Weekly Wrap-Up - North Division (Week 13)
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In the first North Division Notebook of 2018…one team temporarily took over first place, two others closed 2017 on an undefeated note, and the North has their All-Star coach.
Belleville Senators
Record this week: 2-2
The Senators finished off 2017 on a mixed note, taking four out of eight points.
Belleville got off to a good post-Christmas start, defeating Toronto 2-1 at Air Canada Centre in a Boxing Day matinee matchup. Francis Perron’s fourth goal of the season with 11:37 remaining in regulation would prove to be the difference. Andrew Hammond stopped 32 of 33 shots in his 7th win of the year.
The Senators returned home on Thursday night and would lose to Laval 4-3. Belleville nearly recovered from being down 3-0 and 4-1, but were unable to finish off the comeback. Max McCormick had one goal and one assist, while Jack Rodewald and Jim O’Brien had one goal each.
On Saturday, Erik Burgdoerfer’s 3rd goal of the year 1:43 into overtime would give Belleville a 3-2 win over Providence. Goaltender Marcus Hogberg picked up his first AHL win with 27 saves, while McCormick added two assists.
The Senators wrapped up the weekend with a 5-1 loss in Toronto. Chris DiDomenico had the lone Belleville goal in the third period, while Andrew Hammond had 36 saves.
Senators Notes: Ben Harpur was recalled to Ottawa on Tuesday, while Nick Paul was sent down on Saturday; defensemen Jamie Doornbosch and T.J. Melancon were released from their PTO deals; the Senators kick off 2018 with a home and home series against the Devils, hosting Binghamton Wednesday and hitting the road on Friday, then heading south on Saturday to face Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Binghamton Devils
Record this week: 1-2
It looked like Binghamton was turning a corner…then back to back goose eggs to close out 2017. But, it appears help may be on the way for the North basement dwellers.
The Devils returned home on Wednesday and broke out, defeating Charlotte 6-2. Colton White had his first two AHL goals, John Quenneville added two goals and one assist, Brandon Baddock and Jacob MacDonald each had one goal and one assist, and Tim Kennedy added three helpers.
It was back to reality for Binghamton on Saturday night, as they were shutout 5-0 in Bridgeport, only managing 19 shots on goal against the Sound Tigers. Ken Appleby stopped 27 of 32 shots.
The Devils would close out 2017 with another 5-0 shutout loss, this time to the Crunch on home ice. Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 32 of 37 shots.
Devils Notes: It looked like Binghamton was about to get some help on the blue line, after defenseman Dalton Prout cleared waivers on Friday and was reassigned to the team by New Jersey. But the next night, he was dealt to Calgary for goaltender Eddie Lack, who will be joining Binghamton later this week; forward Kevin Rooney is tied for the league lead in shorthanded goals with 4, while Jacob MacDonald is first among league defensemen in goals (11), power play goals (6), and is second in defenseman scoring (26); the Devils start 2018 on the road in Belleville on Wednesday, then host the Senators on Friday and Laval on Saturday.
Laval Rocket
Record this week: 3-0
Laval would close out 2017 on a good note, winning all three games this week and moving up to 4th place in the division.
The Rocket headed south to Rochester on Wednesday, and defeated the Amerks 3-1. Markus Eisenschmid, Nikita Scherbak, and Chris Terry would each have a goal. Charlie Lindgren would stop 31 of 32 shots in his 5th win of the season.
The next night, Laval headed north to Belleville and defeated the Senators 4-3. Eric Gelinas scored twice, Kyle Baun and Niki Petti would each have one goal, and Michael McNiven had 23 saves.
Saturday, it was back to Rochester, where the Rocket would again be victorious with a 4-2 win over the Amerks. Adam Cracknell scored twice, Terry and Scherbak added two assists each, and Lindgren had 36 saves.
Rocket Notes: With the NHL roster freeze lifted, defenseman Brett Lernout was summoned back to Montreal on Wednesday; Terry leads the AHL in shots with 111, is tied for second in the AHL in scoring with 38 points, second in goals with 18, and is tied with teammate Matt Taormina for power play points with 17; Taormina leads all AHL defensemen with 27 points; the Rocket begin their 2018 slate at home on Wednesday against Toronto, then head to New York state for two games—Utica on Friday, then Binghamton on Saturday.
Rochester Americans
Record this week: 1-2
Despite losing one of their top scorers to overseas and only winning one of three games, the Amerks made it to first place, if only for a couple of days.
Rochester had a chance of taking over first place in the division on Wednesday, but were unable to overtake the Rocket at home 3-1. Colin Blackwell had the lone Amerk goal, while Linus Ullmark had 23 saves.
Friday night, the Amerks traveled to Toronto in a 1 vs. 2 matchup…and would end up taking over first place with a 2-0 win. Ullmark only needed 22 saves for his second shutout of the season, while Seth Griffith lead all skaters with one goal and one assist.
On Saturday, Rochester returned home to take on Laval for the second time in four days…and again would lose to the Rocket, this time 4-2. Sahir Gill and Zach Redmond had goals, while Adam Wilcox stopped 21 shots.
Amerk Notes: During Christmas break, it was revealed that forward Steve Moses, who was suspended by the team for breach of contract, has left North America for a two year contract with Jokerit of the KHL; the Amerks’ .676 points percentage ranks second in the Eastern Conference and third in the AHL, behind Manitoba and Providence; Ullmark is tied for first in the AHL with 15 wins, leads the league in minutes played and saves, and ranks fourth in save percentage; the Amerks have a pair of home games to start the new year, hosting Bridgeport on Friday and Lehigh Valley on Saturday.
Syracuse Crunch
Record this week: 3-0
It was a great end of year stretch for Syracuse, as a three game winning streak puts the third place Crunch within striking distance of Rochester and Toronto.
On Wednesday night at home against Toronto, Adam Erne’s power play goal early in the third period would break a 4-4 tie, as the Crunch defeated the Marlies 5-4. Rookie Dennis Yan scored twice in the first period and added one assist, Matthew Peca had two helpers, and Mathieu Joseph added one goal and one assist.
On Saturday, the Crunch needed an 11-round shootout to hold off Utica at home 3-2. Ben Thomas would score the game winner in the 11th round, while Alexander Volkov had two goals during regulation. Connor Ingram would need just 15 saves in 65 minutes, then 8 more in the shootout round, to get his 5th win of the season.
Ingram would be back in net on Sunday night in Binghamton, and would get his second shutout of the season in a 5-0 win over the Devils. Volkov and Mitchell Stephens would each score twice, Yan added two assists, and Ingram would stop all 29 Devil shots.
Crunch Notes: Goaltender Louis Domingue was recalled to Tampa Bay on Saturday after an injury to Lightning goaltender Peter Budaj a day earlier, and Nick Riopel was brought up from Adirondack to back up Ingram; Shane Conacher was returned to Adirondack on Wednesday; the Crunch hit the road for a pair of weekend games, traveling to Hartford on Saturday and Providence on Sunday.
Toronto Marlies
Record this week: 1-3
After a slump that knocked them out of first place, Toronto finished 2017 back on top in the division.
The Marlies started their week with a 2-1 loss to Belleville at Air Canada Centre on Tuesday afternoon. Andrew Nielsen’s first goal of the season on a power play would be the only offense Toronto was able to muster, while Calvin Pickard stopped 13 of 15.
The next night, Toronto traveled south to Syracuse to face the Crunch, and again would drop a one goal decision, 5-4. The second straight loss would drop the Marlies into a first place tie with Rochester in points and points percentage. Four different skaters would each have a goal, while Garret Sparks had 28 saves.
On Friday, the Marlies dropped their third in a row—and fell to second in the North—a 2-0 shutout against Rochester. Sparks had 23 saves in the loss.
Toronto found their way back into first place on Sunday—and broke out of their slump—with a 5-1 win at home against Belleville. Frederik Gauthier scored twice and had one assist, Travis Dermott added three assists, Justin Holl had two helpers, and Sparks only needed 19 saves.
Marlies Notes: With the win Sunday, Marlies coach Sheldon Keefe officially became the North Division coach for the AHL All Star Classic next month; Pickard was recalled to the Maple Leafs on Friday, and Cal Heeter was recalled from Orlando; Sparks ranks third in the league in goals against average (1.82) and save percentage (.937); Toronto begins the 2018 portion of their schedule in Laval on Wednesday, then return home to host Lehigh Valley on Friday and Bridgeport on Saturday afternoon.
Utica Comets
Record this week: 0-1-0-2
As the injury casualties are piling up, it’s beginning to show on the ice for Utica, as a two out of six point week has pushed them down to fifth place in the division.
The Comets would start a two game set against Providence on home ice Wednesday evening, and much like the last two matchups in Rhode Island, the Bruins would comeback in the third period. Up 4-2 with 11:01 remaining in regulation, Utica would give up two goals in the last half of the period, with the tying goal coming at the 18:47 mark. Providence would then eventually take the win in the shootout, 5-4. Dylan Blujus and Michael Carcone had one goal and one assist each, and Thatcher Demko had 37 saves.
In the rematch on Friday, the Bruins would finish the two game sweep with a 3-1 win. Zack MacEwen had the lone Comet goal in the third period, while Richard Bachman stopped 26 of 28 shots.
Utica then headed west to Syracuse on Saturday and, despite only putting up 17 shots in the first 65 minutes of the contest, managed to get a point with a 3-2 shootout loss to the Crunch. Marco Roy and Carcone had goals, while Demko stopped 39 shots in regulation and went 7 for 11 in the shootout round.
Comets Notes: Utica’s lineup got a boost with the return of Darren Archibald on Friday night after missing six weeks due to a facial injury; with the additions of Roy, Andrew Cherniwchan, Adam Comrie, and David Dziurzynski, the Comets now have 7 players on PTOs on the roster; forward Michael Chaput was recalled to Vancouver on Saturday; the Comets have a light two game week, hosting Laval on Friday and traveling to Hartford on Sunday.
North Division Standings as of January 1st, 2018:
Toronto: 34 GP, 23-11-0-0, 46 points, .676 pct. Rochester: 34 GP, 20-8-3-3, 46 points, .676 pct. Syracuse: 33 GP, 18-12-1-2, 39 points, .591 pct. Laval: 35 GP, 14-14-5-2, 35 points, .500 pct. Utica: 33 GP, 13-13-4-3, 33 points, .500 pct. Belleville: 34 GP, 13-18-0-3, 29 points, .426 pct. Binghamton: 32 GP, 10-17-4-1, 25 points, .391 pct.
This Week's North Division Schedule:
Wednesday, January 3rd
Binghamton @ Belleville, 7:00 PM Toronto @ Laval, 7:30 PM
Friday, January 5th
Lehigh Valley @ Toronto, 7:00 PM Laval @ Utica, 7:00 PM Belleville @ Binghamton, 7:05 PM Bridgeport @ Rochester, 7:05 PM
Saturday, January 6th
Bridgeport @ Toronto, 4:00 PM Syracuse @ Hartford, 7:00 PM Laval @ Binghamton, 7:05 PM Lehigh Valley @ Rochester, 7:05 PM Belleville @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 7:05 PM
Sunday, January 7th
Syracuse @ Providence, 3:05 PM Utica @ Hartford, 5:00 PM
