AHL Morning Skate: Apr. 22

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

bri  ct
Game 3 – 5:00 ET
, AHL Live (CT leads, 2-0)
Connecticut can become the first team to advance to the conference semifinals with a third straight win over Bridgeport this evening… Cameron Talbot was the story of both Whale wins at Webster Bank Arena to open the series, making 42 and 41 saves in consecutive 3-0 shutout victories… Talbot, now with six goals allowed on 247 shots in his last eight appearances (4-2-1, 0.75, .976, 4 SO), is the first AHL goaltender with back-to-back playoff shutouts since Hershey’s Michal Neuvirth in 2009 (vs. W-B/Scranton), and the first to open a postseason with two straight whitewashes since Norfolk’s Michael Leighton in 2004 (vs. Binghamton)… Marek Hrivik scored twice for the Whale in Game 2, both assisted by Casey WellmanJonathan Audy-Marchessault also found the net in the win… Justin DiBenedetto and David Ullstrom lead the Sound Tigers with 10 shots on goal each.

abb  mil
Game 2 – 6:00 ET, AHL Live (ABB leads, 1-0)
Abbotsford scored the final five goals of Game 1, erasing a 2-1 deficit at the first intermission and rolling to a 6-2 win over Milwaukee at the Bradley Center on Friday night… Making his playoff debut, 2008 first-round draft pick Greg Nemisz scored the game-tying and game-winning goals for the Heat, while Krys Kolanos chipped in with two goals and two assists, giving him 13-9-22 in his last nine outings… Dustin Sylvester and Jon Rheault also scored for Abbotsford, and Danny Taylor finished with 20 saves in his first career Calder Cup Playoff appearance… Mark Van Guilder and Jani Lajunen scored for Milwaukee, which was 0-for-5 on the power play while allowing two Heat PPG in the second period… Abbotsford has now won Game 1 in all three of its playoff series all-time, but the Heat lost both Games 2 and 3 in each of the previous two.

hou  okc
Game 3 – 8:00 ET
, AHL Live (OKC leads, 2-0)
Oklahoma City returns home with a 2-0 series lead over Houston and three chances to close it out at the Cox Convention Center, beginning this evening with Game 3… The Barons have extended their regular-season dominance of the Aeros into the Calder Cup Playoffs, posting 5-0 and 4-1 wins at Toyota Center and outshooting Houston by a total of 85-34… Oklahoma City is now 9-0-0-1 vs. Houston this season, outscoring the Aeros by a 35-13 margin… Yann Danis has allowed only one goal in the series, a Cody Almond attempt at 3:48 of the third period in Game 2… Barons rookie Hunter Tremblay has 2-1-3 and a league-best plus-5 rating through the first two games… Houston was 6-6 on the road during last year’s run to the Calder Cup Finals.


From Calder to Stanley

Troy Brouwer, an AHL All-Rookie Team member with the Norfolk Admirals in 2007, scored with 1:27 left in regulation as Washington took a 3-2 series lead with a 4-3 win over Boston yesterday… Jose Theodore, who made his professional debut with the Fredericton Canadiens during the 1995 Calder Cup Finals, made 30 saves as Florida shut out New Jersey, 3-0, to take a 3-2 series lead… Craig Anderson, who made 23 career AHL playoff appearances with Norfolk and Rochester, stopped 41 shots and 2005 AHL MVP Jason Spezza scored twice as Ottawa defeated the N.Y. Rangers, 2-0, for a 3-2 series lead… Brian Elliott made 26 saves as St. Louis eliminated San Jose with a 3-1 win in Game 5.. Gilbert Brule, who had 2-3-5 during the 2008 Calder Cup Playoffs with Syracuse, scored his first career Stanley Cup Playoff goal for Phoenix in last night’s 2-1 overtime loss to Chicago.


By the Numbers

9 – Teams in AHL history who have won a best-of-five playoff series after losing the first two games… Five teams find themselves in 0-2 holes this round, with Milwaukee looking to avoid a similar deficit tonight.

45 – Career multiple-point games in the Calder Cup Playoffs for career postseason scoring leader Darren Haydar (60-79-139), who has back-to-back two-point efforts for Chicago vs. San Antonio. 


On This Date

April 22, 2011Robin Lehner denies Bud Holloway on a penalty shot in the second overtime period and Geoff Kinrade gets the game-winning goal five minutes later as Binghamton survives in Manchester, 2-1, to force a Game 7 of their first-round series.

April 22, 2009Logan Couture scores his first professional goal during a five-goal third period as Worcester evens its best-of-seven series with a 6-0 win over Hartford in Game 4.

April 22, 2007Corey Locke records a hat trick and Mikhail Grabovski scores 17 seconds into double overtime to give Hamilton a 5-4 win over Rochester in Game 3 of their division semifinal.

April 22, 2003 – Steve Maltais scores 80 seconds into overtime as Chicago defeats Hershey, 3-2, in their winner-take-all Game 5.

April 22, 1998 – Hershey scores seven power-play goals in a 10-3 win at Kentucky to complete a three-game sweep of their first-round series.

April 22, 1960 – The Springfield Indians defeat Rochester, 6-3, to win their first of three consecutive Calder Cup championships


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.