4/5 Recap: Armia paces Aces; Larsson scores in debut

Joel Armia scored a goal and an assist Friday to earn the game’s number two star as Assat skated to a 4-1 win over JYP to take a commanding three-game lead in the SM-Liiga semifinal round. Armia’s post-season work has yielded three goals and six points through eight games for the Aces, who’ll go for the series sweep on Saturday and a berth in the league championship.

In AHL play, Johan Larsson notched a goal in his first game in an Amerks uniform and 16th of the 2012-13 season but Rochester was defeated by Lake Erie 3-1. Drew Schiestel and Fredonia, NY native Nick Bailen (first AHL game) drew assists on the goal, while David Leggio made 21 saves to slip to 35-22-1 on the year. The Amerks visit Adirondack on Friday sitting in seventh place in the Western Conference standings with eight games left to play.

In the OHL playoffs, Dan Catenacci recorded an assist as Owen Sound lost to
Plymouth 4-1. The Attack took a 1-0 lead into the third period, only to
surrender four unanswered goals to lose the Western Conference semifinal
opener. Catenacci’s helper gives him seven points (2+5) in seven
post-season tilts. Game two is Sunday in Plymouth.

Brady
Austin (+2) notched an assist as Belleville downed
Sudbury 6-3. The big, mobile defender has amassed four assists and a
plus-nine rating through the Bulls’ first seven playoff games.
Belleville leads the second round series 1-0 with game two taking place
Sunday.

Alex Lepkowski finished with a minus-one
rating as Barrie defeated Oshawa 4-1. The second-seeded Colts take a 2-0
lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal with game three set for
Sunday.

In the QMJHL, Mikhail Grigorenko (-3) saw his
six-game playoff point streak come to an end as Quebec opened the second
round of the QMJHL playoffs with a 6-1 loss to Rouyn-Noranda.
Grigorenko has piled up three goals and 12 points in six post-season
tilts. Game two is Sunday in Quebec.

Judd Peterson (-1)
was unable to connect as Cedar Rapids dropped a 2-1 overtime decision
to Chicago. The RoughRiders visit Waterloo on Friday.