Weekly Wrap-Up - Atlantic Division (Week 19)
Monday means it's time to take a look around the AHL's Atlantic Division action from last week, and preview the week ahead.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
Record Last Week: 2-1-0
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton traveled to Springfield Wednesday night where the Penguins earned a 3-1 victory over the Thunderbirds. Gage Quinney opened the scoring midway through the second period, but the Thunderbirds tied it less than two minutes later. Then just before time expired in the second, Thomas DiPauli connected on the PP for the Penguins. In the third, Garrett Wilson recorded an empty-net goal while the Penguins were on the powerplay. Casey DeSmith went the distance in net with 23 saves on 24 shots.
Friday night in Providence, nothing went right for the Penguins as the Bruins recorded a 4-0 victory over the Atlantic Division leaders. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton went 0-for-5 on the powerplay. Casey DeSmith recorded 39 saves on 43 shots.
On Sunday, the two teams squared off again with the Penguins emerging with a 3-2 victory in the shootout. Early on, it was all Providence as the Bruins tallied two markers in the first period, but Gage Quinney and Jarred Tinordi both scored in the second to tie the game. The two teams were unable to score the remainder of regulation or in the OT period, but Jean-Sebastien Dea’s marker in the first round of the shootout and Providence’s inability to get anymore pucks past DeSmith propelled the Penguins to their second victory of the week. DeSmith recorded 32 saves on the evening.
Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Record Last Week: 3-0-0
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms kept the pressure on the first-place Penguins with a 4-3 victory over the Charlotte Checkers Wednesday night in Allentown. Will O’Neill opened the game’s scoring early in the first with his fifth goal of the season. In the second, Greg Carey and Maxim Lamarche each notched goals, sandwiching a Charlotte goal at the midway point of the period. In the third Colin McDonald scored the eventual game-winner, but Charlotte made things interesting with a pair of late goals. Alex Lyon recorded the victory with 21 saves on 24 shots.
On Friday night, the Phantoms jumped all over the Hershey Bears, recording a 5-1 victory and moving closer to first place in the Atlantic Division as the Penguins were shut out by Providence. Corban Knight recorded a pair of second period goals and assisted on Nicolas Aube-Kubel’s first period marker. Travis Sanheim recorded a powerplay goal and Chris Conner also scored to help the Phantoms to a 5-0 by the end of the second period. Alex Lyon’s shutout bid was ruined by a Dustin Gazley shot with just under nine minutes left in the game. Lyon finished with 30 saves on 31 shots.
The Phantoms finished out the week with a 5-3 victory over the visiting Rochester Americans. T.J. Brennan notched the game’s first goal late in the first. Teammates Carey and McDonald both scored in the second. After a Rochester goal early in the third, Mikhail Vorobyev notched the eventual game-winner while Cole Bardreau added a late insurance marker. Dustin Tokarski recorded 24 saves on 27 shots.
Providence Bruins
Record Last Week: 2-0-1
Providence kept their playoff hopes alive with a shocking 4-0 victory over the current Atlantic Division leader, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday night. Kenny Agostino, Colton Hargrove, Tommy Cross, and Adam Payerl each recorded goals for the Bruins. Meanwhile, Zany McIntyre recorded his fourth shutout of the season with a 22-save performance in net for the Bruins.
Providence kept to their winning ways with a 3-1 victory over the Sound Tigers in Bridgeport Saturday night where all of the scoring took place in the first period. Ryan Fitzgerald, Zach Senyshyn, and Hargrove recorded first period goals for Providence. Jordan Binnington allowed a late-first period goal; he faced 37 shots on the evening.
Sunday, the Bruins looked like they were well on their way to sweeping the week after scoring two goals in the first period, but the Penguins tied the game in the second and eventually secured a 3-2 SO victory in Providence. Cross and Payerl each recorded their second goals of the weekend, but none of the Bruins three shooters were able to connect in the shootout. McIntyre allowed one goal on two shots in the SO and recorded 32 saves on 34 shots on the evening.
Bridgeport Sound Tigers
Record Last Week: 0-2-1
On Wednesday night in Hartford, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers used a four-goal third period to force OT, but eventually fell 5-4 to the Wolf Pack. Mitchell Vande Sompel, Ryan Bourque, Steve Bernier, and John Stevens all recorded goals in the third period, but it wasn’t enough as Hartford connected late in the overtime period. Christopher Gibson was lifted just past the midway point of the first period after allowing three goals on just six shots. Kristers Gudlevskis then made 16 saves on 18 shots the remainder of the way for Bridgeport.
A hot start by the Providence Bruins Saturday night lead to a 3-1 loss for the Sound Tigers in Bridgeport. After three Providence goals, Casey Bailey connected on the powerplay with just four seconds left in the first period, but neither team was able to connect in the final two periods. Gibson recorded 13 saves on just 16 shots faces in the loss.
The week ended on a down note for the Sound Tigers as the Syracuse Crunch traveled to Bridgeport and earned a 3-2 victory. Travis St. Denis scored a PP goal in the second period to open the scoring, but Syracuse tied it up minutes later. Michael Dal Colle then connected on the powerplay for Bridgeport towards the end of the period, but a two-goal third period for Syracuse sealed the deal. Gibson posted a 23-save performance in goal for Bridgeport.
Charlotte Checkers
Record Last Week: 2-1-0
The Checkers continued their trek north with a Wednesday night stop in Allentown where the Phantoms earned a 4-3 victory over Charlotte. After the Phantoms jumped out to a 2-0 lead, Nicolas Roy connected at the midway point of the second period. After another pair of goals for the Phantoms, Charlotte put together a late-game rally with a PP goal from Aleksi Saarela and an Andrew Miller goal with just 31 seconds left, but the Checkers ran out of time to get the tie. Alex Nedeljkovic was lifted after allowing four goals on 27 shots. Callum Booth then made two saves on the only two shots he faced.
The Checkers then returned home to host the Springfield Thunderbirds Friday night and jumped out to a 3-0 lead en route to a 5-2 victory. A pair Andrews scored for the Checkers with Andrew Poturalski and Andrew Miller notching full-strength goals in 47 seconds in the first. Roland McKeown then added a shorthanded goal before Springfield got on the board. In the second, Miller’s second and a goal from Janne Kuokkanen provided insurance markers for Charlotte in the second before Springfield rounded out the scoring in the third. Nedeljkovic recorded a 28-save victory.
In the rematch Saturday night, it was all Charlotte as the Checkers rolled to a 7-0 victory over Springfield. Andrew Poturalski recorded two goals and an assist while teammates Valentin Zykov recorded a four-point evening with a goal and three assists and Andrew Miller added a three-point evening with a goal and two assists. Clark Bishop, Warren Foegele, and Lucas Wallmark accounted for Charlotte’s other three goals. Nedeljkovic recorded his third shutout of the season with a 29-save performance.
Hartford Wolf Pack
Record Last Week: 3-0-0
On Wednesday night in Hartford, the Wolf Pack jumped out to a 4-0 lead only to watch the Bridgeport Sound Tigers surge back in the third period to tie the game and force OT where Ryan Sproul scored his second goal of the game to lift the Pack to a 5-4 victory. Lias Andersson opened the scoring with his first goal of the season. Scott Kosmachuk added an unassisted goal and Sproul scored on the PP as Hartford took a 3-0 lead into the first intermission. In the second, Filip Chytil scored the lone goal for a 4-0 lead, but things took a turn for the worst in the third as Bridgeport got four pucks past Alexandar Georgiev who recorded 33 saves on the evening.
On Friday night, the Pack once again held an early lead and watched the Syracuse Crunch come from behind to tie the game, but this time, it took a three-round shootout for Hartford to emerge with a 5-4 victory. Adam Tambellini scored an unassisted goal in the first. After Syracuse tied it early in the second, Chytil connected just ten seconds later to give the lead back to the Pack. Ryan Gropp then made it 3-1 Hartford, but the Crunch added a late second-period goal and eventually tied it up in the third. Tambellini and Gropp both connected in the shootout. Georgiev made 43 saves on 46 shots for the victory. Late trade news forced the Pack to actually skate a man down in the game.
Hartford made it a clean sweep Saturday with a 5-2 victory over the Bears in Hershey. Five different players scored through the first 22 minutes of the game to help Hartford build an insurmountable 5-0 lead. Cole Schneider, Eric Selleck, Ryan Sproul, and Steven Fogarty each notched first period goals. Scott Kosmachuk then added the final goal for the Pack juts 68 seconds into the second. Brandon Halverson recorded his first victory of the season with a 31-save performance.
Springfield Thunderbirds
Record Last Week: 0-3-0
The week got off to a rocky start for the Thunderbirds as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins came to town and emerged with a 3-1 victory. Dryden Hunt tied the game in the second period, but it was all Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after that as the Penguins notched two more goals, including an empty-netter, for the victory. Evan Cowley suffered the loss in net for the Thunderbirds as he allowed two goals on 39 shots.
The Thunderbirds were then dealt a 5-2 setback Friday night in Charlotte. Curtis Valk and Thomas Schemitsch recorded goals for the Thunderbirds, but Charlotte’s three-goal first period proved an insurmountable lead for Springfield. Cowley, who allowed all three first period goals, was lifted after facing just ten shots. Samuel Montembeault then recorded 21 saves on 23 shots the remainder of the way for Springfield.
As bad as Friday’s game was for Springfield, Saturday proved much, much worse as the Checkers blanked the Thunderbirds 7-0. Springfield’s 0-for-5 performance on the PP contributed to the loss. Montembeault made 19 saves on 26 shots as Springfield went winless for the week.
Hershey Bears
Record Last Week: 1-2-0
It was a frustrating start to the week for the Hershey Bears as they traveled to Allentown and were dealt a 5-1 set-back by the Phantoms. Lehigh Valley recorded five goals through the first two periods before Dustin Gazley got Hershey’s lone goal with just under nine minutes left. Vitek Vanecek started the night in goal, but Troy Mann lifted his goaltender for the second time in two games after the Czech allowed four goals on 16 shots. Pheonix Copley then made eight saves on nine shots in just over 30 minutes of action.
Things did not improve for the Bears Saturday night at Giant Center as the Hartford Wolf Pack jumped out to a 5-0 lead and coasted to a 5-2 victory. Gazley scored in the second and Liam O’Brien recorded a goal in the third, but it wasn’t enough. Copley allowed three goals on five shots and was replaced by Vanecek just 6:55 into the game. Vanecek made 16 saves on 18 shots. It marked the third straight game where Mann pulled his netminder. Hershey was an abysmal 0-for-5 on the PP.
Newly acquired Joe Whitney provided a much needed offensive spark for the Hershey Bears Sunday as he had a hand in all three goals in Hershey’s 3-2 OT victory over the visiting Rochester Americans. After a Travis Boyd goal was disallowed, Riley Barber connected on the powerplay off a Whitney assist. But Rochester would come back with goals in the second and third periods to take the lead. Wayne Simpson tied it with under 3 seconds to play with Barber and Whitney assisting. In the OT, Whitney notched his first goal as a member of the Hershey Bears. Barber’s primary assist made it a three-point night for him as well. Vanecek, with 22 saves on 24 shots, became the first Hershey goalie in four games to avoid being replaced.
Atlantic Division Standings as of February 12th, 2017
W-B/Scranton: 47 GP, 30-13-3-1, 64 points, .681 pct Lehigh Valley: 50 GP, 30-14-3-3, 66 points, .660 pct Providence: 49 GP, 28-16-3-2, 61 points, .622 pct Charlotte: 50 GP, 27-20-0-3, 57 points, .570 pct Bridgeport: 49 GP, 23-19-5-2, 53 points, .541 pct Hartford: 51 GP, 24-20-4-3, 55 points, .539 pct Springfield: 51 GP, 22-27-1-1, 46 points, .451 pct Hershey: 51 GP, 19-25-3-4, 45 points, .441 pct
This Week’s Atlantic Division Schedule
Tuesday, February 13
Lehigh Valley at Bridgeport - 7:00 PM Hartford at Charlotte - 7:00 PM
Wednesday, February 14
Hartford at Charlotte - 7:00 PM
Friday, February 16
Bridgeport at Providence - 7:05 PM Lehigh Valley at Springfield - 7:05 PM Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Rochester - 7:05 PM Hershey at Laval - 7:05 PM
Saturday, February 17
Syracuse at Charlotte - 6:00 PM Hershey at Belleville - 7:00 PM Hartford at Lehigh Valley - 7:05 PM Providence at Springfield - 7:05 PM Utica at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton - 7:05 PM
Sunday, February 18
Hartford at Bridgeport - 3:00 PM Syracuse at Charlotte - 3:00 PM Springfield at Providence - 3:05 PM Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Lehigh Valley - 5:05 PM
Monday, February 19
Hershey at Toronto - 3:00 PM
