AHL Eastern Conference Notebook

East Division

ALBANY RIVER RATS (Devils) -- Attempting to break out of the Eastern Conference basement, the River Rats have gone 3-3-0-0 since November 19. The biggest improvement for the club has been its play on the road. Albany has won its last four contests away from the Pepsi Arena and recorded a point in each of its last five. ... The River Rats, who have outscored opponents by a slim, 32-30 margin on the road, have notched all five of its shorthanded goals away from home, tops in the league. ... After giving up 10 goals in his first three appearances with the club, G Ari Ahonen has posted a 2.41 goals-against average and a save percentage of .914 since November 11. ... RW Aleksander Suglobov, who had a pair of assists in the River Rats' 3-2 win at the Providence Bruins November 30, was tied for fifth among all AHL rookies with 13 points (five goals, eight assists) through December 2.

BINGHAMTON SENATORS (Senators) -- Dropping three of their last four games, the Senators have slid into a tie for third place in the East Division with 26 standings points. The club has had trouble in close contests, losing five of its last six one-goal games. ... Binghamton, which was eighth in the league with 2.91 goals per game through December 2, has outscored its opponents by a 46-30 margin after the opening period. ... Leading scorer LW Denis Hamel has recorded just a pair of assists over his last six games. He was tied for fourth in the league in goals with 11 through December 2. ... RW Dennis Bonvie was third in the AHL with 99 penalty minutes through 22 games played. The 30-year-old has recorded nine or more penalty minutes in six contests this year.

BRIDGEPORT SOUND TIGERS (Islanders) -- Undefeated over their last 13 games, the Sound Tigers have rocketed up into second place in the conference, one standings point behind the Hershey Bears. The club has netted timely goals during that span, winning four of its five trips to overtime. The Sound Tigers have also won their last nine contests, outscoring opponents by a 34-16 margin. ... Special teams has played a key role in the team's recent hot streak. Bridgeport owned the top-ranked penalty-killing unit at 92.7 percent and was third on the power play at 18.5 through December 2. ... C Jeff Hamilton was leading the league in both goals (17) and game-winning markers (5) through December 2. Three of his five game-deciding tallies have come in the last four games. On December 1, the two-time Hobey Baker finalist from Yale University was named the AHL Player of the week and earned his first promotion to the NHL.

HERSHEY BEARS (Avalanche/Lightning) -- After winning three in a row November 19-22, the Bears have earned just one win in their last four games and were leading the division by one-standing point through December 2. ... Hershey has scored an average of 2.96 goals per game, good for the fourth in the league through December 2. When scoring two goals or less, the Bears have gone just 4-7-1. ... RW Sheldon Keefe, a second-round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 1999, produced five goals over the last five games through December 2. The 23-year-old recorded a hat trick in the third period of a 5-4 win over the Lowell Lock Monsters November 22 and netted his second game-winner a week later in a 2-1 win over the Norfolk Admirals. ... G Peter Budaj posted a .940 save percentage in five starts, going 3-1-1 over that stretch and matching a season high with 40 saves in a 3-3 tie vs. the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins November 30.

NORFOLK ADMIRALS (Blackhawks) -- The Admirals earned a standings point in four of their last five games (2-1-1-1), including three straight overtime games November 21-26. ... Despite a 1-2-0 record in his last three starts, G Steve Passmore has posted a .955 save percentage and a 1.33 goals-against average. On November 28, the 30-year-old Ontario native recorded his first shutout this season, stopping 29 in a win over the Hershey Bears. ... Rookie LW Matt Ellison, who led the Western Hockey League's Red Deer Rebels with 96 points in 2002-03, was tied for fourth among AHL rookies with 15 points through December 2. Ellison, who will celebrate his 20th birthday on December 8, had a goal and an assist in a 3-2 overtime victory against the Portland Pirates November 22 before duplicating those stats in a 4-4 tie vs the Philadelphia Phantoms November 26.

PHILADELPHIA PHANTOMS (Flyers) -- The Phantoms extended their unbeaten streak to seven games, posting five wins and a tie in six games since November 19. ... During his six-game point streak, RW Kirby Law has collected five goals and three assists and was tied for third in the AHL with 23 points through December 2. The veteran scored a goal in three straight games, including a two-goal performance in a 3-2 win over the Norfolk Admirals November 26 to cap the streak. ... D Dennis Seidenberg played a part in three consecutive game-winning goals. The second-year player scored the decisive marker in a 6-2 win over the Lowell Lock Monsters November 21, assisted on the go-ahead goal in a 5-4 win against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins November 22, and had two goals in a 3-2 victory against the Portland Pirates November 23. ... C Patrick Sharp and C Peter White have combined for 17 points in the last six games, including White's four-assist effort in the recent win over Lowell. Sharp and White were both tied for eighth in the league with 21 points apiece through December 2. White needs just one point to become the 20th player in AHL History to amass 700 career points.

WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON PENGUINS (Penguins) -- The Penguins have won just once in their last six games (1-4-1), losing four one-goal contests during that stretch. ... G Jean-Sebastien Aubin has gone winless in his last three starts (0-2-1), surrendering 11 goals and posting an .870 save percentage. ... Wilkes-Barre was winless in six straight road games and had posted a 3-6-2 record away from Wachovia Arena through December 2. ... C Shane Endicott snapped a personal six-game scoring drought with a goal in a 5-4 loss against the Philadelphia Phantoms November 22. The third-year pro added a pair of goals in a 3-3 tie vs. the Hershey Bears November 30 and had five goals and five assists through December 2. ... Leading scorer C Kris Beech had back-to-back, three-point efforts November 21-22, notching a pair of goals and an assist in each game.

Atlantic Division

HARTFORD WOLF PACK (Rangers) -- G Jason LaBarbera has posted a shutout in two of his last three games to lower his goals-against average to 1.76, tied for fourth-best in the league through December 2. The 23-year-old, who has gone 6-0-2 in his last eight decisions, stopped 26 shots to stone the Providence Bruins, 2-0, November 15 and made 29 saves to top the Houston Aeros, 4-0, November 29. ... The Wolf Pack have taken 147 more shots than their opponents this year, the biggest margin in the league. A circuit-low 24.4 shots allowed per game has been the difference. ... C Cory Larose provided three assists in the victory over the Aeros and supplied the lone goal in a 2-1 loss to the Bruins November 21. ... C Layne Ulmer put in both goals in the 2-0 triumph over Providence and led Hartford with a goal and two assists vs. Houston. The Saskatchewan native has potted four game-winning goals, one of four in the AHL to register that many. ... RW Jason MacDonald has scored a goal in three straight home games, helping the Wolf Pack build their league-best home record to 7-1-4-0. In 12 contests in the Hartford Civic Center, the club has outscored its opponents, 38-23, while producing 11 power-play goals and three shorthanded scores.

LOWELL LOCK MONSTERS (Flames/Hurricanes) -- After a four-game winless streak dropped the Lock Monsters to .500 (7-7-2-0), the squad accumulated seven standing points in five days, posting three wins and an overtime loss vs. four Eastern Conference rivals, November 26-30. RW Pavel Brendl notched three goals and two assists during the run while C Mike Zigomanis added a score and five helpers, recording at least a point in each affair. ... Brendl has led the highest-scoring offense in the league. In a 10-game stretch that saw Lowell average 3.5 goals per game, Brendl posted 14 points (seven goals, seven assists). LW Martin Sonnenberg managed 13 points (10 goals, three assists) in the same stretch, recording multiple points four times. The Alberta native, who had four tallies during Lowell's points streak, was fifth in the league with 11 goals through December 2. ... Following a six-game stretch in which he produced just two assists, C Brett Lysak scored in three straight games, November 22-28, getting credit for the game-winner in the final two.

MANCHESTER MONARCHS (Kings) -- C Yanick Lehoux had two goals, RW Scott Barney notched a marker and an assist and four other players notched a goal and an assist in a 7-0 rout of the Providence Bruins on November 29. The Monarchs scored four times in the first period and had all seven goals on the board by the 11:24 mark of the second. G Adam Hauser turned away all 20 shots he faced to earn his third shutout. The winning margin represented the largest in franchise history. ... RW Pavel Rosa was riding a six-game point streak (five goals, four assists) and was tied for the league lead with 26 points through December 2. Rosa, Barney (22), D Bryan Muir (19) and C Steve Kelly (19) were all among the top 20 scorers in the league while D Noah Clarke was second in scoring among rookies with 18 points. ... Barney is also holding a six-game point streak (four goals, seven assists) and was leading the league with a plus-12 rating. ... The Monarchs have recently thrived at home and struggled away from Verizon Wireless Arena. A recent 7-0-0-1 stretch has helped the team build a conference-high eight wins at home.

PORTLAND PIRATES (Capitals) -- The Pirates have lost five straight games, including two in overtime and four by one goal. During the slide, the club has been outscored in the first period, 10-2, and has not held a lead since its last win, a 2-1 overtime victory over the Norfolk Admirals November 21. Overall, Portland has produced just nine goals in the opening stanza, fewest in the league. ... In the win over the Admirals, LW Colin Forbes, who had both of the team's goals in a 3-2 loss to the Worcester IceCats November 29, scored 1:21 into overtime to improve the team's mark to 3-0-0-0 vs. Norfolk. C Trent Whitfield had a four-game goal streak (four goals, two assists) snapped in the game. ... On a recent five-game road trip, Portland managed just nine goals and has averaged 1.83 away from home for the season, leading to a league-worst 2-9-0-1 mark.

PROVIDENCE BRUINS (Bruins) -- The Bruins have been shut out three times and totaled just four goals over their last five road games (1-3-1). ... In a wild first period vs. the Portland Pirates on November 28, Providence scored four times in a span of 11:38 en route to a 4-3 victory. D Rich Brennan scored twice in less than three minutes and RW Martin Samuelsson and C Kris Vernarsky both had a goal and an assist in the period. ... C Andre Savage has posted six points (one goal, five assists) in his last six games. ... The club was last in the league with 23.55 shots per games through December 2 and has outshot its opponents only three times in 22 games. ... Providence has lost 78 man-games due to injury this year, compared with just seven at this point last year.

SPRINGFIELD FALCONS (Coyotes) -- G David LeNeveu, who set a Cornell University and ECAC record last year with nine shutouts, stopped all 30 shots he faced to earn his first professional shutout, a 1-0 win over the Wilkes-Barre Penguins November 29. The win broke a five-game losing streak for the Falcons, tied for the second-longest slide in the league this year. LW Mike Stutzel potted a power-play goal early in the third period to provide the offense. Four of Stutzel's five goals this season have come with a man advantage. ... Springfield was one of just five clubs to have allowed as many as four shorthanded goals while it remained one of four teams that have yet to score when down a man through December 2. ... LW Frantisek Lukes and C Martin Podlesak both recorded his first professional goal last week. Lukes notched a go-ahead goal in a 3-2, overtime loss to the Worcester IceCats on November 28. Podlesak, who has five points in his last six games, managed the only score in a 3-1 loss at home vs. the Lowell Lock Monsters two days later. The two rookies, both 21 and from the Czech Republic, were tied with D Mike Wilson with a plus-three rating, tops on the team. ... The Falcons have gone 7-2-0-1 in one-goal games.

WORCESTER ICECATS (Blues) -- The IceCats have won five of their last seven games, including three in a row, to climb into second place in the division with 25 standings points. ... LW Sergei Varlamov has collected six points in his last three games. In a 3-2 win against the Portland Pirates November 29, the Ukraine native scored a goal and assisted on two others, including the overtime, game-winner by C Jay McClement. ... RW Ernie Hartlieb collected two goals, including a game-winner, and three assists in a pair of road victories against the Utah Grizzlies November 20-22. ... Through December 2, Worcester has posted a 5-2-3 record and has averaged 3.2 goals per game on the road. At the Worcester Centrum, the IceCats were a game under .500 (5-6-2).

© 2003 SportsTicker Enterprises, LP