Weekly Wrap-Up - North Division (Week 16)
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This week in the North Division Notebook: two win streaks ended, Rochester played quite a bit of extra time, and the Comets look to be on the rise.
Belleville Senators
Record this week: 2-1
A solid week for Belleville, as they took 4 out of 6 points against two division foes.
The Senators began their week with a 2-1 overtime win over visiting Syracuse on Wednesday night, breaking the Crunch’s 9 game winning streak. Max McCormick and Jim O’Brien would each have a goal and an assist, while Danny Taylor added 18 saves.
Belleville would travel to Laval on Friday night to start a 2-game set against the Rocket, and would skate away with a 4-1 win. Gabriel Gagne scored twice, Mike Blunden added a goal, and Taylor added 36 saves.
In the rematch at home on Saturday, the Senators would end up on the wrong end of a 4-0 shutout. Marcus Hogberg stopped 38 of 42 shots.
Senator Notes: Filip Chaplik was again recalled to Ottawa on Thursday; forward Colin White was recalled on Friday; the Senators rank first in the AHL in average penalty minutes per game (18.72), and is the only team with double digit 10-minute misconducts (13) and game misconducts (10); Belleville hosts Manitoba on Wednesday, travels to Syracuse on Friday, and hosts Rochester on Saturday.
Binghamton Devils
Record this week: 1-2
A nice comeback win was sandwiched in between two shutout losses for last place Binghamton.
The Devils headed north on Interstate 81 on Monday afternoon, and only managed 17 shots in a 3-0 shutout loss to Syracuse. Mackenzie Blackwood had 39 saves in defeat.
On Friday night in Springfield, Binghamton found themselves down 3-0 with 3:00 left in the first period against the Thunderbirds. They would then score 5 unanswered goals to take a 5-3 win. Michael Kapla and Kevin Rooney each scored twice, Bracken Kearns added three assists, and Nick Lappin added a goal and two helpers.
The Devils returned home on Saturday to a sell out crowd, and proceeded to again be shutout, this time to the Marlies 3-0. Blackwood had 21 saves on 24 shots.
Devil Notes: Forward Phil Lane was released from his PTO Sunday so he could participate in the ECHL All Star Classic in Indianapolis; defenseman Mirco Mueller, out since early December due to a broken clavicle, was assigned to Binghamton on a conditioning stint on Thursday; after appearing in 7 games, defenseman Dylan Olsen was released from his PTO; Ken Appleby spent most of the week as a backup to Keith Kinkaid in New Jersey, then was forced into duty Saturday afternoon after Kinkaid was hurt in the Devils’ 3-1 loss to the Flyers in Philadelphia; goaltender Colin Stevens was brought in on a PTO on Friday to back up Blackwood; the Devils host Utica on Friday, then travel south to Wilkes-Barre on Saturday.
Laval Rocket
Record this week: 1-1
It was a mixed week for Laval, as they split a weekend home and home series with the Senators.
The Rocket would drop a 4-1 game to Belleville in Quebec on Friday night. Adam Cracknell had the lone Laval goal, and Charlie Lindgren would stop 6 of 10 shots in 29 and a half minutes before leaving in favor of Michael McNiven.
Lindgren would rebound nicely in the rematch on Saturday in Belleville, stopping all 25 Senator shots in a 4-0 shutout win. Cracknell scored twice and had one assist, Eric Gelinas added three assists, and Matt Taormina added a goal and two assists.
Rocket Notes: Third goaltender Zachary Fucale was sent back to Brampton on Wednesday; Chris Terry sits one point behind Chris Bourque and Phil Varone for the league scoring lead, tied with Travis Morin; Taormina leads all AHL defensemen in scoring with 37 points; Laval hosts the Crunch on Wednesday, then Manitoba visits for a two-game set on Friday and Saturday.
Rochester Americans
Record this week: 1-0-1-2
It was an interesting week for second place Rochester, who managed to get 5 of 8 points in going to overtime 3 times out of 4 games during the week.
The Amerks played host to Utica on Monday afternoon, and would drop a 2-1 shootout. Seth Griffith had the lone Rochester goal on a second period power play, and had a chance at scoring the game winner on a penalty shot late in regulation but was denied. Linus Ullmark stopped 40 of 41 in the first 65 minutes of the contest, but gave up a goal in the third shootout round.
In the rematch in Utica on Wednesday, Rochester would again drop a shootout to the Comets, this time by a 3-2 margin. Kevin Porter and C.J. Smith each had goals, while Ullmark stopped 35 of 37 shots in regulation and overtime, but only stopped 2 for 4 in the shootout round.
Rochester would then head south to North Carolina for a pair of games in Charlotte, and kicked off the two-game set with a 4-1 win on Saturday. Smith had a goal and two assists, Griffith added two assists, and Adam Wilcox stopped 23 of 24 shots.
In the rematch on Sunday afternoon, the Amerks trailed 4-2 entering the third period, but 2 goals by Kevin Porter in a 2:28 span late in regulation would send the game to overtime. Rochester would end up losing 5-4 in overtime, giving up the game winner 1:07 into the extra frame. Hudson Fasching had two assists, Griffith and Sean Malone added one goal apiece, and Ullmark added 23 saves.
Amerk Notes: Casey Nelson and Nick Baptiste were recalled to Buffalo, while defenseman Eric Knodel was recalled from Cincinnati; Rochester has played the most overtime games (17) of any AHL team, winning 8 of them; Ullmark ranks 2nd in the AHL in wins (17), 7th in GAA (2.26), and third in minutes played and saves; Smith sits two points behind Dylan Strome for the AHL lead in rookie scoring; the Amerks hit the road for a pair in Canada, traveling to Toronto on Friday and Belleville on Saturday.
Syracuse Crunch
Record this week: 1-2-1-0
It was a tale of two Syracuse teams in four games this week: one who was rolling to start the week, and one who fell into a slump.
The Crunch made it nine straight wins on Monday, as Louis Domingue would pitch his second straight shutout in a 3-0 win over Binghamton on home ice. Jonne Tammela would score his first AHL goal, Dominik Masin added a goal and an assist, and Domingue only needed 17 saves, in his last start before returning to Tampa Bay.
The win streak would come to a halt at nine, but the point streak extended to 10, in a 2-1 overtime loss to Belleville on the road on Wednesday night. Mitchell Stephens would have the lone Crunch goal in the first, while Connor Ingram returned to the net after a paper callup to Tampa and stopped 23 of 25 shots.
On Friday, the point streak came to a halt with a 4-1 loss at home to Toronto. Stephens would again have the lone Crunch goal, while Ingram had 21 saves.
The winless streak extended to 3 games on Saturday with a 4-2 loss in Utica to the Comets. Tammela and Michael Bournival had one goal each, while Ingram had 18 saves in 40 minutes before giving way to Nick Riopel, who only had to stop 2 Comet shots, in the third.
Crunch Notes: With injuries piling up among the forwards, Shane Conacher was recalled from Adirondack on Thursday; defenseman Matthew Spencer was sent to Adirondack Friday, played for the Thunder Friday evening, then was recalled to Syracuse Sunday; also on Sunday, Matthew Peca and Bournival were recalled to Tampa Bay; with 27 minutes in Saturday’s loss to Utica, forward Alex Gallant leads the AHL in penalty minutes (137) and majors (7) in just 22 games played; the Crunch travel to Laval on Wednesday, then return home to host Belleville on Friday and Toronto on Saturday.
Toronto Marlies
Record this week: 2-0-0-1
Just your typical week for first place Toronto…until a goaltending duel to finish the weekend happened.
The Marlies started their weekend slate with a 4-1 win in Syracuse on Friday evening. Trevor Moore had a goal and two assists, three other skaters had one goal each, and Garret Sparks stopped 28 of 29 shots.
Toronto headed south on Interstate 81 Saturday and shut out Binghamton 3-0. Andreas Johnsson had a goal and an assist, Jeremy Bracco and Jean Dupuy would each have one goal, and Calvin Pickard stopped all 23 Devils shots.
A goaltending duel between Sparks and Bridgeport’s Kristers Gudlevskis Sunday afternoon needed a shootout to settle the score, and the Sound Tigers would pull out a 1-0 win, stopping Toronto’s win streak at 8. Sparks would stop 31 shots in the first 65 minutes of the contest, but allowed the winning goal to Mitchell Vande Sompel in the third shootout round.
Marlies Notes: Frederik Gauthier and Travis Dermott were both recalled to the Maple Leafs on Monday, while forward Joshua Winquist was recalled from Orlando on Saturday; with Sunday’s loss, the Marlies became the last AHL team to lose a game beyond regulation; Toronto hosts Rochester on Friday, then travels to Syracuse on Saturday.
Utica Comets
Record this week: 3-0-1-0
A busy week for the Comets was a fruitful one, taking seven of eight points and moving to within 4 points of third place Syracuse.
Utica would start their week with a 2-1 shootout win over Rochester on the road on Monday afternoon. Zack MacEwen would score his fourth on a power play 2:14 into the contest, and Darren Archibald would be the only skater in the shootout round to score. Thatcher Demko had 27 saves in the win.
Wednesday, the two teams would meet in Utica, where the Comets would again prevail in a shootout, 3-2. Archibald celebrated becoming the Comets’ all-time games played leader with a goal, Michael Carcone added two assists, Cole Cassels had a goal and an assist, and Demko added 33 saves in 65 minutes, then stopped 3 of 4 in the shootout round.
On Friday in Hartford, the Comets trailed the Wolfpack 2-0 with about 7 minutes to go in regulation. They would rally on goals by Reid Boucher and Dylan Blujus 2:37 apart to tie the game up, but would lose 3-2 in overtime. Nikolay Goldobin added two assists, while Richard Bachman had 28 saves.
Utica would finish off the week with a 4-2 statement win over Syracuse at home on Saturday. Boucher scored twice, hitting 20 goals for the season, Cam Darcy added a goal and two assists, and Demko stopped 40 shots, including 19 out of 20 in the third period alone.
Comet Notes: Blujus, who had joined Utica on a PTO in mid-December, officially signed an AHL contract on Wednesday; Marco Roy was released from his PTO on Thursday; defenseman Anton Cederholm was sent back to Kalamazoo on Saturday; Boucher is tied with Bobby Butler for second in the league in goals, one behind Curtis McKenzie; Demko’s 16 wins are two behind league leader Anders Lindback, and he leads the AHL in saves with 855; the Comets host Hartford on Wednesday, then travel to Binghamton on Friday and Lehigh Valley on Saturday.
North Division Standings as of January 22nd, 2018
Toronto: 42 GP, 30-11-0-1, 61 points, .726 pct. Rochester: 43 GP, 24-9-5-5, 58 points, .674 pct. Syracuse: 42 GP, 24-14-2-2, 52 points, .619 pct. Utica: 42 GP, 20-14-5-3, 48 points, .571 pct. Laval: 43 GP, 17-19-5-2, 41 points, .477 pct. Belleville: 43 GP, 18-22-0-3, 39 points, .453 pct. Binghamton: 41 GP, 12-22-5-2, 31 points, .378 pct.
This Week's North Division Schedule
Wednesday, January 24th
Manitoba @ Belleville, 7:00 PM Hartford @ Utica, 7:00 PM Syracuse @ Laval, 7:30 PM
Friday, January 26th
Belleville @ Syracuse, 7:00 PM Rochester @ Toronto, 7:00 PM Utica @ Binghamton, 7:05 PM Manitoba @ Laval, 7:30 PM
Saturday, January 27th
Rochester @ Belleville, 7:00 PM Manitoba @ Laval, 7:00 PM Toronto @ Syracuse, 7:00 PM Utica @ Lehigh Valley, 7:05 PM Binghamton @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 7:05 PM
