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December 2, 2010 - American Hockey League (AHL) News Release


Eastern Conference

Adirondack was blanked in back-to-back games last weekend and has dropped eight straight contests (0-7-1-0) since earning a 4-3 overtime win over Norfolk on Nov. 12... Defenseman Erik Gustafsson leads continues to lead the Phantoms in scoring with 15 points (2-13-15) in 23 games and also paces AHL rookies with eight power play assists... Rookie winger Luke Pither scored his first two professional goals in back-to-back games on Nov. 24 vs. Hamilton and Nov. 26 vs. Norfolk... The Phantoms are off on Friday before traveling to Wilkes-Barre on Saturday and to Albany on Sunday.

Albany is 6-4-0-0 on the road this season but just 3-8-0-0 at the Times Union Center... Patrick Davis tied the franchise record for career points when he scored in Albany's 4-3 win over Binghamton on Saturday and then took over the top spot from Nicklas Bergfors with an assist on Wednesday vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton; Davis now shows 111 points for his Devils career... That win over the Senators was Albany's first on home ice since a 2-1 triumph over Charlotte back on Oct. 20... Dave Caruso picked up the victory in net on Saturday, his first AHL win since Nov. 22, 2008... The Devils host Hershey and Adirondack this weekend, with a Saturday visit to Rochester in between.

Binghamton has lost four of its last five games (1-3-1-0) to fall back to .500 on the season at 10-10-2-1... All four losses during this stretch have come by a one-goal margin... Defenseman Derek Smith recorded five points (1-4-5) in three games last week, including a season-high three-point effort (1-2-3) in the Senators' 5-2 win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Thanksgiving Day... Binghamton earned six victories during the month of November, and Reebok/AHL Rookie of the Month Bobby Butler scored the game-winning goal in four of them... The B-Sens hit the road this weekend for games in Wilkes-Barre on Friday and Hershey on Saturday.

Bridgeport has put together a season-high five-game points streak (3-0-1-1) to climb from seventh place to a share of fifth in the tightly-packed Atlantic Division race... The Sound Tigers are 8-3-1-0 at home thus far but just 2-8-0-1 away from the Arena at Harbor Yard... Rookie goaltender Kevin Poulin shows two shutouts in his last three appearances, lowering his goals-against average for the season to 1.98... Rhett Rakhshani's three-game scoring streak (2-2-4) ended on Sunday vs. Norfolk, but the rookie still leads the Sound Tigers with 16 points (7-9-16) in 23 games for the season... Bridgeport visits Springfield on Friday and hosts Providence on Saturday.

Charlotte went 3-0-0-0 on a three-game road trip last week and will open a four-game homestand by welcoming Syracuse to Time Warner Cable Arena on Sunday and Monday... The Checkers are 11-2-0-2 since beginning the season with seven losses in nine games... Defenseman Bryan Rodney is riding a five-game scoring streak (4-2-6), while Drayson Bowman shows a point in his last four outings (1-3-4)... Rookie Zac Dalpe has found the scoresheet in nine of 14 AHL contests (9-5-14) since arriving from parent-club Carolina... Former first-round draft pick Zach Boychuk has a point in six straight contests (2-7-9)... Goaltender Justin Pogge is 7-1-0-0 in his last eight appearances.

Connecticut on Wednesday suffered its first defeat since being rebranded as the Whale, a 2-1 shootout loss at Worcester... The Whale were trying to win three straight games for the first time this season... Connecticut has a point in six of its last seven games (4-1-0-2) after earning just one victory in its previous 13 outings (1-9-2-1)... Kris Newbury has recorded a point in three of his last four games (1-3-4) and shows 10 points (1-9-10) in his last nine contests... Mats Zuccarello is now tied for fifth among AHL rookies with 16 points (9-7-16) in 25 games... The Whale visit Providence on Friday before returning home to welcome Worcester on Saturday.

Hershey's three-game winning streak from Oct. 23-29 stands as the only occasion thus far on which the Bears have either won or lost three straight contests... The Bears outscored opponents 9-1 in a pair of victories last weekend before dropping a 5-2 decision to Charlotte on Sunday... Mathieu Perreault led all AHL scorers with 19 points (6-13-19) in 11 games during the month of November... Perreault has 24 points (8-16-24) through 16 tilts overall, nearly halfway to the 50 points he recorded for Hershey in each of his first two pro seasons... Andrew Gordon has a point in three straight (3-2-5) and five of his last six outings (5-3-8), and he now leads the league in both goals (15) and points (30) in 22 games for the year... Hershey visits Albany on Friday and hosts Binghamton on Saturday.

Manchester has outscored opponents 21-6 during its current four-game winning streak, and the Monarchs have used an 8-1-0-0 run in their last nine games to surge atop the Atlantic Division at 15-7-1-1 (32 points) overall... Second-year pro Andrei Loktionov has put up multiple points in three straight games (1-7-8) has taken over the club lead with 17 points (3-14-17) in just 14 games since arriving from parent-club Los Angeles... Oscar Moller is riding an eight-game scoring run (5-6-11), the longest active streak in the AHL... Second-year pro Corey Elkins (2-4-6) and rookie defenseman Jake Muzzin (0-5-5) each have a point in three straight outings... The Monarchs host Norfolk and Springfield this weekend before a Sunday trip to Providence.

Norfolk is 2-1-0-0 thus far on its season-high six-game road trip, which concludes this weekend with stops in Manchester, Portland, and Springfield... When the weekend is over, Norfolk will have played 18 of its first 25 games this season on the road... The Admirals, who have the AHL's top-ranked offense (3.86 goals per game), suffered their first shutout of the year on Sunday in a 3-0 loss at Bridgeport... Johan Harju has recorded six goals and seven points in five games since returning from an NHL stint with Tampa Bay... The Ads had 12 two-goal performances on the season before Harju notched the team's first hat trick on Friday at Adirondack.

Portland halted a season-high three-game losing skid on Sunday with a 5-1 victory at Providence... The Pirates had totaled only four regulation goals in their previous four games prior to Sunday's triumph, but the club still ranks third in the AHL in offense (3.57 goals per game)... Matt Ellis recorded his 100th career AHL assist on Sunday and now has a point in three straight games (0-4-4)... Mark Mancari notched his first hat trick of the season (3-1-4) and second four-point effort, following a one-goal, three-assist showing on opening night vs. Manchester on Oct. 9... Portland has outscored opponents 27-18 in the second period... The Pirates have Friday off, host Norfolk on Saturday, and visit Worcester on Sunday.

Providence had earned a point in five straight games (4-0-1-0) prior to being outscored 9-2 in a pair of regulation losses last weekend... The Bruins, who have played a league-low 20 games thus far, rank seventh in the Atlantic Division despite holding a better-than-.500 record (9-8-2-1, 21 points)... P-Bruins leading scorer Jamie Arniel (9-7-16), who made his NHL debut for Boston on Sunday, is riding a six-game AHL points streak (3-4-7)... Veteran David Ling notched his first two goals in a Providence uniform last weekend... The Bruins are 7-1-1-0 on the road thus far but just 2-7-1-1 on home ice... Providence hosts Connecticut and Manchester this weekend, with a Saturday visit to Bridgeport in between.

Springfield has lost four of its last five games (1-4-0-0) to fall back to .500 on the season at 11-11-0-1... The Falcons have yet to win or lose more than three consecutive games this year... Rookie forward Tomas Kubalik has racked up seven goals and nine points in his last seven games, and fellow rookie Matt Calvert continues to lead the club with 17 points (9-8-17) in 23 games overall... Dane Byers has recorded 2-5-7 in 10 games since joining the Falcons after totaling 3-6-9 in 16 games for Connecticut to begin the season... The Falcons have scored 22 goals in the first, second, and third periods thus far... Springfield hosts Bridgeport and Norfolk this weekend sandwiched around a Saturday visit to Manchester.

Syracuse halted a seven-game winless slide (0-6-0-1) on Sunday with a 3-2 win over North Division-leading Hamilton... Joffrey Lupul scored the game-winning goal in that contest in his second game of a conditioning stint with the Crunch... Syracuse scored a season-high three power play goals in Sunday's victory and rank 14th overall on the man advantage (18.1 percent)... Matt Beleskey has recorded eight points (4-4-8) in nine games since first joining the Crunch lineup on Nov. 12 at Albany... Nathan Paetsch shows 4-2-6 in his last six games after going scoreless in his first six outings for Syracuse... The Crunch visit Rochester on Friday before heading to Charlotte for games on Sunday and Monday.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has won three straight games, six of seven (6-1-0-0), and 18 of 22 overall (18-4-0-0)... Dustin Jeffrey has multiple points in all three games of the current win streak (4-3-7) and six such performances in his last nine games (7-7-14)... Jeffrey is now tied for second in the AHL with 27 points (11-16-27) in 22 games for the season... Jeffrey, Joe Vitale, and Ryan Craig are all tied for the team lead with three game-winning goals apiece... Brett Sterling has recorded 4-5-9 in his last eight contests... The Pens, who are 11-1-0-0 on the road, didn't earn their 11th road win last season until Feb. 21 at Manchester... Wilkes-Barre hosts Binghamton and Adirondack this weekend.

Worcester had been 0-3 in shootouts this season prior to taking a 2-1 shootout win over Connecticut on Wednesday... Goaltender Alex Stalock has started 11 of Worcester's last 12 games and earned his 10th win of the season on Wednesday (10-8-1)... Leading scorer Jonathan Cheechoo (7-13-20) recorded his sixth multiple-point effort of the season in Sunday's 5-2 loss to Manchester... The Sharks are an impressive 7-1-1-3 in one-goal games thus far and show a perfect 9-0-0-0 mark both when scoring the game's first goal and when leading after the second period... Worcester, which is in a stretch of playing 18 of 19 games within the Atlantic Division, visits Connecticut on Friday and hosts Portland on Sunday afternoon.

Western Conference

Abbotsford has been involved in a league-high seven shootouts (4-3) through its first 24 games, and five of the Heat's last 10 contests have extended to the shootout (3-2)... Goaltender Leland Irving, who leads the AHL with 11 victories (11-6-1, 2.15, .919), has allowed two or fewer goals in 10 consecutive appearances since surrendering three in a 4-3 overtime win over Rochester on Oct. 25... The Heat have been held to two or fewer goals in five straight outings (1-3-0-1)... Rookie Lance Bouma has netted a goal in two of his last three contests (2-0-2)... Abbotsford visits Toronto for a pair of contests this weekend before opening a four-game homestand on Tuesday vs. Lake Erie.

Chicago followed up a 10-8 loss to Grand Rapids on Saturday by playing one of its lowest-scoring games of the season, a 2-1 shootout win over Manitoba on Tuesday... The eight goals on Saturday were the Wolves' most in a game since posting a 10-2 win over the Iowa Stars on Dec. 15, 2007... Darren Haydar, who had 2-2-4 in the game on Saturday, has collected a point in four of his last five outings overall (3-4-7)... Nigel Dawes saw his five-game scoring streak (4-3-7) end on Tuesday... Goaltender Peter Mannino is on a personal five-game winning streak since beginning the season 1-4-0... The Wolves, who are 5-1-0-0 in their last six overall, travel to Lake Erie, Hamilton, and Toronto this weekend.

Second-year pro Tomas Tatar set a new franchise record with seven points (2-5-7) in Saturday's 10-8 win at Chicago... Tatar entered that night with nine points in 20 games for the season... Grand Rapids had scored seven times in its previous eight games combined before but erupted for seven second-period goals in a span of just 11:37 on Saturday... It still stands as Grand Rapids' only victory in its last seven contests (1-5-0-1)... Jamie Tardif has matched his season high with a three-game scoring run (3-2-5)... After Friday's visit to Milwaukee, the Griffins will play 12 of their next 15 games on home ice... Grand Rapids hosts San Antonio on both Saturday and Sunday.

Each of Hamilton's last four games ‚¬" and eight of the last 10 ‚¬" has been decided by a one-goal margin... The Bulldogs have lost only four games in regulation to this point (14-4-1-3), tied with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (18-4-0-0) for fewest regulation losses in the AHL... Max Pacioretty's hat trick on his birthday Nov. 20 kicked off a stretch that has seen him erupt for nine goals in his last six games; prior to this year, Pacioretty had never scored more than nine goals in a season... David Desharnais has recorded a point in five of his last seven outings (2-8-10); Desharnais (7-20-27) and Pacioretty (13-14-27) are both tied for second in the AHL's overall scoring list... Hamilton hosts Peoria and Chicago this weekend.

Veteran defenseman Bryce Lampman, who signed with Houston on Nov. 16, played his first game for the Aeros on Saturday vs. Milwaukee... Lampman matched his career high last season with seven goals (7-13-20) in 54 AHL games for Peoria... Houston has won back-to-back games ‚¬" both via the shootout ‚¬" and are 10-4-0-2 since beginning the season 2-5-1-0... Rookie defenseman Jared Spurgeon has a point in six of his last eight contests (2-6-8)... Cody Almond entered the day with 2-6-8 totals in 21 games this year before factoring into three of Houston's regulation goals (2-1-3) on Thursday afternoon in a 4-3 shootout win over Rockford... The Aeros conclude a four-game homestand by hosting the IceHogs again on Friday night.

Lake Erie has earned a point in three straight games (2-0-1-0) and six of its last eight outings (5-2-1-0)... The Monsters earned a 5-3 win over Oklahoma City on Saturday, which concluded a stretch in which the club played eight games in an 11-day span... Ryan Stoa didn't score a goal in any of his first 16 games this season but has nabbed six goals in six games since... Rookie Mark Olver has a point in five of his last six games (4-3-7) and has moved atop the Monsters' overall scoring list in both goals (9) and points (17) through 19 games played... Lake Erie has scored first in 14 of its first 24 games but has won just half of those contests (7-5-1-1)... The Monsters host Chicago and Peoria this weekend before heading to Abbotsford next week.

Manitoba has outshot its opponent in six of its last seven games and broken the 40-shot barrier four times in that span... The Moose topped 40 shots just once last season and only three times during the entire 2008-09 campaign... Evan Oberg scored on Wednesday in a 6-3 loss at Milwaukee, his first goal since nabbing a pair in Manitoba's season opener at Peoria on Oct. 8... Rookie goaltender Eddie Lack has allowed exactly one goal in each of his last four appearances but has just one win to show for it (1-1-2)... The Moose are one of two AHL teams ‚¬" Connecticut is the other ‚¬" to neither score nor allow a shorthanded goal yet this season... Manitoba hosts Oklahoma City for a pair of games this weekend.

Milwaukee is currently riding a four-game points streak (4-0-0-1) and now sits third in the tight West Division at 12-6-1-4 overall, two points back of first-place San Antonio... The Admirals totaled three goals in a three-game span prior to erupting for 11 goals in consecutive wins over San Antonio and Manitoba... Linus Klasen tallied the game-winning goal in both victories, and his three game-winners for the season are tied for the team lead with Chris Mueller... Prior to going 3-for-4 on the power play in Sunday's 5-3 win over the Rampage, Milwaukee had been in an 0-for-35 power play slump... The Admirals host Grand Rapids on Friday, have Saturday off, and visit Peoria on Sunday.

Oklahoma City has lost two straight games in regulation for only the third time all season and the first time since Oct. 22 and 23... The Barons (13-8-1-1, 28 points) have slipped to fourth in the West Division but are still just three points out of the top spot... Alexandre Giroux, who totaled 110 goals over the past two regular seasons with Hershey, has now gone 13 straight games without scoring... Until his minus-1 showing on Saturday at Lake Erie, Liam Reddox had been even or plus in 13 consecutive games... Colin McDonald brings a four-game goal-scoring streak (5-0-5) into this weekend's action... The Barons visit Manitoba for a two-game weekend set.

Peoria has earned a point in six straight games (5-0-1-0), one shy of the team's season high of seven straight ‚¬" which were all victories ‚¬" from Oct. 10-23... The Rivermen have killed off 35 consecutive opponent power plays over a seven-game span; in that time, Peoria's penalty-killing percentage has risen from 84.9 percent (12th in the AHL) to a top-ranked 89.1 percent... Jake Allen's four shutouts this year are already more than any other Rivermen goaltender has recorded in an AHL season... The Rivermen have scored eight goals within the first five minutes of games this season... Peoria begins a busy weekend in Hamilton on Friday before visiting Lake Erie on Saturday and hosting Milwaukee on Sunday.

Rochester began the season 8-6-1-0 but has lost six of seven games since that point (1-6-0-0)... The Americans are 2-8-0-0 on home ice but 7-4-1-0 away from the Blue Cross Arena, and the Amerks are 8-6-0-0 vs. non-divisional opponents, 2-7-1-0 against the North Division... Former AHL All-Star defenseman Clay Wilson is riding a three-game scoring streak (1-4-5), while Chris Taylor shows multiple points in two of his last three contests (1-5-6)... Rochester kicks off a four-game homestand with weekend tilts against Syracuse and Albany... Including those games, the Amerks will play nine of their next 11 contests on home ice.

Rockford fell to 3-3 in shootouts this season with Thursday afternoon's 4-3 loss at Houston, and the IceHogs dropped to 1-3-0-2 in their last six games overall... Second-year defenseman Brian Connelly scored twice in Thursday's defeat after entering the day with one goal in 21 games for the season; Connelly's 16 points (3-13-16) remain tops on the IceHogs... Ryan Potulny now has a goal in two of his last three games (2-0-2) on the heels of a six-game drought... Goaltender Alec Richards made a career-high 40 saves last Friday in Rockford's 3-2 shootout win at Grand Rapids... The IceHogs visit Houston again on Friday and then don't play again until hosting Texas next Wednesday.

San Antonio has lost back-to-back games for the first time since Oct. 10 and 15... The Rampage did finish 8-4-0-0 in November, making it the most successful November in franchise history, and the team had won 11 straight divisional games prior to Saturday's 5-2 loss to Texas and Sunday's 5-3 defeat vs. Milwaukee... Mathieu Beaudoin (5-6-11) and Brett MacLean (5-6-11) each led the way with 11 points during the month of November... In their last 19 games, the Rampage are 22-for-88 on the power play (25.0 percent)... San Antonio begins a five-game road trip at Texas on Friday before flying to Grand Rapids for games there on Saturday and Sunday.

Texas is 7-2-0-0 in its last nine games following a 6-6-0-0 start to the season... Rookie goaltender Richard Bachman finished November with a 6-1-0 mark (1.62, .941) and one shutout in seven appearances... Colton Sceviour has recorded four points (1-3-4) in his last four games after totaling just five points (1-4-5) through his first 17 games this season... Greg Rallo has found the scoresheet in five of his last six contests (3-4-7), and Francis Wathier has a goal in two straight (2-1-3) on the heels of a five-game drought... Sceviour and Travis Morin are the only two players to appear in all 100 of the Stars' regular-season games in franchise history... Texas hosts in-state foes San Antonio and Houston this weekend.

Toronto is currently on a three-game winning streak, one shy of the Marlies' season-high four-game run established from Nov. 9-13... Overall, the Marlies are 10-2-0-3 since a 2-6-0-0 start to the season and are tied with Abbotsford for second place in the North Division race... Since suffering a 6-3 loss to Grand Rapids on Oct. 24, rookie goaltender Jussi Rynnas has gone 10 straight appearances without allowing more than two goals... Christian Hanson (2-2-4) and Joey Crabb (2-1-3) are both riding three-game scoring streaks... The Marlies boast the AHL's fourth-best penalty kill (88.3 percent) but have its 28th-ranked power play (11.9 percent).

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