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
Game 3 – 7:00 ET, AHL Live (SPR leads series, 2-0)
Two overtime goals by Cody Bass has the Springfield Falcons on the verge of a trip to the second round heading into tonight’s Game 3 at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester… Bass is one of three players in AHL history to score sudden-death game-winners in consecutive games of the same playoff series, joining Jim Wiemer (Rochester, 1983 vs. New Haven) and Chris VandeVelde (Oklahoma City, 2012 vs. San Antonio)… Ryan Russell (0-3-3) leads all scorers in the series, assisting on three of Springfield’s five goals… Curtis McElhinney (2-0, 1.21, .959) has stopped 70 of 73 Manchester shots in two games, and is now 5-0-1 vs. the Monarchs this season… Martin Jones (0-2, 2.01, .932) has also faced 73 shots in the series, making 68 saves… The Falcons are looking to wrap up their first series victory since ousting Hartford in the 2003 qualifying round, and their first win in a best-of-five series or longer since reaching the conference finals in 1997… The Monarchs, who have lost five straight home playoff games, have never won a game when facing elimination (0-10).
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals – Series “B” (best-of-5)
2-Springfield Falcons vs. 7-Manchester Monarchs
Game 1 – Sat., Apr. 27 – SPRINGFIELD 2, Manchester 1 (OT) | Recap
Game 2 – Sun., Apr. 28 – SPRINGFIELD 3, Manchester 2 (OT) | Recap
Game 3 – Thurs., May 2 – Springfield at Manchester, 7:00
*Game 4 – Sat., May 4 – Springfield at Manchester, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sun., May 5 – Manchester at Springfield, 4:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
Game 3 – 7:00 ET, AHL Live (SYR leads series, 2-0)
After a pair of wins on home ice, Syracuse heads to Portland with a chance to wrap up the teams’ Eastern Conference quarterfinal series… The Crunch scored the final three goals of Game 1 to pull out a 4-3 overtime win, then recorded the first four goals of Game 2 en route to a 4-2 victory and a 2-0 series lead… Regular-season AHL MVP Tyler Johnson (2-3-5) and Ondrej Palat (1-4-5) lead the Syracuse offense with five points each… Rookie defenseman Brandon Gormley (1-2-3) leads the Pirates in scoring… Nick Johnson (1-1-2) had a goal and an assist in Saturday’s Game 2 loss… Twenty-three different skaters (12 for Syracuse, 11 for Portland) have at least one point in the series already… The Crunch were 24-10-2-2 on the road in the regular season, second only to Texas (25-9-3-1)… Syracuse has just one playoff sweep in its 19-year history, a best-of-five whitewash of Philadelphia in the 2002 conference quarterfinals.
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals – Series “C” (best-of-5)
3-Syracuse Crunch vs. 6-Portland Pirates
Game 1 – Sat., Apr. 27 – SYRACUSE 4, Portland 3 (OT) | Recap
Game 2 – Sun., Apr. 28 – SYRACUSE 4, Portland 2 | Recap
Game 3 – Thurs., May 2 – Syracuse at Portland, 7:00
*Game 4 – Fri., May 3 – Syracuse at Portland, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sun., May 5 – Portland at Syracuse, 7:30
*if necessary… All times Eastern
Game 3 – 7:05 ET, AHL Live (WBS leads series, 2-0)
It’s been eight years since Wilkes-Barre/Scranton came back from an 0-2 series deficit to eliminate Binghamton from the 2005 postseason; the Senators are looking to turn the tables after dropping the first two games of this year’s meeting… The Penguins’ Chad Kolarik (2-0-2) was the hero of Game 1 with two goals, including the overtime winner… Jeff Zatkoff (2-0, 1.87, .945), who came into this year with a career playoff record of 1-5, made 35 saves in the Game 2 victory… Rookie defenseman Chris Wideman (1-2-3) has figured in the scoring on three of the Senators’ four goals after totaling 2-16-18 in 60 regular-season games… Binghamton won an AHL-record 10 road games during its run to the Calder Cup championship in 2011, and was 3-0 when facing elimination… The Penguins are 16-11 all-time with a chance to close out a series.
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals – Series “D” (best-of-5)
4-Binghamton Senators vs. 5-W-B/Scranton Penguins
Game 1 – Sat., Apr. 27 – W-B/Scranton 3, BINGHAMTON 2 (OT) | Recap
Game 2 – Sun., Apr. 28 – W-B/Scranton 3, BINGHAMTON 2 | Recap
Game 3 – Thurs., May 2 – Binghamton at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
*Game 4 – Sat., May 4 – Binghamton at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
*Game 5 – Mon., May 6 – W-B/Scranton at Binghamton, 7:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern
About Last Night…
The Toronto Marlies became the first team to advance to the second round of the 2013 Calder Cup Playoffs, finishing off a three-game sweep of Rochester with a 3-2 overtime win last night… Will Acton scored the game-winning goal at 5:14 of OT… This is the second straight year that the Marlies have eliminated the Americans in three straight in the conference quarterfinals… Charlotte scored three times in the first 8:18 of the game, including two power-play goals from Chris Terry 88 seconds apart, en route to a 6-1 win over Oklahoma City and a 2-1 series lead… Zach Boychuk notched three assists and Rob Madore made 37 saves for the Checkers… Adam Almquist scored the go-ahead goal with 3:38 left in regulation to send Grand Rapids to a 4-2 win over Houston, giving the Griffins a 2-1 lead in that series… Mike Condon, who finished his senior season at Princeton University in March, got the start for the Aeros after Darcy Kuemper was recalled by Minnesota and made 35 saves in the loss… Cristopher Nilstorp answered Magnus Hellberg‘s Game 2 shutout with one of his own, making 21 saves as Texas grabbed a 2-1 series lead with a 2-0 win over Milwaukee… Alex Chiasson broke a scoreless tie with 12:18 left in the third period.
0-2 Comebacks
Entering this postseason, 70 of the 79 teams to take a 2-0 lead in a best-of-five Calder Cup Playoff series have gone on to win the series. The nine who came back:
2002, St. John’s Maple Leafs def. Lowell Lock Monsters
2001, Providence Bruins def. Hartford Wolf Pack
1997, Springfield Falcons def. Portland Pirates
1997, Providence Bruins def. Worcester IceCats
1969, Quebec Aces def. Cleveland Barons
1967, Rochester Americans def. Cleveland Barons (lost first two at home)
1965, Hershey Bears def. Baltimore Clippers
1954, Hershey Bears def. Pittsburgh Hornets (lost first two at home)
1952, Providence Reds def. Cleveland Barons
Working Overtime
Eight of the first 20 games played this postseason have required overtime:
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)
Did You Know?
Will Acton‘s overtime goal for Toronto last night, combined with Keith Acton’s winner for the Nova Scotia Voyageurs in a game vs. New Brunswick on Apr. 12, 1979, make them the second father/son pair ever to both score sudden-death overtime goals in the Calder Cup Playoffs… Darryl Sutter (1980) and Brett Sutter (2011) also accomplished the feat.
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.
