A young Florida Panthers prospect has been a brick wall in net for the club's American Hockey League farm team.

The AHL announced Oct. 26 that Rochester Americans goaltender Alexander Salak has been named the Reebok/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending Oct. 25. Salak made three starts in a 48-hour span over the weekend and won them all, stopping 88 of 91 shots for a 0.98 goals-against average and a .967 save percentage.

Salak started the weekend turning away 32 of 33 shots in a 2-1 victory over Albany on Friday. He followed that effort in a 22-save victory Saturday, as the Americans rallied for a 3-2 overtime victory in Syracuse. Salak's highlight of the weekend came Sunday, when he earned his first AHL shutout in a 3-0 win over the Crunch. He made 34 saves in the Syracuse rematch and was selected the No. 1 star in the game.

Heading into the Amerks' Oct. 30 game against Binghamton, Salak was 5-0-0 with a 1.60 goals-against average and .947 save percentage in six appearances. The 22-year-old rookie is in his first season of North American pro hockey after signing with the Panthers on May 29. A native of Strakonice, Czech Republic, Salak spent the previous two seasons playing with TPS Turku in Finland.

NOTES FROM AROUND THE AHL: After making his Wolves debut in a 1-0 shootout loss to Manitoba last Friday, Chris Chelios recorded two assists and a plus-4 rating in Saturday's 7-1 Chicago Wolves victory over Abbotsford. ... Chelios isn't the only former NHLer trying to make a comeback with the Wolves. Netminder Manny Legace is suiting up for Chicago as well after signing a professional tryout Oct. 12. ... The Washington Capitals assigned left wing Tomas Fleischmann to the Hershey Bears on a conditioning stint on Oct. 24. Fleischmann missed the start of the Capitals' season recovering from a blood clot in his leg but returned to practice with the team this week. The 25-year-old, in his fourth year in the NHL, had career highs in goals (19) and points (37) in 73 games for Washington last season. He's totaled 33 goals and 44 assists (77 points) in 191 career NHL games. ... The Columbus Blue Jackets acquired defenseman Michael Ratchuk from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for right winger Stefan Legein last week. Ratchuk has been assigned to Syracuse, while Legein has been assigned to the AHL's Adirondack Phantoms. ... The Manchester Monarchs boast the hottest goaltending tandem in the AHL early on in 2009-10. Jonathan Bernier, a first-round draft choice by the Los Angeles Kings (11th overall) in 2006, ranks fourth in the league with his 1.34 goals-against average and third with a .963 save percentage. Teammate Jeff Zatkoff, chosen two rounds later in 2006, is first in both categories (0.67 GAA, .978 save percentage), while winning two of his first three decisions of the season. Bernier registered his second consecutive shutout on Friday night, a 40-save effort in the Monarchs' 2-0 win over Bridgeport. Zatkoff followed  with 31 saves in a 2-0 whitewash of Providence on Saturday. The Monarchs have surrendered just one goal on 122 shots during their current four-game winning streak. ... Andrei Loktionov, formerly of the OHL's Windsor Spifires, leads all AHL rookies in scoring. The Monarchs forward, selected by the Kings in the fifth round (123rd overall) of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, has five goals and five assists, for 10 points in nine games.

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