AHL WEEKEND PREVIEW: All-Star Time!

Friday nights in the AHL mean the start of a busy weekend. EP Rinkside has this look around the 31-team league to set you up for this weekend’s slate.

LATE ADDITIONS
More replacements are on their way to the 2019 Lexus AHL All-Star Classic presented by MGM this weekend.

Hosted by the Springfield Thunderbirds, the two-day event begins Sunday with the skills competition. A 3-on-3 tournament among the AHL’s four divisions goes on Monday night.

The AHL announced Friday that Rochester Americans blueliner Brendan Guhle will head to the event, replacing teammate Zach Redmond. The 21-year-old second-year pro is 4-15-19 in 37 games for the Amerks. Rochester’s Lawrence Pilut is also out of the event.

Tucson Roadrunners forward Michael Bunting (11-16-27) will go in place of teammate Conor Garland for the Pacific Division entry. San Diego Gulls netminder Kevin Boyle will also head to Springfield. Teammate Troy Terry will not go nor will Colorado Eagles goaltender Pavel Francouz. Boyle, 26, is 16-6-1 | 2.84 | .909 through 26 appearances. Th Eagles announced that Francouz is injured and recalled Joe Cannata from the Utah Grizzlies, their ECHL affiliate. Elsewhere in the Pacific Division, Bakersfield Condors rookie Cooper Marody will go to Springfield. He is 9-23-32 through 30 games for the Condors. His seven-game point streak ended this past Wednesday, though the Condors blew out visiting Colorado, 7-2.

Providence Bruins captain Jordan Szwarz will go in place of teammate Ryan Fitzgerald, who has been out of the line-up. Szwarz, 27, has a team-leading 14 goals in 36 games for the P-Bruins.

Belleville Senators defenseman Christian Wolanin will also be in Springfield. One Cleveland Monsters veteran forward will go in place of another, with Nathan Gerbe substituting for Zac Dalpe.

Both nights of action (Sunday and Monday nights at 7 p.m. ET) are available across a variety of platforms for fans. Viewers in the United States can watch via the NHL Network. Sportsnet ONE and Sportsnet NOW will handle the event across Canada. Fans can tune in online for free both nights via AHLTV (theahl.com/AHLTV). The AHL Hall of Fame Induction will also be hosted on AHLTV on Monday morning (11 a.m. ET). On Monday night, there will be a radio broadcast at bit.ly/WHYN560AM.

AROUND THE AHL
Zach Redmond continued his brilliant season this past Wednesday to take the Amerks past the visiting Binghamton Devils, 7-5. Redmond’s 19th goal established a new single-season franchise record. Back in 1972-73, Rick Tagnutti posted 18 goals. The 30-year-old Redmond has 19-20-39 in 41 games for the Amerks and those 19 goals lead all AHL defensemen. Redmond, who has skated in 133 NHL regular-season games, put up 10 goals in his opening 14 games this season, also setting a new franchise mark.

Cory Schneider is on loan to Binghamton from the New Jersey Devils on a conditioning assignment. Joining him from New Jersey is Mackenzie Blackwood. Injury has limited the 32-year-old Schneider to nine games with New Jersey this season. He stopped 21 of 23 shots in a 2-1 road loss at the Syracuse Crunch this past Monday. He went back in net in Rochester in that 7-5 loss, allowing six goals on 29 shots. Binghamton hosts the Hartford Wolf Pack on Friday night followed by the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins coming into town on Saturday. Binghamton is six points out of a playoff spot with 29 games to go.

A 4-0-0-1 burst has pushed the Laval Rocket into the thick of North Division contention, where they are three points behind the fourth-place Toronto Marlies. The Rocket have an all-Pennsylvania weekend, with a stop Friday against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms followed by a trip into Hershey against the Bears. They stay on the road next weekend for a pair of games in Toronto.

Manitoba Moose goaltender Eric Comrie will continue to try to carry the team into a Central Division playoff spot. The Winnipeg Jets prospect has seen 30 or more shots in each of his past 11 starts (and 23 of 29 starts this season). The Moose own an eight-game point streak (6-0-1-1) going into a Central Division battle against the Rockford IceHogs on Friday that continues a six-game road trip. The Moose continue on Saturday afternoon with a trip into Milwaukee to see the Admirals. Milwaukee starts the weekend with a seven-point lead on Manitoba for fourth place in the Central Division. The Moose do not play in Winnipeg again until February 8th when a two-game set featuring the Texas Stars, another team that the Moose are chasing, begins.

Having won six consecutive games, the Bakersfield Condors go on the road for two games in Tucson against the Roadrunners. Depending on other results around the AHL, the Condors could finish the weekend in second place in the Pacific Division with a clean sweep of Tucson. The Roadrunners have a win streak at three games after taking back-to-back wins against Texas this week. Tucson netminder Adin Hill has back-to-back shutouts since returning from the Arizona Coyotes.

Condors rookie forward Tyler Benson is 1-9-10 in his past five games. Teammate Josh Currie will take a six-game point streak (8-3-11) into Tucson.

The Bridgeport Sound Tigers are on a 2-7-0-1 slide that has closed their Atlantic Division second-place lead to one point ahead of Lehigh Valley. The Sound Tigers are off Friday before hosting the Phantoms on Saturday night.

Up and down recently, the Eagles could use a strong weekend when they visit the Ontario Reign for two games. They are five points out of a playoff spot. Ontario is last in the AHL with just 30 points through 37 games.

Hershey trails fourth-place Springfield Thunderbirds by seven points in the Atlantic Division, but the Bears are on a 5-0-0-1 push going into a home date with Laval on Saturday.

Charlotte Checkers first-year forward Morgan Geekie has found the net 13 times on only 45 shots, giving him a league-best 28.9 shooting percentage.

The San Antonio Rampage will put their 11-game home win streak, the AHL’s longest this season, up against the hot San Diego Gulls on Friday night. That run at home is also a franchise record for the Rampage, who have not been defeated in San Antonio since November 25th. It has also helped to undo some of the damage from a 3-12-0-0 start to their season and nudge them to within six points of fourth-place Milwaukee in the Central Division. They host the Stockton Heat on Saturday to go into the break.

Stockton leading scorer Alan Quine is 7-8-15 in his past eight contests. Eight points off the Pacific Division pace, the Heat need a successful weekend in stops at Texas and San Antonio.

Springfield captain Paul Thompson’s four-goal performance this past Wednesday in a 7-4 win at Hartford put him into a second-place tie with 22 goals.

THIS WEEKEND
Friday – Charlotte at Providence: The league-leading Checkers are back on the road after a six-game homestand. They are coming off a sweep by the Marlies but still a nine-point grip on first place in the AHL. The P-Bruins, who are three points out of an Atlantic Division playoff spot, start the second half of their home schedule and will play 20 of their final 33 games in Providence.

Saturday – Toronto at Belleville: The AHL’s Battle of Ontario is a massive weekend for the Senators, who host the Marlies in back-to-back games at CAA Arena. It will be a tough test with the defending Calder Cup champion paying a visit to Belleville. Toronto has gone on a 7-2-1-0 run, taking an eight-point lead on Belleville for fourth place on Belleville. A clean sweep for the Marlies would put the Senators no fewer than nine points below the playoff line and surrendering games in hand to all but two teams in the North Division.

ON THE MOVE
Stockton received forward Andrew Mangiapane and defenseman Juuso Valimaki from the Calgary Flames. Mangiapane, 22, is 7-7-14 in 13 contests for the Heat. He also has dressed 13 times for the Flames, going 0-1-1. At 20 years old, Valimaki, a 2017 Calgary first-rounder taken 16th, is 1-1-2 in 22 appearances for the Calgary. This is his first trip to the AHL….Colorado added forwards Sheldon Dries and Dominic Toninato from the Colorado Avalanche, plus defenseman Ryan Graves. Dries has spent much of the season in the NHL, playing 29 games, though he has appeared in 10 AHL games for the Eagles (1-1-2). Toninato has gone 6-7-13 in 30 AHL contests. Graves is 2-6-8 in 29 AHL games….Forwards Joel Eriksson Ek and Luke Kunin were sent to the Iowa Wild by the Minnesota Wild….The St. Louis Blues assigned forwards Sam Blais, Jordan Kyrou, Mackenzie MacEachern, and Jordan Nolan to San Antonio. The four account for 23 of San Antonio’s 113 goals this season….Established NHL blueliner Karl Alzner returned to Laval from the Montreal Canadiens….Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Haydn Fleury returned to Charlotte, as did goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic….Belleville picked up Wolanin and forward Rudolfs Balcers from the Ottawa Senators….The Vegas Golden Knights and Chicago Wolves exchanged goaltenders this week. Oskar Dansk went from the Wolves to the Golden Knights while Max Lagacé went in the opposite direction. Dansk has played a team-leading 23 games for the Wolves with a 14-6-3 | 2.80 | .898 goaltending line. Second on the team with 18 games, Lagacé is 9-6-2 | 2.72 | .898. The Wolves have allowed 2.91 goals per game, tying them for seventh in the AHL. However, their 27.2 shots-against average per game is fourth-best overall. Zach Fucale remains with the Wolves to team with Lagacé….

Through Thursday, 77 AHL players have made their NHL debuts this season.