AHL Morning Skate: Apr. 21

Complete Schedule || Playoff Brackets || Scoreboard || League Leaders || Series Previews

rch  tor
Game 2 – 3:00 ET
, AHL Live (TOR leads, 1-0)
(2) Toronto hosts (7) Rochester in Game 2 of their best-of-five series following a 4-3 win on Thursday night… Jerry D’Amigo scored twice in his playoff debut, including the game-winner with 4:17 remaining in regulation… Matt Frattin and Mike Zigomanis also scored for the Marlies, and Joe Colborne notched two assists… Zigomanis’s goal was his first in the postseason since 2006… Ben Scrivens stopped 20 of 23 shots for the win… Phil Varone, Marcus Foligno and T.J. Brennan had the Rochester goals… David Leggio, making his 24th consecutive start, finished with 34 saves as the Amerks were outshot 38-23… Each team went 1-for-5 on the power play.

ct  bri
Game 2 – 7:00 ET, AHL Live (CT leads, 1-0)
(3) Bridgeport looks to bounce back from Thursday’s Game 1 loss as they host (6) Connecticut in Game 2 tonight… Cameron Talbot drew the start in the opener for the Whale and made 42 saves in a 3-0 win, the most in franchise history in a playoff shutout… Talbot has stopped 200 of 206 shots in his last seven appearances (3-2-1, 0.86, .971, 3 SO)… After the first two periods of Game 1 were scoreless, Kelsey Tessier and Ryan Bourque each had a goal and an assist and Jordan Owens also scored for Connecticut… Kevin Poulin made 33 saves for the Sound Tigers, who were 15-2-0-1 in their last 18 home games in the regular season… With the Game 1 win, the Whale snapped an eight-game road losing streak in postseason play, earning their first win away from home since 2007 (1-0 at Providence, Game 5 of the division semifinals).

her  wbs
Game 2 – 7:05 ET
, AHL Live (WBS leads, 1-0)
(4) Wilkes-Barre/Scranton grabbed a 1-0 series lead from in-state rival (5) Hershey last night, winning the opener by a 3-1 count at Mohegan Sun Arena… Colin McDonald scored twice for the Penguins, his second and third career playoff goals… Cal O’Reilly also scored, his first goal in 22 games with Wilkes-Barre, and Jason Williams and Alexandre Picard notched two assists apiece… Brad Thiessen stopped 19 of 20 shots for the win, outdueling another former AHL goaltender of the year in the Bears’ Dany Sabourin (26 saves)… Mike Carman scored the only Hershey goal, breaking up Thiessen’s shutout bid with 1:52 left in regulation… Wilkes-Barre had lost four consecutive Game 1’s before Thursday’s win.

mch  nor
Game 2 – 7:15 ET, AHL Live (NOR leads, 1-0)
(1) Norfolk held off a late (8) Manchester rally and took a 1-0 series lead with a 3-2 win in Game 1 last night… Mark Barberio, Alexandre Picard and Trevor Smith staked the Admirals to a 3-0 lead early in the second period, but the Monarchs got third-period goals from Stefan Legein and Marc-Andre Cliche to draw within one, then had two late power plays but could not get the equalizer… It was Norfolk’s first playoff win on home ice since 2007… The Admirals have now won 29 consecutive games going back to Feb. 10… Jaroslav Janus made 27 saves for the victory… Jeff Zatkoff allowed three goals on 13 shots before being relieved by Martin Jones, who stopped all 19 shots he faced for the Monarchs.

stj  syr
Game 2 – 7:30 ET, AHL Live (STJ leads, 1-0)
Jason King scored with 1:22 left in regulation as visiting (2) St. John’s rallied for a 3-2 win over (7) Syracuse in the opener of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series… After a scoreless first period, Derek Meech got the IceCaps on the board first at 3:05 of the second with the first playoff goal of his eight-year pro career… Kyle Palmieri, who led the Crunch with 33 goals in the regular season, tied the game just over seven minutes later, and Mark Bell staked Syracuse to a lead midway through the third period… Aaron Gagnon then tied it at 2-2 with 7:38 remaining, setting up King’s heroics… Eddie Pasquale made 35 saves for St. John’s; Iiro Tarkki countered with 26 stops for Syracuse… The Crunch lost a Game 1 for the first time since 2000 (vs. Hamilton); they had won their previous seven series openers.

chi  sa
Game 2 – 8:00 ET, AHL Live (SA leads, 1-0)
After erasing a two-goal deficit to win Game 1, (6) San Antonio hosts (3) Chicago in Game 2 of their best-of-five series tonight… The Wolves led 3-1 after the first period and 4-2 midway through the second, but Jon Matsumoto scored twice to tie the score and then assisted on Colby Robak‘s game-winner 14:16 into overtime… Matsumoto (2-2) and James Wright (1-3) both had four points for the Rampage, Robak finished with a goal and an assist and Drew Shore, a second-round pick by Florida in 2009, scored a goal in his pro playoff debut… Jacob Markstrom finished with 33 saves, stopping all 14 shots over the third period and OT… 2011 first-round draft pick Nicklas Jensen, who notched a hat trick in Chicago’s regular-season finale, scored two power-play goals in Game 1… The Wolves have won six consecutive Game 2’s.


From Calder to Stanley

Pekka Rinne, who backstopped Milwaukee to the Calder Cup Finals in 2006, made 20 saves as Nashville eliminated Detroit with a 2-1 win in Game 5 last night… 13 of the 20 players in the Predators lineup were former Milwaukee Admirals… One of eight former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the Pittsburgh lineup, Tyler Kennedy recorded a goal and an assist as the Pens defeated Philadelphia, 3-2, in Game 5 of their first-round series.


By the Numbers

12 – Consecutive road playoff losses by the Providence Reds between 1941 and 1949, the longest streak in AHL history… Connecticut’s eight-game road losing streak in the postseason, snapped on Thursday night, was the fourth-longest.

12-9 – Record of home teams in overtime games during the 2011 Calder Cup Playoffs. 


On This Date

April 21, 2010 – Hershey allows a total of seven shots on goal in a 4-1 win over Bridgeport, eliminating the Sound Tigers in five games… P.K. Subban scores at 6:05 of the second overtime to give Hamilton a 5-4 victory over Manitoba in Game 4 of their best-of-seven series.

April 21, 2009 – Led by Mike Santorelli with three goals and an assist, Milwaukee finishes off a four-game sweep of Rockford with a 4-1 win.

April 21, 2006Jiri Hudler’s goal 2:21 into the third overtime period gives Grand Rapids a 6-5 win over Toronto in Game 1, while Jeff Giuliano scores 1:46 into the second OT to lift Manchester past Hartford, 6-5, in Game 3.

April 21, 1995 – The Hershey Bears (186) and Cornwall Aces (149) combine for 335 penalty minutes, then an AHL playoff record, but the Bears’ 6-3 win extends the series to a Game 6.

April 21, 1965 – Gerry Ehman scores at 14:39 of overtime to give Rochester a 2-1 win over Hershey in Game 1 of the Calder Cup Finals.

April 21, 1951 – Behind the goaltending of Johnny Bower, the Cleveland Barons win the Calder Cup with a 3-1 win over the Pittsburgh Hornets in Game 7.


AHL Live

Don’t miss a second on the road to the 2012 Calder Cup championship. AHL Live brings AHL action to your computer all season long with live video webcasts and highlights of every AHL game, as well as behind-the-scenes features and interviews in the Video On Demand section… Visit ahllive.com for details.