Saturday's Morning Skate 4/11

Jason Akeson was the mystery forward called up to the Flyers today. Mark Alt (left, #2) was also recalled on an emergency basis.

It's getting down to the wire in the American Hockey League regular season as most teams have five games left on their schedule. The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins had a rare Friday off - a travel day for their upcoming pair of games in Portland, Maine - but the rest of the East Division was in action last night.

Last night, I was in Allentown, Pa. at the PPL Center as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms prevailed in a shootout over division rival Norfolk. I'll be back in downtown Allentown tonight for the rematch between the Phantoms and Admirals.

ROSTER NOTE: The Flyers called up forward Jason Akeson as well as defenseman Mark Alt on an emergency basis. Also, the Phantoms have brought in Flyers prospect forward Danick Martel on an amateur tryout contract. Martel tallied 102 points (48G-54A) in 64 regular season games in the QMJHL this season.

You can follow all the latest in-game updates of tonight's AHL action on Twitter.

For updates of the Penguins/Pirates game up in Portland tonight at 7:00 ET, follow @H_P_Hockey.

For updates of the rematch between the Phantoms and Admirals in Allentown, follow @TonyAndrock_TCG.

Eastern Conference Standings (through 4/10's games)

* = division leader
x = clinched playoff spot
y = clinched division title

y*1. Manchester: 5 games remaining, 46-16-6-3 = 101 points
x*2. Hershey: 4 games remaining, 44-20-5-3 = 96 points
x*3. Syracuse: 5 games remaining, 41-21-9-0 = 91 points
4. W-B/Scranton: 5 games remaining, 41-23-3-4 = 89 points
5. Providence: 5 games remaining, 39-23-7-2 = 87 points

6. Hartford: 5 games remaining, 39-23-5-4 = 87 points
7. Worcester: 5 games remaining, 40-25-4-2 = 86 points
8. Portland: 5 games remaining, 37-25-7-2 = 83 points
9. Springfield: 3 games remaining, 36-28-8-1 = 81 points
10. Albany: 5 games remaining, 33-27-5-6 = 77 points

Norfolk - 1 at Lehigh Valley - 2 (SO)

The Phantoms had a sloppy start to the game - giving up a goal to Matt Bailey 2:00 in - but Scott Laughton tied things up in the 2nd period and scored the eventual winner in the shootout to lift Lehigh Valley past division rival Norfolk in the first of a two-game set between the two teams this weekend.

It was a goaltender's duel between Ryan Faragher (33 saves/34 shots) and Rob Zepp (33 saves/34 shots), but Zepp stopped two of three Norfolk shooters in the shootout to get the win for the home team. These two teams rematch tonight at the PPL Center, 7:05 p.m. ET.

Hershey - 3 at St. John's - 2

The St. John's IceCaps jumped out to a 2-0 lead vs. Hershey, but the Bears rallied for three unanswered goals and held off a late flurry by the home team to bring themselves one step closer to claiming the East Division title and a guaranteed top-three seed in the Eastern Conference for the postseason.

Chase Balisy and Patrice Cormier tallied first period goals to put St. John's ahead early. Dustin Gazley tallied a game-high two points (1G-1A), while Liam O'Brien and Chris Conner also recorded goals in the win for Hershey.

Philipp Grubauer stopped 33 of 35 shots to pick up his 27th win of the year for the Bears, while rookie Eric Comrie stopped 28 of 31 in his first AHL game with St. John's this season. These two teams square off again tonight up at Mile One Centre in Newfoundland at 6:00 p.m. ET

Albany - 3 at Binghamton - 6

In Binghamton, the BSens high-powered offense came to life in a four-goal second period - breaking open the game to a 5-0 lead as the BSens recorded a big win over rival Albany.

Cole Schneider tallied a game high four points (3G-1A), including the first hat trick of the season for the BSens in the win. Binghamton hosts Utica tonight, while Albany travels to Connecticut to take on the Hartford Wolfpack.

Other Eastern Conference Scores 

Springfield - 0 at Hartford - 6

Portland - 2 at Manchester - 3 (SO)

Bridgeport - 3 at Syracuse - 4 (OT)

Worcester - 1 at Providence - 5

Saturday's Eastern Conference Schedule

Hershey at St. John's, 6:00 p.m. ET

Manchester at Bridgeport, 7:00 p.m. ET

Albany at Hartford, 7:00 p.m. ET

W-B/Scranton at Portland, 7:00 p.m. ET

Springfield at Syracuse, 7:00 p.m. ET

Providence at Worcester, 7:00 p.m. ET

Utica at Binghamton, 7:05 p.m. ET

Norfolk at Lehigh Valley, 7:05 p.m. ET