LOOKING BACK:
On Thursday, rookie Chad Kolarik scored twice as San Antonio took a 5-4 win at Lake Erie… In Wednesday’s action, Janne Pesonen netted a pair of late goals to push Wilkes-Barre/Scranton past Grand Rapids, 5-3… Scott Munroe made 36 saves as Philadelphia dropped Binghamton, 3-1… Kyle Greentree capped a three-point night (2-1-3) with the overtime winner as Quad City edged Chicago, 5-4… Jason Krog had three points (2-1-3) in Manitoba’s 5-3 win over visiting Syracuse.
Wed 3/25
HERSHEY 4, Toronto 3
Philadelphia 3, BINGHAMTON 1
ROCHESTER 4, Albany 3 (SO)
W-B/SCRANTON 5, Grand Rapids 3
Houston 4, MILWAUKEE 1
QUAD CITY 5, Chicago 4 (OT)
Iowa 5, ROCKFORD 4
MANITOBA 5, Syracuse 3
Thu 3/26
San Antonio 5, LAKE ERIE 4
LOOKING AHEAD: 
Inter-conference foes Toronto and Philadelphia, both battling for their playoff lives, square off at the Wachovia Spectrum on Friday… The Marlies – winless in four straight (0-2-1-1) – are one point up on Syracuse for fourth place in the North, while the Phantoms sit six points back of Binghamton for fourth in the East… Marlies leading scorer Tim Stapleton is on a four-game scoring streak (1-4-5) and had a pair of assists in Toronto’s 6-1 win over the Phantoms back on Jan. 3… Andre Deveaux potted a pair of goals in the Marlies’ 4-3 loss at Hershey on Wednesday… Jared Ross paces the Phantoms with 26 goals and 58 points, and he has a point in eight of his last nine contests (5-5-10)… Philadelphia goaltender Scott Munroe shows a 1.47 goals-against average in his last six outings (3-1-2)… The two teams are a combined 48-11-3-3 this season when they score the game’s first goal.
Lowell, three points back of Portland and Worcester for fourth place in the Atlantic Division, visits the Pirates and Sharks on Friday and Saturday, respectively… The Devils have just three wins in their last 12 games (3-8-0-1), while the Pirates are 2-6-0-0 in their last eight outings… Lowell goaltender Jeff Frazee, the reigning Reebok/AHL Player of the Week, has stopped 138 of 143 shots (.965) in his last four contests and is 4-1-1 (2.86, .923) against Portland this season… Nicklas Bergfors has racked up 11 points (5-6-11) in eight meetings with the Pirates; Bergfors paces the Devils overall with 19 goals and ranks second with 46 points… Portland boasts two of the AHL’s top rookies scorers in Tim Kennedy (14-41-55) and Nathan Gerbe (25-23-48)… Mathieu Darche has a point in five of his last six games (4-3-7) for the Pirates… Portland has outscored Lowell by a 19-8 margin in capturing the teams’ last three meetings.
West Division rivals Rockford and Houston square off twice this weekend, beginning with a Friday night tilt in Texas… The IceHogs are one point up on Chicago for fourth place in the West but only five back of the second-place Aeros… Rookie Pete MacArthur (5-2-7) and Evan Brophey (2-5-7) each has a point in five of the last six games for the IceHogs, and Jack Skille has scored a goal in his last two contests… Rockford captain Tim Brent shows five points (1-4-5) in two trips to the Toyota Center this season… Corey Locke is riding an AHL-high 10-game scoring streak (4-8-12) for the Aeros, who have won four straight and 14 of their last 18 (14-4-0-0)… Houston’s Benoit Pouliot has five goals and seven points in his last seven contests… The Aeros rank in the AHL’s top five in both power play (21.1 percent) and penalty kill (85.7 percent).
(all times Eastern)
Fri 3/27
Hartford @ Albany, 7:00
Lowell @ Portland, 7:00
Hershey @ Binghamton, 7:05
Toronto @ Philadelphia, 7:05
Manchester @ Providence, 7:05
Springfield @ Worcester, 7:05
Grand Rapids @ Norfolk, 7:15
San Antonio @ Syracuse, 7:30
Lake Erie @ Rochester, 7:35
Milwaukee @ Peoria, 8:00
Iowa @ Quad City, 8:05
Hamilton @ Manitoba, 8:30
Rockford @ Houston, 8:35
Sat 3/28
Springfield @ Albany, 7:00
Providence @ Hartford, 7:00
Bridgeport @ Hershey, 7:00
Manchester @ Portland, 7:00
Rochester @ Binghamton, 7:05
Grand Rapids @ Philadelphia, 7:05
Toronto @ W-B/Scranton, 7:05
Lowell @ Worcester, 7:05
Lake Erie @ Syracuse, 7:30
Quad City @ Chicago, 8:00
Houston @ Peoria, 8:00
Rockford @ San Antonio, 8:00
Iowa @ Milwaukee, 8:30
Sun 3/29
Hamilton @ Manitoba, 3:00
Milwaukee @ Chicago, 3:00
Bridgeport @ Lowell, 4:00
Portland @ Springfield, 4:00
Syracuse @ Toronto, 4:00
Worcester @ Providence, 4:05
W-B/Scranton @ Hershey, 5:00
Grand Rapids @ Philadelphia, 5:05
Quad City @ Iowa, 6:05
Houston @ Rockford, 6:05
Mon 3/30
No games scheduled
Tue 3/31
Bridgeport @ Albany, 7:00
Houston @ Iowa, 8:05
ALUMNI WATCH:
In Thursday’s action, David Koci tallied his first career NHL goal in Tampa Bay’s 3-2 overtime loss at Montreal… Defenseman Anssi Salmela posted two assists in Atlanta’s 5-4 shootout win over the N.Y. Rangers… On Wednesday, 2008 AHL All-Star Andrew Ebbett recorded three points (1-2-3) to help Anaheim past Colorado, 7-2.
BY THE NUMBERS:
12 — Consecutive wins over Albany by the Hartford Wolf Pack since dropping a 5-1 decision to the River Rats on Jan. 14, 2005… The Wolf Pack visit New York’s capital on Friday as the teams conclude their two-game season series.
AHL LIVE:
Don’t miss a step on the road to the 2009 Calder Cup Playoffs. 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 theahl.com or ahllive.com for details.
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