AHL Quick Hits — February 23-25, 2007


LOOKING BACK:
On Thursday, Chris Conner scored two of Iowa’s three power-play goals in a 3-2 win at Houston… On Wednesday, Josh Hennessy converted on a penalty shot as Binghamton edged Manchester, 3-2… David LeNeveu made 29 saves as San Antonio wrapped up its 16-game, 28-day road trip with a 2-0 win at Rochester… Corey Crawford earned his 30th victory of the season, backstopping Norfolk past Springfield, 2-1… Dustin Boyd scored twice in regulation and once in the shootout as Omaha ended a 13-game losing streak against Peoria, 4-3.

Wed 2/21
BINGHAMTON 3, Manchester 2… Philadelphia 4, BRIDGEPORT 1… GRAND RAPIDS 4, Syracuse 3 (SO)… HERSHEY 3, W-B/Scranton 2 (SO)… LOWELL 3, Worcester 0… Omaha 4, PEORIA 3 (SO)… PROVIDENCE 4, Portland 0… San Antonio 2, ROCHESTER 0… Norfolk 2, SPRINGFIELD 1… Manitoba 4, TORONTO 1

Thu 2/22
Iowa 3, HOUSTON 2


LOOKING AHEAD:
Manitoba can claim a share of first place in the North Division with a win in Rochester on Friday night… The Moose extended their winning streak to eight with a 4-1 victory in Toronto on Wednesday, and now sit 20-4-4-2 in their last 30 games… Brad Moran has tallied 48 points (13g, 35a) in 56 career regular-season games against the Americans, including three goals and nine assists in seven meetings this season… Nathan Smith has tallied seven points (2g, 5a) in his last six games for Manitoba… Rochester’s lead atop the North has dwindled to two points as the Amerks have dropped six of their last nine… The Amerks were shut out in each of their last two games, both played with three of their top four scorers – Clarke MacArthur, Drew Stafford and Michael Ryan – on NHL recall to the Buffalo Sabres.

Locked in a battle for a playoff spot in the Atlantic Division, Portland and Worcester lock horns at the DCU Center on Friday… The Sharks begin the weekend tied with Lowell for fourth place and two points ahead of the Pirates… Worcester, which has scored just three goals in its last five games combined, is back home after playing eight straight on the road (2-4-2-0)… Sharks scoring leader Mathieu Darche, back from an NHL stint in San Jose, has gone 14 games without a goal for Worcester… Portland had a five-game points streak (3-0-0-2) end in a 4-0 loss to Providence on Wednesday… Pirates defenseman Clay Wilson has seven points in seven games against Worcester this season.

Since New Year’s Eve, when Albany posted a 7-3 victory in Bridgeport, the Sound Tigers have gone 15-6-0-1 while the River Rats are 6-11-0-2… They meet for the fifth time this season on Friday, with the Rats nine points behind fourth-place Bridgeport in the East Division… Albany captain Keith Aucoin has been virtually unstoppable in the season series, putting up 10 points (3g, 7a) in four games… Jakub Petruzalek has scored six goals in his last seven games for the River Rats… Bridgeport’s Brandon Nolan is averaging a point per game over his last 11 contests (4g, 7a)… Eric Boguniecki had a seven-game scoring streak (6g, 6a) snapped on Wednesday.

(all times Eastern)
Fri 2/23
Bridgeport at Albany, 7:00… Portland at Worcester, 7:00… W-B/Scranton at Binghamton, 7:05… Hartford at Lowell, 7:05… Hershey at Philadelphia, 7:05… Syracuse at Hamilton, 7:30… Providence at Manchester, 7:35… Manitoba at Rochester, 7:35… Omaha at Milwaukee, 8:00… Chicago at San Antonio, 8:00… Grand Rapids at Peoria, 8:30… Iowa at Houston, 8:35

Sat 2/24
Bridgeport at Lowell, 2:05… Rochester at Toronto, 4:00… Portland at Albany, 7:00… Hamilton at Grand Rapids, 7:00… Norfolk at Hartford, 7:00… Philadelphia at Hershey, 7:00… W-B/Scranton at Binghamton, 7:05… Providence at Springfield, 7:05… Manitoba at Syracuse, 7:30… Worcester at Manchester, 7:35… Omaha at Chicago, 8:00

Sun 2/25
Hartford at Bridgeport, 3:00… Omaha at Chicago, 4:00… Hamilton at Grand Rapids, 4:00… Manitoba at Toronto, 4:00… Lowell at Portland, 4:05… Springfield at Providence, 4:05… Binghamton at Hershey, 5:00… Iowa at San Antonio, 6:00… Milwaukee at Houston, 6:05… Norfolk at Worcester, 7:00

Mon 2/26
No games scheduled

Tue 2/27
Norfolk at Manchester, 7:05… Iowa at San Antonio, 8:00


ALUMNI WATCH:
On Thursday night, Clarke MacArthur scored his first NHL goal on an assist from Patrick Kaleta (making his NHL debut), and Drew Stafford scored the winning goal in the shootout as Buffalo beat Ottawa, 6-5… Ladislav Smid scored his first career NHL goal in Edmonton’s 4-0 win over Columbus… John Zeiler netted his first career NHL goal in Los Angeles’s 3-2 loss to Vancouver… Jaroslav Halak improved his NHL record to 3-0-0 as Montreal beat Nashville in a shootout, 6-5.


BY THE NUMBERS:
64
— Including the three on Thursday night, number of American Hockey League graduates who have scored their first career NHL goals this season.


AHL ON B2 NETWORKS:
B2 Networks brings AHL action to your computer, web-enabled cell phone or PDA all season long with live video webcasts of nearly every AHL game… Visit theahl.com for details.