Western Conference notebook

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The Wolves kick off a six-game road trip on Friday in Providence… Five of the six contests will be played against non-divisional opponents… Chicago has allowed just four goals over its last four games and a league-low average of 1.55 goals per game overall… Goaltenders Dan Turple and Robert Gherson each won his first start of the season for the Wolves last weekend… Joey Crabb and Grant Stevenson both have three goals on the season, and each already has a pair of game-winners… The Wolves have outscored opponents 17-6 in the second and third periods thus far… Chicago has been held without a power play tally in five straight games (0-for-17).
 
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The Griffins’ 5-4 loss to Milwaukee on Saturday snapped both their seven-game points streak (4-0-2-1) and their run as the AHL’s lone remaining team without a regulation defeat… Seven Griffins continue to average at least one point per game, including AHL rookie of the month Justin Abdelkader (7-2-9)… Ville Leino shows a team-high 13 points (4-9-13), including at least one in seven of eight games thus far… Grand Rapids has outscored its opponents 15-8 in the first period but has been outscored 19-18 from the second period on… The Griffins host Lake Erie on Friday before traveling to face Peoria on Saturday.
 
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Hamilton’s 8-2-1-0 start is its second-best in team history, trailing only a 9-2 start by the 1997-98 squad… The Bulldogs rank fifth in the AHL with 3.55 goals per game thus far… Matt D’Agostini continues to lead the Bulldogs’ offense with six goals and 13 points through 11 contests… Goaltender Cedrick Desjardins earned his first victory of the season on Saturday by making 39 saves in a 5-3 win over Rochester… Rookie David Desharnais, who signed a two-year contact with Montreal this week, has a point in three of his last four outings (2-2-4)… Hamilton takes its second four-game winning streak of the season into weekend home games against Houston and Toronto before visiting Lake Erie on Sunday.
 
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Houston and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton combined for three goals in a 41-second span on Sunday, the fastest three goals scored by both teams in a game in Aeros history… The Aeros have now allowed two hat tricks on the young season, to the Penguins’ Chris Minard and to Toronto’s Andre Deveaux on Oct. 26… Krys Kolanos, currently on NHL recall with Minnesota, has netted seven goals in as many games played for Houston this season… Marco Rosa (4-5-9) and Corey Locke (3-6-9) are tied for the team scoring lead with nine points apiece… The Aeros begin a five-game road trip with games this weekend in Hamilton, Rochester, and Syracuse.
 
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Since capturing consecutive games on Oct. 18 and Oct. 24, Iowa has alternated wins and losses over its last five contests (2-3-0-0)… The Chops have totaled only seven goals over those five games… Second-year forward Bobby Ryan has accounted for three of the five goals and has a point in four straight games overall (3-1-4)… Ryan leads the Chops with six goals and 12 points on the campaign… Joakim Lindstrom also shows a four-game scoring run (0-4-4) and has a point in six of his last seven outings (1-5-6)… Iowa’s only game of the upcoming weekend is on Friday at Quad City.
 
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Lake Erie is 1-4-0-0 thus far on a six-game road swing, which concludes on Friday at Grand Rapids… After an off-day on Saturday, the Monsters return home to battle Hamilton on Sunday… That game begins a stretch that sees the Monsters play six straight and 12 of their next 14 games at the Quicken Loans Arena… Second-year forward T.J. Hensick has recorded a goal in four straight contests (4-0-4) and a point in seven straight (5-4-9)… Brian Willsie has lit the lamp in seven of 10 games thus far (7-3-10)… Lake Erie is allowing an average of 33.50 shots on goal per game, the second-highest total in the AHL to this point.
 
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Manitoba takes its AHL season-high eight-game winning streak to New York state for three games in four days beginning Friday… The Moose will square off with Rochester twice and with Syracuse once… Manitoba swept a three games in three nights stretch last weekend, dropping Rockford, Quad City, and Peoria, all on the road… The Moose, who have four more three-in-threes scheduled this season, have never swept more than one such stretch in a single campaign in team history… Parent-club Vancouver swapped forwards with the Moose this week, recalling Michel Ouellet and reassigning Jason Krog to Manitoba… Krog had five points (1-4-5) over the first four games for the Moose prior to his recall.
 
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Milwaukee’s sweep of a home-and-home set with Grand Rapids last weekend gave the Admirals their first winning streak of the young season… The Ads play only one game this weekend, on Friday at home against San Antonio… In the month of November, Milwaukee has just three games in the first 14 days but eight contests over the final 16 days… Antti Pihlstrom, who leads the Admirals with five goals (5-2-7), and his wife welcomed their first child, a daughter, on Friday night in Milwaukee… Cal O’Reilly had four points (1-3-4) last weekend and extended his scoring streak to seven games (4-7-11).
 
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Steve Regier’s empty-net marker in Wednesday’s 3-1 win over Rockford gave him five goals and six points in his last four games… Going back further, Regier has found the scoresheet in eight of his last nine contests (8-5-13)… Defenseman Jeff Woywitka has registered an assist in four of five games (0-6-6) since joining the Rivermen from parent-club St. Louis on Oct. 23… Goaltender Marek Schwarz has allowed only three goals on 64 shots (.953 save percentage) in his two victories for Peoria this season but has surrendered 13 goals on 82 shots (.841) in his three losses… The Rivermen’s only game of the upcoming weekend is Saturday at home against Grand Rapids.
 
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Quad City has lost three straight games since taking consecutive road wins on Oct. 25-26… Warren Peters scored on Friday at Peoria to extend his road goal-scoring streak to three games, tying a franchise record… Peters now leads the Flames overall with five goals on the season and ranks second with six points… Kris Chucko’s eight points (4-4-8) are setting the pace… Defenseman Brett Palin registered his first goal as a member of the Flames on Saturday against Manitoba… Palin’s last goal came on Oct. 7, 2006, for Calgary’s AHL affiliate in Omaha… Brett Sutter, who totaled 10 points in 75 games last season, already has six points in 11 games this year (1-5-6).
 
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The Americans, who went 9-1-0-0 in their first 10 games of the 2006-07 season, are a combined 4-14-1-1 over the first 10 games of the following two campaigns, including their 1-9-0-0 mark this year… The Amerks have been outscored 24-9 in dropping their last four contests… Tanner Glass (3-3-6), Kenndal McArdle (2-4-6), and rookie defenseman Jason Garrison (1-5-6) are locked in a three-way tie for the team scoring lead with six points apiece… Karl Stewart shows a team-high four goals (4-1-5)… Jacob Micflikier (1-4-5) and David Brine (0-3-3) are both currently riding three-game scoring streaks… Rochester hosts Manitoba and Houston this weekend before welcoming the Moose again on Monday.
 
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With Wednesday’s 3-1 setback in Peoria, the IceHogs have now lost three straight games in regulation, something that they did not do all of last season… The IceHogs’ power play currently ranks second in the AHL at 22.1 percent (15-for-68), and they have scored at least one power play goal in nine of their first 11 games… Goaltender Antti Niemi put together a 1.80 goals-against average in October, the best single-month total in the IceHogs’ two-year AHL history… After Saturday’s game at Norfolk, Rockford will not play another opponent from outside the West Division until Jan. 7, when it travels to North Division foe Grand Rapids.
 
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Since a 5-1 win over Iowa on Oct. 25, San Antonio has lost three straight games and scored one goal in all three contests… Overall, the Rampage are averaging 2.33 goals per game, the third-lowest total in the AHL… Garth Murray, whose four goals (4-1-5) were tied for the San Antonio team lead, was recalled by parent-club Phoenix on Monday and made his NHL season debut the next night at Calgary… Brett MacLean also has four goals for the Rampage and leads the squad with seven points in nine games… San Antonio’s penalty-killing unit ranks second in the league at 91.4% (53-for-58)… The Rampage travel to Milwaukee on Friday before hosting Quad City on Saturday and Sunday.
 
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Derick Brassard, who was the AHL’s top rookie in both October 2007 and April 2008 for the Crunch, was named the NHL’s rookie of the month for October earlier this week after posting nine points in 10 games for Columbus… Syracuse wraps up its four-game road swing in Binghamton on Friday and will then host Manitoba and Houston to close out the weekend… Tom Sestito has netted a goal in each of the last two games (2-0-2)… Defenseman Clay Wilson shows a team-high four goals and is tied for the Crunch scoring lead with Maksim Mayorov (3-5-8) and defenseman Jonathan Sigalet (3-5-8)… Three of Wilson’s four goals thus far have come on the power play.
 
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Goaltender Adam Munro made his Marlies debut on Friday at Rochester and finished with 18 saves in a 5-2 victory… Kris Newbury continues to lead the Toronto offense with 11 points (3-8-11)… Andre Deveaux, who scored seven goals all of last season for Calder Cup champion Chicago, has already netted five this year to pace the Marlies… Toronto’s penalty-killing unit ranks third in the league thus far at 91.2 percent (52-for-57)… The Marlies have scored just 14 goals in the first and second period this season but have totaled 13 in the third period and overtime… Toronto’s lone contest this weekend is Saturday at Hamilton, which kicks off a five-game road stretch for the Marlies.