Weekly Wrap-Up - North Division (Week 6)
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Editor's Note: Tracey takes a look around last week's AHL North Division action, and outlines the week ahead for all seven teams.
How did the North Division fare this week? Let’s review the week that was.
Belleville Senators
A solid week on home ice for Belleville, as they went 2-1 against a pair of division rivals.
On Wednesday, the Senators would jump out to a 4-1 lead over Binghamton, then had to hold off a third period rally by the Devils in a 4-3 win. Jim O’Brien would score twice against his former teammates, while Colin White scored his first goal of the season. Andrew Hammond, who remains on the Belleville roster despite being dealt to Colorado on Sunday, picked up the win in net, stopping 25 of 28 shots.
Friday night, in the first of a 2 game set with Rochester, Belleville would drop a 4-2 decision to the Amerks. Max Reinhart and Gabriel Gagne would each have a goal.
In the rematch on Saturday, the Senators found themselves down 4-2 to Rochester after two periods, in danger of being swept in the two game set. But goals by Jordan Murray and Francis Perron in the third would send the game to overtime, where Murray would finish off a hat trick with 57 seconds remaining to complete a 5-4 comeback win.
The Senators wrap up their inaugural 7 game homestand on Wednesday night against Lehigh Valley, then hit the road for the next 5 games.
Binghamton Devils
November has not been kind to Binghamton, as they have dropped their last four in a row after a win in Utica on the 3rd.
On Wednesday, the Devils made their first trip to Belleville to take on their predecessors in the Southern Tier and dropped a 4-3 contest. After falling behind 4-1 after the first 40 minutes and changing goaltenders, Nick Lappin would near singlehandedly lead the rally with two goals in the third.
Friday night, the Devils returned home to begin a 2 game set with Toronto. Despite jumping ahead 1-0 on a Jacob MacDonald goal after one period, they would give up four unanswered goals to the Marlies on just 10 shots and lose 4-1.
In the rematch on Saturday, Binghamton would again take a 1-0 lead in the first on a power play goal by Joe Blandisi. After that, it was all Toronto, as the Devils were held to just one shot in the second period, then the Marlies would score 4 in the third to finish off a 2 game sweep by a duplicate 4-1 score.
After a quick trip to Rochester on Wednesday, the Devils will return home for a three game homestand leading up into Thanksgiving.
Laval Rocket
The most interesting week had to be Laval’s 1-1 road trip through the Interstate 91 corridor.
On Saturday, in front of former Red Sox slugger David Ortiz and a sold out Springfield crowd, the Rocket jumped ahead 3-0 after one period on goals by Chris Terry, Jeremy Gregoire, and Peter Holland. The Thunderbirds would storm back and score five unanswered to take a 5-3 lead early in the third. Daniel Carr would bring Laval back to within one, but an empty netter by the T-Birds would finish off a wild 6-4 loss.
Sunday afternoon in Hartford, a late comeback would end the brief trip on a high note. The Rocket would take a 1-0 lead after one on a Kyle Baun goal, only to have the Wolfpack tie things up in the middle period. Laval would fall behind 2-1 with 1:24 remaining in regulation, but Terry’s goal with 51 seconds remaining in regulation would send the game to overtime. Daniel Audette would score the game winner 1:44 into the extra frame for a come from behind 3-2 win for the Rocket.
Laval will spend the rest of the month of November in Canada, playing four of their next seven at home, including a pair next week against Utica and Lehigh Valley.
Rochester Americans
Rochester made their first ever trip to Belleville this weekend for a two game set with the Senators, and would leave with three out of four points.
The Amerks started the two game set with a 4-2 win over the Senators on Friday evening. Linus Ullmark picked up the win in net with 38 saves on 40 shots, while Hudson Fasching had one goal and one assist. Stuart Percy would add two helpers as well.
In Saturday’s rematch, Rochester would blow 2-1 and 4-2 leads in regulation before falling 5-4 to the Senators in overtime. Sahir Gill would score twice, while Kevin Porter added two assists.
Rochester returns to the Blue Cross Arena next week for a pair of games before heading to Binghamton.
Syracuse Crunch
In their lone game of the week, the Crunch jumped out to a 3-1 lead over Charlotte after one period, then held off a second period Checker rally for a 5-3 win. Veteran defenseman Jamie McBain lead all skaters with one goal and three assists, while captain Erik Condra scored twice in his first appearance of the season after offseason surgery.
Syracuse hits the road for the next three, starting Wednesday in Hershey.
Toronto Marlies
The division leaders finished off an impressive 5-1 road trip this week, with a midweek loss the lone blemish.
On Wednesday, Toronto ran into a buzzsaw in Wilkes-Barre, losing to the Penguins 4-2. Dmytro Timashov would score 1:08 into the contest, but the Marlies would then give up three unanswered goals. Garret Sparks stopped 38 of 41 shots.
Friday night, the Marlies got back on track with a 4-1 win in Binghamton, the first of a two game set. After falling behind 1-0 after one period, four Toronto skaters would pick up goals. Sparks would get the win with 33 saves.
In the rematch on Saturday, it was lather, rinse, repeat. Toronto again fell behind 1-0 after one, but would put up a 4-spot in the third period and finish off a sweep of the Devils with a second consecutive 4-1 win. The Marlies would outshoot the Devils by an astounding 27-6 margin over the final 40 minutes, including just one shot in the middle period. Ben Smith would score twice, while Justin Holl added two assists.
Toronto returns home next weekend with a pair of games against Syracuse.
Utica Comets
The good news for Utica: Thatcher Demko and Reid Boucher returned from a brief stint in Vancouver. Bad news: they were swept by Charlotte in a 2 game set this week, by identical 5-2 scores, to finish up a 5-game homestand.
In Wednesday’s loss, the Comets gave up a goal 26 seconds into the contest, but would tie it up on a Nikolay Goldobin goal 6 minutes later. The Checkers would score twice in a 2:05 span late in the period and never look back. Richard Bachman would have 19 saves in defeat.
Friday night, Utica fell behind 2-0 halfway through the contest before a shorthanded goal by Jayson Megna cut the Charlotte lead in half heading into the third period. But the Checkers would score twice on Bachman 5 minutes into the final period to get the sweep.
After a trip to Laval mid week, Utica returns to the Adirondack Bank Center next weekend for a 3 game homestand.
Division Standings as of November 13th, 2017
- Toronto: 15 GP, 11-4-0-0, 22 points, .733 pct
- Rochester: 13 GP, 7-4-1-1, 16 points, .615 pct
- Laval: 15 GP, 8-5-2-0, 18 points, .600 pct
- Belleville: 15 GP, 7-7-0-1, 15 points, .500 pct
- Binghamton: 12 GP, 5-6-1-0, 11 points, .458 pct
- Utica: 12 GP, 5-6-0-1, 11 points, .458 pct
- Syracuse: 13 GP, 4-6-1-2, 11 points, .423 pct
This Week’s Schedule:
Wednesday, November 15th
Lehigh Valley @ Belleville, 7:00 PM Syracuse @ Hershey, 7:00 PM Binghamton @ Rochester, 7:05 PM Utica @ Laval, 7:30 PM
Friday, November 17th
Belleville @ Utica, 7:00 PM Wilkes-Barre/Scranton @ Binghamton, 7:05 PM Hartford @ Rochester, 7:05 PM Lehigh Valley @ Laval, 7:30 PM
Saturday, November 18th
Syracuse @ Toronto, 4:00 PM Hartford @ Utica, 7:00 PM Rochester @ Binghamton, 7:05 PM
Sunday, November 19th
Laval @ Manitoba, 2:00 PM CST Syracuse @ Toronto, 4:00 PM
