East Notes: Pirates, Crunch surging
by theahl
Also see… West Notes: Stapleton, Johnson on streaks
Schedule/Scores Player Stats
Adirondack has dropped its last two shootouts – including a 5-4 loss at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Wednesday – after winning its first three trips to the tiebreaker this season… The Phantoms are winless in three straight games overall (0-2-0-1) and just 2-4-0-2 since a season-high three-game winning streak from Jan. 13-16… David Laliberte's four-game goal-scoring streak (4-1-5) ended in Wednesday's loss to the Penguins… Rookie defenseman Joonas Lehtivuori was plus-4 in four games last week and tops the Phantoms at plus-5 for the season… Adirondack hosts Manchester on Friday before a Saturday visit to Syracuse.
Albany has been outscored 13-6 in dropping its last two games, marking the River Rats first two-game regulation losing skid since falling in three straight from Dec. 26-30… Defenseman Casey Borer notched two assists on Friday at Hershey, his first points since being out of action nearly 11 months as a result of a neck injury suffered in last February's team bus crash… Jonathan Paiement has a point in three of his last four games (1-3-4) for the Rats… Jerome Samson has fired a league-high 216 shots on goal, 44 more than second-place Denis Hamel of Binghamton… Albany visits Binghamton on Friday before hosting Springfield on Saturday.
Binghamton has lost a season-high four straight games in regulation, its longest such streak since a five-game skid from Nov. 7-17, 2007… The Senators have scored exactly one goal in each of their last three contests and been outscored 13-3 over that span… Sens leading scorer Ryan Keller (21-18-39) put up 13 points (8-5-13) in 12 games during the month of January, which included an eight-game scoring run from Jan. 10-30… Erik Condra has tallied a goal in three of his last five games (3-1-4) for Binghamton… The Senators host intra-state rivals Albany and Rochester at the Broome County Arena this weekend.
Bridgeport is 0-4 in its last four shootouts after beginning 4-2 in its first six shootouts this season… All told, the Sound Tigers have extended beyond regulation in a league-high 19 games this season… Bridgeport played a team-record 13-round shootout vs. Norfolk on Sunday, eventually falling to the Admirals… Goaltender Scott Munroe has stopped 82 of 85 shots (.965) in his last two appearances but has a loss and a shootout loss to show for it… Bridgeport has not scored more than two goals in a game since a 4-3 overtime loss at Albany on Oct. 16, and has not tallied more than three in a contest since beating Springfield by a 6-2 count on Dec. 11… The Sound Tigers visit the Falcons on Friday before hosting Manchester on Saturday.
Hartford halted a five-game winless skid (0-4-1-0) with a 3-2 win over Lowell on Wednesday in the first of four straight games on the road… Each of the Wolf Pack's last four victories have come in overtime since a 5-2 regulation triumph at Worcester on Jan. 8; Hartford has a league-high eight overtime victories on the season (8-2)… A 5-4 loss to Norfolk on Jan. 27 was the Wolf Pack's first this season in a game where they scored as many as four goals… Kenny Roche registered a point in each of his first three games with Hartford (1-3-4)… Corey Locke has a point in six of his last seven outings (2-6-8)… Hartford heads south for a pair of games in Norfolk this weekend.
Hershey has now won nine straight games and 21 of its last 22 contests (21-1-0-0)… Alexandre Giroux and Keith Aucoin both saw their 16-game scoring streaks come to an end in Wednesday's 3-2 shootout win at Norfolk, marking the first game in which the duo was held scoreless since Dec. 26 vs. Syracuse… Aucoin's 16-game assist streak fell one short of the AHL record in that category… Andrew Joudrey tallied a pair of goals on Wednesday after totaling two scores in his previous 22 contests… Defenseman Patrick McNeill has a point in seven of his last eight games (2-9-11)… The Bears are the only AHL team with Friday off before hosting Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday.
The Devils have earned a standings point in seven of their last eight games (5-1-1-1) and have not been winless in back-to-back games since Dec. 6-11… Defenseman Cory Murphy has compiled 13 assists in his last 14 games, including three multiple-point efforts; Lowell is 6-0-0-0 this season when Murphy registers more than one point… Stephen Gionta has recorded six points (2-4-6) in his last five contests… The Devils continue to boast the AHL's top-ranked power play at 22.4 percent… Lowell puts its franchise-record seven-game road winning streak on the line Friday in Worcester, and the Devils host Portland on Saturday.
Manchester had posted back-to-back shutouts last Friday and Saturday before surrendering a season-high six goals in a 6-1 loss at Portland on Tuesday… Jonathan Bernier recorded both shutouts last weekend to give him a league-high six whitewashes on the season… The Monarchs' offense has totaled just seven goals in four games since a 6-1 pounding of Hartford on Jan. 24… Manchester leading scorer Corey Elkins (16-19-35) is now in a tie for third in scoring among AHL rookies… The Monarchs have tallied the game's first goal in 35 of their 51 games (25-7-1-2)… Manchester continues a seven-game road swing this weekend with games at Adirondack and Bridgeport.
Norfolk finished 6-0-1-0 on its seven-game road trip after the All-Star break, jumping from seventh place in the East Division to third in the process… The Admirals' eight-game road points streak overall (7-0-1-0) is one short of the team-record nine-game run from the 2002-03 season… Wednesday's shootout loss to Hershey began a stretch that has the Admirals playing 20 of their final 31 games at home… Matt Fornataro tallied a goal in three straight games prior to Wednesday… Fornataro (5-2-7), Mark Parrish (3-4-7), and Ty Wishart (1-6-7) were tied for the team lead with seven points each on the recent road trip… Norfolk hosts Hartford for a pair of games this weekend.
Portland extended its winning streak to a season-high four games with a 6-1 triumph over Manchester on Tuesday… Jeff Cowan has tallied the game-winning goal in the Pirates' last two contests, and goaltender Jhonas Enroth has stopped 59 of 61 shots (.967) over that span… Enroth has been between the pipes for 14 of the Pirates' last 15 games… Rookie Tyler Ennis scored twice on Tuesday, his first multiple-goal effort since Dec. 19 vs. Bridgeport… Cowan is now riding a four-game points streak (3-2-5), and Brad Larsen has tallied a goal in three of his last four games (3-0-3)… Portland hits the road this weekend for games in Providence and Lowell.
Providence outscored Springfield 14-2 in sweeping a home-and-home set last weekend, giving the Bruins victories in back-to-back games for the first time since Dec. 29 and Jan. 1… Goaltender Dany Sabourin has recorded two shutouts in his last three appearances, both against the Falcons… The Bruins went 7-for-12 on the power play last weekend after entering the two-game set 5-for-their-last-71 with the man advantage… Jamie Arniel has tallied a goal in three of his last four games (3-1-4) on the heels of a 24-game goal-scoring drought… Brad Marchand has recorded seven points (2-5-7) in five games since returning from injury… Providence hosts Portland on Friday before closing the weekend with a home-and-home vs. Worcester.
Springfield has lost three straight games and been outscored 22-6 over that span… Each of the Falcons' last two wins have come in overtime since they took a 6-3 decision from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Jan. 17… Colton Fretter continues to lead the Falcons with 20 goals on the season and his tied for second in the AHL with 11 power play markers… Chad Wiseman has registered 12 points (5-7-12) in his last nine contests… Jason Pitton tallied his first AHL goal of the season in Wednesday's 8-4 loss to Worcester… The Falcons host Bridgeport on Friday before visiting Albany on Saturday.
Syracuse is 9-4-0-1 in its last 14 contests to pull within four points of a playoff spot in the East Division… The Crunch won four straight games from Jan. 8-15, then lost four in a row from Jan. 16-23, and are now riding another four-game winning streak… Derek MacKenzie is currently on a team season-high nine-game scoring streak (7-7-14) and has registered multiple points in five of the nine contests… 2010 AHL All-Star Dan Fritsche has a point in three straight games (2-3-5) and four of his last five (3-4-7)… Syracuse has tallied a power play goal in seven straight games, going 9-for-36 (25.0 percent) over that span… The Crunch visit Wilkes-Barre on Friday before hosting Adirondack on Saturday.
The Penguins' 5-4 shootout win over Adirondack on Wednesday marked their first game that extended beyond regulation since a 3-2 overtime win over Binghamton on Dec. 11, and their first shootout since a 2-1 loss at Manitoba on Oct. 30… Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has captured back-to-back victories for the first time since a four-game run from Dec. 26-30… Luca Caputi has a point in all six games (5-5-10) since rejoining Wilkes-Barre after an NHL stint with Pittsburgh… Rookie Eric Tangradi shows a point in five straight games (1-4-5)… The Penguins host Syracuse on Friday and visit league-leading Hershey on Saturday.
Worcester set a franchise record on Wednesday with eight goals in its 8-4 win at Springfield… The victory improved the Sharks to 6-0-1-0 in their last seven games and 22-4-2-1 in their last 29 outings… Worcester is now 14-2-1-0 against Springfield since the beginning of the 2008-09 season… Rookie Dennis McCauley tallied a hat trick on Wednesday after being a healthy scratch in Worcester's previous eight games… Benn Ferriero is riding a five-game scoring streak (4-5-9), and Steven Zalewski has a point in four straight (1-7-8)… Danny Groulx is on a seven-game scoring run (3-10-13) and ranks second among AHL defensemen with 38 points (7-31-38) overall… The Sharks host Lowell on Friday before playing a home-and-home with Providence.
West Notes: Stapleton, Johnson on streaks
Wolves bury Heat with late goal