Weekly Wrap-Up - North Division (Week 20)

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The latest from the North Division Notebook!

In the post-Valentine’s Day edition of the North Division Notebook…one double digit point streak ends, another one continues, and one team drops 12 goals…in a single game.

First, a review of the week on the ice:

Wednesday, February 14th

Laval 3, Binghamton 2

Two shorthanded goals by Daniel Audette and Jeremy Gregoire would fuel the Rocket to a home win over the Senators.  Kyle Baun would add a second period goal, and Charlie Lindgren would stop 25 shots.  Jack Rodewald and Gabriel Gagne would have goals for Belleville, while Danny Taylor had 24 saves.

Syracuse 3, Utica 2 (SO)

In a fight filled Valentines Day affair, the Crunch fought off a late Comet rally to emerge with the shootout win.  After giving up two goals in the first 6:15 of the game—on two shots—the Comets would come back to tie on a Patrick Wiercioch goal early in the third.  Jamie McBain would get the only shootout goal in round 7 to give the Crunch the extra point and extend Utica’s point streak to 13 games.  In a wild second period, the two teams would combine for 90 penalty minutes.

Friday, February 16th

Belleville 3, Toronto 1

It had to happen sometime—someone would finally figure out the Marlies.  And it would be Belleville that handed Toronto their first regulation loss in 2018, breaking a 16-game point streak.  Ben Sexton, Jim O’Brien, and Tyler Randell would all score for the Senators, and Taylor added 25 saves.  Rinat Valiev would score the lone Toronto goal, and Garret Sparks stopped 22 of 24 shots.

Utica 3, Binghamton 1

A three goal second period was all the Comets needed to extend the point streak to 14 in a home win over the Devils.  Zack MacEwen, Michael Chaput, and Guillaume Brisebois would each have a goal, while Richard Bachman stopped 23 of 24 shots.  Blake Speers would pick up the lone Binghamton goal, and Mackenzie Blackwood had 25 saves.

Rochester 12, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 3

On a night where former Sabres goaltender Martin Biron was inducted into the Amerks Hall of the Fame, Rochester turned in a performance for the history books, scoring 3 in the first, 4 in the second, and 5 in the third for a blowout victory over the Penguins.  Seth Griffith lead the way with two goals and three assists, Kyle Criscuolo and Alexander Nylander would each have two goals and two assists, and all but two Amerks would register at least one point.  Special teams would go 6 for 9 on the power play.  The 12 goals scored were the most in the AHL by one team since December 8, 2002, when the Hamilton Bulldogs scored 15 against the Cleveland Barons.

**Hershey 6, Laval 3

The Rocket would fall victim to a four-goal effort from Travis Boyd in a home loss to the Bears.  Luc-Olivier Blain would lead all Laval skaters with one goal and one assist.  Charlie Lindgren would stop 21 shots.

Saturday, February 17th

Charlotte 2, Syracuse 0

The Crunch kicked off a two-game series in North Carolina with a shutout loss to the Checkers.  Eddie Pasquale would take the hard luck loss in net, stopping 24 of 25 shots.

Hershey 3, Belleville 0

A day after breaking Toronto’s 16 game point streak, the Senators would end up being shut out by Pheonix Copley and the Bears.  Marcus Hogberg would stop 21 of 23 shots in defeat.

Toronto 4, Laval 2

Down 2-1 to the Rocket on the road entering the third period and in danger of dropping their second straight, the Marlies would score three unanswered goals in the final 20 minutes to take down Laval.  Andreas Johnsson lead the way with a goal and two assists, Miro Aaltonen scored twice, and Calvin Pickard added 31 saves.  Michael McCarron had a goal and an assist, and Michael McNiven stopped 24 of 27 shots for the Rocket.

Binghamton 1, Rochester 0 (OT)

A night after scoring a dozen, the Amerks could only manage 19 shots with no success against Ken Appleby in an overtime loss to the Devils in the Southern Tier.  Bracken Kearns would break up the goaltending duel of Appleby and Adam Wilcox 2:08 into overtime with his 11th goal of the season.  Wilcox would finish with 34 saves in the hard luck loss.

**Utica 5, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 4 (OT)

The Comets held off a Penguin rally in the third period and managed to escape Wilkes-Barre Township with an overtime win, extending their point streak to 15.  Utica looked to put the game out of reach with a three goal second period but allowed three straight to the Penguins to fall behind 4-3 with 6:24 remaining in regulation.  Cole Cassels would tie the game at 4 with less than three minutes to go, then Wiercioch would score the overtime winner just 49 seconds into the extra frame.  Thatcher Demko would have 30 saves and 12 penalty minutes, thanks to a third period misconduct penalty for abuse of officials.

Sunday, February 18th

Syracuse 3, Charlotte 1

Trailing the Checkers 1-0 heading into the third period, the Crunch would score three unanswered goals to earn a split of the two-game series.  Olivier Archambault would have a goal and an assist, Erik Condra and Verhaeghe would each have a goal, and Connor Ingram would stop 20 of 21 shots for the win.

Binghamton 2, Rochester 1 (SO)

The Devils would sweep the home and home series against the Amerks with a shootout victory in Rochester.  Criscuolo and Jake Walman traded goals in the second period, then Walman would be the only skater to connect in the third round of the shootout.  Appleby picked up his second straight win with 22 saves.  Linus Ullmark would stop 29 of 30 shots.

News & Notes Around The Division

Belleville

With a logjam in net, Chris Driedger was reassigned to Brampton; Chris DiDomenico cleared waivers, then was traded to Chicago for defenseman Ville Pokka; Max McCormick returned to Belleville on Wednesday, then would go back to Ottawa on Friday; Andrew Hammond was recalled to Colorado on Sunday; Ben Harpur was recalled on Thursday, with Colin White returning to Belleville on Friday.

Binghamton

Colton White returned from Adirondack on Tuesday, and Nick Lappin was recalled to New Jersey to replace John Quenneville; with both regular goalies back, Colin Stevens was released from his PTO; Blake Pietila was recalled on Saturday and made his season debut on Sunday in Carolina.

Laval

Lindgren started his week by signing a 3-year, 1-way contract extension with Montreal on Monday; Goaltender Zachary Fucale would once again return to Brampton on Thursday.

Rochester

Forward Justin Danforth, who currently leads the ECHL in scoring, was recalled from Cincinnati on Monday; Colin Blackwell was issued a 2-game suspension after a hit in Friday’s game.

Syracuse

With another injury for Kevin Lynch, Shane Conacher would again be recalled from Adirondack, joining the Crunch for the road trip to Charlotte.

Toronto

After a five-game conditioning stint, Nikita Soshnikov would be recalled to the Maple Leafs—then traded to St. Louis for a 2019 fourth round draft pick.

Utica

Philip Holm was recalled to Vancouver on Tuesday; two defensemen, Frankie Simonelli and Mathieu Brodeur, were added as PTOs; Reid Boucher was sent back to Utica on Saturday.

North Division Standings as of February 12th, 2018:

Toronto: 51 GP, 38-12-0-1, 77 points, .755 pct. Utica: 52 GP, 28-14-6-4, 66 points, .635 pct. Rochester: 53 GP, 26-13-8-6, 66 points, .623 pct. Syracuse: 53 GP, 30-18-2-3, 65 points, .613 pct. Laval: 53 GP, 19-26-6-2, 46 points, .434 pct. Belleville: 54 GP, 21-29-1-3, 46 points, .426 pct. Binghamton: 51 GP, 15-27-6-3, 39 points, .382 pct.

This Week's North Division Schedule

Monday, February 19th

Utica at Belleville, 3:00 PM Hershey at Toronto, 3:00 PM

Wednesday, February 21st

Binghamton at Toronto, 11:00 AM Lehigh Valley at Utica, 7:00 PM Syracuse vs. Rochester (at KeyBank Center, Buffalo), 7:05 PM

Friday, February 23rd

Lehigh Valley at Syracuse, 7:00 PM Laval at Utica, 7:00 PM Belleville at Binghamton, 7:05 PM Toronto at Rochester, 7:05 PM

Saturday, February 24th

Rochester at Toronto, 4:00 PM Laval at Belleville, 7:00 PM Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Syracuse, 7:00 PM Springfield at Utica, 7:00 PM Lehigh Valley at Binghamton, 7:05 PM