LOOKING BACK:
In Wednesday’s action, Martin Gerber made 33 saves for his fourth shutout of the year as Oklahoma City topped San Antonio, 2-0… Leland Irving also earned his fourth whitewash of the season in Abbotsford’s 1-0 victory at Rochester… Francis Pare had a game-high four points (1-3-4) to lead Grand Rapids past Chicago, 7-5… Boyd Kane netted the only shootout goal for either side as Hershey extended its points streak to 10 games (9-0-0-1) with a 2-1 win in Manchester.
Wed 2/9
TORONTO 9, Connecticut 2
OKLAHOMA CITY 2, San Antonio 0
Hershey 2, MANCHESTER 1 (SO)
Abbotsford 1, ROCHESTER 0
Houston 4, ROCKFORD 1
Grand Rapids 7, CHICAGO 5
Peoria 4, MILWAUKEE 3 (SO)
Thu 2/10
No games scheduled
LOOKING AHEAD:
After going 5-4-0-1 on a season-high 10-game road trip, Abbotsford hosts division-rival Toronto twice this weekend for its first home games since Jan. 19… The Heat and Marlies each enter the weekend with 57 points and sit one point back of third-place Lake Erie for the North Division’s final guaranteed playoff spot… Heat goaltender Leland Irving leads the AHL with 22 victories (22-16-2, 2.40, .909) and has won four of his last five outings… Matt Keith continues to pace Abbotsford with 17 goals and 28 points in 54 games, and his five points (2-3-5) in five meetings with Toronto this year are tied for the team lead with Jon Rheault (1-4-5)… The Marlies, who split a two-game trip to Abbotsford last month, are 3-2-0-0 against the Heat overall in 2010-11… Toronto forward Christian Hanson is coming off a five-point effort (1-4-5) in Wednesday’s 9-2 win over Connecticut, matching his offensive output from his previous 11 games combined… Rookie Nazem Kadri has a goal in two straight games (2-0-2) and shows 10-16-26 in 26 AHL contests for the year… The Marlies boast the AHL’s top-ranked penalty kill (87.0 percent), and Abbotsford ranks 27th on the power play (13.8 percent).
The top two teams in the Atlantic Division go head-to-head tonight when Manchester (68 points) hosts Portland (65) in the clubs’ eighth of 12 meetings this year… The Pirates are 4-2-1-0 in the season series and have posted a 12-4-0-0 mark in their last 16 contests overall… Portland’s Mark Mancari ranks first in the AHL in goals (28) and third in points (54), and he shows a team-best nine points (1-8-9) against Manchester this season… Rookie forward Luke Adam has 3-4-7 totals in just four appearances vs. the Monarchs but has not tallied a goal in nine straight games for Portland since returning from an NHL stint with Buffalo… Fellow Pirates rookie Corey Tropp has produced five points (1-4-5) in his last four outings… Manchester is on a seven-game points streak (4-0-0-3) since a 4-2 home-ice loss to Binghamton on Jan. 22… Bud Holloway, who scored the club’s lone goal in a 2-1 shootout loss to Hershey on Wednesday, has a team-high eight points (4-4-8) against the Pirates in 2010-11, and Dwight King claims 3-3-6 totals in the season series… The Monarchs are 17-7-1-1 on home ice this season.
In sole possession of first place in the West Division and two points up on Peoria, Houston (31-19-1-3) visits the Rivermen (30-18-2-2) on Friday night before the teams battle again on Sunday in St. Paul, Minn., home of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild… The Aeros have won five straight games and 11 of their last 13 (11-1-0-1), and Houston has surrendered just 25 regulation goals during this 13-game surge (1.92 goals per game)… Goaltenders Matt Hackett (12-11-2, 2.42, .915) and Anton Khudobin (17-9-1, 2.43, .916) rank 12th and 13th in the AHL in goals-against average… Patrick O’Sullivan is on a four-game goal-scoring run (5-2-7) and shows 7-6-13 in 10 games since joining Houston from parent-club Minnesota… Peoria is coming off a 4-3 shootout win in Milwaukee on Wednesday… T.J. Hensick scored twice in that one and has a point in eight straight outings (6-6-12), and defenseman Nathan Oystrick has secured a point in five of his last six (1-4-5)… The Rivermen are 3-1-0-0 in the season series, but the teams haven’t met since splitting a two-game set in Peoria on Nov. 13 and 14.
(all times Eastern)
Fri 2/11
W-B/Scranton @ Bridgeport, 7:00
Connecticut @ Hamilton, 7:00
Portland @ Manchester, 7:00 
Hershey @ Providence, 7:05
Syracuse @ Norfolk, 7:30
Worcester @ Springfield, 7:30
Binghamton @ Rochester, 7:35
Chicago @ Milwaukee, 8:00
Houston @ Peoria, 8:05
Rockford @ Texas, 8:30
San Antonio @ Manitoba, 8:30
Toronto @ Abbotsford, 10:00
Sat 2/12
Rochester @ Hamilton, 4:00
Albany @ Charlotte, 7:00
Binghamton @ Hershey, 7:00
Bridgeport @ Manchester, 7:00
Providence @ Springfield, 7:00
Adirondack @ W-B/Scranton, 7:05
Syracuse @ Norfolk, 7:15
Grand Rapids @ Lake Erie, 7:30
Rockford @ Texas, 8:00
San Antonio @ Manitoba, 8:30
Toronto @ Abbotsford, 10:00
Sun 2/13
Peoria vs. Houston, 2:00*
Portland @ Bridgeport, 3:00
Albany @ Charlotte, 3:00
Springfield @ Manchester, 3:00
Grand Rapids @ Rochester, 3:05
Hershey @ W-B/Scranton, 3:05
Connecticut @ Providence, 4:05
Binghamton @ Adirondack, 5:00
Rockford @ Milwaukee, 6:00
Mon 2/14
Texas @ Lake Erie, 7:00
Tue 2/15
Albany @ Charlotte, 7:00
Hershey @ Norfolk, 7:15
Toronto @ Manitoba, 8:30
*at St. Paul, Minn.
ALUMNI WATCH:
Called up from Wilkes-Barre earlier in the day, Brett Sterling scored 6:53 into his NHL season debut and fellow call-up Nick Johnson assisted on the play, and Pittsburgh went on to a 2-1 overtime win over Los Angeles on Thursday… On Wednesday, 2008 AHL All-Rookie forward Bobby Ryan tallied a pair of goals as Anaheim edged Vancouver, 4-3.
BY THE NUMBERS:
4 — Points seperating the AHL’s top nine rookie scorers to date… Lake Erie’s Mark Olver currently leads the group with 36 points (21-15-36) in 50 games overall after posting 10-5-15 totals in his last 13 contests.
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