AHL Morning Skate: May 26

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Game 3 – 7:00 ET, AHL Live (MCH leads series, 2-0)
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The Eastern Conference Finals move to the XL Center in Hartford for Game 3 tonight, with the host Wolf Pack looking to begin their climb out of a series hole… Manchester took a 2-0 lead with back-to-back wins on home ice, most recently a 7-4 decision in Game 2 on Saturday… Michael Mersch netted a hat trick, Sean Backman added two goals and an assist and Brian O’Neill recorded a goal and two assists in Saturday’s win… Mersch (11-7-18) has five goals in two games to begin the series, and is tied with teammate Jordan Weal (10-8-18) and Grand Rapids’ Teemu Pulkkinen (14-4-18) for the AHL playoff scoring lead… Mersch has 9-6-15 in Manchester’s seven home games this postseason, and 2-1-3 in their five road contests… Jean-Francois Berube (9-3, 2.44, .893) stopped 14 of 18 shots in Game 2, the sixth time this postseason he has faced 20 shots or fewer in a game… Oscar Lindberg (3-12-15) notched a goal and three assists for the Wolf Pack in Game 2, giving him 15 points in his last nine games… Joey Crabb (5-4-9) found the scoresheet for an eighth consecutive contest with a goal for Hartford in Game 2, and Chris Bourque (4-13-17) extended his scoring streak to five games (1-10-11) with an assist… Carl Klingberg (4-1-5) had a pair of goals in the Game 2 loss, his first two-goal effort since Mar. 21, 2014 with St. John’s (at Hartford)… Mackenzie Skapski (15-8-3, 2.40, .914 in the regular season) made his pro playoff debut in Game 2, playing the third period in relief of Yann Danis (7-6, 2.31, .920)… The teams have scored 16 goals on 98 shots in the series, leaving the goaltenders with a combined .837 save percentage… Manchester is 6-0 in Games 1 and 2 of series this postseason, but 0-2 so far in Game 3… This is only the third time in franchise history that Hartford has lost the first two games of a best-of-seven playoff series (2011 vs. Portland, 1999 vs. Providence).

Eastern Conference Finals – Series “M” (best-of-7)
1-Manchester Monarchs vs. 3-Hartford Wolf Pack
Game 1 – Thu., May 21 – MANCHESTER 3, Hartford 2
Game 2 – Sat., May 23 – MANCHESTER 7, Hartford 4
Game 3 – Tue., May 26 – Manchester at Hartford, 7:00
Game 4 – Wed., May 27 – Manchester at Hartford, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sat., May 30 – Hartford at Manchester, 7:00
*Game 6 – Sun., May 31 – Manchester at Hartford, 7:00
*Game 7 – Tue., June 2 – Hartford at Manchester, 7:00
   *if necessary… All times Eastern

Western Conference Finals – Series “N” (best-of-7)
1-Utica Comets vs. 2-Grand Rapids Griffins
Game 1 – Sun., May 24 – UTICA 2, Grand Rapids 1
Game 2 – Mon., May 25 – Grand Rapids 4, UTICA 2
Game 3 – Thu., May 28 – Utica at Grand Rapids, 7:00
Game 4 – Fri., May 29 – Utica at Grand Rapids, 7:00
Game 5 – Sun., May 31 – Utica at Grand Rapids, 5:00
*Game 6 – Tue., June 2 – Grand Rapids at Utica, 7:00
*Game 7 – Wed., June 3 – Grand Rapids at Utica, 7:00
   *if necessary… All times Eastern

Game 1 vs. Hartford – 0:35, Michael Mersch (W, 3-2)
Game 5 at W-B/Scranton – 2:01, Adrian Kempe (W, 2-1)
Game 4 at W-B/Scranton – 0:42, Jordan Weal (W, 5-2)
Game 1 vs. W-B/Scranton – 0:18, Nick Shore (W, 4-3)
Game 5 vs. Portland – 1:42, Michael Mersch (W, 5-3)
*Game 2 vs. Portland – 0:30, Jordan Weal (W, 6-2)
Game 2 vs. Portland – 0:20, Michael Mersch (W, 6-2)
Game 1 vs. Portland – 2:07, Jordan Weal (W, 5-2)
   *second goal of the game

Climbing the Charts
Hartford’s Chris Bourque has moved into seventh place on the AHL’s all-time postseason scoring list, and is now fifth all-time in playoff assists:

May 14 – Grand Rapids 2, ROCKFORD 1 (Tyler Bertuzzi, 0:13)
May 13 – Hartford 5, HERSHEY 4 (Chris Mueller, 11:39)
May 8 – UTICA 2, Oklahoma City 1 (Alexandre Grenier, 3:32)
May 7 – Oklahoma City 2, UTICA 1 (Curtis Hamilton, 60:16)
May 6 – MANCHESTER 4, W-B/Scranton 3 (Zach O’Brien, 44:13)
May 6 – Hartford 2, HERSHEY 1 (Chris Bourque, 16:47)
May 1 – Chicago 4, UTICA 3 (Joel Edmundson, 2:19)
*May 1 – HARTFORD 3, Providence 2 (Tommy Hughes, 4:35)
*Apr. 29 – ROCKFORD 3, Texas 2 (Stephen Johns, 0:23)
*Apr. 29 – Oklahoma City 2, SAN ANTONIO 1 (Jujhar Khaira, 5:01)
Apr. 29 – UTICA 2, Chicago 1 (Darren Archibald, 10:58)
Apr. 26 – PROVIDENCE 2, Hartford 1 (Seth Griffith, 42:00)
Apr. 25 – OKLAHOMA CITY 4, San Antonio 3 (Connor Jones, 4:01)
Apr. 22 – Utica 3, CHICAGO 2 (Bobby Sanguinetti, 23:10)
  *series clincher