Weekly Wrap-Up - North Division (Week 24)

Consider signing up for a subscription so we can continue to bring you exclusive first-reports, prospect features and stories from around the American Hockey League (AHL).

Quick. Easy. Support original journalism!

In the St. Patrick’s Day edition of the North Division Notebook: we have a second playoff contestant, Utica finally finds the win column and the Amerks would probably like a redo of their road trip through New England.

Monday, March 12th

Toronto 4, Laval 1

In front of 12,000+ at Air Canada Centre, Garret Sparks became the winningest goalie in Marlies franchise history as Toronto beat the Rocket.  Trevor Moore lead all Toronto skaters with a goal and two assists, while Justin Holl, Andreas Johnsson, and Colin Greening each had a goal.  Sparks picked up his 72nd Marlie win with 20 saves.  Adam Cracknell scored the lone Laval goal, while Zachary Fucale added 26 saves.

Wednesday, March 14th

Toronto 4, Laval 0

Sparks topped Monday’s performance with a 31 save shutout, as the Marlies swept the home and home series with the Rocket.  Vincent LoVerde scored twice, Mason Marchment added two assists, and Richard Clune and Greening each scored.  Michael McNiven stopped 22 shots for Laval.

Syracuse 6, Binghamton 2

The Crunch punched their ticket to the postseason with a huge win in Binghamton.  Dennis Yan and Alexander Volkov each scored twice, Matthew Peca and Mitchell Stephens had two assists apiece, and Louis Domingue had a successful return to the Crunch net with 28 saves.  John Quenneville had two goals for the Devils, and Eddie Lack had 27 saves.

Thursday, March 15th

Bridgeport 6, Rochester 4

Things looked great for the Amerks on the road in Connecticut on Thursday evening—thanks to goals from Sean Malone, Stuart Percy, Hudson Fasching, and Danny O’Regan, they lead the Sound Tigers 4-0 1:13 into the second period.  Bridgeport would then score six unanswered goals, led by a hat trick and two assists from Travis St. Denis, and comeback to stun Rochester.  Adam Wilcox finished with 21 saves, and Alexander Nylander added two assists. Friday, March 16th

Toronto 3, Belleville 1

The Marlies extended their win streak to 5 games with a road win over the Senators.  In his professional debut, Josh Kestner would pick up his first goal, Ben Smith and Holl also added goals, and Calvin Pickard stopped 28 shots.  Ben Sexton had the lone Senator goal, while Marcus Hogberg added 33 saves.

Laval 4, Utica 2

A three goal second period pushed the Rocket past the slumping Comets on the road.  Chris Terry lead all Laval skaters with a goal and two assists, Matt Taormina added two helpers, Kerby Rychel had a goal and an assist, and Fucale had 30 saves.  Cam Darcy had a goal and assist for the Comets, while Thatcher Demko stopped 19 of 23 shots.

Providence 5, Rochester 3

The Amerks dropped to 0-2 on their New England road swing after an Austin Czarnik hat trick lead the Bruins to victory.  Nylander, O’Regan, and Adam Krause would all have goals, while Wilcox stopped 35 of 38 before leaving the game in favor of Jonas Johansson, who stopped 9 of 10 in the last 14 minutes of the contest.

Syracuse 3, Springfield 2 (OT)

In an up and down game, the Crunch recovered from blowing a 2-0 lead midway through the third to the Thunderbirds with a highlight reel goal from Olivier Archambault 2:06 into overtime.  Gabriel Dumont and Peca each had goals, Mat Bodie and Michael Bournival had two assists each, and Domingue stopped 26 shots.

Saturday, March 17th

Charlotte 4, Binghamton 2

Christoph Bertschy would give Binghamton a 1-0 lead 1:20 in, but the Checkers would then score the next three to down the Devils in the first of a two-game series in North Carolina.  Quenneville would pick up a power play goal and an assist, and Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 25 shots.

Belleville 4, Utica 3

Jack Rodewald’s 11th goal of the season with 1:05 remaining in the second period would break a 2-2 tie and give the Senators a home win over the slumping Comets.  Filip Chlapik scored twice and added an assist, Daniel Ciampini added a goal and an assist, and Danny Taylor had 36 saves.  Andrew Cherniwchan scored twice for Utica, while Richard Bachman added 26 saves.

Syracuse 5, Laval 2

Archambault picked up where he left off on Friday, scoring two more goals as the Crunch defeated the Rocket on home ice.  Bodie and Dumont each had a goal and two assists, Mathieu Joseph added three helpers, and Connor Ingram stopped 19 shots.  Niki Petti would score twice and McNiven added 27 saves for Laval.

Sunday, March 18th

Binghamton 4, Charlotte 1

Despite losing Quenneville after a hit by Josiah Didier 10 seconds into the game, the Devils would put up 3 in the first to earn a split with the Checkers.  Bertschy had a goal and an assist, Blake Speers, Yaroslav Dyblenko, and Bracken Kearns all had goals, and Lack stopped 24 shots.

Utica 3, Toronto 1

The Comets broke a 3-game losing streak in the most unlikely fashion—a 2 goal win on the road against the Marlies, who saw their win streak end at five games.  Tanner MacMaster scored his first professional goal, Zack MacEwen and Patrick Wiercioch also had goals, and Demko stopped 38 shots.  Marchment had the lone Toronto goal, and Pickard had 34 saves.

Hartford 6, Rochester 4

Despite a hat trick from C.J. Smith, Rochester would fall to 0-3 on their New England road trip with a loss to the Wolfpack.  Nylander would add three assists, Colin Blackwell had two helpers, and Johansson had 23 saves.

News & Notes Around the Division:

-Belleville added their first amateur tryout, signing Union College forward Ryan Scarfo; Erik Burgdoerfer was sent down by Ottawa on Wednesday; Hogberg was reassigned to Brampton on Sunday.

-Binghamton released forward John Edwardh, who did not make an appearance, from his amateur tryout, while adding forward Brett Seney, who recently signed his entry level contract with New Jersey after a four-year career at Merrimack College.

-Forward Michael McCarron was recalled from Laval to Montreal on Thursday.  The Rocket also released four players from PTO agreements: defensemen Etienne Boutet and Willie Corrin, and forwards Gabriel Desjardins and Luc-Olivier Blain.

-In the last week, three Amerks went back and forth on the Buffalo callup train: Linus Ullmark went up on Tuesday to practice with the Sabres, then returned on Thursday, only to be recalled on Friday.  Seth Griffith was recalled and sent down four different times in a three-day span; and Justin Bailey was recalled on Tuesday but sent down on Sunday.

-Syracuse added Norfolk defenseman T.J. Melancon and Manchester forward Craig Wysomirski on PTO deals.  Domingue’s stay with the Crunch ended after four days when he returned to Tampa Bay.

-Calle Rosen and Johnsson were recalled to the Maple Leafs on Tuesday, with Rosen returning on Wednesday, then Sparks was recalled on Thursday; Marchment was rewarded with a two-year entry level contract on Friday; the Marlies signed Holy Cross forward Scott Pooley and Hamilton College goaltender Evan Buitenhuis to amateur tryouts.

-Utica brought back forward Vincent Arseneau on a professional tryout, and signed Macmaster to an amateur tryout after he finished a four-year career at Quinnipiac.

Calder Cup Playoff Update

Toronto is already in, but if you want to look ahead…their magic number to clinch the North sits at 18 with 13 games remaining.  Syracuse became the second team to clinch on Wednesday.

Rochester’s -magic number is 3 with 11 games remaining, while Utica’s magic number is 7 with 12 games left.

As for the rest…

Laval’s elimination number is 7 with 11 games remaining; Belleville sits at 4 with 11 games remaining; and Binghamton’s number is 5 with 12 games to go.

North Division Standings as of March 19th, 2018

X-Toronto: 63 GP, 44-17-1-1, 90 points, .714 pct. X-Syracuse: 65 GP, 39-19-3-4, 85 points, .654 pct. Rochester: 65 GP, 30-19-10-6, 76 points, .585 pct. Utica: 64 GP, 31-23-6-4, 72 points, .563 pct. Laval: 65 GP, 24-33-6-2, 56 points, .431 pct. Belleville: 65 GP, 24-36-2-3, 53 points, .408 pct. Binghamton: 64 GP, 21-33-7-3, 52 points, .406 pct.

This Week’s North Division Schedule

Tuesday, March 20th

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Toronto, 7:00 PM

Friday, March 23rd

Toronto at Belleville, 7:00 PM Bridgeport at Syracuse, 7:00 PM Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Utica, 7:00 PM Binghamton at Rochester, 7:05 PM Charlotte at Laval, 7:30 PM

Saturday, March 24th

Charlotte at Laval, 3:00 PM Belleville at Toronto, 4:00 PM Utica at Syracuse, 7:00 PM Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Binghamton, 7:05 PM Springfield at Rochester, 7:05 PM

Sunday, March 25th

Laval at Belleville, 3:00 PM Springfield at Toronto, 4:30 PM Utica at Binghamton, 5:05 PM