AHL Morning Skate: 5.5.18

Take a game-day spin around the AHL ice with latest news and notes from the 2018 Calder Cup Playoffs in today’s AHL Morning Skate.

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

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Game 2 – Tonight, 7:05 ET, AHL Live
(LV leads series, 1-0)
Follow @LVPhantoms Follow @CheckersHockey Tweet #LVvsCHA

The Atlantic Division Finals continue with Game 2 tonight as Lehigh Valley hosts Charlotte again… The Phantoms got a goal from Greg Carey (3-2-5) with 1:43 left in regulation to pull out a 2-1 win in last night’s opener, an unexpectedly low-scoring affair between the AHL’s top two offensive teams from the regular season… Carey one-timed a feed from Corban Knight (0-2-2) past Charlotte goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic just six seconds into a Phantoms power play to provide the winning margin… Valentin Zykov (2-2-4) had given the Checkers a 1-0 lead at 15:26 of the first period, but Alex Krushelnyski (1-1-2) answered for the Phantoms at 6:17 of the second with the first goal of his Calder Cup Playoff career… Chris Conner (2-4-6) recorded an assist for Lehigh Valley in Game 1, his fourth straight game with a point… Alex Lyon (3-1, 2.35, .937) made 29 saves for the Phantoms; Nedeljkovic (3-1, 1.99, .931) stopped 30 of 32 shots on the night for Charlotte… The Game 1 loss was the Checkers’ first defeat since Mar. 30, and their first regulation loss since Mar. 18… Charlotte has not lost back-to-back games since Feb. 25 and Mar. 2… The Phantoms are now 20-1-1-1 in their last 23 games at PPL Center… The Checkers were 0-for-2 on the power play in Game 1, falling to 1-for-17 (5.9 percent) this postseason… The Phantoms, 1-for-5 last night, are 5-for-19 (26.3 percent) in the playoffs.

Atlantic Division Finals – Series “I” (best-of-7)
A1-Lehigh Valley Phantoms vs. A3-Charlotte Checkers
Game 1 – Fri., May 4 – LEHIGH VALLEY 2, Charlotte 1 | Recap
Game 2 – Sat., May 5 – Charlotte at Lehigh Valley, 7:05
Game 3 – Tue., May 8 – Lehigh Valley at Charlotte, 7:00
Game 4 – Wed., May 9 – Lehigh Valley at Charlotte, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sat., May 12 – Lehigh Valley at Charlotte, 6:00
*Game 6 – Mon., May 14 – Charlotte at Lehigh Valley, 7:05
*Game 7 – Tue., May 15 – Charlotte at Lehigh Valley, 7:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern

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Game 2 – Today, 4:00 ET, AHL Live
(TOR leads series, 1-0)
Follow @TorontoMarlies Follow @SyracuseCrunch Tweet #TORvsSYR

Toronto and Syracuse battle in Game 2 of the North Division Finals this afternoon at Ricoh Coliseum… The Marlies opened the series with a 6-4 victory on Thursday night, scoring three goals on five shots in the third period to put it away… After both went scoreless in five first-round games vs. Utica, Adam Brooks (1-1-2) and Mason Marchment (1-1-2) tallied a goal and an assist each for Toronto in Game 1… Travis Dermott (1-1-2) scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period, his first goal since returning to the Marlies lineup… Martin Marincin (0-6-6), Frederik Gauthier (0-5-5) and Trevor Moore (1-5-6) chipped in with two assists each, and Garret Sparks (4-2, 2.90, .897) stopped 28 shots in the victory… Kevin Lynch (2-1-3) scored twice for the Crunch in Game 1, the first two-goal game of his AHL career… Mathieu Joseph (3-4-7) and Carter Verhaeghe (1-5-6) contributed a goal and an assist each… Eddie Pasquale (2-1, 4.09, .840) allowed five goals on 20 shots… Toronto is now 4-0 at home in the 2018 playoffs and 9-0 at Ricoh Coliseum over the last two postseasons… The Crunch are 3-9 away from home in the playoffs since 2017… Syracuse has scored at least one goal in all 12 periods of play this postseason.

North Division Finals – Series “J” (best-of-7)
N1-Toronto Marlies vs. N2-Syracuse Crunch
Game 1 – Thu., May 3 – TORONTO 6, Syracuse 4 | Recap
Game 2 – Sat., May 5 – Syracuse at Toronto, 4:00
Game 3 – Sun., May 6 – Toronto at Syracuse, 7:00
Game 4 – Tue., May 8 – Toronto at Syracuse, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sat., May 12 – Syracuse at Toronto, 4:00
*Game 6 – Mon., May 14 – Toronto at Syracuse, 7:00
*Game 7 – Wed., May 16 – Syracuse at Toronto, 7:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

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Game 2 – Today, 5:00 ET, AHL Live
(RFD leads series, 1-0)
Follow @ManitobaMoose Follow @goicehogs Tweet #MBvsRFD

Manitoba will try to bounce back from last night’s setback when it hosts Rockford in Game 2 of the Central Division Finals today… The IceHogs scored three times in the third period — including twice in a 45-second span — and defeated the Moose, 4-2, in Game 1 last night… With the game tied at 1-1, Tyler Sikura (2-0-2) scored at 3:29 of the third and John Hayden (1-0-1) scored at 4:14 to send Rockford to its fourth consecutive win to begin the postseason… Victor Ejdsell (3-2-5) scored his third goal in the last two games for Rockford, and Cody Franson (2-3-5) added an empty-netter in the final minute… Collin Delia (4-0, 1.62, .944) made 24 saves in the win… Buddy Robinson (1-2-3) and Jan Kostalek (2-0-2) scored for the Moose, who have alternated wins and losses over their first six playoff games… Eric Comrie (3-3, 2.85, .918) stopped 27 of 30 shots in Game 1… The IceHogs are now 18-5-1-1 in their last 25 games overall, and 6-1-0 in their last seven visits to Bell MTS Place… Rockford was 2-for-6 on the power play in Game 1, and has scored at least two power-play goals in each of its first four playoff games (9-for-24, 37.5 percent).

Central Division Finals – Series “K” (best-of-7)
C3-Manitoba Moose vs. C4-Rockford IceHogs
Game 1 – Fri., May 4 – Rockford 4, MANITOBA 2 | Recap
Game 2 – Sat., May 5 – Rockford at Manitoba, 5:00
Game 3 – Wed., May 9 – Manitoba at Rockford, 8:00
Game 4 – Fri., May 11 – Manitoba at Rockford, 8:00
*Game 5 – Sat., May 12 – Manitoba at Rockford, 7:00
*Game 6 – Tue., May 15 – Rockford at Manitoba, 8:00
*Game 7 – Wed., May 16 – Rockford at Manitoba, 8:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern

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Game 3 – Monday, 8:00 ET, AHL Live
(Series tied, 1-1)
Follow @RoadrunnersAHL Follow @TexasStars Tweet #TUCvsTEX

Pacific Division Finals – Series “L” (best-of-7)
P1-Tucson Roadrunners vs. P2-Texas Stars
Game 1 – Wed., May 2 – TUCSON 2, Texas 1 (OT) | Recap
Game 2 – Fri., May 4 – Texas 4, TUCSON 1 | Recap
Game 3 – Mon., May 7 – Tucson at Texas, 8:00
Game 4 – Wed., May 9 – Tucson at Texas, 8:00
Game 5 – Fri., May 11 – Tucson at Texas, 8:00
*Game 6 – Sun., May 13 – Texas at Tucson, 10:05
*Game 7 – Mon., May 14 – Texas at Tucson, 10:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern

Alumni Watch
In last night’s Stanley Cup Playoff action, 2017 AHL All-Star Alex Tuch scored twice as Vegas took a 3-2 series lead with a 5-3 win over San Jose… 2006 AHL All-Rookie defenseman Dan Girardi scored in overtime to give Tampa Bay a 4-3 win over Boston and a 3-1 lead in their second-round series.

Working Overtime
There have been 7 overtime games played in the 2018 Calder Cup Playoffs so far:

On This Date
May 5, 2010 – Bud Holloway’s sixth goal of the postseason is also his record-tying sixth game-winning goal, giving Manchester a 1-0 win over Worcester and a 3-2 lead in their Atlantic Division final series.

May 5, 2003 – Ray Emery stops 34 shots as Binghamton advances to the conference finals with a 2-1 win over Bridgeport in Game 6.

May 5, 2000 – J.P. Dumont scores twice and Mika Noronen makes 32 saves for his AHL-record sixth shutout of the postseason as Rochester moves into the conference finals with a 3-0 win over Hamilton.

May 5, 1993 – Bill McDougall ties an AHL playoff record with five goals (and adds an assist) in Cape Breton’s 8-2 win over St. John’s as the Oilers complete a four-game sweep of the Maple Leafs.

May 5, 1974 – Rick Middleton’s overtime goal allows the Providence Reds to avoid a sweep with a 5-4 win over Hershey in Game 4 of the Calder Cup Finals.

AHL Live
Don’t miss a second on the road to the 2018 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.