Western Conference notebook

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Defenseman Joel Kwiatkowski netted his team-leading 10th power play goal of the season on Jan. 26 in a 5-3 win at Grand Rapids… Kwiatkowski leads all AHL blueliners with 13 goals and shares third with 34 points on the season… Darren Haydar notched two points (1-1-2) in that same game after being held to a total of two points in his previous six outings combined… Chicago is averaging a league-high 3.91 goals per game.
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Rookie Darren Helm converted a penalty shot for the Griffins on Jan. 26 against Chicago, marking just the fourth successful attempt in franchise history and the first since Bryan Adams converted on Dec. 17, 2002… Grand Rapids had failed on its previous seven penalty shot tries… The Griffins’ offense has totaled four goals and been shut out three times in goaltender Jimmy Howard’s last five losses… Thursday’s game at Peoria kicks off a season-high six-game road swing for the Griffins.
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Hamilton enters the week having been held without a goal in its last 135:47 worth of hockey… The Bulldogs were blanked by Quad City and Syracuse in consecutive games on Jan. 25-26… Defenseman Jean-Philippe Cote is set to play in his 300th career AHL game on Friday when the Bulldogs visit the MTS Centre to take on Manitoba in the first of a two-game set… In another milestone, Hamilton’s game on Saturday in Winnipeg will mark head coach Don Lever’s 206th game behind the Bulldogs’ bench, which will make him the franchise’s longest-serving head coach… Lever is set to pass Claude Julien, now head coach of the Boston Bruins.
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The Aeros come out of the All-Star break on a four-game winless skid (0-3-1-0), their longest such streak since also starting the season 0-3-1-0… Winger Benoit Pouliot registered his third multiple-point game of the season on Jan. 26 against San Antonio, posting a goal and an assist… Pouliot now has six points (4-2-6) in his last eight games… Houston’s power play has converted just one of 24 opportunities over the team’s last four contests.
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Iowa begins its post-All-Star break schedule with a pair of home games against Grand Rapids on Friday and Saturday… All-time, the Stars have posted a 4-6-0-0 record against the Griffins, including a 1-1-0-0 mark this season… Friday’s game will begin a four-game homestand for Iowa… Perttu Lindgren (1-2-3) and Toby Petersen (1-3-4) both bring three-game scoring streaks into this weekend’s action, while Konstantin Pushkarev has a point in three of his last four outings (1-2-3).
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Lake Erie rookie T.J. Hensick tallied a game-high four points (2-2-4) in Monday’s AHL All-Star Game, was recalled by parent-club Colorado, and posted an assist in the Avalanche’s 6-3 home-ice win over Chicago on Wednesday… David Jones brings an eight-game scoring streak (4-7-11) into the post-All-Star break schedule… Jeff Friesen has recorded five points (1-4-5) in five games with the Monsters… Lake Erie notched a season-high seven goals in its 7-2 win over Rochester on Jan. 26… The Monsters will try for their second three-game winning streak of the season on Thursday when they host San Antonio.
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All-Star goaltender Drew MacIntyre stopped 45 of 47 shots (.957) as Manitoba took a pair of 3-1 wins over Syracuse prior to the All-Star break… MacIntyre currently ranks ninth in the AHL in GAA (2.30) and is tied for fourth in save percentage (.923)… The Moose are 7-2-0-0 in their last nine home games entering a two-game set against Hamilton this weekend… The division rivals have split their first four meetings of the campaign… Interestingly, Manitoba is the league’s only team yet to lose in regulation when the game is tied after one period (10-0-1-0).
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Center Mike Santorelli notched five points (3-2-5) in three games prior to the All-Star break as Milwaukee won two of the three contests… All-Star goaltender Pekka Rinne has started seven consecutive games for the Admirals, posting a record of 4-2-1 over that span, including a pair of shutouts… Cal O’Reilly is currently riding a four-game scoring streak (1-6-7)… The Admirals have been shut out four times this season, and three of the four final scores have been 1-0.
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Peoria entered the All-Star break as one of the AHL’s hottest teams, having won three straight games and 12 of its last 14 (12-2-0-0)… The Rivermen have vaulted from the bottom of the West Division to just five points back of first-place Rockford and two behind second-place Chicago… Peoria is 17-4-12-1 on the road this season, tying Providence for fewest regulation road losses… Defenseman Jeff Woywitka has a point in three straight games (0-4-4) and eight of his last nine outings (4-7-11)… Martin Kariya (2-3-5) and Charles Linglet (1-3-4) are both riding three-game scoring streaks.
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Grant Stevenson has the AHL’s longest current scoring streak, having registered a point in 11 consecutive games (12-8-20)… Additionally, Stevenson has a point in 16 of his last 17 outings (14-13-27) dating back to Dec. 21… Defenseman Tim Hambly has recorded 15 of his 21 points this season on the road, including all four of his goals… Goaltender Curtis McElhinney went 3-1-0 with a 1.25 GAA in his first four games back with Quad City after being reassigned from parent-club Calgary… The Flames will play their next three games against Houston, including a pair in Texas this weekend.
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Second-year pro Dylan Hunter entered the All-Star break with a three-game scoring streak (1-3-4)… Hunter tallied his ninth goal of the season on Jan. 26 at Lake Erie in his 42nd game of the season, bettering the eight that he scored in 67 games as a rookie for the Americans in 2006-07… Rochester is winless in eight straight games (0-5-1-2) and hasn’t scored more than three goals since netting seven in a 7-3 win over Hamilton on Jan. 12… The Amerks have won two games since Dec. 1 (2-21-1-2), and both have come against the Bulldogs.
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Veteran goaltender Wade Flaherty got the start and took the defeat in the IceHogs’ 2-1 loss to Iowa on Jan. 26… That ended fellow netminder Corey Crawford’s consecutive starts streak at 12 games (8-4-0-0)… Crawford leads all AHL goaltenders in wins (23) and total saves (1,037)… Martin St. Pierre’s three points (1-2-3) in Monday’s All-Star Game gave him career total of eight (4-4-8) in three midseason classics… That tied a league record, previously set by John Slaney.
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San Antonio began its 14-game road odyssey at 3-0-1-0 heading into a pair of games at Lake Erie and one in Syracuse this week… Joey Tenute has points in three of his last four games (3-1-4) after posting just one assist in his previous six outings… Tenute leads the Rampage in goals (18) and game-winning goals (4) and ranks second in points (32)… Matt Murley paces the offense with 36 points (10-26-36) in 45 games.
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Syracuse has scored the first goal in each of its last six games, but is just 2-3-1-0 over that span… Overall, the Crunch have lit the lamp first in 29 of their 49 games (16-12-1-0), tied for most in the league… Goaltender Adam Munro notched his first shutout of the season in Syracuse’s 2-0 win at Hamilton on Jan. 25… The Crunch now have three shutouts on the season, and three different goaltenders have accomplished the feat (Craig Kowalski and Tomas Popperle are the others)… Overall, Syracuse has employed six goaltenders this season, tied with Norfolk for most in the league.
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Toronto is 5-0-1-0 since suffering a season-high three-game losing skid from Jan. 10-12… The Marlies have also won a season-high four home games and have yet to lose at Ricoh Coliseum in the calendar year 2008… Alex Foster notched his fourth shorthanded goal of the season on Jan. 25 against Binghamton in Utica, N.Y… That matches a Toronto franchise record, previously set by current Grand Rapids forward Brett Engelhardt in 2005-06.