Weekly Wrap-Up - North Division (Week 27)
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This week in the North Division Notebook…we know who’s in first and second, but what about third and fourth? And more accolades for several North players as the AHL awards season is in full swing.
Wednesday, April 4th
Springfield 2, Belleville 1
The Thunderbirds’ Canadian road swing got off to a good start on Wednesday, as they edged out the Senators. Despite outshooting Springfield 34-26, Belleville would give up a pair of power play goals, including what would become the game winner with 2:17 to go in regulation. Gabriel Gagne had the lone Senators goal late in the third, and Filip Gustavsson stopped 24 of 26 shots.
Rochester 3, Laval 2
Colin Blackwell’s second goal of the game just seconds into the third period would prove to be the difference, as the Amerks would win on the road. Sean Malone would score late in the second period, Daniel O’Regan added two assists, and Jonas Johansson stopped 25 shots. Antoine Waked and Adam Cracknell each had goals for Laval, Matt Taormina added two assists, and Charlie Lindgren had 30 saves in defeat.
Thursday, April 5th
Toronto 3, Utica 2 (OT)
In front of a school day crowd, Adam Brooks would get the game winner with 33 seconds remaining in overtime, as the Marlies would inch closer to clinching the division and regular season titles with a win over the Comets. After falling behind 2-0 in the first period, the Marlies would rally with goals from Pierre Engvall (3rd) and Vincent LoVerde (11th). Andrew Nielsen would add two assists, and Garret Sparks stopped 23 shots, setting a franchise record with his 30th win of the season. Jalen Chatfield and Tanner MacMaster each had their second goals of the season for Utica, and Richard Bachman added 39 saves in the overtime loss. Another interesting stat from this game: the Marlies did not get called for a single penalty.
Friday, April 6th
Utica 3, Toronto 2 (SO)
Just over 24 hours later, the Comets would get their revenge over Toronto in Utica, coming back from a 2-0 deficit in the second and eventually pulling out the shootout win. Lukas Jasek and Cole Cassels had one goal each, and Cassels would be the lone skater to connect in the bonus round. Thatcher Demko had 37 saves in 65 minutes, then stopped all three Toronto shootout attempts for the win. LoVerde and Martin Maricin each had goals for the Marlies, and Calvin Pickard added 20 saves. Despite the loss, the one point was all Toronto needed to clinch the North Division and the Macgregor Kilpatrick trophy for the AHL’s best regular season record.
Binghamton 4, Syracuse 3 (SO)
In a game that marked the professional debuts of two former first round picks—Cal Foote and Mikey McLeod—the Devils would rally from a 2-0 first period deficit to defeat the Crunch in a shootout. Another prospect, Brett Seney, would score his first professional goal for the Devils in the second. Blake Pietila and Kevin Rooney would also add scores, Nick Lappin had three assists, and Eddie Lack needed just 18 saves for the victory. McLeod would score in the fourth shootout round to keep Binghamton alive after falling behind 2-1, and Jake Walman would clinch the win in round five. Foote would score his first goal on his first shot, Gabriel Dumont and Carter Verhaeghe each had goals, and Eddie Pasquale stopped 36 of 39 shots. The one point Syracuse earned guaranteed the Crunch second place and home ice in the first round of the playoffs.
Belleville 5, Rochester 1
After falling behind 1-0 on another goal from Blackwell, Belleville would score four unanswered goals to defeat the Amerks, who would fall into fourth place with the loss. Nick Paul would score twice, Parker Kelly, Jack Rodewald, and Boston Leier would each have a goal, Christian Jaros and Patrick Sieloff would have two assists each, and Marcus Hogberg had 32 saves. Johansson would get the start for Rochester and stop 15 of 19 in the first two periods, then was relieved by Jason Kasdorf, who would stop 9 of 10. Springfield 5, Laval 1: The freefall for the Rocket continued on home ice, as the Thunderbirds would score four unanswered goals over the final 40 minutes for the win. Chris Terry picked up his 30th goal of the season, while Zachary Fucale stopped 26 of 31 shots.
Saturday, April 7th
Belleville 3, Laval 2 (SO)
Down 2-0 to the Senators entering the third period, Terry would score twice in a 3:02 span midway through the final period to single-handedly rally the Rocket. However, in the shootout, Rodewald would be the only skater in five rounds to connect, and Belleville would escape with a win. Leier and Maxime Lajoie would score for the Senators, while Gustavsson stopped 43 shots in 65 minutes, then all five shootout attempts. Lindgren had 30 saves for the Rocket. Syracuse 1, Utica 0: In a game that featured more penalty minutes than shots, Erik Condra’s power play goal with 5:05 remaining in regulation broke up a goaltender’s duel between Pasquale and Demko, giving the Crunch a win over the Comets. Pasquale picked up his first shutout as a member of the Crunch, stopping all 26 shots. Demko finished with 29 saves.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 7, Binghamton 4
Recently signed goaltender Cam Johnson made his professional debut for the Devils against the Penguins in Pennsylvania and…he probably would like to forget it. A four goal first period, followed by a three goal third, was too much for Binghamton to overcome. Johnson would play the entire game and finish with 29 saves on 35 shots. Walman lead all Devil skaters with one goal and one assist. Jan Mandat, Pietila, and Jacob MacDonald all had goals for Binghamton.
Rochester 6, Toronto 5 (OT)
In a game that was delayed an hour due to arena issues, the Amerks jumped out to a 4-2 lead over the visiting Marlies going into the third. Toronto managed to score three to take a 5-4 lead with 11:45 remaining in regulation, but Hudson Fasching’s second of the game would tie things up at 5 with 1:19 left. Sahir Gill would then score the game winner, his second goal of the night, 1:45 into overtime to push Rochester back into third place in the North. Blackwell added a goal and two assists, Seth Griffith added two assists, and Johansson rebounded from a disastrous last start with 30 saves. Chris Mueller scored twice and added an assist, Jeremy Bracco had three assists, LoVerde and Kyle Baun each had two helpers, and Pickard had 39 saves.
Sunday, April 8th
Binghamton 4, Syracuse 2
The Devils headed north on Interstate 81 and picked up their second straight win over the Crunch. Christoph Bertschy had a goal and an assist, Mandat scored for the second night in a row, Seney and Tim Kennedy each added goals, MacDonald had two assists, and Ken Appleby stopped 36 shots in his first AHL start since March 2nd. Troy Bourke and Matthew Peca each had goals for the Crunch, and Connor Ingram stopped 18 of 22 shots.
News and Notes around the North:
More AHL hardware for several North teams this week:
-While no North rookies—although the case could have been made for several players, including Syracuse’s crop—were named to the All-Rookie team (only one from the Eastern Conference was selected, Daniel Sprong of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton), the North was well represented on the First and Second AHL All-Star teams: Sparks, Jacob MacDonald, and Terry all made the First Team, while Zach Redmond, Andreas Johnsson, and Ben Smith were Second Team selections.
-Binghamton’s Bracken Kearns was chosen as the recipient of the Fred T. Hunt Award, given to an AHL player that “best exemplifies the qualities of sportsmanship, determination and dedication to hockey.” Kearns was undrafted out of the University of Calgary, made his pro debut in the ECHL in 2005, and finally made the NHL as a 30-year-old while with the Florida Panthers organization. This season, he was assistant captain with the Devils, was named Eastern Conference All-Star captain, and played in his 700th career AHL contest in January.
-With Buffalo’s season over, Nick Baptiste, Brendan Guhle, Casey Nelson, Alex Nylander, Linus Ullmark, and Adam Wilcox are all heading back to Rochester. Kasdorf and Arvin Atwal will be heading back to Cincinnati.
-After Montreal finished their season, they sent Kerby Rychel, Brett Lernout, and Michael McCarron back to Laval.
-New Jersey recalled Steven Santini and Eddie Lack from Binghamton on Saturday, as the parent Devils rested a few regulars before their playoff run begins.
-Ottawa returned Andreas Englund and Danny Taylor to Belleville on Sunday.
Calder Cup Playoff Update:
With one week remaining in the regular season, the top two seeds in the North are locked in. The last race standing is third place, currently held by Rochester, who leads Utica by two points. Both teams have three games left, with the Amerks playing on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, and Utica finishing their schedule with a 3 in 3 weekend. It’s possible we may have to wait until late Sunday afternoon to determine who goes to Toronto and who goes to Syracuse to start their playoff runs.
North Division Standings as of April 11th 2018:
Y-Toronto: 73 GP, 51-18-2-2, 106 points, .726 pct. X-Syracuse: 73 GP, 44-21-3-5, 96 points, .658 pct. X-Rochester: 73 GP, 35-21-11-6, 87 points, .596 pct. X-Utica: 73 GP, 37-25-7-4, 85 points, .582 pct. Binghamton: 73 GP, 25-37-7-4, 61 points, .418 pct. Belleville: 73 GP, 28-40-2-3, 61 points, .418 pct. Laval: 74 GP, 24-40-7-3, 58 points, .392 pct.
This Week’s North Division Schedule:
Wednesday, April 11th
Syracuse at Rochester, 7:05 PM
Friday, April 13th
Syracuse at Utica, 7:00 PM Belleville at Rochester, 7:05 PM Binghamton at Hartford, 7:15 PM Toronto at Laval, 7:30 PM
Saturday, April 14th
Laval at Toronto, 4:00 PM Utica at Belleville, 7:00 PM Rochester at Syracuse, 7:00 PM Hartford at Binghamton, 7:05 PM
Sunday, April 15th
Binghamton at Utica, 3:00 PM Belleville at Toronto, 4:00 PM
--End of Regular Season--
