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
Game 4 – 6:00 ET, AHL Live (STJ leads series, 2-1)
Kael Mouillierat (1-0-1) scored the only goal and Michael Hutchinson (2-1, 1.69, .940) stopped 24 shots as St. John’s blanked Albany, 1-0, in Game 3 on Wednesday night, putting the IceCaps one win away from the second round heading into tonight’s date with the Devils… Keith Kinkaid (1-2, 1.68, .949) stopped 34 of 35 shots in the loss… Both teams have scored five goals in the series; St. John’s has a 99-84 edge in shots on goal… The IceCaps have scored first in all three games of the series… Mouillierat’s goal was the IceCaps’ first in a home playoff game in 158:30; St. John’s was shut out by Norfolk in Games 3 and 4 of the 2012 conference finals… The IceCaps are 1-for-15 on the power play, while Albany is 4-for-15 despite its 0-for-4 collar in Game 3.
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 – ST. JOHN’S 1, Albany 0
*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
Game 4 – 7:00 ET, AHL Live (GR leads series, 2-1)
Markus Granlund‘s late goal on Wednesday night completed a third-period rally and kept Abbotsford’s season alive for at least one more game with a 2-1 win over Grand Rapids… Granlund (1-2-3) scored with 1:02 left in regulation after Corey Locke (1-0-1) had gotten the Heat on the board at 5:52 of the final frame, handing the Griffins their first regulation loss all season when leading after two periods; Grand Rapids was 36-0-1-2 in that situation during the regular season… Tomas Jurco, in his first game back with Grand Rapids after spending nearly four months with the parent Detroit Red Wings, scored the Griffins’ lone goal of Game 3 on a power play with 2:33 left in the first period… Joni Ortio (1-2, 2.52, .925) earned his first playoff win with 34 saves for Abbotsford, while Petr Mrazek (2-1, 1.37, .949) stopped 23 of 25 shots in the loss… Since the start of last postseason, Grand Rapids is 4-6 with a chance to close out a series, including 2-6 at home.
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 2, GRAND RAPIDS 1
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
Game 4 – 7:05 ET, AHL Live (WBS leads series, 2-1)
Three games, three trips to overtime for Binghamton and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and the Penguins find themselves with the 2-1 series advantage after Chuck Kobasew‘s game-winner in Game 3 on Wednesday… Kobasew (2-2-4) deflected home Conor Sheary‘s point shot with 7:32 gone in OT for a 3-2 victory… The assist was the first professional point for Sheary, who played two regular-season games for the Penguins after completing his senior season at the University of Massachusetts… Jim O’Brien (1-0-1) returned to the Senators lineup for the first time since Mar. 16 and scored with 9:02 left in regulation to force overtime… Nick Drazenovic (1-0-1) and Adam Payerl (1-1-2) scored the other goals for Wilkes-Barre, while Corey Cowick (1-0-1) tallied a shorthanded goal for Binghamton… Peter Mannino (2-1, 2.32, .899) made 20 saves for Wilkes-Barre; Andrew Hammond (1-2, 2.61, .906) stopped 30 shots for Binghamton… The last eight postseason meetings between these teams have all been decided by a single goal.
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 – W-B/SCRANTON 3, Binghamton 2 (OT)
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
Game 4 – 7:30 ET, AHL Live (NOR leads series, 2-1)
Maxime Sauve (1-0-1) took a feed from Max Friberg (1-1-2) and scored the game’s only goal at 14:51 of overtime, giving Norfolk a 1-0 win over Manchester on Wednesday night and pushing the Eastern Conference’s top seed to the brink of elimination… It was just the 10th 1-0 OT game in Calder Cup Playoff history; the Admirals have won the last three that have been played… John Gibson (2-1, 1.24, .958) earned the shutout with 35 saves, and has now stopped 91 of 95 Monarchs shots in the series… Gibson has played his last 116:57 without allowing a goal… Jean-Francois Berube (1-2, 1.24, .955) stopped 30 of 31 shots in Game 3, and has allowed just four goals on 88 shots in the series… The teams have combined to kill off 18 of 19 power plays: Manchester is 0-for-12 with the mad advantage, Norfolk is 1-for-7… The last team to knock off a regular-season conference champion in the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs was the Iowa Stars, who upset Omaha in 2007.
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 – NORFOLK 1, Manchester 0 (OT)
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
Game 4 – 8:30 ET, AHL Live (CHI leads series, 2-1)
An impressive special-teams effort carried Chicago to a 4-0 win over Rochester last night, giving the Wolves a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five Western Conference quarterfinal series… Chicago, which ranked last in the 30-team AHL on the power play in the regular season (12.6 percent), netted three power-play goals in Game 3 and is now 5-for-18 with the man advantage (27.8 percent) in the series… Adam Cracknell (2-0-2), in his first game back with the Wolves after finishing the NHL season in St. Louis, scored Chicago’s second shorthanded goal of the series in the first period and added a power-play marker 1:48 later… Keith Aucoin (2-1-3) and Ty Rattie (1-1-2) also scored for the Wolves… Aucoin is now tied with Fred Thurier and Brad Smyth for 11th all-time with 85 career AHL playoff points… Dmitrij Jaskin (1-4-5) and Brent Regner (1-4-5) each notched two assists in Game 3, and Jake Allen (2-1, 2.00, .923) who led the AHL with seven shutouts in the regular season, made 18 saves for his first career playoff whitewash… Chicago is looking for its 21st consecutive playoff series after winning Game 1, and its 13th since joining the AHL in 2001-02… The Americans have lost six straight elimination games since coming back from a 3-1 series deficit to oust Syracuse in 2004.
Western Conference Quarterfinals – Series “F” (best-of-5)
2-Chicago Wolves vs. 7-Rochester Americans
Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 25 – Chicago 4, ROCHESTER 3 (OT)
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 26 – ROCHESTER 3. Chicago 2
Game 3 – Thu., May 1 – CHICAGO 4, Rochester 0
Game 4 – Fri., May 2 – Rochester at Chicago, 8:30
*Game 5 – Sun., May 4 – Rochester at Chicago, 4:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
About Last Night…
In addition to Chicago’s win over Rochester, the Toronto Marlies advanced to the conference semifinals with a 2-0 win over Milwaukee in Game 3 at Ricoh Coliseum… Toronto swept its first-round opponent for the third consecutive postseason… Greg McKegg scored the only goal the Marlies would need on a power play with 2:29 remaining in the second period, and T.J. Brennan scored into an empty net with 24.1 seconds left in regulation… Drew MacIntyre made 29 saves on the night for his 35th career AHL playoff win and his sixth postseason shutout… Toronto outscored Milwaukee 13-4 in the series.
Working Overtime
There have been 10 overtime games played in the 2014 Calder Cup Playoffs so far… Road teams are 7-3 this year, and 27-9 in the last 36 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)
Apr. 30 – W-B/SCRANTON 3, Binghamton 2 (Chuck Kobasew, 7:32)
Apr. 30 – NORFOLK 1, Manchester 0 (Maxime Sauve, 14:51)
Comeback Central
Thirteen of the first 25 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)
Game 3 – Abbotsford 2, GRAND RAPIDS 1 (trailed 0-1)
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.
