Weekly Wrap-Up - Atlantic Division (Week 12)
The Weekly Wrap-Up, Atlantic Division style, returns as Julie takes a look around arguably the toughest division in the entire AHL.
Providence Bruins
Record Last Week: 1-1-0
Friday night, the Providence Bruins suffered a 6-4 loss in Hartford after going 0-for-3 on the PP. Justin Hickman scored a pair of goals for Providence wile Matt Beleskey and Kenny Agostino each added tallied. Zane McIntyre made 34 saves on 39 shots between the pipes in the loss for Providence.
On Saturday, the Bruins went to the shootout, but earned a 2-1 victory over the Thunderbirds in Springfield. Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson recorded his ninth goal of the season just 69 seconds into the game, but Springfield promptly tied it. Neither team was able to score the rest of the way. In the five-round shootout, Josh Hennessey and Forsbacka Karlsson each tallied markers while Jordan Binnington, who made 23 saves on the night, stopped all but one.
Charlotte Checkers
Record Last Week: 1-1-0
The visiting Hershey Bears raced out to a stunning 5-0 lead in the first period Wednesday night, but the Checkers responded, nearly tying the game in the third before falling 5-4 to the Bears. Julien Gauthier scored late in the first, Aleksi Saarela and Warren Foegele each added second period goals, and Sergey Tolchinsky scored midway through the third, but the Checkers couldn’t tie the game. Alex Nedeljkovic started the night in net, but after allowing four goals on nine shots, Jeremy Smith came in and made eight saves as the Bears totaled only 18 shots on the night.
Charlotte got their revenge Thursday with a huge 6-0 victory over the Bears. Saarela recorded a hat-trick while teammates Valentin Zykov, Tolchinsky, and Gauthier each scored as well in the lopsided victory. Nedeljkovic recorded the shutout with 20 saves.
Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Record Last Week: 1-0-1
On Wednesday night in Allentown, Oskar Lindblom tied the game at 4-all in the third period, but it wasn’t enough as the Hartford Wolf Pack emerged with a 5-4 victory over the Phantoms. Reece Willcox, Steven Swavley, and Greg Carey each scored in the second period for Lehigh Valley. Dustin Tokarski’s 30-save performance wasn’t enough though as Anthony DeAngelo lifted the Pack to victory in OT.
Saturday in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Lindblom got the eventual game-winner with just over six minutes to play in regulation for the 3-2 victory over the Penguins. Chris Conner and Nicolas Aube-Kubel each recorded goals to tie the game in the second and third periods respectively. Tokarski made a whopping 39-saves to give the Phantoms a victory over one of their in-state rivals.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
Record Last Week: 1-1-0
Friday night, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins needed 4:19 of OT to emerge with a 4-3 victory over the visiting Binghamton Devils. Teddy Blueger recorded a pair of goals, the first and the OT game-winner while teammate Jarrett Burton also had a two-goal night. Newly acquired net-minder, Michael Leighton had 28 saves on 31 shots.
But the Penguins dropped a 3-2 loss to Lehigh Valley Saturday night as their PP went 0-for-8 on the weekend. Blueger and Ryan Haggerty combined to put the Penguins up 2-1 by the end of the second period, but the Phantoms responded with two goals in the third to hand Casey DeSmith a 29-save loss.
Bridgeport Sound Tigers
Record Last Week: 1-1-0
The streaking Sound Tigers hit a major snag Friday night in Springfield as the Thunderbirds dealt Bridgeport a 5-2 loss. Mitchell Vande Sompel and Josh Ho-Sang each scored in the second period for Bridgeport, but three-goal first period and two-goal third period handed the Sound Tigers their only loss of the short week. Kristers Gudlevskis made 23 saves on 27 shots in the loss.
On Saturday night, they took their frustrations out on the Wolf Pack by way of a 5-1 victory in Hartford. Sebastian Aho, Casey Bailey, Ross Johnston, Connor Jones, and Devon Toews each recorded goals in the rout. Christopher Gibson nearly had a shutout, allowing just one goal late in the third period on 23 shots.
Hartford Wolf Pack
Record Last Week: 2-1-0
On Wednesday night, the Wolf Pack stunned the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, 5-4 in overtime in Allentown. Caleb Herbert scored his first goal of the season for Hartford in the first. Gabriel Fontaine, Ryan Gropp, and John Gilmour also scored in regulation. In OT, Anthony DeAngelo notched his second goal of the season for Hartford’s victory. Marek Mazanec made 30 saves in net for the Pack.
Friday night, the Pack put up six more goals and earned a 6-4 victory over the visiting Providence Bruins. Peter Holland, Ryan Graves, Scott Kosmachuk, Eric Selleck, Fontaine, Vinni Lettieri each recorded goals for Hartford. Mazanec stopped 32 of 36 shots between the pipes pick up his second victory of the week.
But Saturday night was a different story as Bridgeport rolled to a 5-1 victory in Hartford. Ryan Sproul recorded Hartford’s lone goal in the third period. Alexandar Georgiev stopped 25 shots in the loss.
Hershey Bears
Record Last Week: 2-1-0
After a disappointed Troy Mann promised changes to the lineup following last week’s home loss to Providence, the Bears responded with a huge five-goal first period in Charlotte Wednesday night and then hung on down the stretch for a 5-4 victory over the Checkers. Colby Williams, Anthony Peluso, Wayne Simpson, Travis Boyd, and Riley Barber each scored to give the Bears a 5-0 victory, but the Checkers responded, nearly tying the game in the third, but Vitek Vanecek made 35 saves in goal for the Bears.
But Thursday night was a different story as the Checkers exacted revenge with a 6-0 victory. Pheonix Copley suffered the loss between the pipes as Charlotte scored on six of their 30 shots.
The Bears returned to Giant Center Saturday night to host the Binghamton Devils whose roster includes former Bears Michael Latta and Tim Kennedy. Travis Boyd scored a pair of goals while teammates Dustin Gazley, Riley Barber, and Zach Sill also recorded tallies as the Bears won 5-2. Vanecek earned his second victory of the week with a 31-save performance.
Springfield Thunderbirds
Record Last Week: 1-0-1
The Springfield Thunderbirds trounced the visiting Bridgeport Sound Tigers 5-2 Friday night. Anthony Greco recorded a pair of goals while Curtis Valk, Rob Hamilton, and Dryden Hunt each notched markers for the Thunderbirds. Samuel Montembeault recorded 31 saves on 33 shots for the victory.
Montembeault returned to the ice Saturday night against the visiting Providence Bruins, but was unable to help his team secure the victory as Providence won the game in a five-round shootout. The Bruins struck first, just 69 seconds into the game, but Alexandre Grenier tied it up just minutes later. In the shootout, Blaine Byron was able to score, but Providence got two by Montembeault who recorded 21 saves in the loss.
Atlantic Division Standings as of December 26th, 2017:
Providence: 29 GP, 19-8-2-0, 40 points, .690 pct Charlotte: 31 GP, 20-10-0-1, 41 points, .661 pct Lehigh Valley: 32 GP, 19-9-2-2, 42 points, .656 pct W-B/Scranton: 28 GP, 16-9-2-1, 35 points, .625 pct Bridgeport: 29 GP, 14-12-2-1, 31 points, .534 pct Hartford: 32 GP, 13-13-3-3, 32 points, .500 pct Hershey: 32 GP, 14-15-0-3, 31 points, .484 pct Springfield: 33 GP, 13-18-1-1, 28 points, .424 pct
This Week’s Atlantic Division Schedule:
Wednesday, December 27
Hershey at Bridgeport - 7:00 PM Providence at Utica - 7:00 PM Charlotte at Binghamton - 7:05 PM Lehigh Valley at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton - 7:05 PM
Friday, December 29
Providence at Utica - 7:00 PM Charlotte at Lehigh Valley - 7:05 PM Hershey at Springfield - 7:05 PM Hartford at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton - 7:05 PM
Saturday, December 30
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Hershey - 7:00 PM Springfield at Hartford - 7:00 PM Providence at Belleville - 7:00 PM Binghamton at Bridgeport - 7:00 PM Charlotte at Lehigh Valley - 7:05 PM
