AHL Morning Skate: 5.13.17

Photo: Mark Newman

Take a game-day spin around the AHL ice with latest news and notes from the 2017 Calder Cup Playoffs in today’s AHL Morning Skate.

Playoff Brackets | Today’s Scoreboard | League Stats | Series Infographics


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Game 5 – Sunday, 3:05 ET, AHL Live
(Series tied, 2-2)

Atlantic Division Finals – Series “I” (best-of-7)
A3-Hershey Bears vs. A4-Providence Bruins
Game 1 – Sat., May 6 – Providence 3, HERSHEY 1
Game 2 – Sun., May 7 – HERSHEY 3, Providence 2 (OT)
Game 3 – Thu., May 11 – Hershey 2, PROVIDENCE 1 (OT)
Game 4 – Fri., May 12 – PROVIDENCE 2, Hershey 1
Game 5 – Sun., May 14 – Hershey at Providence, 3:05
Game 6 – Tue., May 16 – Providence at Hershey, 7:00
*Game 7 – Wed., May 17 – Providence at Hershey, 7:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern


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Game 5 – 7:00 ET, AHL Live
(Series tied, 2-2)
 

The puck drops tonight on the pivotal Game 5 of the North Division Finals as Syracuse hosts Toronto… The Marlies evened the series with a pair of home-ice victories, most recently a 3-2 decision on Wednesday… Toronto scored three times in the first period of Game 4, getting goals from Richard Clune (1-0-1), Kerby Rychel (2-3-5) and Trevor Moore (2-1-3)… The Crunch’s Adam Erne (2-3-5) scored the game’s first goal for the second consecutive contest, extending his scoring streak to five games… Ben Thomas (1-2-3) netted his first goal of the playoffs for the Crunch… Toronto limited Syracuse to 19 shots on goal in the game and got 17 saves from Kasimir Kaskisuo (4-1, 2.32, .902)… Mike McKenna (5-3, 2.81, .895) made 12 saves in the first period before Kristers Gudlevskis came on for his first appearance this postseason, stopping all 14 shots he faced… Syracuse has won seven straight at the War Memorial Arena, including a 4-0 home mark in the playoffs.

North Division Finals – Series “J” (best-of-7)
N1-Syracuse Crunch vs. N2-Toronto Marlies
Game 1 – Fri., May 5 – SYRACUSE 3, Toronto 1
Game 2 – Sat., May 6 – SYRACUSE 8, Toronto 5
Game 3 – Tue., May 9 – TORONTO 5, Syracuse 3
Game 4 – Wed., May 10 – TORONTO 3, Syracuse 2
Game 5 – Sat., May 13 – Toronto at Syracuse, 7:00
Game 6 – Mon., May 15 – Syracuse at Toronto, 7:00
*Game 7 – Wed., May 17 – Toronto at Syracuse, 7:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern


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Game 5 – 8:00 ET, AHL Live
(GR leads series, 3-1)
 

Grand Rapids can secure a spot in the Western Conference Finals for the third time in five years with a win at Chicago in Game 5 tonight… The Griffins grabbed a 3-1 lead in the Central Division Finals with a 6-3 win in Game 4 back on Monday… Mitch Callahan (3-5-8) recorded a hat trick, Matt Lorito (4-2-6) notched a goal and an assist and Eric Tangradi (1-7-8) and Evgeny Svechnikov (2-6-8) tallied three assists apiece in Game 4… The Griffins have scored 17 goals over the first four games of the series and are averaging 4.14 goals per game during the postseason… Chicago, which has lost back-to-back games for the first time since late March, got two goals from Kenny Agostino (5-5-10) and one from Tage Thompson (2-1-3) in Game 4… Both the Griffins’ Jared Coreau (.887) and the Wolves’ Ville Husso (.874) have sub-.900 save percentages in the series… Chicago is 18-8 in its AHL history when facing playoff elimination, including 11-4 at home and 2-0 already this postseason.

Central Division Finals – Series “K” (best-of-7)
C1-Chicago Wolves vs. C2-Grand Rapids Griffins
Game 1 – Wed., May 3 – Grand Rapids 4, CHICAGO 1
Game 2 – Fri., May 5 – CHICAGO 7, Grand Rapids 3
Game 3 – Sat., May 6 – GRAND RAPIDS 4, Chicago 2
Game 4 – Mon., May 8 – GRAND RAPIDS 6, Chicago 3
Game 5 – Sat., May 13 – Grand Rapids at Chicago, 8:00
*Game 6 – Mon., May 15 – Chicago at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*Game 7 – Tue., May 16 – Grand Rapids at Chicago, 8:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern


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Game 5 – 10:00 ET, AHL Live
(SJ leads series, 3-1)

As Game 5 goes this evening at San Diego’s Valley View Casino Center, San Jose is one win away from the Western Conference Finals after holding on for a 4-3 victory last night… Barclay Goodrow (3-5-8), Ryan Carpenter (7-6-13) and Tim Heed (3-3-6) scored power-play goals for San Jose and Colin Blackwell (2-0-2) found the net for the second straight game as the Barracuda opened up a 4-1 advantage through two periods of Game 4 en route to taking a 3-1 series lead… Goodrow added two assists for a three-point night, and Joakim Ryan (3-4-7) registered two assists as well… Nic Kerdiles (4-4-8) and Sam Carrick (4-3-7) tallied a goal and an assist each and Mitch Hults (1-0-1) scored a goal in his playoff debut for the Gulls, who were 5-0 at home against the Barracuda this season before losing Games 3 and 4 of this series… Carrick (3-3-6) is riding a five-game scoring streak for San Diego, including a goal in three straight games… Troy Grosenick (6-3, 2.44, .910) made 29 saves to earn San Jose’s third straight victory… Jhonas Enroth (4-5, 2.76, .922) stopped 15 of 19 shots in two periods of work for the Gulls in Game 4; Dustin Tokarski made seven saves in the third, and has now stopped all 14 shots he has faced in two relief appearances this series… San Jose’s Roy Sommer, who is coaching his 1,560th AHL game tonight, (1,480 regular season, 80 playoffs), is looking to secure his first-ever trip to the conference finals.

 

Pacific Division Finals – Series “L” (best-of-7)
P1-San Jose Barracuda vs. P2-San Diego Gulls
Game 1 – Fri., May 5 – San Diego 3, SAN JOSE 2 (OT)
Game 2 – Sat., May 6 – SAN JOSE 5, San Diego 1
Game 3 – Wed., May 10 – San Jose 4, SAN DIEGO 3 (OT)
Game 4 – Fri., May 12 – San Jose 4, SAN DIEGO 3
Game 5 – Sat., May 13 – San Jose at San Diego, 10:00
*Game 6 – Tue., May 16 – San Diego at San Jose, 10:00
*Game 7 – Wed., May 17 – San Diego at San Jose, 10:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern


Yesterday’s Recaps
#HERvsPRO: Bruins clamp down again in Game 4
#SJvsSD: Barracuda hold off Gulls to take Game 4


Call It a Comeback
Seven times during the 2017 Calder Cup Playoffs, a team has won a game it had trailed with less than 4:00 remaining in regulation:

May 10 – San Jose at San Diego (tied with 1:01 remaining, GWG in OT)
May 9 – Toronto vs. Syracuse (tied with 1:56 remaining, GWG with 1:38 remaining)
May 7 – Hershey vs. Providence (tied with 2:30 remaining, GWG in OT)
May 5 – San Diego at San Jose (tied with 3:56 remaining, GWG in OT)
Apr. 26 – Grand Rapids at Milwaukee (tied with 3:38 remaining, GWG in OT)
Apr. 23 – W-B/Scranton at Providence (tied with 1:03 remaining, GWG in OT)
Apr. 22 – Syracuse at St. John’s (tied with 2:44 remaining, GWG in 2OT)


Working Overtime
There have been 15 overtime games played in the 2017 Calder Cup Playoffs so far:

May 11 – Hershey 2, PROVIDENCE 1 (Chris Bourque, 7:14)
May 10 – San Jose 4, SAN DIEGO 3 (Timo Meier, 17:40)
May 7 – HERSHEY 3, Providence 2 (Travis Boyd, 5:44)
May 5 – San Diego 3, SAN JOSE 2 (Kevin Roy, 0:38)
*May 2 – SAN JOSE 2, Stockton 1 (Ryan Carpenter, 8:52)
*Apr. 28 – TORONTO 2, Albany 1 (Justin Holl, 46:43)
*Apr. 28 – SYRACUSE 2, St. John’s 1 (Gabriel Dumont, 2:18)
*Apr. 26 – Grand Rapids 3, MILWAUKEE 2 (Kyle Criscuolo, 10:03)
Apr. 26 – TORONTO 3, Albany 2 (Colin Greening, 0:45)
Apr. 26 – Lehigh Valley 2, HERSHEY 1 (Chris Conner, 1:49)
Apr. 23 – Charlotte 4, CHICAGO 3 (Connor Brickley, 9:28)
Apr. 23 – W-B/Scranton 6, PROVIDENCE 5 (Derrick Pouliot, 7:49)
Apr. 22 – Syracuse 4, ST. JOHN’S 3 (Tye McGinn, 30:37)
Apr. 21 – GRAND RAPIDS 4, Milwaukee 3 (Tomas Nosek, 9:32)
Apr. 21 – Hershey 1, LEHIGH VALLEY 0 (Nathan Walker, 7:38)
*clinched series


Alumni Watch
In the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs last night, James Neal scored the overtime winner as Nashville opened the Western Conference Finals with a 3-2 victory at Anaheim… Filip Forsberg and Austin Watson also scored for the Predators and Mattias Ekholm and Ryan Johansen notched two assists each.

In the 2017 IIHF World Championships yesterday, Victor Rask, John Klingberg, Linus Omark and Carl Klingberg were among Sweden’s goal scorers in an 8-1 victory over Italy… Roman Horak scored twice for the Czech Republic in a 5-1 win over Slovenia… Peter Regin scored in overtime to send Denmark past Germany, 3-2… Stephane Da Costa recorded a goal and two assists in France’s 4-3 shootout win over Belarus.


On This Date
May 13, 2009Brad Marchand (1g, 1a) and Tuukka Rask (34 saves) help Providence advance to the Eastern Conference Finals with a 5-1 win at Worcester in Game 6.


AHL Live
Don’t miss a second on the road to the 2017 Calder Cup championship. AHL Live brings AHL action to your desktop, laptop, smartphone or tablet all season long with live video webcasts and free highlights of every AHL game… Visit ahllive.com for details.

AHL Live