AHL Morning Skate: May 15

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

   
Game 7 – 5:00 ET, AHL Live
(Series tied, 3-3)
Follow @WBSPenguins Follow @TheHersheyBears Tweet #HERvsWBS

The seventh playoff series between Hershey and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton comes down to a seventh game as the Bears host the Penguins this evening for the right to play for the Eastern Conference championship… Wilkes-Barre scored four goals in the first period en route to a 6-2 win in Game 6 on Friday night… Tom Kostopoulos tied a franchise playoff record with five points (1g, 4a), and combined with linemates Carter Rowney (2g, 1a) and Jake Guentzel (1g, 2a) for 11 points on the night… Kostopoulos (5-7-12) jumped from a tie for 27th into 20th place on the AHL’s all-time postseason scoring list (72 points)… Guentzel (5-9-14) now leads the AHL in assists and points during the 2016 playoffs… Will O’Neill (1-3-4) scored for the Penguins in Game 6, his first goal since netting the overtime winner on Mar. 20 at Hershey… Casey DeSmith (5-3, 2.43, .923) stopped 24 of 26 shots and snapped a personal three-game losing streak… Zach Sill (2-3-5) had a goal for Hershey on Friday, his fourth point in the last two games… Justin Peters (6-4, 1.79, .934) allowed four goals on 12 shots in the first period before Dan Ellis played the rest of the way, his first action since Game 1 of the Bears’ first-round series with Portland… Hershey is 6-1 this postseason when leading scorer Jakub Vrana (4-5-9) records a point, 0-4 when he does not… Hershey is 4-for-33 on the power play (12.1 percent) in the series; Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is 5-for-32 (15.6 percent)… Tonight is the 37th Calder Cup Playoff game between the Bears and Penguins; the teams have split the previous 36 meetings, 18-18… They have also split their 18 head-to-head meetings this season, nine wins apiece, with the team scoring the game’s first goal going 18-0… Hershey won a Game 7 over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2009, getting 24 saves from Michal Neuvirth in a 3-0 victory… Hershey is 8-8 all-time in Game 7’s, tied with the Rochester Americans (8-3) for the most Game 7 wins ever… Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is 6-2 in Game 7’s, including 3-2 on the road… The Bears are going the distance in consecutive series in the same postseason for the first time since 1997 (def. Philadelphia, def. Springfield)… Tonight will be the 599th postseason game in Bears history (322-276, .538).

Atlantic Division Finals – Series “I” (best-of-7) 
A1-Hershey Bears vs. A3-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 
Game 1 – Wed., May 4 – W-B/Scranton 4, HERSHEY 0
Game 2 – Fri., May 6 – HERSHEY 2, W-B/Scranton 0
Game 3 – Sat., May 7 – Hershey 5, W-B/SCRANTON 2
Game 4 – Mon., May 9 – W-B/SCRANTON 2, Hershey 1 (OT)
Game 5 – Wed., May 11 – HERSHEY 5, W-B/Scranton 3
Game 6 – Fri., May 13 – W-B/SCRANTON 6, Hershey 2
Game 7 – Sun., May 15 – W-B/Scranton at Hershey, 5:00
   *if necessary… All times Eastern

Hershey Bears (8-8)
2009 Division Finals – HERSHEY 3, W-B/Scranton 0
2006 Conference Finals – HERSHEY 5, Portland 4 (OT)
1997 Conference Finals – HERSHEY 3, Springfield 1
1997 Conference Semifinals – Hershey 3, PHILADELPHIA 2
1994 Division Finals – Cornwall 4, HERSHEY 3
1989 Division Finals – ADIRONDACK 2, Hershey 1 (OT)
1986 Division Finals – HERSHEY 4, St. Catharines 2
1975 Division Semifinals – Hershey 4, RICHMOND 3
1973 Division Semifinals – Virginia 5, HERSHEY 3
1970 Quarterfinals – SPRINGFIELD 5, Hershey 4 (OT)
1963 Calder Cup Finals – BUFFALO 6, Hershey 2
1959 Semifinals – Hershey 4, CLEVELAND 3
1957 Semifinals – CLEVELAND 5, Hershey 3 (OT)
1949 Calder Cup Finals – PROVIDENCE 4, Hershey 2
1947 Calder Cup Finals – HERSHEY 5, Pittsburgh 0
1944 Semifinals – CLEVELAND 4, Hershey 1

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (6-2)
2014 Conference Semifinals – W-B/SCRANTON 5, Providence 4
2013 Conference Semifinals – W-B/Scranton 5, PROVIDENCE 0
2012 Conference Semifinals – ST. JOHN’S 3, W-B/Scranton 2
2009 Division Finals – HERSHEY 3, W-B/Scranton 0
2008 Conference Finals – W-B/SCRANTON 3, Portland 2
2006 Division Semifinals – W-B/SCRANTON 5, Bridgeport 4
2004 Conference Finals – W-B/Scranton 2, HARTFORD 1 (OT)
2004 Division Semifinals – W-B/Scranton 3, BRIDGEPORT 2 (OT)

#LEvsGR: Tyler Bertuzzi had a hat trick, Andreas Athanasiou tallied a goal and two assists and Jared Coreau made 35 saves in his first start of the postseason, adding up to a 6-1 Grand Rapids win in Game 5 of the Central Division Finals last night… Despite back-to-back losses, Lake Erie still leads the best-of-seven series, three games to two, with Game 6 on tap for Monday in Grand Rapids.

#ONTvsSD: Ontario became the first team to advance to the 2016 conference finals, eliminating San Diego with a 2-1 win in Game 5 last night… Joel Lowry and Justin Auger scored for the Reign, who will host Lake Erie or Grand Rapids in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals next Saturday, May 21.

May 13 – Ontario 4, SAN DIEGO 3 (Mike Amadio, 6:29)
May 9 – W-B/SCRANTON 2, Hershey 1 (Kael Mouillierat, 2:31)
May 8 – ALBANY 3, Toronto 2 (Nick Lappin, 18:40)
May 7 – Ontario 2, SAN DIEGO 1 (Justin Auger, 11:55)
May 5 – LAKE ERIE 3, Grand Rapids 2 (Oliver Bjorkstrand, 12:23)
Apr. 28 – Portland 2, HERSHEY 1 (Rob Flick, 43:10)
Apr. 26 – UTICA 2, Albany 1 (Alexandre Grenier, 9:13)
Apr. 23 – W-B/Scranton 5, PROVIDENCE 4 (Jake Guentzel, 33:52)
Apr. 21 – W-B/SCRANTON 4, Providence 3 (Daniel Sprong, 5:13)
Apr. 20 – W-B/SCRANTON 3, Providence 2 (Carter Rowney, 1:09)

AHL Live
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