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AHL Morning Skate: 5.19.17

Photo: Providence Bruins

Take a game-day spin around the AHL ice with latest news and notes from the 2017 Calder Cup Playoffs in today’s AHL Morning Skate.

Playoff Brackets | Today’s Scoreboard | League Stats


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Game 1 – 7:05 ET, AHL Live

Providence hosts Syracuse in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals tonight… The Bruins are making their sixth appearance in the conference finals (first since 2009) after a 4-2 win in Game 7 at Hershey on Wednesday night, becoming the first team in AHL history to win four elimination games on the road in the same postseason… Jordan Szwarz (3-3-6), Providence’s leading scorer during the regular season, was without a point through the first six games against the Bears before scoring two goals in Game 7… Danton Heinen (5-7-12) tallied two assists and remains the Bruins’ top playoff scorer, while Jake DeBrusk (5-3-8) is tied with Heinen for the AHL postseason lead in goals among rookies… Wayne Simpson (4-4-8) added a goal and two assists for Providence in Game 7, and Austin Czarnik (3-4-7) extended his scoring streak to four games with an assist… Zane McIntyre (7-5, 2.11, .921) has allowed two regulation goals or fewer in 11 of his 12 playoff starts… Syracuse secured its third trip to the conference finals (1996, 2013) by defeating Toronto, 6-3, in Game 7 on Wednesday… After falling behind 3-1 with 8:57 remaining in the second period, the Crunch scored the game’s final five goals while allowing only five Toronto shots the rest of the way… Matt Taormina (2-8-10), Matthew Peca (4-6-10), Yanni Gourde (2-6-8) and Cory Conacher (4-5-9) all recorded a goal and an assist in Game 7… Gourde recorded a team-high eight points in the series after being held off the scoresheet in the first round vs. St. John’s; all eight points came on home ice… Mike McKenna (7-4, 2.59, .900) has seven wins this postseason, matching his previous AHL career total… The Crunch are 1-4 on the road this postseason, and have only two wins in 10 all-time visits to the Dunkin’ Donuts Center (Feb. 14, 2010, and Oct. 25, 1996)… The Bruins outshot the Bears 171-88 over the last five games of their series… Providence was 6-for-22 on the power play in the first round but just 1-for-16 in the second round… Syracuse scored four shorthanded goals last series vs. Toronto… This is the first postseason meeting between teams from these two cities since 1939, when the Providence Reds defeated the Syracuse Stars in the first round… The Reds also beat the Stars in the 1938 Calder Cup Finals to win their first championship.

Eastern Conference Finals – Series “M” (best-of-7)
A4-Providence Bruins vs. N1-Syracuse Crunch
Game 1 – Fri., May 19 – Syracuse at Providence, 7:05
Game 2 – Sun., May 21 – Syracuse at Providence, 7:05
Game 3 – Wed., May 24 – Providence at Syracuse, 7:00
Game 4 – Fri., May 26 – Providence at Syracuse, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sat., May 27 – Providence at Syracuse, 7:00
*Game 6 – Tue., May 30 – Syracuse at Providence, 7:05
*Game 7 – Wed., May 31 – Syracuse at Providence, 7:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern


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Game 1 – Saturday, 9:00 ET, AHL Live
 

Grand Rapids and San Jose open the Western Conference Finals on Saturday night at SAP Center… The Griffins have reached the conference finals for the third time in five years (2013, 2015, 2017)… The Barracuda are making the first Calder Cup conference finals appearance by a San Jose Sharks affiliate since the Kentucky Thoroughblades joined the league in 1996.

Western Conference Finals – Series “N” (best-of-7)
P1-San Jose Barracuda vs. C2-Grand Rapids Griffins
Game 1 – Sat., May 20 – Grand Rapids at San Jose, 9:00
Game 2 – Sun., May 21 – Grand Rapids at San Jose, 8:00
Game 3 – Wed., May 24 – San Jose at Grand Rapids, 7:00
Game 4 – Fri., May 26 – San Jose at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sat., May 27 – San Jose at Grand Rapids, 7:00
*Game 6 – Tue., May 30 – Grand Rapids at San Jose, 10:00
*Game 7 – Wed., May 31 – Grand Rapids at San Jose, 10:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern


Wednesday’s Recaps
#SYRvsTOR: Crunch deliver knockout blow to Marlies in Game 7
#HERvsPRO: Bruins advance with Game 7 win in Hershey


Working Overtime
There have been 16 overtime games played in the 2017 Calder Cup Playoffs so far:

May 14 – Hershey 3, PROVIDENCE 2 (Madison Bowey, 1:58)
May 11 – Hershey 2, PROVIDENCE 1 (Chris Bourque, 7:14)
May 10 – San Jose 4, SAN DIEGO 3 (Timo Meier, 17:40)
May 7 – HERSHEY 3, Providence 2 (Travis Boyd, 5:44)
May 5 – San Diego 3, SAN JOSE 2 (Kevin Roy, 0:38)
*May 2 – SAN JOSE 2, Stockton 1 (Ryan Carpenter, 8:52)
*Apr. 28 – TORONTO 2, Albany 1 (Justin Holl, 46:43)
*Apr. 28 – SYRACUSE 2, St. John’s 1 (Gabriel Dumont, 2:18)
*Apr. 26 – Grand Rapids 3, MILWAUKEE 2 (Kyle Criscuolo, 10:03)
Apr. 26 – TORONTO 3, Albany 2 (Colin Greening, 0:45)
Apr. 26 – Lehigh Valley 2, HERSHEY 1 (Chris Conner, 1:49)
Apr. 23 – Charlotte 4, CHICAGO 3 (Connor Brickley, 9:28)
Apr. 23 – W-B/Scranton 6, PROVIDENCE 5 (Derrick Pouliot, 7:49)
Apr. 22 – Syracuse 4, ST. JOHN’S 3 (Tye McGinn, 30:37)
Apr. 21 – GRAND RAPIDS 4, Milwaukee 3 (Tomas Nosek, 9:32)
Apr. 21 – Hershey 1, LEHIGH VALLEY 0 (Nathan Walker, 7:38)
*clinched series


Alumni Watch
In the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs last night, Corey Perry scored his third overtime goal of the postseason as Anaheim defeated Nashville, 3-2, in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals… Rickard Rackell and 2016 AHL All-Star Nick Ritchie also scored for the Ducks; Filip Forsberg and 2010 AHL All-Star P.K. Subban scored for the Predators.

In the quarterfinals of the 2017 IIHF World Championships yesterday, 2016 AHL All-Star Mikko Rantanen scored and Harri Sateri made 26 saves as Finland shut out the United States, 2-0… Nikita Kucherov tallied a goal and an assist, Dmitri Orlov added a goal and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves in Russia’s 3-0 win over the Czech Republic… 2015 AHL All-Star Philipp Grubauer stopped 48 shots but Germany dropped a 2-1 decision to Canada… William Nylander and Alex Edler scored to help Sweden past Switzerland, 3-1.


On This Date
May 19, 2000 – J.F. Labbe makes 39 saves as Hartford snaps Providence’s AHL-record 16-game home playoff winning streak with a 5-3 win in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

May 19, 1983 – Led by head coach Mike Keenan, the Rochester Americans win the Calder Cup with a 3-1 win at Maine, completing a four-game Finals sweep.


AHL Live
Don’t miss a second on the road to the 2017 Calder Cup championship. AHL Live brings AHL action to your desktop, laptop, smartphone or tablet all season long with live video webcasts and free highlights of every AHL game… Visit ahllive.com for details.

AHL Live