Facebook Pixel tracking image

AHL Morning Skate: Dec. 9

Last night’s results || Today’s scoreboard || Standings || League Leaders

wor @ stj 6:00 ET, AHL Live
St. John’s remains in first place in the Eastern Conference (15-5-4-0) as it opens a two-game set with Worcester tonight at Mile One Centre… Since Nov. 1, when the IceCaps handed the Sharks their first regulation loss of the season, St. John’s 10-3-1-0 is while Worcester is 4-6-3-1… The IceCaps are coming off a 5-3 loss to Syracuse on Wednesday night… Aaron Gagnon, Kevin Clark and Paul Postma scored for St. John’s, and defenseman Jason DeSantis extended his scoring streak to six games (1-6-7) with an assist… Worcester has earned points in seven of its last nine games overall (3-2-3-1), but is winless on the road (0-1-3-1) since Oct. 28… Tony Lucia has a point in three straight games for the Sharks (1-2-3)… The IceCaps are first in the AHL in offense averaging 3.67 goals per game, and have scored at least three goals in 15 of their last 16 contests.

por @ adk 7:00 ET, AHL Live
Portland visits Adirondack tonight in the start of a second straight three-in-three road weekend for the Pirates… Portland lost in Wilkes-Barre, Hershey and Springfield last weekend, by a combined score of 13-3… Brett MacLean scored two of Portland’s three goals and now has 4-3-7 in his last seven games… Curtis McElhinney has gone seven consecutive starts without allowing more than three goals… Adirondack is coming off a 1-0 overtime loss in Hamilton on Tuesday, but has won four straight at home… Michael Leighton has stopped 87 of 91 shots over his last three starts for the Phantoms but has just one win (1-2-0).

her @ ct 7:00 ET, AHL Live
Hershey returns to Hartford for its second and final visit of the season to Connecticut’s XL Center… The Bears have won three in a row since a 4-2 loss to the Whale on Nov. 29, outscoring the opposition 14-4… Keith Aucoin (6-30-36), the AHL’s leader in assists and points, has notched 2-13-15 in his last seven games, and linemate Chris Bourque is in the midst of a league-best 11-game scoring streak (5-13-18)… Connecticut has won seven of its last nine games… Mats Zuccarello scored twice in Sunday’s 4-3 loss to Binghamton, extending his scoring streak to five games (4-4-8)… Chad Johnson, who made 26 saves in last week’s win over Hershey, has won his last five starts.

nor @ bng 7:05 ET, AHL Live
Norfolk begins a two-game visit to Binghamton tonight, two points behind idle Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for first place in the East Division… The Admirals wrapped up a six-game homestand at 4-2-0-0 by splitting a pair with Adirondack last weekend… Rookie Tyler Johnson (8-8-16) scored both goals in the 2-1 win over the Phantoms last Saturday, and Dustin Tokarski (9-5-0, 2.35, .904) made 15 saves for his fourth consecutive victory… Trevor Smith has 3-2-5 in two games vs. Binghamton this season… The Senators fell to Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday night, 1-0, despite 35 saves by Robin Lehner (6-9-1, 2.79, .919).

mch @ pro 7:05 ET, AHL Live
Providence hosts Manchester tonight for the sixth of 10 meetings this season between the teams… Manchester has won eight of its last nine games, with six of those victories coming in overtime (two) or a shootout (four)… Brandon Kozun has a point in five straight games for the Monarchs (2-3-5) after going scoreless in his previous six… Providence is trying to snap an eight-game winless streak (0-6-0-2)… The Bruins’ Josh Hennessy, who tallied two goals and an assist in a 5-4 shootout loss to Manchester last Saturday, has 4-4-8 in five games vs. the Monarchs and 4-2-6 in 18 games vs. the rest of the AHL this season.

tor @ ham 7:30 ET, AHL Live
Two months into the season, rivals Toronto and Hamilton finally kick off their 12-game season series with a tilt at Copps Coliseum tonight… The Marlies and Bulldogs have each won 29 of the 58 all-time meetings between the provincial foes, but Hamilton is 20-6-3-5 over the last three seasons… Toronto sits atop the North Division by six points — the largest current lead in the AHL — but has lost three of its last four games, including Sunday’s 4-2 defeat to St. John’s… Nazem Kadri‘s scoring streak stands at eight games (6-8-14) for the Marlies… Hamilton, 1-0 winners over Adirondack on Tuesday on an overtime goal by Aaron Palushaj, is bidding for its first three-game winning streak of the season.

alb @ rch 7:35 ET, AHL Live
Rochester hosts Albany tonight looking to avenge the Devils’ 4-2 win in both teams’ last action on Sunday… The Americans have lost three in a row and currently sit ninth in the Western Conference, while the Devils, who have won three of four, are eighth in the Eastern Conference… Matt Anderson tallied a goal and two assists and Stephane Veilleux chipped in a goal and an assist in Sunday’s win over Rochester… Drew Schiestel scored for the Amerks in the loss, his first goal since Jan. 15… Alex Biega has four assists in his last five games for Rochester.

peo @ okc 8:00 ET, AHL Live
Oklahoma City entertains Peoria tonight in the first meeting of the season between the teams… The Barons, first overall with their .729 points percentage (17-6-0-1), have won seven of their last nine games, most recently a 2-1 shootout decision over Houston yesterday… Alex Plante scored a power-play goal in regulation and Josh Green potted the winning shootout goal in the sixth round… The Rivermen have lost six of their last eight, but are coming off a 5-2 win over Rockford on Sunday… T.J. Hensick (2-4-6) and Jonathan Cheechoo (3-3-6) both have points in five straight games for Peoria… The road team was 6-0-0-2 in last year’s season series between these clubs… Barons defenseman Bryan Helmer had 3-7-10 in seven games vs. Peoria in 2010-11.

gr @ mil 8:00 ET, AHL Live
Grand Rapids brings a season-best three-game winning streak into the Bradley Center to open a three-in-three road weekend in Milwaukee… The Griffins, a win away from getting back to the .500 mark (10-11-1-0), are coming off a 5-4 overtime win against Chicago on Saturday… Joakim Andersson scored twice in that victory, including picking up the OT winner… Joey MacDonald (5-4-0, 2.17, .930), who has missed the last month due to injury, is poised to return to action for Grand Rapids this weekend… Milwaukee is five points out of first place in the Midwest Division, but with five games in hand on front-running Charlotte… The Admirals have also won three straight overall as well as three in a row at home… Gabriel Bourque has notched 2-5-7 in his last six outings for Milwaukee.

chi @ rfd 8:05 ET, AHL Live
Chicago and Rockford meet at the BMO Harris Bank Center tonight, the teams’ first meeting since the Wolves swept a home-and-home from the IceHogs on Oct. 21 and 22… Chicago finds itself in a four-game slide (0-2-1-1) entering the weekend, while Rockford has dropped four in a row in regulation… Second-year pro Brandon Pirri (10-12-22) leads the IceHogs in goals and points, and is two goals shy of his total (12) from 70 games as a rookie last season… Brian Connelly (2-19-21) leads all AHL defensemen with 19 assists… Wolves leading scorer Darren Haydar (7-17-24) remains two points shy of 700 for his AHL career, a plateau reached by only 21 other players in league history.

cha @ tex 8:30 ET, AHL Live
Texas tries to snap a five-game home winless skid (0-4-0-1) as Charlotte comes to the Cedar Park Center tonight, the teams’ third meeting in 10 days… The Checkers went 4-2-0-0 on their just-completed homestand, including a two-game split with the Stars last week… Jerome Samson (10-11-21) ended a five-game drought with a goal in Monday’s 3-1 Charlotte loss to Lake Erie… Rookie Matt Fraser (10-5-15) notched a goal and an assist at Charlotte last Saturday, his first two points in nine games… Texas ranks third in the AHL on the power play (24.8 percent), scoring 27 goals with the man advantage in 21 games.

sa @ hou 8:35 ET, AHL Live
Coming off a 2-1 shootout loss in Oklahoma City yesterday, Houston returns home to take on San Antonio tonight… The Aeros fell to 0-5 in shootouts this season, but still own a league-low four regulation losses (14-4-2-5) and are now 6-1-2-2 in their last 11 games… Jarod Palmer scored with two minutes remaining in regulation yesterday to earn Houston a standings point, his second goal in as many games… Darcy Kuemper stopped 34 of 35 shots for the Aeros… The Rampage have been off since Tuesday’s 6-1 loss to Houston, which came after San Antonio had allowed a total of three goals in its previous four games… Garrett Wilson scored his first career AHL goal for the Rampage on Tuesday.

le @ abb 10:00 ET, AHL Live
Lake Erie heads west to open a two-game series at the Abbotsford Entertainment & Sports Centre tonight… The teams haven’t met since the Heat opened the season with 2-1 and 1-0 wins over the Monsters, Oct. 7-8… Lake Erie, 7-2-0-1 in its last 10 games, is trying to get over the .500 mark for the first time this season (11-11-1-1), while Abbotsford’s three-game winning streak has them two points behind co-leaders Oklahoma City and Houston in the West Division… Rookie defenseman Tyson Barrie has tallied 1-8-9 in his last nine games for the Monsters… Abbotsford native and former Heat forward David van der Gulik (6-13-19) leads Lake Erie in assists and points… Quintin Laing scored twice and Danny Taylor stopped 25 of 26 shots in his Heat debut, a 3-1 win in Chicago on Sunday.