News

Eastern Conference notebook

by theahl
Dec. 16 at Manchester, L, 0-3
Dec. 17 at Portland, L, 5-9
Dec. 18 at Portland, L, 1-4 		Dec. 23 at Syracuse, 7:30
  • Albany and Portland combined for 14 goals on Saturday night, the highest scoring game in the AHL this season.
  • Ahren Nittel recorded two goals and two assists in Saturday’s loss, establishing a career high for points in a game.
  • Aleksander Suglobov scored his first NHL goal for New Jersey on Saturday night at Carolina, then rejoined his Albany teammates for Sunday’s rematch in Portland.

    • Dec. 16 vs. Norfolk, L, 5-6 (SO)
    Dec. 17 vs. Providence, W, 4-3
    Dec. 18 at Rochester, W, 5-3     		Dec. 21 vs. Norfolk, 7:05
    Dec. 23 vs. Lowell, 7:05
  • After coughing up a 5-3 lead in the third period of Friday’s loss to Norfolk, Binghamton scored seven third-period goals combined in wins over Providence and Rochester.
  • The line of Grant Potulny, Gregg Johnson and Danny Bois scored four times in a span of 9:20 to turn a 3-0 third-period deficit into a 4-3 win over Providence on Saturday night.
  • Cory Pecker scored his first two AHL goals of the season in Sunday’s victory at Rochester.

    • Dec. 16 vs. Lowell, W, 5-2
    Dec. 17 at Hartford, L, 2-6
    Dec. 18 vs. Norfolk, L, 2-5     		Dec. 21 vs. Wilkes-Barre, 7:05
    Dec. 23 vs. Hartford, 7:35
  • Jeff Hamilton scored three times in Friday’s 5-2 win over Lowell, then tallied his first career NHL goal for the New York Islanders in a win over Colorado on Saturday.
  • Rob Collins made his NHL debut on Saturday, and recorded his first two NHL points with a goal and an assist in Monday’s 9-6 loss to Toronto.
  • The Sound Tigers’ recent holiday food drive raised $670 and a van full of non-perishable food items for the Connecticut Food Bank.

    • Dec. 14 vs. Manchester, W, 4-1
    Dec. 16 at Providence, L, 2-3 (SO)
    Dec. 17 vs. Bridgeport, W, 6-2
    Dec. 18 at Lowell, W, 3-1     		Dec. 23 at Bridgeport, 7:35
  • Dwight Helminen extended his scoring streak to eight games (8g, 5a) with five points in four games last week.
  • Thomas Pock picked up a goal and three assists in Saturday’s 6-2 win over Bridgeport, setting a team record for points in one game by a defenseman.
  • The Wolf Pack are undefeated in regulation since a 5-3 loss in Portland on Nov. 20, going 8-0-1-3 in their last 12 games.

    • Dec. 17 vs. Hamilton, W, 4-0
    Dec. 18 vs. Wilkes-Barre, L, 0-3     		Dec. 22 at Grand Rapids, 7:00 ET
    Dec. 23 at Chicago, 8:30 ET
  • Kirk Daubenspeck made 27 saves in Hershey’s 4-0 win over Hamilton on Saturday, the first Bears shutout of the season.
  • Sunday’s 3-0 loss to Wilkes-Barre was just the Bears’ second in their last 22 games (15-2-2-3).
  • This week, Hershey visits Grand Rapids for the first time since Mar. 30, 2003, and Chicago for the first time since being eliminated in overtime of the deciding Game 5 of the 2003 Western Conference quarterfinal.

    • Dec. 16 at Bridgeport, L, 2-5
    Dec. 17 vs. Manchester, L, 0-3
    Dec. 18 vs. Hartford, L, 1-3     		Dec. 21 at Toronto, 7:30
    Dec. 23 at Binghamton, 7:05
  • 2005 AHL All-Rookie goaltender Cam Ward returned to Lowell for a weekend stint from Carolina, and stopped 54 of 59 shots in losses to Manchester and Hartford.
  • Mike Ziogmanis, the franchise’s all-time scoring leader, was assigned by Carolina last week and is expected to make his 2005-06 debut with the Lock Monsters on Lowell’s upcoming road trip.
  • Wednesday’s game against Toronto will be Lowell’s first contest against a Western Conference opponent since Mar. 15, 2003, when Cleveland visited the Lock Monsters.

    • Dec. 14 at Hartford, L, 1-4
    Dec. 16 vs. Albany, W, 3-0
    Dec. 17 at Lowell, W, 3-0     		Dec. 21 at Providence, 7:05
    Dec. 23 at Portland, 7:05
  • Adam Hauser’s shutout streak stands at 149:22 after back-to-back blankings of Albany and Lowell over the weekend.
  • Petr Kanko scored a goal in his NHL debut for Los Angeles on Friday night, a 4-3 shootout win over Anaheim.
  • Manchester leads the league in attendance, averaging 8,150 fans per game through 13 home dates.

    • Dec. 16 at Binghamton, W, 6-5 (SO)
    Dec. 17 at Wilkes-Barre, L, 1-2 (SO)
    Dec. 18 at Bridgeport, W, 5-2     		Dec. 21 at Binghamton, 7:05
  • Norfolk has picked up standings points in eight of its last nine games (6-1-1-1) after its five-point weekend.
  • Mark Cullen’s hat trick in Sunday’s 5-2 win at Bridgeport was the second three-goal game by an Admiral this year.
  • After Corey Crawford relieved Adam Munro to start the third period on Friday, Manchester, Rochester and Wilkes-Barre are now the only AHL teams yet to make a mid-game goalie change.

    • Dec. 16 vs. Hamilton, L, 1-3
    Dec. 17 at Syracuse, L, 3-4 (SO)     		Dec. 23 at Wilkes-Barre, 7:05
  • Scoreless on the weekend, John Slaney remains with 452 career points entering the week, one shy of Steve Kraftcheck’s career scoring record for an AHL defenseman.
  • Josh Gratton made his NHL debut on Thursday, becoming the 14th member of the 2005 Calder Cup champion Phantoms to skate for the parent Flyers in 2005-06.
  • Eric Chouinard scored all four of Philadelphia’s goals last week, including a hat trick in Saturday’s 4-3 shootout loss to Syracuse.

    • Dec. 16 at Springfield, W, 4-3
    Dec. 17 vs. Albany, W, 9-5
    Dec. 18 vs. Albany, W, 4-1     		Dec. 23 vs. Manchester, 7:05
  • Ryan Getzlaf was named CCM Vector/AHL Player of the Week after picking up 10 points in three games, including a franchise-record-tying six (3g, 3a) in Saturday’s 9-5 win over Albany.
  • Corey Perry carries a 12-game scoring streak (10g, 13a), earning a point in every game he has played in a Pirates sweater.
  • Portland improved to 20-7-2-0 with Sunday’s win over Albany; last year’s Pirates won their 20th game on Feb. 5, in their 49th game.

    • Dec. 16 vs. Hartford, W, 3-2 (SO)
    Dec. 17 at Binghamton, L, 3-4     		Dec. 21 vs. Manchester, 7:05
    Dec. 23 vs. Springfield, 7:05
  • Eric Healey had his eight-game scoring streak snapped in Friday’s win over Hartford, but he did score the deciding goal in the sixth round of the shootout.
  • Zdenek Blatny scored twice in Saturday’s 4-3 loss at Binghamton.
  • Providence still has not allowed more than four goals in a game this season.

    • Dec. 16 vs. Portland, L, 3-4 Dec. 23 at Providence, 7:05
  • Ryan Craig and Darren Reid made their NHL debuts in Tampa Bay’s game against Detroit on Saturday; Craig, the Falcons’ captain, scored a goal in that contest.
  • Springfield dropped its only game last week, a 4-3 setback to Portland on Friday.
  • Falcons players, coaches and staff delivered gifts to Brightside for Families and Children, a local non-profit support center for child welfare, mental health and family support.

    • Dec. 16 vs. Syracuse, L, 1-2
    Dec. 17 vs. Norfolk, W, 2-1 (SO)
    Dec. 18 at Hershey, W, 3-0     		Dec. 21 at Bridgeport, 7:05
    Dec. 23 vs. Philadelphia, 7:05
  • With Joe Mullen and Rick Kehoe serving as interim co-coaches following Thursday’s promotion of Michel Therrien and Mike Yeo to Pittsburgh, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton went 2-1-0-0 on the weekend… Monday, Mullen was named the Penguins’ new head coach.
  • Sebastien Caron recorded his ninth career AHL shutout with a 3-0 road win over second-place Hershey on Sunday.
  • 2005 AHL All-Star Michel Ouellet potted his first two NHL goals over the weekend.