Saturday's Morning Skate 1/24

Petr Straka (#24) has tallied goals in back-to-back games this week for Lehigh Valley.

It was another busy Friday night in the American Hockey League (AHL) as teams battle for playoff position heading into this weekend's All-Star break. I'm more than looking forward the 2015 AHL All-Star Classic in Utica, NY - my first as a credentialed working media member - but teams and players alike must not overlook Saturday's final game before the break.

Last night, I was at the War Memorial in Syracuse, New York as the Crunch hosted the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The Phantoms' 4-2 loss to the Crunch, combined with a win by the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, puts Lehigh Valley five points behind the second place Penguins in the East Division standings.

Tonight, I'm back in Allentown at the beautiful PPL Center as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms host St. John's IceCaps at 7:05 ET in what is the final game before the break for both teams. I'll have full coverage complete with live in-game updates on Twitter (@TonyAndrock_TCG) and a post-game recap shortly following the conclusion of the game.

East Division Standings (through 1/23's games)

1.  Hershey Bears: 40GP, 22-13-4-1, 49 points
2.  Wilkes-Barre/Scranton: 43GP, 22-17-1-3, 48 points
3.  Lehigh Valley: 40GP, 19-16-4-1, 43 points
4.  Binghamton: 40GP, 17-19-3-1, 38 points
5.  Norfolk: 42GP, 16-22-2-2, 36 points


Syracuse - 4, Lehigh Valley - 2

The Phantoms went 8-for-8 on the penalty kill last night, but the penalties they took prevented them from maintaining their style of play effectively enough to get a win.

Yanni Gourde tallied a pair of goals for the Crunch, while Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 30 of the 32 shots he faced in the win. Kevin Goumas and Petr Straa tallied goals for the Phantoma in the loss, while Anthony Stolarz stopped 30 of 34 in net.

The Crunch host Hartford Saturday night, while the Phantoms look to head into the All-Star break with a win at home against St. John's.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton - 4, Norfolk - 2

In Norfolk, the return of several players from Pittsburgh - including Andrew Ebbett - helped the AHL Pens to two points in the first of two games against the Admirals this weekend.

Ebbett tallied two goals, Scott Wilson added a goal and an assist and Matt Murray made 27 saves on 29 shots in the win for the Penguins. Chris Wagner and Andrew O'Brien tallied goals in the loss for Norfolk, while John Gibson stopped 29 of 32 in net for the Admirals.

These two teams rematch tonight, again at The Scope Arena.

St. John's - 5, Binghamton - 2

In Binghamton, the IceCaps offense exploded for five goals in the third period in awin over the BSens. The IceCaps had five different goal scorers on the night, with Will O'Neill (0G-2A) and Carl Klingberg (1G-1A) leading the way offensively with two points each.

Derek Grant and Chris Wideman tallied goals in the loss for the BSens, while Andrew Hammond stopped 33 of the 37 shots he faced.

St. John's finishes their last game before the break with Lehigh Valley tonight while the Binghamton Senators travel to Hershey for a Saturday night face-off against the Bears at Giant Center.

Other Eastern Conference Scores

Hartford - 4, Springfield - 3
Portland - 4, Bridgeport - 2
Providence - 2, Manchester - 1 (OT)
Albany - 3, Worcester - 2

Saturday's Eastern Conference Schedule

Worcester @ Albany, 2:00 p.m. EST
Binghamton @ Hershey, 7:00 p.m. EST
Providence @ Springfield, 7:00 p.m. EST
Hartford @ Syracuse, 7:00 p.m. EST
St. John's @ Lehigh Valley, 7:05 p.m. EST
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton @ Norfolk, 7:15 p.m. EST
Portland @ Bridgeport, 7:30 p.m. EST