Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
It has been a trying road for the Hartford Wolf Pack lately, but they have a chance to hit a high note tonight.
The Wolf Pack have just one win in their last 14 games (1-10-1-2) heading into a home date with the Springfield Thunderbirds this evening. But a regulation win over their rivals would secure a second consecutive berth in the Calder Cup Playoffs for Hartford, which currently sits fifth in the Atlantic Division. The Pack are three points ahead of the sixth-place Lehigh Valley Phantoms, who are in Hershey tonight.
Springfield, meanwhile, desperately needs points. With the top six teams in the Atlantic Division able to qualify for the postseason, the seventh-place Thunderbirds are four points behind the Phantoms. Springfield is home Saturday against Charlotte before Providence goes into MassMutual Center on Sunday afternoon to conclude the Thunderbirds’ three-in-three weekend.
Hartford will be tasked with slowing down a dangerous Springfield offense that ranks 11th in the AHL at 3.13 goals per game. With a league-leading 40 goals this season, Thunderbirds forward Adam Gaudette is the first Springfield player to reach that mark since Mike Tomlak (44 goals) and Yvon Corriveau (42) did so for the 1993-94 Indians.
Springfield has won five of eight meetings from Hartford this season, most recently a 6-2 win at the XL Center on Mar. 29.
Over in the North Division, playoff hopes continue to be on the line for the Belleville Senators, who visit Rochester tonight and Saturday.
Belleville brings a four-game winning streak into tonight’s game, and is fresh off a huge 3-2 overtime win at Toronto on Wednesday. In that game, the Senators battled back from a 2-0 deficit, as Wyatt Bongiovanni, a late-season acquisition from Manitoba, tied the game in the third period on the power play before winning the game 1:56 into overtime.
The win lifted Belleville into fifth place in the North Division, one point ahead of Laval. The top five teams in the division will qualify for the Calder Cup postseason.
The Sens have had success at the Blue Cross Arena, where they are 13-5-1-0 all-time in the regular season, but will encounter an Amerks club that has hit its stride down the stretch. Rochester has points in each of its last eight outings (7-0-0-1), and is 6-0-0-1 in its last seven at home.
The Amerks are one point away from clinching a playoff spot, and also one point behind co-leaders Syracuse and Cleveland for first place in the North.
Other big North Division battles this weekend include Toronto visiting Syracuse tonight and Saturday, and Cleveland hosting Laval on Saturday evening following the Monsters’ 6-4 win over the Rocket last night.
The Central Division-leading Milwaukee Admirals hit the road to face the Rockford IceHogs in the AHLTV Free Game of the Week on Saturday (8 ET/7 CT), the opener of a two-game weekend visit to BMO Center.
Third in the Central Division, the IceHogs have won 16 of their past 19 contests, and are 5-1-2-1 against the Admirals this season, including 3-0-1-0 at home. Netminder Jaxson Stauber has won 11 straight decisions for Rockford.
The IceHogs have closed to within three points of second-place Grand Rapids in the Central, and with it home-ice advantage in a potential division semifinal series.
The Admirals are trying to right themselves as they get ready for the Calder Cup Playoffs. Since winning 19 consecutive games, the second-longest such streak in league history, Milwaukee is just 7-11-0-1, most recently dropping a 3-1 decision in Texas on Sunday.
The Ads host Chicago tonight before the two games in Rockford conclude their weekend.
An AHLTV account is required to watch the AHLTV Free Games of the Week, but no subscription is needed. Visit AHLTV.com for details.
TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams has been on the American Hockey League beat for nearly two decades for outlets including NHL.com, Sportsnet, TSN, The Hockey News, SiriusXM NHL Network Radio and SLAM! Sports, and was most recently the co-host of The Hockey News On The ‘A’ podcast. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.