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 5 – 7:00 ET, AHL Live (Series tied, 2-2)
The Eastern Conference quarterfinal draw wraps up tonight with a winner-take-all Game 5 between the second-seeded Springfield Falcons and the seventh-seeded Providence Bruins at the MassMutual Center… Springfield is being led in scoring in the series by former Bruins forward Carter Camper (1-3-4) and two-time Calder Cup winner Patrick McNeill (0-4-4)… Captain Ryan Craig (2-1-3) is the only Falcons skater with more than one goal… Mike McKenna (2-2, 2.86, .924) has allowed 11 goals on 145 shots in the series but was lifted during Providence’s 6-3 win in Game 4 back on Tuesday night… Matt Fraser (3-1-4), Ryan Spooner (2-2-4) and David Warsofsky (1-3-4) share the Bruins’ scoring lead to date… Niklas Svedberg (1-2, 2.28, .916) started the first three games of the series, and rookie Malcolm Subban (1-0, 3.00, .912) got the call in Game 4… Providence has scored first in each of the first four games of the series… The Falcons are 4-for-14 (28.6 percent) on the power play, while the Bruins are 4-for-19 (21.1 percent)… Providence has a 155-117 advantage in shots on goal, and a 12-10 edge in scoring… Tonight is the 157th mutual-elimination playoff game in AHL history, and the 45th Game 5 in a best-of-five series… Since 2002, AHL teams are 41-11 when scoring the first goal in a winner-take-all game… A Springfield win tonight would pit the Falcons against Norfolk in the second round; a Providence win would set up a rematch of last year’s seven-game classic between the Bruins and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals – Series “B” (best-of-5)
2-Springfield Falcons vs. 7-Providence Bruins
Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 23 – Springfield 3, PROVIDENCE 2 (OT)
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 25 – Providence 2, SPRINGFIELD 1 (OT)
Game 3 – Sat., Apr. 26 – SPRINGFIELD 3, Providence 2
Game 4 – Tue., Apr. 29 – PROVIDENCE 6, Springfield 3
Game 5 – Sat., May 3 – Providence at Springfield, 7:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
About Last Night…
Andrew Gordon‘s hat trick led the offense and Michael Hutchinson‘s 39 saves made it stand up as St. John’s eliminated Albany with a 4-1 win in Game 4 last night… Captain Jeff Hoggan scored twice during a three-goal second period as Grand Rapids moved past Abbotsford with a 5-3 victory in Game 4… Andrew Ebbett notched a goal and two assists as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton rolled to a 5-1 win over Binghamton to eliminate their East Division rivals for the second consecutive postseason… Maxime Sauve‘s goal with 9:11 to play in regulation proved to be his second consecutive game-winner, lifting Norfolk to a 3-2 win over Manchester and a 3-1 series victory over the top-seeded Monarchs… Rochester scored twice in the opening two minutes of the game, setting the tone for a 7-2 victory over Chicago to force their Western Conference quarterfinal series to a fifth and deciding game.
Winner-Take-All
Springfield and Providence meet tonight in the 157th winner-take-all game in Calder Cup Playoff history… The Falcons are 1-2 all-time, including 1-0 at the MassMutual Center… The Bruins are 6-2 all-time, including 5-1 on the road.
Springfield Falcons (1-2)
2000, Game 5 – HARTFORD 7, Springfield 2
1997, Game 7 – HERSHEY 3, Springfield 1
1997, Game 5 – SPRINGFIELD 1, Portland 0 (OT)
Providence Bruins (6-2)
2013, Game 7 – W-B/Scranton 5, PROVIDENCE 0
2013, Game 5 – PROVIDENCE 3, Hershey 2
2007, Game 7 – Providence 5, HARTFORD 4
2001, Game 7 – Providence 3, WORCESTER 2 (OT)
2001, Game 5 – Providence 2, HARTFORD 1
2000, Game 7 – HARTFORD 3, Providence 2 (OT)
1997, Game 5 – Providence 3, WORCESTER 2
1995, Game 7 – Providence 6, PORTLAND 3
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
Fourteen of the first 30 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)
Game 4 – GRAND RAPIDS 5, Abbotsford 3 (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.
