LOOKING BACK:
On Sunday, Brandon Bochenski scored twice for Norfolk in a 3-1 win at Bridgeport… Trent Whitfield’s goal with 2:02 left in regulation lifted Peoria over Iowa, 3-2… Eric Healey (2g, 2a) and Daniel Corso (4a) each had four points in Springfield’s 5-4 shootout loss to Portland… Milwaukee ran its points streak to eight games (6-0-0-2) with an 8-5 win over Grand Rapids… Former Crunch goalie Andrew Penner stopped 33 shots to lead Wilkes-Barre/Scranton past Syracuse, 3-2… Triston Grant and Boyd Kane each scored twice for Philadelphia in a 5-3 victory over visiting Toronto.
Sun 12/17
Norfolk 3, BRIDGEPORT 1… LOWELL 3, Providence 2… MANCHESTER 2, Hartford 1… MILWAUKEE 8, Grand Rapids 5… PEORIA 3, Iowa 2… PHILADELPHIA 5, Toronto 3… PORTLAND 5, Springfield 4 (SO)… SAN ANTONIO 4, Manitoba 3 (OT)… W-B/Scranton 3, SYRACUSE 2
Mon 12/18
No games scheduled
Tue 12/19
No games scheduled
LOOKING AHEAD:
The 5,000th regular-season game in Hershey Bears history takes place Wednesday night at the Pepsi Arena against Albany, a team the Bears have beaten 15 straight times since a 4-2 loss on Mar. 28, 2004… Hershey has earned points in seven straight games (5-0-1-1) overall and has just three regulation losses all season, fewest in the AHL… Alexandre Giroux, who leads the Bears with 21 goals and 32 points, is back after making his Washington Capitals debut on Tuesday night… Albany has won four in a row and six of eight (6-1-1-0) to move into fourth place in the East Division… Tyler Weiman is 6-1-0 with a 1.95 goals-against average during December… Keith Aucoin, the River Rats’ leading scorer, remains in the NHL with Carolina.
Manchester pays a visit to Lowell for an Atlantic Division tilt on Wednesday, the fifth of 10 meetings this season between the rivals… The Monarchs have won five of their last six games overall, but have dropped five of seven on the road… Patrick O’Sullivan scored both goals in the Monarchs’ 2-1 win over Hartford on Sunday… Jason LaBarbera, who has made nine straight starts for Manchester, has stopped 94 of 97 Devils shots (2-0-1, 0.95, .969) this year… Justin Papineau has nine points in his last seven games for Lowell… Chris Minard has a team-high 12 goals on the year for the Devils, including five in his last five games… Nicklas Bergfors has left Lowell to join host Sweden for next week’s World Junior Championships.
Holding a one-point lead over the third-place Moose in the North Division, Hamilton heads to Winnipeg for a two-game set against Manitoba on Wednesday and Thursday nights… The Bulldogs have been one of the hottest teams in the AHL of late, with nine wins in their last 11 games and a 15-4-0-1 mark since Nov. 1… Mathieu Biron has two goals and an assist in his first two games since joining Hamilton last weekend… Jaroslav Halak continues to lead the AHL in goals-against average (1.49), save percentage (.950) and shutouts (five), and was 2-0-0 against the Moose last season… Manitoba’s Brad Moran has moved up to sixth on the AHL’s scoring race with 36 points, and Jason Jaffray is eighth with 17 goals.
(all times Eastern)
Wed 12/20
Hershey at Albany, 7:00… Iowa at Grand Rapids, 7:00… Manchester at Lowell, 7:05… Bridgeport at Norfolk, 7:15… Milwaukee at Omaha, 8:00… Hamilton at Manitoba, 8:30
Thu 12/21
Chicago at San Antonio, 8:00… Hamilton at Manitoba, 8:30
Fri 12/22
Springfield at Hartford, 7:00… Manchester at Worcester, 7:00… Binghamton at Philadelphia, 7:05… Providence at Portland, 7:05… Bridgeport at W-B/Scranton, 7:05… Hershey at Norfolk, 7:15… Albany at Hamilton, 7:30… Toronto at Rochester, 7:35… San Antonio at Omaha, 8:00… Milwaukee at Iowa, 8:05… Grand Rapids at Peoria, 8:30… Chicago at Houston, 8:35
ALUMNI WATCH:
On Tuesday, David Moss (in his NHL debut) and 2006 AHL All-Star Richie Regehr scored their first NHL goals and Dustin Boyd had an assist for his first NHL point as Calgary beat Los Angeles, 5-3… David Backes recorded an assist 44 seconds into his NHL debut, helping St. Louis past Pittsburgh, 4-1… 1997 AHL All-Star Andrew Brunette recorded a hat trick as Colorado edged Edmonton, 7-6.
BY THE NUMBERS:
2,360 — Regular-season games won by the Hershey Bears since making their AHL debut vs. the Providence Reds on Nov. 5, 1938… Hershey sports a lifetime .530 points percentage in 4,999 games played.
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.
