Saturday's Morning Skate 11/15

On Monday, I made the trek to Rochester to see the Amerks host the Adirondack Flames.

There was plenty of action around the American Hockey League's (AHL) East Division last night, with all five teams playing - including two divisional match ups.

Last night, I was in Wilkes-Barre as the Penguins hosted the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Tonight, I'll be in Allentown, Pa. at the PPL Center as the Phantoms return home and kick off a five game home stand. Follow @TonyAndrock_TCG on Twitter for live in-game updates and stay tuned here for a post game recap after the final horn sounds.

I will also have some updates of tonight's Penguins game against Syracuse as well. Follow @H_P_Hockey for Penguins updates, news and information all season long!

East Division Standings (through 11/14's games)

1. Penguins (9-5-1-0) - 19 points
2. Hershey (7-6-1-0) - 15 points
3. Binghamton (5-7-2-0) - 12 points
4. Phantoms (5-6-1-0) - 11 points
5. Norfolk (5-8-0-0) - 10 points


Penguins - 3, Phantoms - 1

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (9-5-1-0) found themselves in a tied hockey game early in the third period, but found a way to get the win Friday - their fourth straight - defeating the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (5-6-1-0) by a score of 3-1.

Bryan Rust scored his team-leading 7th goal of the season and Dominik Uher added an empty net goal after Scott Wilson opened the scoring for the Penguins in the win. Coming off a nine-game absence with a lower body injury, Jeff Zatkoff stopped 21 of the 22 shots he faced to pick up his third win of the year.

For the Phantoms, a much better defensive effort tonight despite the loss. They limited the Penguins to 23 shots on goal, including a stretch of about 12 minutes in the 2nd period where they didn't allow a shot on goal. Brandon Manning tied the game with a laser of a shot 2:27 into the third, but one goal wasn't enough. Rob Zepp again was solid in net for the Phantoms, keeping them in the game and stopping 20 of 22 shots.

The Phantoms return home to kick off a lengthy five-game home stand tonight against Toronto, while the Penguins stay home at the Mohegan Sun Arena and host the Syracuse Crunch.

Syracuse - 5, Hershey - 1

The Bears took an early first period lead in Syracuse, but the Crunch rallied for five unanswered goals in a blowout win for the home team.

The Crunch had five different goal scorers, while Dalton Smith and Jerome Samson each recorded two assists. Rookie Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed an early goal but stood tall the rest of the way for the Crunch, stopping 21 of the 22 shots he faced in the win.

Kris Newbury continues to rack up the points for Hershey, as he opened the scoring with his 9th of the season, but the Bears were stopped in their tracks the rest of the way. Philipp Grubauer allowed four goals on 24 shots in the loss.  

Hershey has a rare Saturday night off, while Syracuse travels to Wilkes-Barre to take on the high-flying Penguins tonight at 7:05 p.m. ET.

Binghamton - 5, Norfolk - 2

In Norfolk, the Admirals saw a 2-1 lead evaporate in the the second half of the game in a loss to division rival Binghamton.

Max McCormick scored his first and second goals as a pro and added an assist in the win for the BSens, while Daniel New, Alex Guptill and Jean-Gabriel Pageau all tallied a goal for the BSens. Scott Greenham stopped 35 of 37 shots, including all 25 he faced in the 2nd and 3rd periods, to pick up the win.

The Admirals got tallies from David Pacan and Louis LeBlanc, but were unable to get one past Greenham in the final 40 minutes. Igor Bobkov stopped 26 of the 30 shots he faced in the loss.

The two teams rematch at The Scope Arena tonight at 7:15 p.m. ET.

Other Eastern Conference Scores

Bridgeport - 6, Hartford - 1
Albany - 4, Portland - 0
Springfield - 4, Providence - 3
Manchester - 5, Worcester - 2

Saturday's Eastern Conference Schedule

Hartford @ Bridgeport, 7:00 p.m. ET
Providence @ Manchester, 7:00 p.m. ET
Albany @ Portland, 7:00 p.m. ET
Springfield @ Worcester, 7:00 p.m. ET
Toronto @ Lehigh Valley, 7:05 p.m. ET
Syracuse @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 7:05 p.m. ET
Binghamton @ Norfolk, 7:15 p.m. ET