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Game 1 – 7:00 ET, AHL Live
After meeting 10 times in the regular season and battling it out for the Northeast Division title, Bridgeport and Connecticut open a best-of-five conference quarterfinal playoff series at Webster Bank Arena tonight… The Sound Tigers edged the Whale in the season series, 14 points (6-2-1-1) to 12 (4-2-3-1), with six of the 10 games going to overtime and the home team winning each of the last nine meetings… Rhett Rakhshani notched 7-8-15 over his last 10 games for Bridgeport and finished the season as the team’s leading scorer with 20-29-49 in just 49 games played… Casey Cizikas (15-30-45), who spent the last six weeks of the season on NHL recall to the N.Y. Islanders, tied for the AHL lead among rookies with a plus-26 rating in 52 games for the Sound Tigers… Kris Newbury (25-39-64) and rookie Jonathan Audy-Marchessault (24-40-64) were Connecticut’s top scorers both overall and in the regular-season series vs. Bridgeport… The Sound Tigers and Whale have both lost five straight playoff series.
Game 1 – 7:00 ET, AHL Live
Rochester visits Toronto for Game 1 of their Western Conference quarterfinal tonight… The Marlies were the top defensive team in the AHL during the regular season, ranking first in both goals against (175) and penalty-killing efficiency (88.1 percent) en route to winning the North Division by 10 points over the Americans… Toronto netminder Ben Scrivens (22-15-1) led the league with a 2.04 GAA and won seven of his last nine decisions… Eleventh-year pro Mike Zigomanis set a career high in points (19-42-61), leading the Marlies in scoring this season… Phil Varone was Rochester’s leading scorer (11-41-52) and tied for the AHL rookie lead in assists… Marcus Foligno (16-23-39) returns to the Amerks after notching 6-7-13 in 14 NHL games with Buffalo… David Leggio (28-24-2, 2.63, .917) started each of Rochester’s last 23 games and finished first in the league in shots faced and saves… This is Rochester’s first playoff game in Toronto since 1966, when the Amerks played home postseason games at Maple Leaf Gardens… All 10 meetings between these teams in 2011-12 were decided by a single goal.
Game 1 – 8:00 ET, AHL Live
Chicago and San Antonio collide in a first-round matchup, beginning tonight at the AT&T Center… The Rampage will host the first two games of the series before the scene shifts to suburban Chicago for the last three… San Antonio swept the regular-season series from the Wolves, winning four one-goal decisions… Chicago, division champs for the fourth time in eight years, enter a series as the higher seed for the 14th straight time… The Wolves’ Darren Haydar is the AHL’s career leader in playoff goals (59), assists (76, tied with Jason Krog) and points (135)… Mark Mancari (30-28-58), who led Chicago in scoring in the regular season, has 9-14-23 in 24 career AHL playoff games… Jon Matsumoto, who reached the conference finals with Charlotte last spring, totaled 23-37-60 in 76 games between the Checkers and Rampage in 2011-12… Bill Thomas (27-25-52) and Sean Sullivan (6-28-34) were both with San Antonio in 2007-08 also, the last time the Rampage made the playoffs.
Game 1 – 8:05 ET, AHL Live
It’s the top seed in the Western Conference against the defending conference champions as Oklahoma City and Houston tangle in the first round… The Barons, who finished with 99 points to lead the West, were 7-0-0-1 against the Aeros and outscored them 26-12 in the regular season… Ryan Keller (21-28-49, +22) led Oklahoma City in assists, points and plus/minus in his first season with the team; Keller captained Binghamton to the Calder Cup title last year, scoring the winning goal in the clinching Game 6 at Houston… The Aeros managed just 11 goals in eight games against Barons goalie Yann Danis (26-14-2, 2.07, .924) during the regular season… Team captain Jon DiSalvatore, a Second Team AHL All-Star, led the Aeros in scoring (28-33-61) and has played 209 consecutive regular-season and playoff games for Houston… Matt Hackett played all 24 games in net for the Aeros last postseason, tying an AHL record… Houston was 3-1 in Game 1’s last spring.
From Calder to Stanley
Cory Schneider, who led the Manitoba Moose to the Calder Cup Finals in 2009, made 43 saves and was named the game’s first star as Vancouver staved off elimination with a 3-1 win over Los Angeles last night… Kyle Turris, who ranked second in team scoring with 24-39-63 in 76 games for the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage in 2009-10, scored 2:42 into overtime last night as Ottawa defeated the N.Y. Rangers, 3-2, in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series… Steve Sullivan, a member of the Albany River Rats’ 1995 Calder Cup championship team, had a goal and two assists in Pittsburgh’s 10-3 rout of Philadelphia in Game 4 last night.
On This Date
April 19, 2011 – All eight first-round series are in action, the first night in 15 years to have eight playoff games on the schedule.
April 19, 2010 – Led by Jordan Schroeder’s hat trick, Manitoba rolls past Hamilton, 7-2, in Game 3 of their first-round series.
April 19, 2008 – Ryan Jones scores his first professional goal at 6:57 of the second overtime period giving Houston the win over Rockford in the longest 1-0 game in AHL history.
April 19, 2007 – Carey Price records a shutout in his professional playoff debut, stopping 34 shots in Hamilton’s 2-0 Game 1 win at Rochester.
April 19, 1996 – Craig Conroy and Darcy Tucker score two goals apiece as the Fredericton Canadiens defeat the P.E.I. Senators, 7-4, in the opener of their first-round series.
April 19, 1970 – Jim Stanfield scores 1:06 into overtime to send the Springfield Kings to a 5-4 win in Game 7 of their division semifinal vs. Hershey.
AHL Live
Don’t miss a second on the road to the 2012 Calder Cup championship. 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 ahllive.com for details.