AHL Quick Hits: Wolves, IceHogs write another chapter


LOOKING BACK:
On Thursday, Jared Ross recorded three goals and an assist and Danny Briere added a goal and an assist in his first AHL action in eight years as Philadelphia beat Worcester, 7-1… Michael Ryan’s third hat trick of the season paced Albany to a 7-2 win in Hershey… Jeff Glass stopped 36 shots in Binghamton’s 4-1 victory over Rochester… Tyler Weiman made 32 saves for his second consecutive shutout and fifth of the year as Lake Erie blanked Quad City, 3-0… Chicago beat Toronto, 3-2 in a shootout, in a 2008 Western Conference Finals rematch.

Wed 1/14
HARTFORD 4, Bridgeport 2
Albany 7, HERSHEY 2
LAKE ERIE 3, Quad City 0
LOWELL 3, Providence 2
BINGHAMTON 4, Rochester 1
PHILADELPHIA 7, Worcester 1
Grand Rapids 3, HAMILTON 1
CHICAGO 3, Toronto 2 (SO)
MANITOBA 4, Milwaukee 0

Thu 1/15
No games scheduled


LOOKING AHEAD:
ahllive_300.jpgHershey is out to snap a three-game slide when it visits Bridgeport on Friday night… The Sound Tigers are 13-3-1-1 in home games this season; at home against the Bears, they have won eight straight and 15 of their last 18… Hershey forward Alexandre Giroux comes into the game in pursuit of AHL history; he has scored a goal in each of his last 12 AHL games, two shy of the league record set by Brett Hull in 1986-87… Giroux is also sitting on 29 goals for the year, needing one to cinch his fifth straight 30-goal campaign… Jesse Joensuu (three) and Kurtis McLean (two) have accounted for all five Bridgeport goals in two games vs. Hershey this season… The Sound Tigers, who dropped a 4-2 decision in Hartford on Wednesday, have not suffered back-to-back regulation losses all season… Hershey has allowed 52 goals in its 28 wins this season (1.86 per game), and 63 goals in its 12 regulation losses (5.25).

Providence’s hold on first place in the Atlantic Division faces a test this weekend as the Bruins host Portland on Friday before visiting Hartford on Saturday… The B’s enter the weekend with a four-point lead over both the Pirates and Wolf Pack… Providence and Portland have split four meetings this season, with 2009 AHL All-Star selections Martins Karsums (2-3-5), Johnny Boychuk (1-2-3) and Martin St. Pierre (0-3-3) leading the Bruins’ scoring charge in the season series… Mikko Lehtonen has eight points (3-5-8) in his last eight games for Providence… The Pirates, who began the season 6-1-1-2 in their first 10 road games, have lost seven in a row away from home since… Portland’s Marek Zagrapan has four goals and two assists in his last four games… Nathan Gerbe has 3-5-8 in six games since rejoining the Pirates.

The North Division’s co-leaders square off at Van Andel Arena on Friday night as Manitoba begins a five-game road trip in Grand Rapids… The Moose are 11-4-0-1 on the road, while the Griffins are a gaudy 14-2-3-3 (.773) on home ice… Michael Grabner has scored seven goals in his five games since returning to the Moose lineup from injury… Michel Ouellet notched five points (1-4-5) for Manitoba in the teams’ two-game set in Winnipeg last month… Mattias Ritola (4-3-7) and Darren Haydar (1-6-7) enter the weekend with five-game scoring streaks for Grand Rapids… The Griffins’ Daniel Larsson (14-4-1, 5 SO) and Manitoba’s Cory Schneider (14-2-0, 1.38, .947) will be PlanetUSA creasemates at the 2009 AHL All-Star Classic, Jan. 25-26 in Worcester, Mass.

(all times Eastern)
Fri 1/16
Hershey @ Bridgeport, 7:00
Manitoba @ Grand Rapids, 7:00
Lake Erie @ Hamilton, 7:00
Springfield @ Hartford, 7:00
W-B/Scranton @ Binghamton, 7:05
Lowell @ Philadelphia, 7:05
Portland @ Providence, 7:05
Worcester @ Norfolk, 7:15
Rochester @ Manchester, 7:30
Albany @ Syracuse, 7:30
Peoria @ San Antonio, 8:00
Quad City @ Iowa, 8:05
Chicago @ Rockford, 8:30
Toronto @ Houston, 8:35

Sat 1/17
W-B/Scranton @ Albany, 7:00
Philadelphia @ Hershey, 7:00
Manchester @ Portland, 7:00
Lowell @ Springfield, 7:00
Bridgeport @ Binghamton, 7:05
Worcester @ Norfolk, 7:15
Manitoba @ Lake Erie, 7:30
Hamilton @ Syracuse, 7:30
Quad City @ Chicago, 8:00
Providence @ Hartford, 8:00
Milwaukee @ Iowa, 8:05
Grand Rapids @ Rockford, 8:05

Sun 1/18
W-B/Scranton @ Bridgeport, 1:00
Rochester @ Providence, 4:05
Worcester @ Hershey, 5:00
Quad City @ Milwaukee, 5:00
Peoria @ San Antonio, 6:00
Lake Erie @ Houston, 6:05
Albany @ Philadelphia, 7:05

Mon 1/19
Hartford @ Portland, 1:00
Springfield @ Lowell, 2:00
Hamilton @ Syracuse, 2:00
Grand Rapids @ Rockford, 3:05
Toronto @ San Antonio, 8:00

Tue 1/20
Quad City @ Milwaukee, 8:00
Rockford @ Iowa, 8:05


ALUMNI WATCH:
On Thursday night, Martin St. Pierre’s third-period goal stood up as the difference in Boston’s 2-1 win over the N.Y. Islanders… Trent Whitfield had an assist in his first NHL game since 2005-06, helping St. Louis over Colorado, 5-2.


BY THE NUMBERS:
4 — Consecutive Friday nights on which intra-state rivals Rockford and Chicago have clashed, including this week’s match-up at the MetroCentre in Rockford… The IceHogs enter play with a 6-2-0-0 record in the season series.


AHL LIVE:
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.