Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Options Author
Consider the race to the Calder Cup Playoffs like a climate forecast.
The additional out you might be, the tougher accuracy turns into for forecasters. Extra variables, much less certainty.
However with one month to go now within the AHL common season, the forecast is starting to come back into a lot better focus.
The North Division, the place 5 groups will qualify for the postseason, has a playoff battle on its fingers among the many Belleville Senators, Cleveland Monsters and Syracuse Crunch.
Three groups combating for 2 Calder Cup Playoff spots. Two factors separating fourth place from sixth. And the seventh-place group, the Utica Comets, nonetheless lingering within the background.
Amid the sometimes hectic tempo of a March schedule has been a slight break for all three groups. They’ve all been off since final Saturday earlier than returning to motion tonight, when the dash to the top of the common season begins in earnest.
Let’s break down the place these groups stand going into this weekend.
SYRACUSE (27-19-8-4) – 66 factors, fourth place; 14 video games remaining (7 residence/7 away)
The Crunch get the sting for fourth place on a tiebreaker, with 22 regulation wins to Cleveland’s 19.
Their present four-game profitable streak matches their longest this season, and they’re 9-4-2-0 for the reason that All-Star break. They go to Lehigh Valley tonight earlier than a house match-up with Rochester on Saturday.
Variables to think about: The Crunch have gone 4-5-1-0 towards Utica up to now, and the groups nonetheless have 4 conferences to go together with a season-ending home-and-home sequence April 18-19. If Utica could make this a four-team race, that match-up would add much more spice to the groups’ rivalry.
The Crunch sat twenty ninth within the AHL in scoring earlier than netting 17 targets in back-to-back wins over Springfield final weekend, a group file. Conor Sheary broke unfastened with 5 factors (three targets, two assists) whereas Logan Brown had a hat trick in Friday’s 9-4 victory and scored once more in Saturday’s 8-3 win.
Syracuse has misplaced a league-high 12 video games past regulation this season. Which means lots of factors have been left on the desk. If the Crunch offense has woke up, that might massively shift this race.
Video games remaining: Belleville (1), Hershey (1), Laval (1), Lehigh Valley (2), Rochester (3), Toronto (2), Utica (4).
CLEVELAND (28-20-5-5) – 66 factors, fifth place; 14 video games remaining (6 residence/8 away)
Typically the schedule toughens up on the most inopportune instances.
For the Monsters, that has been three consecutive weekends – six straight video games – towards division leaders. They had been swept at residence by Hershey, then dropped two video games in Texas. Tonight, they open a two-game set in Laval, the beginning of a four-game, six-day street swing that takes them to Belleville on Sunday and Wednesday.
However the AHL is about studying to deal with stress, and, properly, the Monsters are getting loads of that. Laval’s Place Bell and its loud, rambunctious followers make for a tough atmosphere, and the Rocket have been notably dominant with the AHL’s second-best residence file this season (21-7-1-1).
Variables to think about: Jet Greaves has been forwards and backwards between Cleveland and Columbus, incomes a begin towards New Jersey earlier this week. He has proven he can deal with high-level depth, having taken the Monsters to inside one recreation of the Calder Cup Finals final June.
The Blue Jackets are three factors out of a playoff spot within the NHL, so the Monsters can’t essentially rely on getting roster assist. However rookie defenseman Denton Mateychuk is on the market for project to the AHL; Mateychuk has been a daily on the Columbus blue line since his recall from Cleveland in December.
Cleveland’s remaining power of schedule (.622) is the hardest within the league, they usually end up with a four-game street journey.
Video games remaining: Belleville (2), Grand Rapids (1), Laval (2), Lehigh Valley (1), Rochester (1), Texas (2), Toronto (2), Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (3).
BELLEVILLE (28-21-4-4) – 64 factors, sixth place; 15 video games remaining (9 residence/6 away)
Belleville has cast a gritty, hard-nosed popularity, and a well-deserved one at that.
They took their battle for a playoff spot all the way down to the ultimate weekend at residence final season, knocking off Laval in an emotional win at CAA Enviornment. They then eradicated Toronto in a first-round Battle of Ontario sequence earlier than giving Cleveland an excellent battle within the division semifinals. Head coach David Bell’s groups can deal with late-season hockey.
The Senators are 8-0-1-0 of their final 9 at residence, and they’ll kick off a seven-game homestand on Sunday.
Variables to think about: Head-to-head play is probably the most environment friendly methodology of taking management of the standings. Belleville has that edge within the ultimate month with 12 video games remaining towards North Division opponents, together with two conferences with Cleveland and one with Syracuse.
After instability in internet created by accidents and recollects earlier, the Sens have settled into a pleasant sample with prospect Leevi Meriläinen and the skilled Malcolm Subban. Meriläinen has additionally made an impression in Ottawa, going 8-3-1 with a 1.99 GAA, a .925 save proportion and three shutouts in 12 NHL appearances this season.
The long term of residence video games will result in a dicey end, because the Senators play 5 straight street contests from Apr. 9 to Apr. 18. In addition they end their schedule with three straight video games towards Laval.
Video games remaining: Cleveland (2), Laval (3), Lehigh Valley (1), Windfall (1), Rochester (3), Springfield (1), Syracuse (1), Toronto (3).
On the American Hockey League beat for 20 years, TheAHL.com options author Patrick Williams additionally at the moment covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a daily contributor on SiriusXM NHL Community Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his excellent protection of the league in 2016.
