Saturday's Morning Skate 11/5

Photo: Nina Weiss/Highland Park Hockey

Written by: Tony Androckitis - Twitter/Facebook

All seven Atlantic Division teams were in action last night, with two head-to-head divisional match ups needing overtime to find winners.

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms are back at it tonight at 7:05 p.m. ET at home against the Springfield Falcons - their first home game in two weeks since the completion of their season-high five game road trip, which ended Friday night in a 4-2 win. We'll have full coverage of tonight's game on Highland Park Hockey, so stay tuned here and on Twitter -> @TonyAndrock.

After the jump, a look around the Atlantic Division as well as a look ahead to Saturday's games.

Atlantic Division Standings (through 11/4's games)

1. W-B/Scranton Penguins, 8 games played, 6-1-1-0 = 13 points (0.813 PCT)
2. Springfield Thunderbirds, 5 games played, 5-2-1-0 = 11 points (0.688 PCT)
3. Bridgeport Sound Tigers, 9 games played, 6-3-0-0 = 12 points (0.667 PCT)
4. Hershey Bears, 8 game played, 4-2-2-0 = 10 points (0.625 PCT)
5. Lehigh Valley Phantoms, 8 games played, 4-3-1-0 = 9 points (0.563 PCT)
6. Hartford Wolf Pack, 9 games played, 3-5-1-0 = 7 points (0.389 PCT)
7. Providence Bruins, 9 games played, 2-5-2-0 = 6 points (0.333 PCT)

Around The Atlantic

Lehigh Valley - 4 at Providence - 2

Providence, RI - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (4-3-1) finished their five-game road trip with back-to-back wins, including tonight's 4-2 win up in Providence. The Phantoms went 3-2 on their longest road trip of the season, and will take a roughly four and a half hour bus ride back to Allentown, Pa overnight in advance of their first home game in two weeks when they host the Springfield Thunderbirds Saturday night at the PPL Center.

Mark Zengerle, Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Greg Carey scored goals to give Lehigh Valley a 3-1 lead before Providence narrowed it to a one-goal game late in regulation. Scott Laughton, playing in a limited fourth line role in his first game this season, tallied an unassisted empty net goal in the final minute to seal the deal on the 4-2 win. Anthony Stolarz stopped 27 of the 29 shots he faced to improve to 4-2-0 on the season.

Binghamton - 1 at W-B/Scranton - 4

Wilkes-Barre. PA - The BSens took a 1-0 lead in the first period courtesy Mike Blunden's assisted goal midway through the period, but the Penguins stormed back in the second period and then some - out-shooting Binghamton 15-6 and finally solving Matt O'Connor late in middle frame to the tune of two goals two minutes apart from Jake Guentzel and Tom Kostopoulos. Kostopoulos finished with a goal and an assist in the game, and his second point of the night was his 400th in a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins uniform.

The Penguins added to their lead in the third period on goals from Garrett Wilson and Oskar Sundqvist, while Tristan Jarry improved to 4-1-0 with 20 saves on 21 shots Friday night.

Hershey - 3 at Springfield - 2 (OT)

Springfield, MA - The Hershey Bears came away from Springfield Friday night with an overtime win over the Thunderbirds, as Colby Williams played the role of hero in the 3-on-3 extra session.

Paul Carey and Brad Malone also tallied goals for the Bears in the win, while Joe Cannatta stopped 27 of the 29 shots he faced to improve to 3-1-0 on the season.

Chase Balisy and Graham Black scored two goals 30 seconds apart in the second period to take a 2-1 lead, but came up short in the second half of the contest. Paul Thompson added a team-high two assists for the Thunderbirds, while Mike McKenna surrendered three goals on 32 shots.

Bridgeport - 5 at Hartford - 4 (OT)

Hartford, CT - In a back-and-forth high scoring affair, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers got the final say in a 5-4 overtime victory.

The Sound Tigers took a 2-0 lead on goals from Michael Dal Colle and Devin Toews before Hartford made it interesting in the second and third periods, at one point tallying three straight goals to take a 4-3 lead early in the third period.

Nicklas Jensen tallied twice and Ryan Graves added two helpers in the loss for the WolfPack, who saw Magnus Hellberg pick up the loss after surrendering five goals on 36 shots.

Toews (one goal, one assist) and Bracken Kearns (two assists) paced Bridgeport's attack with multi point games, while Christopher Gibson had a rare four goal night against him but was able to secure the win with 27 saves on 31 shots.

Other AHL Scores

Iowa - 1 at Grand Rapids - 4
Syracuse - 3 at Rochester - 2
Chicago - 2 at Milwaukee - 3 (SO)
Texas - 3 at Bakersfield - 1
Ontario - 2 at Tucson - 3
Stockton - 5 at San Diego - 1

Saturday's AHL Schedule

San Antonio at San Jose - 4:15 p.m. ET
Toronto at St. John's - 6:00 p.m. ET
W-B/Scranton at Bridgeport - 7:00 p.m. ET
Chicago at Grand Rapids - 7:00 p.m. ET
Albany at Hershey - 7:00 p.m. ET
Iowa at Milwaukee - 7:00 p.m. ET
Utica at Syracuse - 7:00 p.m. ET
Rochester at Binghamton - 7:05 p.m. ET
Springfield at Lehigh Valley - 7:05 p.m. ET
Hartford at Providence - 7:05 p.m. ET
Cleveland at Manitoba - 8:00 p.m. ET
Texas at Bakersfield - 9:00 p.m. ET
Ontario at Tucson - 10:05 p.m. ET
San Diego at Stockton - 10:30 p.m. ET