LOOKING BACK:
On Tuesday, Robbie Earl scored a pair of third-period goals and nabbed Houston’s only shootout marker as the Aeros rallied past Oklahoma City, 4-3… Jonathan Cheechoo had a goal and an assist as Worcester grabbed second place in the Atlantic Division with a 4-2 victory at Portland… On Monday, Oskar Osala registered a game-high four points (1-3-4) and Charlotte scored eight times in the second period en route to a 10-3 win over Syracuse.
Mon 12/6
CHARLOTTE 10, Syracuse 3
Tue 12/7
Worcester 4, PORTLAND 2
Houston 4, OKLAHOMA CITY 3 (SO)
TEXAS 5, Manitoba 2
ABBOTSFORD 3, Lake Erie 2 (SO)
LOOKING AHEAD:
Sitting just a point out of first place in the North Division, Toronto kicks off a four-game road swing on Wednesday at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, which leads the AHL with 20 wins and 40 points for the season (20-4-0-0) and has won five straight… Toronto is 12-3-0-3 since beginning the season 2-6-0-0… Marlies forward Luca Caputi, who produced 92 points in 120 regular-season contests for the Penguins from 2008-10, returns to Mohegan Sun Arena for the first time since the midseason trade last year which sent him to Toronto… Justin Hodgman leads the Marlies with 15 points (6-9-15) in 22 games – three more points than he produced in 38 AHL contests as a rookie last year… Joey Crabb, whose Chicago Wolves beat Wilkes-Barre in the 2008 Calder Cup Finals, shows a team-best 10 goals for Toronto (10-4-14) and has a point in five of his last six games (3-2-5)… Dustin Jeffrey, who made his pro debut in those 2008 playoffs, is riding an AHL-high five-game goal-scoring streak (6-4-10) for the Penguins and is tied for the league lead with 30 points (13-17-30) in 24 games overall… Wilkes-Barre’s Robert Bortuzzo has a point in three straight (1-3-4) and four of his last five outings (1-4-5)… The Marlies are 7-2-0-1 all-time vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
San Antonio continues a five-game road swing on Wednesday with its first visit of the year to Chicago, which is 7-2-0-0 in its last nine games after starting the season 6-11-1-0… The Rampage are 3-0-0-0 on their road stretch and have won 10 of their last 12 contests overall (10-2-0-0)… San Antonio leading scorer Mathieu Beaudoin (12-15-27) has a point in six of his last seven games overall (3-5-8) and shows 2-4-6 in a pair of victories over the Wolves… Andrew Ebbett has found the scoresheet in 11 of his first 15 contests for the Rampage (4-11-15) in between NHL stints with Phoenix, and veteran Petr Prucha has four goals in five games since arriving from the Coyotes on Nov. 26… Former AHL MVP Jason Krog has a point in five straight games (2-6-8) and nine of his last 10 (4-9-13) for the Wolves, and he has a team-best three points (1-2-3) vs. San Antonio on the year… Krog’s 27 points overall (6-21-27) are tops on the team, two better than Darren Haydar (11-14-25), who has 2-6-8 in his last five contests… Chicago goaltender Peter Mannino has won seven of his last eight decisions (7-1-0) since beginning the year 1-3-0… San Antonio (24.0 percent) and Chicago (23.4 percent) rank first and second in the AHL on the power play, but the Wolves enter with the league’s worst penalty kill (73.3 percent)… The Wolves are 26-5-1-1-0 all-time vs. San Antonio on home ice.
Separated by just one point for third place in a jam-packed North Division, Lake Erie and Abbotsford return to the Entertainment & Sports Centre ice on Wednesday for the back end of a two-game set… The Heat advanced to a shootout for the fourth time in their last five home games on Tuesday and earned a 3-2 win over the Monsters, collecting their AHL-leading fifth shootout victory of the season (5-3)… Heat goaltender Leland Irving, who is tied for the league lead with 12 wins (12-7-1, 2.21, .916), has now gone 12 straight appearances without surrendering more than two goals… Rookie Carter Bancks returned from a nine-game absence to score one of Abbotsford’s regulation goals on Tuesday, while Stefan Meyer had the other and now shows 2-1-3 in four games since joining the Heat’s lineup… Lake Erie, which is now just two points back of first-place Hamilton in the North, is on a season-best six-game points streak (3-0-1-2)… Patrick Rismmiller is riding a four-game scoring streak (4-5-9) for the Monsters, and second-year pro Ryan Stoa has seven goals in his last nine games (7-2-9) after failing to score in any of his first 16 outings this season… The Monsters have the AHL’s fourth-best penalty kill (87.9 percent) and are tied for the league lead with seven shorthanded goals on the campaign.
(all times Eastern)
Wed 12/8
Hershey @ Albany, 7:00
Springfield @ Bridgeport, 7:00
Milwaukee @ Grand Rapids, 7:00
Hamilton @ Rochester, 7:05
Toronto @ W-B/Scranton, 7:05
Syracuse @ Norfolk, 7:15
Texas @ Rockford, 7:35
San Antonio @ Chicago, 8:00
Lake Erie @ Abbotsford, 10:00
Thu 12/9
No games scheduled
ALUMNI WATCH:
Rookie Luke Adam, who has 19 points in 17 AHL contests for Portland this season, notched his first career NHL goal on Tuesday in Buffalo’s 3-2 overtime loss at Boston… Johan Harju leads AHL Norfolk with 13 goals and 23 points this year, and he scored his first career NHL goal in Tampa Bay’s 4-2 loss at Calgary… On Monday, two-time Calder Cup champion Kyle Wilson scored the winning shootout goal as Columbus edged Dallas, 4-3.
BY THE NUMBERS:
4 — Points for Hamilton rookie forward Alexander Avtsin in three games vs. Rochester this season (2-2-4), all victories, compared with three points in 13 games vs. all other opponents… The Bulldogs visit the Amerks on Wednesday.
AHL LIVE:
Watch live games, highlights and features, get video on demand and more all season long with AHL Live. Visit ahllive.com for more information.
