AHL Quick Hits

Published on February 13, 2003 under American Hockey League (AHL) News Release

Two quick shorthanded goals helped Rochester rally to defeat Hamilton on Tuesday night, 5-3. The Bulldogs led 3-1 and were on a power play in the second period when Riley Nelson scored his first career AHL goal and Jason Botterill netted his league-leading 32nd of the year just 11 seconds later. Paul Gaustad's power play goal less than six minutes after that gave the Amerks the lead, and Tom Askey finished with 24 saves to preserve the win. It was just the ninth regulation loss of the season for the Bulldogs (38-9-5-4).

Tue 2/11
CLEVELAND 2, Philadelphia 2 (OT)... Rochester 5, HAMILTON 3... Houston 4, MILWAUKEE 2... ST. JOHN'S 3, Saint John 0

LOOKING AHEAD:

Philadelphia visits Grand Rapids tonight (7:00 ET) in an intriguing Western Conference matchup. The Griffins won a 3-1 decision from the Phantoms in the teams' first-ever meeting back on Jan. 25, but are winless in their last three contests. Philly is 2-6-3-0 in its last 11 games and in danger of missing the postseason for the first time in the team's seven-year history. Former Phantom Michel Picard is tied for third in the AHL with 55 points this season, and has already secured the seventh 20-goal season of his AHL career.

Hartford and Worcester meet up at the Centrum Centre tonight (7:05 ET) in a battle for playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference, where the Wolf Pack currently sit seventh, one point ahead of the IceCats. Worcester has won just six of its last 24 games (6-11-5-2), but Hartford hasn't fared much better, with a mark of 8-11-3-2 in its last 24. Connecticut-born and Massachusetts-raised Chris Corrinet has four points in three games since joining the IceCats last week.

With three points separating second place from fifth in the West Division, Chicago visits Utah tonight (7:00 MT, 8:00 ET) in the first of a two-game series. As they kick off a five-game road swing, the Wolves have one win in seven games (1-3-3-0), despite J.P. Vigier's 13 points and plus-12 rating during that span. This is the 12th time this season that a visiting team has played consecutive games at the "E" Center; the Grizzlies have been swept just once in the previous 11 two-game sets (5-1-5).

(all times local)
Wed 2/12
Saint John at St. John's, 7:35... Philadelphia at Grand Rapids, 7:00... Portland at Manchester, 7:05... Binghamton at Wilkes-Barre, 7:05... Hartford at Worcester, 7:05... San Antonio at Norfolk, 7:15... Chicago at Utah, 7:00

Thu 2/13
Cleveland at Houston, 7:00... Hamilton at Manitoba, 7:30

Fri 2/14
Manchester at Saint John, 7:30... Hershey at Albany, 7:00... Milwaukee at Hartford, 7:05... Bridgeport at Providence, 7:05... Cincinnati at Grand Rapids, 7:30... Portland at Norfolk, 7:30... St. John's at Syracuse, 7:30... Philadelphia at Rochester, 7:35... Lowell at Springfield, 7:35... Hamilton at Manitoba, 7:30... Chicago at Utah, 7:00

ALUMNI WATCH:

On Monday night, 1986-87 AHL rookie of the year Brett Hull became the first AHL graduate ever to score 700 career NHL goals... On Tuesday, Mathieu Garon, 15-2-2 with a league-leading 1.77 GAA in the AHL this season, made 42 saves to lead Montreal to a 3-1 win over Boston... Sergei Zubov scored in the final second of overtime to give Dallas a 2-1 win over Carolina on Tuesday.

ON THE AIR:

Wednesday, Saint John at St. John's -- Rogers Cable 9 (St. John's) -- Thurs., 3:00pm NT (tape)
Wednesday, Binghamton at Wilkes-Barre -- Adelphia 63/WNEP-DT 16-2 (NE Pennsylvania) -- 7:05 ET
Friday, St. John's at Syracuse -- Time Warner Cable 13 (Syracuse) -- 7:30 ET
Friday, Philadelphia at Rochester -- Time Warner Cable 98 (Rochester) -- 7:35 ET

American Hockey League Stories from February 13, 2003

• Bulldogs Set Franchise Record for Road Wins - Hamilton Bulldogs
• An Evening with the Great Ones - Cincinnati RailRaiders
• Wolf Pack to Hold 'Open Practice' in West Hartford Tuesday - Connecticut Whale
• Wolf Pack Return Home This Weekend - Connecticut Whale
• Baxter Presents Fleaburn's Birthday - Saint John Flames
• Thrashers Recall Safronov - Chicago Wolves
• Jaffray Reassigned to Norfolk - Norfolk Admirals
• Fans Can Adopt-A-Pet on February 23 - Adirondack Phantoms
• Sound Tigers Recall Belak - Bridgeport Islanders
• Labatt Night at the Crunch Set For Friday, February 28 - Syracuse Crunch
• Penguins Alumni to be Coached by Ed Johnson - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
• AHL Quick Hits - AHL
• Klassen and Jericho to drop ceremonial puck over the next week at Moose games - Manitoba Moose
• Go Grocery Shopping with the Griffins - Grand Rapids Griffins
• Love On Ice Friday Night At Checkers Game - Charlotte Checkers
• 2004 AHL All-Star Classic dates announced - AHL
• Korolev Assinged to Norfolk - Norfolk Admirals
• Norfolk Reassigns Forward Jaffray - Norfolk Admirals
• VandenBussche Assigned for Two- Week Conditioning Stint - Norfolk Admirals
• U.S. Army High School Night Set for February 28 - Syracuse Crunch
• Unbeaten Streak Reaches Four Games as Pens' Edge Binghamton, 4-3 - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins

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