are all riding three-game scoring runs for the Monarchs… Manchester has the AHL’s second-best home penalty kill (96.1 percent), while Worcester brings the league’s third-ranked road power play (22.2 percent).

The top two teams in the West Division will also tangle this weekend as second-place Rockford visits first-place Texas in suburban Austin on Friday and Saturday… The IceHogs had won five straight games prior to a 4-3 loss to Manitoba on Dec. 6… Kyle Greentree put up just five points in his first 14 games for Rockford this year but is riding a seven-game scoring streak (5-4-9) since… Former first-round draft pick Jack Skille has a point in seven of his last eight tilts (4-7-11) for the IceHogs, and Bracken Kearns has found the scoresheet in five of his last six (2-6-8)… Texas matched a season high by allowing five goals in Wednesday’s 5-1 loss to Peoria… Sergei Korostin is tied for the AHL rookie lead with nine goals (9-4-13) but has not scored in his last six contests… Greg Rallo, who entered the year with 11 goals in 103 career AHL regular-season games, shows a team-high 11 tallies (11-5-16) in 27 outings for the Stars this season… Texas is a league-best 14-1-1-0 (.906) when it scores first.

Manitoba makes its first-ever visit to Norfolk this weekend to battle the Admirals in a two-game set… The Admirals took a pair of 3-1 wins when the teams collided in Winnipeg on Nov. 2-3… Manitoba enters the weekend having played a league-high 31 games thus far (15-12-4-0)… Aaron Rome, on a conditioning stint from parent-club Vancouver, picked up four goals and an asssist in five games with the Moose last week… Manitoba’s Sergei Shirokov leads all AHL rookies with 10 goals and is tied for third with 20 points in 28 games; Shirokov leads all Moose skaters in both categories… Norfolk is opening a five-game homestand after playing 10 of its previous 12 games away from Scope… Brandon Bochenski paces the Admirals with 12 goals and 23 points but has not scored in his last seven outings… Ryan Craig (2-4-6) and Radek Smolenak (1-5-6) are each riding four-game scoring streaks for Norfolk.

(all times Eastern)
Fri 12/11
Lake Erie @ Grand Rapids, 6:30
Hershey @ Albany, 7:00
Portland @ Hartford, 7:00
Chicago @ Toronto, 7:00
Lowell @ Providence, 7:05
Abbotsford @ Rochester, 7:05
Binghamton @ W-B/Scranton, 7:05
Manitoba @ Norfolk, 7:15
Worcester @ Manchester, 7:30
Bridgeport @ Springfield, 7:30
Adirondack @ Syracuse, 7:30
San Antonio @ Milwaukee, 8:00
Rockford @ Texas, 8:30
Peoria @ Houston, 8:35

Sat 12/12
W-B/Scranton @ Adirondack, 7:00
Providence @ Albany, 7:00
Bridgeport @ Hartford, 7:00
Rochester @ Hershey, 7:00
Lowell @ Manchester, 7:00
Portland @ Springfield, 7:00
Syracuse @ Binghamton, 7:05
Manitoba @ Norfolk, 7:15
Chicago @ Lake Erie, 7:30
Milwaukee @ Grand Rapids, 8:00
San Antonio @ Peoria, 8:00
Rockford @ Texas, 8:00

Sun 12/13
W-B/Scranton @ Adirondack, 3:00
Chicago @ Lake Erie, 3:00
Abbotsford @ Hamilton, 4:00
Albany @ Hartford, 4:00
Manchester @ Providence, 4:05
Grand Rapids @ Toronto, 5:00
Rockford @ Houston, 5:05

Mon 12/14
Milwaukee @ Toronto, 7:00


ALUMNI WATCH:
On Thursday, Brian Elliott made 23 saves as Ottawa blanked Philadelphia, 2-0… On Wednesday, reigning AHL rookie of the year Nathan Gerbe notched his first career NHL goal and two-time AHL All-Star Ryan Miller posted a 35-save shutout as Buffalo upended Washington, 3-0.


BY THE NUMBERS:
12 — Goals scored by Lake Erie in games against Grand Rapids on Nov. 8 (8-6 loss) and Dec. 1 (6-2 win)… The Monsters, who visit the Griffins on Friday, have totaled just 12 goals in their other 10 games since Nov. 8.


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