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 2 – 8:30 ET – Leafs TV, AHL Live (TOR leads series, 1-0)
Texas and Toronto get back at it tonight with Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals… The teams have been off since the Marlies’ 5-1 win in the series opener on Friday night… Toronto was outshot 50-19 in Game 1 but got 49 saves from Drew MacIntyre (8-0, 1.49, .955), a career high for a regulation game (regular season or playoffs)… Brandon Kozun (4-2-6), T.J. Brennan (4-4-8) and Peter Holland (5-2-7) staked the Marlies to a 3-0 lead, the fourth time in the last five contests that Toronto has scored the first three goals of the game… Holland has scored a goal in each of his five playoff games played… Sam Carrick (5-3-8) and Jerred Smithson (1-1-2) scored empty-net goals to cap the scoring… Chris Mueller (4-1-5) scored the only goal for Texas with 4:27 left in regulation on the team’s 43rd shot of the night… It was Mueller’s third straight game with a goal… Cristopher Nilstorp (5-2, 1.92, .922) stopped 14 of 17 shots in the loss… Texas’s Mike Hedden (5-4-9) and Toronto’s Jerry D’Amigo (4-8-12) both had seven-game scoring streaks end in Game 1… Toronto has played 483 minutes and 28 seconds this postseason and has never trailed… The Marlies have been outshot in seven of their first eight postseason games… Toronto (4.38 goals per game) and Texas (3.40) are the two highest-scoring teams in the 2014 Calder Cup Playoffs… The Stars have not lost back-to-back home games since Feb. 2-4, both vs. Oklahoma City… Tonight’s game will air live on Leafs TV.
Western Conference Finals – Series “N” (best-of-7)
1-Texas Stars vs. 3-Toronto Marlies | Series Snapshot
Game 1 – Fri., May 23 – Toronto 5, TEXAS 1
Game 2 – Mon., May 26 – Toronto at Texas, 8:30
Game 3 – Wed., May 28 – Texas at Toronto, 7:00
Game 4 – Thu., May 29 – Texas at Toronto, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sat., May 31 – Texas at Toronto, 3:00
*Game 6 – Mon., June 2 – Toronto at Texas, 8:30
*Game 7 – Tue., June 3 – Toronto at Texas, 8:30
*if necessary… All times Eastern
About Last Night…
Michael Hutchinson made 34 saves to backstop St. John’s to a 2-1 win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals last night, tying the series at a game apiece… Kyle MacKinnon and Carl Klingberg scored for the IceCaps… Anton Zlobin ended Hutchinson’s shutout bid with 1:04 left in regulation, and St. John’s killed off a 6-on-4 Penguins advantage in the final 52 seconds to hang on for the win… Game 3 is Wednesday in Wilkes-Barre.
Alumni Watch
In last night’s Stanley Cup Playoff action, 1999 AHL All-Star Martin St. Louis scored 6:02 into overtime to give the New York Rangers a 3-2 win over Montreal and a 3-1 series lead in the NHL’s Eastern Conference Finals… Carl Hagelin had a goal and an assist and Derick Brassard also scored… 2008 AHL All-Rookie forward Brian Boyle recorded an assist and was named the game’s third star… Francis Bouillon and 2010 First Team AHL All-Star P.K. Subban scored for the Canadiens.
Stellar Starts
Toronto is the ninth team in AHL history to begin a postseason with at least eight consecutive wins:
2014 – Toronto Marlies (8-0)
2013 – Syracuse Crunch (8-0), lost Finals
2006 – Hershey Bears (10-0), won Calder Cup
1996 – Rochester Americans (9-0), won Calder Cup
1988 – Hershey Bears (12-0), won Calder Cup*
1973 – Nova Scotia Voyageurs (8-0), lost Finals
1964 – Cleveland Barons (9-0), won Calder Cup*
1961 – Springfield Indians (8-0), won Calder Cup*
1950 – Indianapolis Capitals (8-0), won Calder Cup*
*finished postseason undefeated
Working Overtime
There have been 15 overtime games played in the 2014 Calder Cup Playoffs so far:
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)
May 13 – NORFOLK 3, St. John’s 2 (Andre Petersson, 13:10)
May 14 – W-B/Scranton 5, PROVIDENCE 4 (Simon Despres, 26:32)
May 14 – TORONTO 4, Chicago 3 (Jerry D’Amigo, 3:28)
May 16 – PROVIDENCE 3, W-B/Scranton 2 (Cory Kane, 6:31)
May 16 – Texas 3, GRAND RAPIDS 2 (Chris Mueller, 3:18)
Western Conference Finals History
The Robert W. Clarke Trophy is presented each season to the playoff champions of the AHL’s Western Conference… There have been eight different conference champions in the last eight years; either Texas (2010) or Toronto (2012) will end that streak… Here are the results of the Western Conference Finals since the league split into two conferences in 1995-96:
2013 – Grand Rapids Griffins 4, Oklahoma City Barons 3
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
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.
