Weekly Wrap-Up - North Division (Week 21)

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Utica’s streak ends, Syracuse and Binghamton had strong weeks, and the first look at Calder Cup playoff clinching scenarios await in this week’s North Division Notebook.

First, let’s look at how everyone fared this week on the ice.

Monday, February 19th

Utica 5, Belleville 4

The Comets held off a 3rd period rally by the Senators and extended their point streak to 16 games.  Wacey Hamilton and Zack MacEwen each had a goal and an assist, Reid Boucher added his 23rd goal of the season, and Richard Bachman had 30 saves.  Ben Sexton picked up his first professional hat trick, Nick Paul had one goal and one assist, and Colin White added two helpers for Belleville.

Hershey 5, Toronto 2

In front of nearly 15,000 fans at Air Canada Centre, the Marlies ran into a very hot Bears team, and would drop their second in the last 3 games.  Miro Aaltonen lead all Toronto skaters with a goal and an assist, Rinat Valiev added his 5th shorthanded, and Garret Sparks stopped 22 shots.

Wednesday, February 21st

Binghamton 3, Toronto 1

In an upset, the last place Devils got goals from Michael Latta, Christoph Bertschy, and Tim Kennedy, and 27 saves from Ken Appleby, and defeated the Marlies in front of a school day crowd at Ricoh Coliseum.  Dmytro Timashov would break up Appleby’s shutout bid midway through the third period with his 11th goal of the season on a power play, and Calvin Pickard would add 24 saves in the loss.

Lehigh Valley 6, Utica 4

In a seesaw battle at Adirondack Bank Center, the Phantoms would score 4 times in the third, lead by a Phil Varone hat trick, to stop the Comets point streak at 16.  Michael Carcone would score twice, Boucher added two assists, Patrick Wiercioch had a goal and an assist, and Thatcher Demko stopped 19 of 24 shots.

Syracuse 2, Rochester 1

Trailing 1-0 entering the second period, the Crunch would get goals from Mitchell Stephens and the recently demoted Matthew Peca 10 seconds apart and downed the Amerks in front of nearly 17,000 fans at KeyBank Center in Buffalo.  Carter Verhaeghe added two assists, and Connor Ingram needed just 19 saves in the win.  Sean Malone would have the lone Rochester score in the first while shorthanded, and Linus Ullmark had 29 saves.

Friday, February 23rd

Syracuse 2, Lehigh Valley 1

Michael Bournival scored twice, including the game winner with 2:44 left in regulation, to give the Crunch a win at home over the Phantoms and boost them into second place in the North.  Erik Condra would add two assists, and Eddie Pasquale added 31 saves for his fourth win in seven appearances since coming to Syracuse nearly a month ago.

Laval 5, Utica 2

The Rocket would score 3 times in the second and never look back in handing the Comets their second straight loss.  Chris Terry and Jordan Boucher would each score twice, Michael McCarron added two assists, and Michael McNiven had 26 saves.  Cole Cassels and Guilliaume Brisebois would each have one goal for Utica, and Demko stopped 22 shots.

Binghamton 5, Belleville 1

The Devils would continue their roll in a big way against the Senators, dropping a season high 53 shots and three power play goals in their fourth straight win.  Mario Lucia scored twice, Bertschy added a goal and two assists, Nick Lappin had two helpers, and Appleby had 20 saves.  Daniel Ciampini had the lone Belleville goal, and Chris Driedger had 48 saves.

Toronto 5, Rochester 3

The Marlies would break a mini slump in a road win over a suddenly cold Amerks squad.  Chris Mueller scored twice and assisted on another, Trevor Moore and Johnsson each had two assists, and Sparks only needed to make 14 saves.  Justin Bailey lead all Amerk skaters with one goal and one assist, and Ullmark had 31 saves.

Saturday, February 24th

Rochester 7, Toronto 4

Trailing 3-1 entering the third period, Rochester would put up a six-spot, the most for an AHL period by any team this season, and split a home and home series with the Marlies.  Bailey would score twice, Kevin Porter added a goal and two assists, Sahir Gill also had two assists, and Adam Wilcox had 24 saves.  Aaltonen had a goal and an assist, while three other Marlies each had a marker.

Laval 4, Belleville 3

In a back and forth affair at Yardmen Arena, and despite a Nick Paul hat trick, the Rocket would rally with two goals early in the third to defeat the Senators.  Daniel Audette had a goal and an assist, Boucher added two assists, and three other Laval skaters added a goal apiece.  For Belleville, Ben Sexton added three assists, and Marcus Hogberg had 26 saves.

Syracuse 3, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 1

The Crunch continued their most recent roll with a close win at home over the Penguins.  Alexander Volkov’s 16th goal of the season with 13:58 to go in the contest would break a 1-1 tie.  Gabriel Dumont would score his first since returning to the Crunch and add an assist, and Connor Ingram stopped 26 of 27 shots.

Lehigh Valley 2, Binghamton 1

Lappin would score his 18th of the season just 4:29 into the contest, but the Phantoms would tie in the second, then get the game winner early in the third to stop the Devils win streak at 4.  Appleby had 22 saves in the defeat.

Springfield 3, Utica 2

In another back and forth contest, the Comets would rally twice early on to tie the Thunderbirds, but an Anthony Greco goal midway through the third would prove to be the difference.  Reid Boucher would score his 24th of the season, and Bachman had 25 saves.

News & Notes Around the Division:

Belleville Senators

With Andrew Hammond back in Colorado, Driedger was recalled from a short stint with Brampton on Monday; the Senators acquired veteran forward Eric Selleck from Hartford on Thursday; forward Vincent Dunn, who had bounced between Belleville and Brampton, was sent to Pittsburgh as part of the three way deal with the Penguins, Ottawa, and Las Vegas that saw Derick Brassard go to Pittsburgh and Ryan Reaves go to the Golden Knights.

Binghamton Devils

Blake Pietila and Lappin both returned from New Jersey after short stints with the NHL Devils, and forwards Ryan Penny and Kevin Morris were released from their PTOs.

Laval Rocket

Nikita Scherbak was sent down by Montreal from Monday, and in turn forward Chris Leveille returned to Brampton; Zachary Fucale again was recalled to the Rocket, and Charlie Lindgren was recalled to Montreal after an injury to Carey Price; defenseman Noah Juulsen was called up to the Canadiens, and Willie Corrin was brought up from Brampton on a PTO.

Rochester Americans

Ullmark returned to Buffalo for one day to practice with the Sabres after an apparent injury to Robin Lehner, but came right back to Rochester; forward Daniel Muzito-Bagenda was recalled from Cincinnati on Monday.

Syracuse Crunch

Defenseman Matthew Spencer was reassigned to Adirondack on Monday, and appeared to be going back to the Crunch on Tuesday, yet he remains on Adirondack’s roster; Dumont was re-claimed by Tampa Bay after being waived by Ottawa and reassigned to the Crunch, along with Matthew Peca; with two forwards returning, Shane Conacher was sent back to Adirondack on Wednesday; the Crunch signed another Adirondack forward, Pierre-Luc Mercier, to a PTO on Wednesday, but he did not appear in Wednesday’s game and was sent back north the next day.

Toronto Marlies

Number crunching: despite a recent slump, the Marlies are the only AHL team with a .700+ point percentage (currently at .718); Johnsson ranks 3rd in the AHL in scoring (49) and tied for 3rd in goals (23); Ben Smith leads all league skaters in game winning goals (7); the Marlies are just one of 3 teams (Syracuse and Manitoba the others) to have 2 goaltenders in the league top 20 in goals against average, but the only with both in the top 5: Sparks (1st) and Pickard (4th). Utica: With an injury to Comet alum Jacob Markstrom in Vancouver, Bachman was summoned west on Tuesday, while Michael Garteig was brought in from Kalamazoo to back up Demko for Wednesday night’s contest.  Bachman returned to Utica on Thursday.

North Division Standings as of February 26th, 2017:

Toronto: 55 GP, 39-15-0-1, 79 points, .718 pct. Syracuse: 56 GP, 33-18-2-3, 71 points, .634 pct. Rochester: 56 GP, 27-15-8-6, 68 points, .607 pct. Utica: 56 GP, 29-17-6-4, 68 points, .607 pct. Laval: 55 GP, 21-26-6-2, 50 points, .455 pct. Belleville: 57 GP, 21-32-1-3, 46 points, .404 pct. Binghamton: 54 GP, 17-28-6-3, 43 points, .398 pct.

Playoff Update

As of February 25th, magic numbers to clinch a spot in the Calder Cup playoffs come April: Toronto: 14 with 21 games left Syracuse: 22 with 20 games left Rochester: 25 with 20 games left Utica: 25 with 20 games left

As for Laval, Belleville, and Binghamton: the maximum points they can reach are 92 (LAV), 84 (BEL), and 87 (BNG).  With Rochester and Utica both at 68 points, elimination numbers at this point (and if math is correct) are 25 for Laval, 17 for Belleville, and 20 for Binghamton.

This Week’s North Division Schedule:

Tuesday, February 27th

Binghamton - 4 at Belleville - 1

Wednesday, February 28th

Syracuse at Toronto, 11:00 AM Bridgeport at Rochester, 7:05 PM

Friday, March 2nd

Binghamton at Syracuse, 7:00 PM Belleville at Utica, 7:00 PM Bridgeport at Laval, 7:30 PM

Saturday, March 3rd

Rochester at Toronto, 4:00 PM Bridgeport at Belleville, 7:00 PM Utica at Hershey, 7:00 PM Laval at Syracuse, 7:00 PM Binghamton at Lehigh Valley, 7:05 PM

Sunday, March 4th

Toronto at Belleville, 3:00 PM Laval at Rochester, 3:05 PM Utica at Binghamton, 5:05 PM