AHL Quick Hits: Penguins visit Bears in intra-state battle

 

LOOKING BACK:

In Thursday’s only action, Senators leading scorer Denis Hamel tallied a pair of goals to lead Binghamton to a 4-1 win over visiting Rochester… On a busy Wednesday, Manitoba’s Mason Raymond notched three goals and two assists in a 5-3 win at Rochester… Norfolk erupted for five first-period goals on its way to a 7-3 win over league-leading Philadelphia… Patrick Thoresen scored twice for Springfield as the Falcons defeated Manchester by a 4-1 final.

Wed 11/21
Providence 3, HARTFORD 2
SPRINGFIELD 4, Manchester 1
NORFOLK 7, Philadelphia 3
W-B/SCRANTON 6, Worcester 0
HERSHEY 2, Bridgeport 1
Manitoba 5, ROCHESTER 3
Hamilton 6, GRAND RAPIDS 3
CHICAGO 2, Peoria 1
TORONTO 2, Lake Erie 1
Portland 3, LOWELL 0
QUAD CITY 3, Iowa 1

Thu 11/22
BINGHAMTON 4, Rochester 1


LOOKING AHEAD:
Hours after Bruce Boudreau makes his NHL head coaching debut leading Washington against the Philadelphia Flyers in a matinee in the same building, the Bob Woods era begins for Hershey as the Bears take on the Phantoms at the Wachovia Arena on Friday night… It’s the first meeting of the season and the front end of a home-and-home between the rivals… Hershey, which won 10 of 12 from Philly last season, enters on a four-game winning streak and is above .500 for the first time in 2007-08 (8-7-0-0)… Leading scorer Joe Motzko (7-4-11) has a goal in two straight games for the Bears… Ryan Potulny has a point in eight of his 11 games with the Phantoms (8-3-11), and his eight goals are tied with Pete Zingoni (8-3-11) for the team lead.

Quad City visits Rockford on Friday in an intrastate battle… The Flames have won six of their last seven games (6-1-0-0), lifting them to a tie for fourth place in the West Division, four points behind the third-place IceHogs… Grant Stevenson has three goals in his last two games for Quad City, while forward Warren Peters (1-2-3) and defenseman Tim Ramholt (0-4-4) each have three-game scoring streaks… Rockford has won three straight at the MetroCentre and is 5-1-1-1 in its last eight contests overall… Both of its leading scorers are hot, as Martin St. Pierre boasts a seven-game scoring streak (5-10-15) and Petri Kontiola has nine points in his last five games (3-6-9).

Portland looks to make a move in the tight Atlantic Division with games at Providence on Friday and at Lowell on Sunday… The Pirates are 9-2-1-1 since a 1-4-0-0 start, and enter the weekend three points out of first place despite sitting fourth in the standings… Center Geoff Platt has seven points in his first four games as a Pirate (3-4-7) after totaling the same number in 15 games for Syracuse this season (4-3-7)… Second-year pro Andrew Ebbett is on a four-game scoring streak (2-6-8)… Pirates netminder Gerald Coleman is coming off a 31-save shutout over Lowell on Wednesday and has won two straight starts since Jonas Hiller’s recall to Anaheim last week.

(all times Eastern)
Fri 11/23
Iowa @ Grand Rapids, 7:00
Albany @ Lowell, 7:05
Worcester @ Manchester, 7:05
Portland @ Providence, 7:05
Hershey @ Philadelphia, 7:05
Binghamton @ W-B/Scranton, 7:05
Springfield @ Norfolk, 7:15
Hartford @ Bridgeport, 7:30
Toronto @ Hamilton, 7:30
Manitoba @ Syracuse, 7:30
Lake Erie @ Rochester, 7:35
Chicago @ Peoria, 8:00
Quad City @ Rockford, 8:30
Milwaukee @ Houston, 8:35

Sat 11/24
Syracuse @ Toronto, 4:00
Bridgeport @ Albany, 5:00
Iowa @ Grand Rapids, 7:00
Lowell @ Hartford, 7:00
Philadelphia @ Hershey, 7:00
Manchester @ Portland, 7:05
Providence @ Worcester, 7:05
W-B/Scranton @ Binghamton, 7:05
Springfield @ Norfolk, 7:15
Manitoba @ Lake Erie, 7:30
Rockford @ Chicago, 8:00
Milwaukee @ San Antonio, 8:00
Peoria @ Quad City, 8:05

Sun 11/25
Albany @ Bridgeport, 4:00
Portland @ Lowell, 4:05
Manchester @ Providence, 4:05
W-B/Scranton @ Hershey, 5:00
Milwaukee @ Houston, 5:05
Grand Rapids @ Rockford, 5:05

Mon 11/26
No games scheduled


ALUMNI WATCH:
On Thursday, Bruce Boudreau was named the interim head coach of the NHL’s Washington Capitals after compiling a record of 340-256-61 (.566) in eight-plus seasons in the AHL… Boudreau won two conference championships and a Calder Cup in his two full seasons as Hershey’s head coach… On the ice Thursday, Chicago rookie center Jake Dowell made his NHL debut and notched a shorthanded, unassisted goal in the Blackhawks’ 2-1 win at Calgary.


BY THE NUMBERS:
7 — Current NHL head coaches who have won a Calder Cup as an AHL coach… Washington’s new bench boss Bruce Boudreau joins John Stevens (Philadelphia), John Paddock (Ottawa), Peter Laviolette (Carolina), John Tortorella (Tampa Bay), Barry Trotz (Nashville) and Mike Keenan (Calgary).


AHL ON B2 NETWORKS:
B2 Networks brings AHL action to your computer all season long with live video webcasts of every AHL game… Visit theahl.com for details.