LOOKING BACK:
On Wednesday, Hershey clinched a berth in the 2007 Calder Cup Playoffs with a 4-2 win over Springfield, combined with Albany’s 3-2 loss at Worcester… Brent Krahn made 26 saves as Omaha beat Milwaukee for the ninth time in 10 tries this season, 2-0… David Krejci had two goals and an assist in Providence’s 5-3 win over Portland… Dylan Hunter’s goal with 1:53 left in regulation gave Rochester a 4-3 victory at Hamilton.
Wed 3/21
Rochester 4, HAMILTON 3… HERSHEY 4, Springfield 2… Houston 2, MANITOBA 0… OMAHA 2, Milwaukee 0… PROVIDENCE 5, Portland 3… W-B/SCRANTON 4, Philadelphia 0… WORCESTER 3, Albany 2
Thu 3/22
No games scheduled
LOOKING AHEAD:
It’s been more than three years since Norfolk won a game at the Wachovia Arena, a drought the host Penguins will try to continue on Friday night… Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has won 14 straight home meetings with the Admirals since Norfolk’s 4-2 win on Feb. 14, 2004… The Ads, who have scored at least three goals in each of their last 10 games, enter the weekend tied wth Hershey atop the overall AHL standings, four points ahead of Wilkes-Barre… Troy Brouwer has points in 10 straight games for Norfolk, including goals in nine of them (11g, 6a)… Kris Versteeg (eight games: 1g, 8a) and Pierre Parenteau (seven games: 4g, 8a) also bring long scoring streaks into the weekend… The Penguins have won 10 of their last 13 games… Nolan Schaefer is 6-1-0 (1.95, .922) in eight appearances since joining the Pens, but 0-3-0 on the year against the Admirals.
With points in eight straight games (5-0-0-3), Lowell enters the weekend looking to solidify its place in the Atlantic Division playoff race… The Devils visit sixth-place Portland on Friday night before hosting front-running Manchester on Saturday… Lowell is on a 15-4-2-4 roll in its last 25 games, and is 10-2-2-3 in its last 17 outings against division opponents… Devils defenseman Mike Mottau has six assists in his last four contests and 22 assists in 31 games on the year, but is still in search of his first goal… Ryan Murphy carries a four-game scoring streak into the weekend (3g, 3a) for Lowell… Jordan Parise is 4-0-1 with a 1.38 GAA in his last five starts… The Devils’ Chris Minard is tied for second in the AHL with seven game-winning goals.
Grand Rapids heads north to Winnipeg for a two-game set at the MTS Centre… The Griffins dropped a pair of 3-2 decisions to the Moose last weekend, one in regulation and one in a shootout… Manitoba has earned points in 14 of the teams’ last 16 meetings (8-2-2-4)… The Moose scored one goal in 67 shots in losing back-to-back games to Houston earlier in the week… Drew MacIntyre was on the short end of Tuesday’s 3-1 setback, his first regulation loss at home since Nov. 11… With the potential for a crossover in the Western Conference playoff picture, Grand Rapids is just two points ahead of Peoria in the race for the final spot out of the North Division… Kip Miller has nine points (6g, 3a) in the Griffins’ last seven games.
(all times Eastern)
Fri 3/23
Worcester at Hartford, 7:00… Bridgeport at Binghamton, 7:05… Springfield at Philadelphia, 7:05… Lowell at Portland, 7:05… Manchester at Providence, 7:05… Norfolk at W-B/Scranton, 7:05… Albany at Hamilton, 7:30… Toronto at Syracuse, 7:30… Chicago at Iowa, 8:05… Grand Rapids at Manitoba, 8:30… Milwaukee at Peoria, 8:30… Rochester at Houston, 8:35
Sat 3/24
Portland at Bridgeport, 7:00… Philadelphia at Hershey, 7:00… Hamilton at Toronto, 7:00… Providence at Worcester, 7:00… Norfolk at Binghamton, 7:05… Manchester at Lowell, 7:05… Hartford at W-B/Scranton, 7:05… Albany at Syracuse, 7:30… Chicago at Peoria, 8:00… Rochester at San Antonio, 8:00… Milwaukee at Iowa, 8:05… Grand Rapids at Manitoba, 8:30… Omaha at Houston, 8:35
Sun 3/25
Portland at Bridgeport, 1:00… Peoria at Chicago, 4:00… Hartford at Providence, 4:05… Manchester at Springfield, 4:05… Binghamton at Hershey, 5:00… Grand Rapids at Toronto, 5:00… W-B/Scranton at Philadelphia, 5:05… Omaha at San Antonio, 6:00… Syracuse at Rochester, 7:05
Mon 3/26
No games scheduled
Tue 3/27
Manitoba at Milwaukee, 8:00… Omaha at San Antonio, 8:00… Peoria at Iowa, 8:05
ALUMNI WATCH:
2001 AHL All-Star Jonathan Cheechoo recorded two goals and an assist as San Jose beat Chicago on Wednesday, then came back with a hat trick plus an assist in Thursday’s 5-1 win in Atlanta… 1999 AHL All-Star Martin St. Louis hit the 40-goal mark for the first time in his NHL career, scoring twice in Tampa Bay’s 3-1 win over New Jersey on Thursday… 2007 AHL All-Star Drew Stafford scored twice for Buffalo in a 5-2 win over Washington on Wednesday.
ON THIS DATE (March 23):
1937 – The first Calder Cup Playoff game in AHL history is played, with Benny Grant and the Springfield Indians shutting out the Providence Reds, 1-0, in the opener of a best-of-three Eastern Division preliminary series.
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.
