AHL Quick Hits: Battle for first as Bears visit Bridgeport


LOOKING BACK:
On Wednesday, Nathan Gerbe tallied his first pro hat trick to lead Portland to a 5-3 win over Worcester… Blake Comeau picked up the game-winning goal and an assist as Bridgeport edged Willkes-Barre/Scranton, 3-2… Jared Ross scored twice as Philadelphia downed Lowell, 3-1… Trent Whitfield broke a 1-1 tie and Peoria went on to defeat Rockford, 3-1.

Wed 11/5
BRIDGEPORT 3, W-B/Scranton 2
Portland 5, WORCESTER 3
Philadelphia 3, LOWELL 1
PEORIA 3, Rockford 1

Thu 11/6
No games scheduled


ahllive_300.jpgLOOKING AHEAD:
West Division-leading Chicago kicks off a six-game road swing tonight in Providence, which is returning home after six straight road games of its own… The Wolves blanked the Bruins, 6-0, when the teams met in Rosemont, Ill., on Oct. 29… Joe Motzko scored twice in that game and leads the Wolves with six goals and nine points overall… Defenseman Boris Valabik, who tallied his only three points of the season (1-2-3) in the win over Providence, was recalled by Atlanta on Thursday… Ondrej Pavelec, who posted the 35-save shutout vs. the B’s, in also up with the Thrashers… The Bruins’ Jeremy Reich is coming off his first pro hat trick on Nov. 1 at San Antonio… Johnny Boychuk is tied for the AHL scoring lead among defensemen with 13 points (2-11-13) in nine games… Providence’s power play ranks first in the AHL (23.5 percent), while Chicago’s is last (5.1 percent)… Chicago has allowed a league-low 1.55 goals per game.

Winners of an eight straight, Manitoba heads to upstate New York for games against Rochester (Friday, Monday) and Syracuse (Saturday)… The Moose have outscored opponents 28-10 in their winning streak and have prevailed despite allowing the game’s first goal six of eight times during the run… Last year’s AHL MVP Jason Krog was reassigned by parent-club Vancouver this week, while Moose leading scorer Michel Ouellet (4-6-10) went to the Canucks… Jason Jaffray shows a six-game scoring streak (3-4-7) entering the weekend… The Moose are 13-0-0-1 in their last 14 meetings with the Americans… Manitoba and Syracuse last squared off in the 2008 North Division semis, with the Crunch pulling out four overtime victories to take the series in six games… Former Syracuse goaltender Karl Goehring is now manning the Moose crease with Cory Schneider, who leads the league with a 1.29 GAA.

Springfield continues a four-game road stretch in Portland on Friday and Hartford on Saturday… The Falcons have won four of their last five games (4-1-0-0) after a 1-2-1-0 start to the campaign… Ryan Potulny has scored five goals in his last four outings for the Falcons and boasts a team-high eight goals (8-0-8) for the season… Potulny’s eight points are good for a share of the team scoring lead with second-year forward Liam Reddox (4-4-8) and 2008 AHL All-Star Rob Schremp (0-8-8), who has a point in six of seven games since joining Springfield from parent-club Edmonton… Portland’s Nathan Gerbe leads all AHL rookies with 10 goals (10-3-13), including two vs. the Falcons in a 3-2 win on Oct. 18… Tim Kennedy’s 15 points (3-12-15) are tops among AHL rookies, and he has recorded a point in all nine games thus far.

(all times Eastern)
Fri 11/7
Hershey @ Albany, 7:00
Lake Erie @ Grand Rapids, 7:00
Worcester @ Hartford, 7:00
Springfield @ Portland, 7:00
Syracuse @ Binghamton, 7:05
Chicago @ Providence, 7:05
Lowell @ W-B/Scranton, 7:05
Rockford @ Norfolk, 7:15
Houston @ Hamilton, 7:30
Philadelphia @ Manchester, 7:30
Manitoba @ Rochester, 7:35
San Antonio @ Milwaukee, 8:00
Iowa @ Quad City, 8:05

Sat 11/8
Providence @ Albany, 7:00
Lowell @ Bridgeport, 7:00
Toronto @ Hamilton, 7:00
Springfield @ Hartford, 7:00
Philadelphia @ Portland, 7:00
Worcester @ Binghamton, 7:05
Hershey @ W-B/Scranton, 7:05
Rockford @ Norfolk, 7:15
Manitoba @ Syracuse, 7:30
Houston @ Rochester, 7:35
Grand Rapids @ Peoria, 8:00
Quad City @ San Antonio, 8:00

Sun 11/9
Houston @ Syracuse, 3:00
Hershey @ Bridgeport, 4:00
Chicago @ Manchester, 4:00
Philadelphia @ Providence, 4:05
Hamilton @ Lake Erie, 5:00
Quad City @ San Antonio, 6:00

Mon 11/10
Manitoba @ Rochester, 7:05

Tue 11/11
Houston @ Grand Rapids, 12:00
Binghamton vs. Bridgeport, 1:00 (at Summerside, P.E.I.)
Springfield @ Worcester, 1:05
Norfolk @ Lowell, 4:00
San Antonio @ Iowa, 8:05


ALUMNI WATCH:
2007-08 AHL All-Rookie forward Brian Boyle netted his first goal of the season in Los Angeles’ 3-2 win over Florida on Thursday… Also Thursday, 2008 Calder Cup champion Ondrej Pavelec made 24 saves to improve to 2-0-0 in the NHL this season as Atlanta edged the N.Y. Islanders, 4-3.


BY THE NUMBERS:
6 — Active AHL teams with 500 wins in franchise history after Philadelphia reached the milestone Wednesday… The others are Hershey (2,443), Rochester (1,940), Providence (624), Portland (565), and Albany (521).


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