AHL Quick Hits: Pirates visit Monarchs in Atlantic tilt

LOOKING BACK:
In Tuesday’s action, rookie David Desharnais posted a goal and an assist and Mike Glumac upped his goal-scoring streak to six games as Hamilton dropped Iowa, 5-2, in the opener of a four-game West Division road swing… On Monday, Miroslav Satan led the way with four points (1-3-4) as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton beat Albany, 7-2.

Mon 3/16
W-B/Scranton 7, ALBANY 2

Tue 3/17
Hamilton 5, IOWA 2


LOOKING AHEAD: ahllive_300.jpg
Manchester welcomes Portland to the Verizon Wireless Arena on Wednesday, holding a one-point lead on the Pirates for third place in the Atlantic Division… The Monarchs are 4-2-0-1 against Portland this season and 3-0-0-0 at home, but are coming off consecutive losses to Lowell and Worcester last weekend… Captain Marty Murray paces the Monarchs with 46 points (12-34-46) on the campaign and shows 2-4-6 in his last four contests… Brian Boyle has a point in five of his last six outings (3-2-5) for Manchester, and Scott Parse is on a three-game scoring run (1-2-3)… Portland snapped a three-game skid with a 6-1 win over Lowell on Saturday… Mark Mancari has a team-high 26 goals and 57 points and has put up eight points (5-3-8) in five games against Manchester… Captain Tyler Bouck has registered six of his 18 points this season against the Monarchs… Rookie Nathan Gerbe is coming off a two-goal and three-point effort in Saturday’s win over Lowell… Portland is just 1-5-2-0 in its last eight contests on the road.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton looks to continue its climb in the East Division standings when it hosts intra-state rival Philadelphia on Wednesday… The Peguins enter two points back of Bridgeport for second place and three behind first-place Hershey… The Pens have won four straight over the Phantoms, including an 8-5 decision in Philadelphia a week ago… Janne Pesonen (24-44-68), who set the Penguins’ single-season franchise scoring record in Monday’s 7-2 win at Albany, shows 8-11-19 in his last 11 outings… Mark Letestu has found the scoresheet in seven of his last eight tilts (4-8-12), and Chris Minard has seven goals and 10 points in five games against Philadelphia this year… Andy Wozniewski, who had one goal in his first 62 games of the season, scored twice on Monday night… Jared Ross (3-3-6) and Jonathan Matsumoto (1-4-5) are both on four-game scoring streaks for the Phantoms, and Boyd Kane is on a six-game run (4-5-9)… Ross (1-6-7) and rookie Patrick Maroon (3-4-7) each has a team-high seven points against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton… Philadelphia is eight points out of the division’s final playoff berth with three games in hand.

Tied with Rockford for the West Division’s fourth and final guaranteed postseason spot, Peoria kicks off a four-game Texas trip with tilts in San Antonio on Wednesday and Thursday… The Rivermen have begun March on a 6-1-0-0 run and sit just three points out of second place in the crowded West race… Trent Whitfield, Yan Stastny and Chris Porter all had a goal and two helpers in Peoria’s 5-2 win over Quad City on Sunday… Defenseman Justin Fletcher has a point in all six Peoria wins (2-5-7) during its current run… Carl Corazzini has chipped in seven points (2-5-7) and is 3-for-3 on shootout tries in 12 games since arriving from Springfield… San Antonio snapped a three-game skid with a 3-1 win over Houston on Saturday and is now 1-2-0-1 on its six-game homestand… Rampage leading scorer David Spina (15-31-46) is four points shy of the career-high 50 he tallied for San Antonio last season… Captain Jeff Hoggan shows a team-high 22 goals (22-12-34) but has not scored on the homestand… Goalies Al Montoya of the Rampage and Chris Holt of the Rivermen were teamamtes for parts of three seasons (2005-08) in Hartford… San Antonio is tied for the league’s second-best penalty kill at home (87.8 percent).

(all times Eastern)
Wed 3/18
Lowell @ Hartford, 7:00
Milwaukee @ Lake Erie, 7:00
Portland @ Manchester, 7:00
Manitoba @ Rochester, 7:05
Philadelphia @ W-B/Scranton, 7:05
Binghamton @ Norfolk, 7:15
Peoria @ San Antonio, 8:00

Thu 3/19
Peoria @ San Antonio, 8:00


ALUMNI WATCH:
Martin Brodeur, who spent his rookie pro season in the AHL in 1992-93, captured his NHL-record 552nd career win on Tuesday in New Jersey’s 3-2 triumph over Chicago… Brendan Bell netted a pair of goals as Ottawa doubled up Buffalo, 4-2… Defensemen Mike Vernace and Derek Peltier made their NHL debuts for Colorado and were each a plus-1 in a 3-2 shootout loss at Minnesota… On Monday, two-time AHL All-Star Kari Lehtonen made 49 saves in Atlanta’s 5-1 win over Washington.


BY THE NUMBERS:
147 — Days since Milwaukee and Lake Erie last clashed, a 4-3 win for the Monsters on Oct. 22 in Cleveland… The Admirals and Monsters open a home-and-home set on Wednesday and will conclude their season series on Apr. 3.


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.

# # #