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 1 – 8:30 ET, AHL Live
Texas and Oklahoma City get the second round of the 2013 Calder Cup Playoffs underway when they meet in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series tonight… The Stars allowed five goals in four games to defeat Milwaukee in the opening round, while the Barons scored 23 times in five contests to oust Charlotte… The Barons won Games 4 and 5 on the road, outscoring the Checkers 14-3 to bounce back after a 6-1 loss in Game 3… OKC captain Josh Green (3-6-9) led the AHL in scoring during the first round, and the 16-year veteran now has 43 points in 42 career Calder Cup Playoff games, well above his regular-season average of 0.66 points per game (288 points in 435 AHL GP)… Like Green, Toni Rajala (2-6-8) also had a point in all five first-round games for Oklahoma City, tying Teemu Hartikainen (3-5-8) for second in team scoring… Eighteen different Barons recorded at least one point in the series… Defenseman Kevin Connauton (2-2-4) led the Stars in scoring during their opening series with Milwaukee, earning a point on four of the Stars’ seven goals in the series… Alex Chiasson (2-0-2) and Matt Fraser (2-0-2) also scored twice, and Mike Hedden (0-3-3) had three assists in the series… Cristopher Nilstorp (3-1, 0.96, .963) stopped 103 of the 107 Admirals shots he faced… The Stars and Barons met 12 times during the regular season… In six meetings during the NHL lockout, Oklahoma City won five times; the teams split the final six meetings… Texas forward Colton Sceviour led all scorers with 6-8-14 in 11 games vs. the Barons during the regular-season series… Oklahoma City (21.6 percent) and Texas (20.9 percent) had the two top-ranked power plays in the AHL in the regular season; during the first round of the playoffs, the Barons were 5-for-25 vs. Charlotte while the Stars were 2-for-16 vs. Milwaukee.
Western Conference Semifinal – Series “K” (best-of-7)
1-Texas Stars vs. 5-Oklahoma City Barons
Game 1 – Thu., May 9 – Oklahoma City at Texas, 8:30
Game 2 – Sat., May 11 – Oklahoma City at Texas, 8:30
Game 3 – Mon., May 13 – Texas at Oklahoma City, 8:00
Game 4 – Wed., May 15 – Texas at Oklahoma City, 8:00
*Game 5 – Thu., May 16 – Texas at Oklahoma City, 8:00
*Game 6 – Mon., May 20 – Oklahoma City at Texas, 8:30
*Game 7 – Tue., May 21 – Oklahoma City at Texas, 8:30
*if necessary… All times Eastern
About Last Night…
Jamie Tardif broke a 2-2 tie with 10:40 remaining in regulation and Providence held on for a 3-2 win over Hershey, advancing to the conference semifinals and becoming the third team in AHL history to win a best-of-five playoff series after losing the first two games on home ice… Justin Florek and Jordan Caron also scored for the Bruins, and Niklas Svedberg made 24 saves… Casey Wellman and Joey Crabb scored for the Bears… Providence moves on to face Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the second round, while Springfield draws Syracuse in the other Eastern Conference semifinal; both series begin tomorrow… In Stanley Cup Playoff action, former Connecticut Whale forward Carl Hagelin had a goal and two assists to help the N.Y. Rangers to a 4-3 win over Washington… David Krejci (hat trick), a 31-goal scorer with the Providence Bruins in 2006-07, and former AHL All-Stars Zdeno Chara (four assists) and Tuukka Rask (45 saves) led Boston to a 4-3 overtime win over Toronto… An overtime goal by two-time AHL All-Star Slava Voynov gave Los Angeles a 3-2 win over St. Louis… Nick Bonino, a member of the Syracuse Crunch from 2010-12, scored in OT as Anaheim defeated Detroit, 3-2.
1-2-3-5
The same four seeds advanced to the second round in the Eastern and the Western Conference, with the three division winners all coming away victorious and the #5 seed pulling off the mild upset over the #4… A similar occurrence happened last year, when the 1, 2, 4 and 6 seeds all advanced out of the first round in both conferences.
0-2 Comebacks
Ten teams in AHL history have now won a best-of-five playoff series after trailing 0-2, but three of those 10 have worn the spoked "P" of the Providence Bruins:
2013, Providence Bruins def. Hershey Bears (lost first two at home)
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
There have been 10 overtime games played in the 2013 Calder Cup Playoffs so far (*winning goal ended series):
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)
*May 2 – Syracuse 4, Portland 3 (Ondrej Palat, 19:43)
*May 4 – Springfield 4, Manchester 3 (Nick Drazenovic, 8:06)
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.
