LOOKING BACK:
On Thursday night, Nathan Smith had a goal and an assist as Manitoba moved into a first-place tie in the North Division with a 4-2 win over Hamilton… On Wednesday, Brandon Dubinsky scored two goals as Hartford erased a three-goal deficit for a 4-3 shootout win in Albany… Milwaukee scored three times in the final 7:24 of the game to take a 4-2 win at San Antonio.
Wed 1/10
Hartford 4, ALBANY 3 (SO)… BRIDGEPORT 2, Philadelphia 1 (SO)… GRAND RAPIDS 3, Peoria 0… OMAHA 5, Toronto 2… Milwaukee 4, SAN ANTONIO 2
Thu 1/11
MANITOBA 4, Hamilton 2
LOOKING AHEAD:
The teams with the best points percentages in their respective conferences meet when Chicago (.688 in the West) hosts Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (.750 in the East) on Friday night… The Penguins earned a 5-3 victory when the teams played back on Dec. 9… Pens defenseman Noah Welch, with 14 points in his last 10 games, was recalled by Pittsburgh on Thursday… Wilkes-Barre rookie Tyler Kennedy won the CCM Vector/AHL Player of the Week award after netting seven points in two games last weekend… The Wolves have lost four of their last five, including Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat to Peoria that saw Darren Haydar’s record scoring streak end at 39 games… Chicago’s Nathan Oystrick leads all AHL rookie defensemen in scoring with 25 points.
Grand Rapids looks to extend its six-game winning streak and its team-record home shutout streak when Omaha visits on Friday… The Griffins have gone 183:49 without allowing a goal on home ice, including three straight whitewashes… It’s also been 252:07 since an opponent scored an even-strength goal at Van Andel Arena, going back to Iowa’s visit on Dec. 20… Matt Ellis has eight points (3g, 5a) in his last four games for Grand Rapids… Stefan Liv is on a personal five-game win streak after starting the year 2-7-1… With points in four of their last five games (3-1-1-0), the Knights sit eight points behind first-place Chicago in the West Division… David Van der Gulik has seven points (3g, 4a) and a plus-7 rating in his last five games for Omaha.
Manchester’s two closest pursuers in the Atlantic Division visit the Verizon Wireless Arena this weekend, with Portland coming to town on Friday and Hartford dropping in on Sunday… The first-place Monarchs enter the weekend with a seven-game home winning streak and a 12-3-1-0 record since Dec. 3… Noah Clarke has followed a 15-game drought with four goals in five contests for the Monarchs… The Pirates are coming off back-to-back victories, including last Sunday’s 4-1 win over Manchester, but are winless in their last six road games (0-3-1-2)… Ryan Shannon has two goals and four assists in three games since joining Portland last week… The Pirates are 10-2-1-1 against the Monarchs over the last two seasons.
(all times Eastern)
Fri 1/12
Omaha at Grand Rapids, 7:00… Hershey at Binghamton, 7:05… Philadelphia at Lowell, 7:05… Albany at Norfolk, 7:15… Portland at Manchester, 7:35… Syracuse at Rochester, 7:35… Providence at Springfield, 7:35… Milwaukee at San Antonio, 8:00… Houston at Iowa, 8:05… W-B/Scranton at Chicago, 8:30… Hamilton at Manitoba, 8:30… Toronto at Peoria, 8:30
Sat 1/13
Hershey at Bridgeport, 7:00… W-B/Scranton at Grand Rapids, 7:00… Providence at Binghamton, 7:05… Hartford at Portland, 7:05… Worcester at Springfield, 7:05… Albany at Norfolk, 7:15… Rochester at Syracuse, 7:30… Hamilton at Chicago, 8:00… Houston at Omaha, 8:00… Milwaukee at Peoria, 8:00… Toronto at Iowa, 8:05
Sun 1/14
Providence at Bridgeport, 1:00… Philadelphia at Lowell, 2:05… Hartford at Manchester, 4:05… Worcester at Portland, 4:05… Albany at Hershey, 5:00… Toronto at Milwaukee, 5:00… Houston at San Antonio, 6:00
Mon 1/15
Norfolk at Bridgeport, 1:00… Binghamton at Syracuse, 2:00… Worcester at Lowell, 2:05… Manchester at Springfield, 4:05
Tue 1/16
Hamilton at Omaha, 8:00… Rochester at Iowa, 8:05
ALUMNI WATCH:
A day after earning a spot in the 2007 AHL All-Star Game, Mathieu Roy scored his first career NHL goal in Edmonton’s 3-2 win at San Jose on Wednesday… On Thursday night, former AHL All-Stars Scott Walker, Cory Stillman, Andrew Hutchinson and Anton Babchuk combined for two goals and four assists during Carolina’s six-goal third period in a 6-4 win over Florida… 1997 AHL All-Star Vaclav Prospal had a goal and two assists as Tampa Bay beat Washington, 5-4… 1998 AHL All-Star Marc Savard recorded a goal and two assists in Boston’s 5-4 shootout loss to the N.Y. Islanders… 2005 AHL All-Star Game MVP Tomas Plekanec picked up two assists in Montreal’s 4-2 win over Philadelphia.
BY THE NUMBERS:
496 — Career AHL points by the Philadelphia Phantoms’ John Slaney, entering the weekend… Slaney is closing in on becoming the 72nd player – and first defenseman – ever to record 500 points in his AHL career.
AHL ON B2 NETWORKS:
B2 Networks brings AHL action to your computer all season long with live video webcasts of nearly every AHL game… Visit theahl.com for details.
