AHL Morning Skate: June 4

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 || Series Previews

Tonight’s Previews

okc  gr    
Game 6 – 7:00 ET, AHL Live
(GR leads series, 3-2)

On the 12th anniversary of their being granted membership in the American Hockey League, the Grand Rapids Griffins can secure their first-ever trip to the Calder Cup Finals with a win over Oklahoma City tonight… After Sunday’s 3-0 victory, the Griffins lead the Western Conference Finals three games to two as they return home for Game 6 tonight and, if necessary, Game 7 tomorrow… Petr Mrazek (10-6, 1.95, .927) made 37 saves in Game 5 for his second consecutive shutout… Mrazek, who has stopped the last 100 Barons shots he has faced over more than eight periods of action (161:38), is the fourth goaltender in AHL history to record back-to-back road shutouts in the playoffs… Mrazek owns a 1.41 GAA and a .960 save percentage in the series, allowing seven goals on 173 shots… The Griffins’ three goals in Game 5 came within a span of 4:14 late in the second period, with Tomas Jurco (5-6-11), Mitch Callahan (3-2-5) and Tomas Tatar (10-5-15) breaking the game open after the first 35-plus minutes were scoreless… Joakim Andersson (1-2-3) notched two assists, giving him three points in two games since returning to the Grand Rapids lineup from Detroit… Yann Danis (9-6, 2.20, .929) made 22 saves in Sunday’s loss, which gave Oklahoma City its first back-to-back losses (excluding shootouts) since a five-game slide from Jan. 6-18… Mark Arcobello (10-7-17), who finished the second round leading the league in playoff goals and tied for first in points, has gone three games without finding the scoresheet… Grand Rapids is 3-for-6 on the power play over the last two games and has also scored a shorthanded goal… The Barons are 2-0 when facing elimination this postseason, winning Games 4 and 5 at Charlotte to oust the Checkers in the conference quarterfinals… The Griffins are 2-2 this postseason and 7-8 all-time in their AHL history (including 2-5 at home) with a chance to close out a series.

Western Conference Finals – Series “N” (best-of-7)
3-Grand Rapids Griffins vs. 5-Oklahoma City Barons

Game 1 – Fri., May 24 – GRAND RAPIDS 2, Oklahoma City 1
Game 2 – Sat., May 25 – Oklahoma City 4, GRAND RAPIDS 2
Game 3 – Wed., May 29 – OKLAHOMA CITY 4, Grand Rapids 1
Game 4 – Sat., June 1 – Grand Rapids 4, OKLAHOMA CITY 0
Game 5 – Sun., June 2 – Grand Rapids 3, OKLAHOMA CITY 0
Game 6 – Tue., June 4 – Oklahoma City at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*Game 7 – Wed., June 5 – Oklahoma City at Grand Rapids, 7:00
   *if necessary… All times Eastern

About Last Night…
The Boston Bruins took a 2-0 series lead in the NHL’s Eastern Conference Finals with a 6-1 win over Pittsburgh last night… Former Providence Bruins Brad Marchand (2g), Johnny Boychuk (1g, 1a), Patrice Bergeron (1g, 1a), David Krejci (1g) and Torey Krug (1a) combined for eight points in the win.

Blankety-Blank
Grand Rapids rookie Petr Mrazek is the 15th goaltender in AHL history to record consecutive shutouts in the same playoff series, and the fourth to do so on the road:

2013 – Petr Mrazek, Grand Rapids vs. Oklahoma City (both on road)
2012 – Cameron Talbot, Connecticut vs. Bridgeport (both on road)
2009 – Michal Neuvirth, Hershey vs. W-B/Scranton
2004 – Andy Chiodo, W-B/Scranton vs. Philadelphia
2004 – Michael Leighton, Norfolk vs. Binghamton (both on road)
2002 – Sebastien Centomo, St. John’s vs. Lowell
2000 – Mika Noronen, Rochester vs. Albany
1995 – Scott Bailey, Providence vs. Albany
1995 – Garth Snow, Cornwall vs. Binghamton
1995 – Mike Bales, Prince Edward Island vs. Saint John
1972 – Michel Plasse, Nova Scotia vs. Springfield
1957 – Bobby Perreault, Rochester vs. Providence (both on road)
1951 – Gil Mayer, Pittsburgh vs. Springfield
1939 – Moe Roberts, Cleveland vs. Philadelphia
1939 – Moe Roberts, Cleveland vs. Springfield

Road Warriors
AHL teams are 30-34 on the road this postseason, but all four conference finalists have winning records away from home:

1.000 – Syracuse (5-0)
.667 – Hershey (2-1)
.625 – Grand Rapids (5-3)
.600 – Providence (3-2)
.571 – Oklahoma City (4-3)
.556 – W-B/Scranton (5-4)
.500 – Toronto (2-2)
.500 – Charlotte (1-1)
.333 – Houston (1-2)
.250 – Springfield (1-3)
.200 – Texas (1-4)
.000 – Binghamton (0-1)
.000 – Manchester (0-2)
.000 – Milwaukee (0-2)
.000 – Portland (0-2)
.000 – Rochester (0-2)

Eastern Conference Finals History
The Richard F. Canning Trophy is presented each season to the playoff champions of the AHL’s Eastern Conference… Syracuse is the 10th consecutive conference champion to come out of the East Division… Here are the results of the Eastern Conference Finals since the league split into two conferences in 1995-96:

2013 – Syracuse Crunch 4, W-B/Scranton Penguins 1
2012 – Norfolk Admirals 4, St. John’s IceCaps 0
2011 – Binghamton Senators 4, Charlotte Checkers 0
2010 – Hershey Bears 4, Manchester Monarchs 2
2009 – Hershey Bears 4, Providence Bruins 1
2008 – W-B/Scranton Penguins 4, Portland Pirates 3
2007 – Hershey Bears 4, Manchester Monarchs 0
2006 – Hershey Bears 4, Portland Pirates 3
2005 – Philadelphia Phantoms 4, Providence Bruins 2
2004 – W-B/Scranton Penguins 4, Hartford Wolf Pack 3
2003 – Hamilton Bulldogs 4, Binghamton Senators 1
2002 – Bridgeport Sound Tigers 4, Hamilton Bulldogs 3
2001 – Saint John Flames 4, Providence Bruins 1
2000 – Hartford Wolf Pack 4, Providence Bruins 3
1999 – Providence Bruins 4, Fredericton Canadiens 2
1998 – Saint John Flames 4, Hartford Wolf Pack 1
*1997 – Hamilton Bulldogs 4, Albany River Rats 1
*1996 – Portland Pirates 4, Saint John Flames 3
  *known as Northern Conference

Western Conference Finals History
The Robert W. Clarke Trophy is presented each season to the playoff champions of the AHL’s Western Conference… Either Grand Rapids or Oklahoma City will be the eighth different conference champion in the last eight years… Here are the results of the Western Conference Finals since the league split into two conferences in 1995-96:

2012 – Toronto Marlies 4, Oklahoma City Barons 1
2011 – Houston Aeros 4, Hamilton Bulldogs 3
2010 – Texas Stars 4, Hamilton Bulldogs 3
2009 – Manitoba Moose 4, Houston Aeros 2
2008 – Chicago Wolves 4, Toronto Marlies 1
2007 – Hamilton Bulldogs 4, Chicago Wolves 1
2006 – Milwaukee Admirals 4, Grand Rapids Griffins 0
2005 – Chicago Wolves 4, Manitoba Moose 0
2004 – Milwaukee Admirals 4, Rochester Americans 1
2003 – Houston Aeros 4, Grand Rapids Griffins 3
2002 – Chicago Wolves 4, Houston Aeros 1
2001 – W-B/Scranton Penguins 4, Hershey Bears 0
2000 – Rochester Americans 4, Hershey Bears 0
1999 – Rochester Americans 4, Philadelphia Phantoms 2
1998 – Philadelphia Phantoms 4, Albany River Rats 2
*1997 – Hershey Bears 4, Springfield Falcons 3
*1996 – Rochester Americans 4, Syracuse Crunch 1
  *known as Southern Conference

Working Overtime
There have been 13 overtime games played in the 2013 Calder Cup Playoffs so far… Road teams are 10-3:

Apr. 26 – Texas 3, MILWAUKEE 2 (Brett Ritchie, 11:44)
Apr. 26 – Charlotte 4, OKLAHOMA CITY 3 (Brody Sutter, 3:06)
Apr. 27 – SPRINGFIELD 2, Manchester 1 (Cody Bass, 10:36)
Apr. 27 – W-B/Scranton 3, BINGHAMTON 2 (Chad Kolarik, 8:18)
Apr. 27 – SYRACUSE 4, Portland 3 (Richard Panik, 6:36)
Apr. 28 – Hershey 5, PROVIDENCE 4 (Jon DiSalvatore, 3:05)
Apr. 28 – SPRINGFIELD 3, Manchester 2 (Cody Bass, 18:44)
*May 1 – Toronto 3, ROCHESTER 2 (Will Acton, 5:14)
*May 2 – Syracuse 4, PORTLAND 3 (Ondrej Palat, 19:43)
*May 4 – Springfield 4, MANCHESTER 3 (Nick Drazenovic, 8:06)
May 9 – Oklahoma City 2, TEXAS 1 (Anton Lander, 1:28)
May 15 – Providence 2, W-B/SCRANTON 1 (Carter Camper, 0:31)
May 20 – W-B/Scranton 2, PROVIDENCE 1 (Trevor Smith, 3:26)
  *indicates goal ended series

AHL Live
Don’t miss a second on the road to the 2013 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.