AHL Morning Skate: April 30

Take a game-day spin around the AHL ice with latest from around the American Hockey League in today’s Morning Skate.

Complete Schedule || Playoff Brackets || Today’s Scoreboard || League Leaders

Tonight’s Previews

alb  stj
Game 3 – 6:00 ET, AHL Live (Series tied, 1-1)
After splitting the first two games of the series in Albany, the IceCaps and Devils head to St. John’s to decide the best-of-five, beginning with a pivotal Game 3 tonight… Albany scored three power-play goals and got 30 saves from Keith Kinkaid — including 20 in the third period — en route to a 4-2 win in Game 2 on Saturday night… Reid Boucher, Stefan Matteau, Mattias Tedenby and Mike Sislo scored for the Devils, while Brenden Kichton had both goals for St. John’s… Michael Hutchinson stopped 30 of 34 shots for the IceCaps in the Game 2 loss… Albany is now 4-for-11 on the power play in the series; St. John’s is 1-for-9… The IceCaps were 23-10-2-3 at home during the regular season; the Devils were 16-14-2-6 on the road.

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals – Series “D” (best-of-5)
4-St. John’s IceCaps vs. 5-Albany Devils
Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 25 – St. John’s 2, ALBANY 1
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 26 – ALBANY 4, St. John’s 2
Game 3 – Wed., Apr. 30 – Albany at St. John’s, 6:00
*Game 4 – Fri., May 2 – Albany at St. John’s, 6:00
*Game 5 – Sat., May 3 – Albany at St. John’s, 6:00
   *if necessary… All times Eastern

abb  gr
Game 3 – 7:00 ET, AHL Live (GR leads series, 2-0)
Grand Rapids returns home with three chances to close out Abbotsford after winning Games 1 and 2 on the road over the weekend… The Griffins’ 7-2 victory in Game 2 was their seventh straight postseason road win and moved them to the brink of becoming the first defending Calder Cup champion to win a playoff series since Hershey repeated as champs in 2010… Andrej Nestrasil recorded two goals and an assist in Saturday’s win while AHL All-Rookie Team members Teemu Pulkkinen and Ryan Sproul added a goal and two assists each… Grand Rapids dominated on the shot clock with a 46-17 advantage for the game… After his 55-save effort in Friday’s Game 1 double-overtime win, Petr Mrazek made 15 stops in Game 2 and has a .959 save percentage for the series… Max Reinhart tallied a goal and an assist for the Heat in Game 2… Grand Rapids has outscored Abbotsford in the series 6-0 from the second period on.

Western Conference Quarterfinals – Series “H” (best-of-5)
4-Grand Rapids Griffins vs. 5-Abbotsford Heat
Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 25 – Grand Rapids 2, ABBOTSFORD 1 (2OT)
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 26 – Grand Rapids 7, ABBOTSFORD 2
Game 3 – Wed., Apr. 30 – Abbotsford at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*Game 4 – Fri., May 2 – Abbotsford at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*Game 5 –Sat., May 3 – Abbotsford at Grand Rapids, 7:00
   *if necessary… All times Eastern

bng  wbs
Game 3 – 7:05 ET, AHL Live (Series tied, 1-1)
Stephane Da Costa‘s overtime goal in Game 2 ended Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s eight-game postseason winning streak against Binghamton and evened their best-of-five series as the scene shifts 80 miles down Interstate 81 to Wilkes-Barre Township for Game 3 tonight… The Senators trailed Saturday’s game 3-1 before Da Costa and Mark Stone tied it up… Stone finished Game 2 with a goal and three assists, giving him 3-8-11 in five games against the Penguins this season… Andrew Hammond made 23 saves in Game 2 for his first career playoff win… Mike Carman, who did not play in the series opener, tallied a goal and an assist for the Penguins in Game 2… Binghamton, which ranked fifth in the AHL on the power play in the regular season, is 3-for-7 in the series; Wilkes-Barre, 28th in the regular season, is 0-for-8.

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals – Series “C” (best-of-5)
3-Binghamton Senators vs. 6-W-B/Scranton Penguins

Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 25 – W-B/Scranton 3, BINGHAMTON 2 (OT)
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 26 – BINGHAMTON 4, W-B/Scranton 3 (OT)
Game 3 – Wed., Apr. 30 – Binghamton at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
*Game 4 – Fri., May 2 – Binghamton at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
*Game 5 – Mon., May 5 – W-B/Scranton at Binghamton, 7:05
   *if necessary… All times Eastern

mch  nor
Game 3 – 7:15 ET, AHL Live (Series tied, 1-1)
Despite shutting out Norfolk for the first four-plus periods of the series, Manchester finds itself in a precarious position heading to Virginia even at one game apiece after the Admirals’ Game 2 comeback on Saturday… Down 2-0 after losing Game 1 by the same score, Norfolk finally got on the board with Max Friberg‘s goal at 7:54 of the second period of Game 2, then former Monarch Dave Steckel tied it just over four minutes later and William Karlsson scored the game-winner with 8:43 to play in the third… John Gibson stopped 32 of 34 shots for his first playoff win as Norfolk became the first road team to pick up a victory in six meetings between the clubs this season… Nic Dowd and Zach O’Brien scored for Manchester, while Jean-Francois Berube made 24 saves… When these teams met in the first round in 2012, Norfolk was the higher seed opening at home and Manchester earned a split; the Admirals responded with two road wins to take the series in four.

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals – Series “A” (best-of-5)
1-Manchester Monarchs vs. 8-Norfolk Admirals
Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 25 – MANCHESTER 2, Norfolk 0
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 26 – Norfolk 3, MANCHESTER 2
Game 3 – Wed., Apr. 30 – Manchester at Norfolk, 7:15
Game 4 – Fri., May 2 – Manchester at Norfolk, 7:30
*Game 5 – Sat., May 3 – Manchester at Norfolk, 7:15
   *if necessary… All times Eastern

okc  tex
Game 3 – 8:30 ET, AHL Live (TEX leads series, 2-0)
A pair of overtime victories in Oklahoma City has Texas one win away from the second round as the series moves to Cedar Park beginning with tonight’s Game 3… Travis Morin scored twice in regulation on Saturday night, including the game-tying goal with 39.8 seconds left in the third period, before Brendan Ranford won it 15:04 into OT… Jack Campbell got his first career playoff start in Game 2 and stopped 38 of 40 shots for the Stars… Roman Horak tallied his first career playoff goal for the Barons in Game 2, while Jujhar Khaira picked up his first goal as a professional… Texas erased third-period deficits in each of the first two games of the series…The Stars were 29-8-0-1 at home during the regular season; the Barons were 13-17-1-7 on the road.

Western Conference Quarterfinals – Series “E” (best-of-5)
1-Texas Stars vs. 8-Oklahoma City Barons

Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 23 – Texas 3, OKLAHOMA CITY 2 (OT)
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 26 – Texas 3, OKLAHOMA CITY 2 (OT)
Game 3 – Wed., Apr. 30 – Oklahoma City at Texas, 8:30
*Game 4 – Fri., May 2 – Oklahoma City at Texas, 8:30
*Game 5 – Sat., May 3 – Oklahoma City at Texas, 8:00
   *if necessary… All times Eastern

About Last Night…
Providence staved off elimination and forced a deciding game in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with a 6-3 victory over Springfield in Game 4 at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center last night… Matt Fraser (2g), Ryan Spooner (1g, 1a), Nick Johnson (1g, 1a), Joe Morrow (2a) and David Warsofsky (2a) all had two points on the night for the Bruins… Carter Camper and Patrick McNeill recorded three assists each for the Falcons, who scored all three of their goals on the power play… Malcolm Subban made his first career playoff start and stopped 31 shots for Providence… Game 4 is set for Saturday night in Springfield.

Working Overtime
There have been eight overtime games played in the 2014 Calder Cup Playoffs so far… Road teams are 7-1 this year, and 27-7 in the last 34 playoff OT games overall:

Apr. 23 – Springfield 3, PROVIDENCE 2 (Andrew Joudrey, 2:21)
Apr. 23 – Texas 3, OKLAHOMA CITY 2 (Mike Hedden, 5:35)
Apr. 25 – Providence 2, SPRINGFIELD 1 (Matt Fraser, 3:54)
Apr. 25 – W-B/Scranton 3, BINGHAMTON 2 (Anton Zlobin, 8:40)
Apr. 25 – Chicago 4, ROCHESTER 3 (Dmitrij Jaskin, 1:06)
Apr. 25 – Grand Rapids 2, ABBOTSFORD 1 (Ryan Sproul, 39:26)
Apr. 26 – BINGHAMTON 4, W-B/Scranton 3 (Stephane Da Costa, 11:07)
Apr. 26 – Texas 3, OKLAHOMA CITY 2 (Brendan Ranford, 15:04)

Comeback Central
Twelve of the first 18 games in this year’s Calder Cup Playoffs have been come-from-behind victories:

Game 2 – Norfolk 3, MANCHESTER 2 (trailed 0-2)
Game 1 – Springfield 3, PROVIDENCE 2 (OT; trailed 0-1)
Game 3 – SPRINGFIELD 3, Providence 2 (trailed 0-1)
Game 1 – W-B/Scranton 3, BINGHAMTON 2 (OT; trailed 0-1, 1-2)
Game 2 – BINGHAMTON 4, W-B/Scranton 3 (OT; trailed 0-1, 1-3)
Game 2 – ALBANY 4, St. John’s 2 (trailed 0-1)
Game 1 – Texas 3, OKLAHOMA CITY 2 (OT; trailed 0-2)
Game 2 – Texas 3, OKLAHOMA CITY 2 (OT; trailed 0-1, 1-2)
Game 1 – Chicago 4, ROCHESTER 3 (OT; trailed 0-2, 1-3)
Game 2 – ROCHESTER 3, Chicago 2 (trailed 0-1)
Game 1 – Grand Rapids 2, ABBOTSFORD 1 (2OT; trailed 0-1)
Game 2 – Grand Rapids 7, ABBOTSFORD 2 (trailed 0-1, 1-2)

AHL Live
Don’t miss a second on the road to the 2014 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.