Saturday's Morning Skate 3/29

Everyone in the East Division was in action last night and this weekend could help create some distance among the four teams in playoff contention.

East Division Standings (Conference Position)

1. Binghamton (3rd) - 83 points, 11 games remaining
2. WBS Penguins (5th) - 82 points, 9 games remaining
3. Norfolk (7th) - 77 points, 10 games remaining
4. Hershey (9th) - 74 points, 10 games remaining
5. Syracuse (11th) - 64 points, 10 games remaining

Friday Night Around The East Division

WBS Penguins - 2, Norfolk - 1

In Norfolk, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins hold onto a one-goal lead in the third period and take two points from the Norfolk Admirals in a 2-1 victory. Chuck Kobasew continued his torrid goal scoring streak, tallying a goal - the game-winner - in his 6th straight game for the Penguins, while amateur tryout Josh Archibald tallied his first goal as a pro and Peter Mannino stopped 19/20 to improve to 7-3-1 on the season.

John Gibson kept his team in it and Emerson Etem drew the Admirals within one after a nice individual effort, but Norfolk couldn't find the equalizer in the third period. These two teams play against each other again tonight in Norfolk at 7:15 p.m. ET.

Hershey - 4. Albany - 1

With Norfolk's loss, Hershey had a chance to tighten the gap on 8th place to three points and they did themselves another favor by beating 7th place Albany in a come-from-behind four goal third period.

Stefan Matteau gave the Devils a 1-0 lead with his 12th goal of the year in the waning seconds of the first period, but it was the Bears rallying in the third period in front of their home fans at Giant Center.

Dane Byers tied it 1-1 halfway through the 3rd while on the power play and Chay Genoway put the Bears in front with 5:57 left in regulation on his 3rd goal of the season. Brendan Segal added a pair of insurance goals, one on the power play with 1:01 left and empty net goal before time expired. 

The Bears remain home with a tough matchup against the St. John's IceCaps looming at 7:00 p.m.  ET. Albany returns home for a 5:00 p.m. face-off with the Worcester Sharks.

Binghamton - 2, St. John's - 1

A goaltenders duel between BSens' Andrew Hammond (40 saves) and IceCaps' Tyler Beskorowany (38 saves) ended with a BSens come-from-behind victory, after IceCaps captain Jason Jaffray gave his team a 1-0 lead with his 18th of season late in the first period.

BSens rookie forward Matt Puempel tallied his 25th goal of the season - a power play goal - to even the score at 1-1 midway through the second period and Shane Prince followed fit up with his 19th of season midway through the third to give the BSens a 2-1 win and as they remain the East Division leader heading into Saturday's game against Syracuse. St. John's is in Hershey tonight for a 7:00 p.m. face-off.

Syracuse - 6, Adirondack - 4

Bit of a wild one in Syracuse as the Crunch battle back from deficits of 2-0 and 3-1 to even it at 3-3, before pulling away in the third with three unanswered goals despite an early third period goal giving Adirondack a 4-3 lead 0:59 into the final frame.

Jonathan Marchessault paced the Crunch with a game-high three points (1G-2A), while Cedric Paquette added a pair of goals in the win. Jason Akeson and Marcel Noebels tallied a goal and an assist each for the Phantoms in the loss.

The Crunch host Binghamton tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET while Adirondack hosts Springfield.

Other Eastern Conference Scores

Springfield - 6, Hartford - 1
Manchester - 5, Worcester - 1
Providence - 6, Portland - 5

Saturday's Schedule (Eastern Conference)

Worcester @ Albany at 5:00 p.m. ET

Springfield @ Adirondack at 7:00 p.m. ET

Bridgeport @ Hartford at 7:00 p.m. ET 

St. John's @ Hershey at 7:00 p.m. ET 

Manchester @ Portland at 7:00 p.m. ET 

Binghamton @ Syracuse at 7:00 p.m. ET 

WBS Penguins @ Norfolk at 7:15 p.m. ET