Keith Aucoin recorded a goal and four assists and Ryan Bayda scored two goals and two assists Albany defeated the Syracuse Crunch, 8-6, at the Times Union Center on Wednesday night.
With the win, combined with a Bridgeport loss, the River Rats jump back into a tie for the fourth and final playoff position in the East Division with a record of 33-31-3-3 and 72 points.
Aucoin’s five-point night gives him 87 points in 56 games this season, good for fourth in the AHL scoring race. Bayda now has 15 points (8g, 7a) in his last nine games for Albany, which snapped a four-game winless streak.
Matt Murley also had a pair of goals and added an assist while Shane Willis, Cody McCormick and Tim Conboy rounded out the scoring for the River Rats.
Joakim Lindstrom led the Crunch with a four-point night of his own, scoring two goals and two assists. Jeff Szwez added a goal and two assists and Zenon Konpoka was credited with three assists for Syracuse, which had its five-game winning streak snapped with the loss.
LOWELL 4, SPRINGFIELD 2
Frank Doyle stopped 25 of 27 shots to earn his 19th win of the season and lead the Lowell Devils to a 4-2 win over the Springfield Falcons by a score of 4-2 at the MassMutual Center.
Ryan Murphy, Grant Marshall, Stephen Gionta and Rod Pelley each scored for the Devils, who moved into a tie with Worcester for fourth place in the Atlantic Division.
Lowell improved to 6-1-0-4 in its last 11 games with the victory.
Kyle Wanvig provided both goals in the loss for Springfield.
WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 8, BINGHAMTON 1
Defenseman and captain Micki DuPont scored two goals and added an assist to lead the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to an 8-1 rout over the visiting Binghamton Senators.
Kyle Brodziak also recorded three points with a goal and two helpers as 14 players registered at least one point in the win for the Penguins.
Tyler Spurgeon, Stephen Dixon and Robert Nilsson each had a goal and an assist for Wilkes-Barre, which has won five of its last six games.
Nolan Schaefer stopped 16 of 17 shots to improve his record to 8-2-0 with the Penguins.
Ryan Vesce scored the lone goal for the B-Sens.
NORFOLK 6, PHILADELPHIA 2
Martin St. Pierre scored a goal and two assists to lead the Admirals to a 6-2 win over the visiting Philadelphia Phantoms.
With the win, Norfolk improves its record to 47-18-6-1 and at 101 points, jumps back into first place in the East Division. It also marks the first time in franchise history Norfolk has reached the 100-point mark in a season.
Pierre Parenteau recorded three assists on the night to extend his scoring streak to 10 games with 17 points (4g, 13a).
Corey Crawford stopped 18 of 20 shots for the Admirals to earn his league-leading 35th win of the year.
Dustin Byfuglien tallied a goal and an assist and teammates Troy Brouwer, Kris Versteeg, Mike Jarmuth and Jake Dowell, who scored his first goal as a pro, provided the other goals for Norfolk.
Boyd Kane had a goal and an assist in the loss for the Phantoms.
GRAND RAPIDS 3, MILWAUKEE 2 (SO)
The Grand Rapids Griffins ended their six-game winless skid with a 3-2 shootout win over the visiting Milwaukee Admirals.
Coming in relief of Jimmy Howard after the first period, Stefan Liv made 19 saves on 20 shots and stopped all three Admirals in the shootout for the Griffins, who have now participated in five games past regulation in their last seven contests.
Eric Himelfarb and Jeff Campbell each tallied in regulation, while all three Grand Rapids players scored in the shootout to earn the victory.
Kim Staal and Sheldon Brookbank scored in a losing effort for the Admirals, who set an AHL record with their 27th overtime game of the season.
PORTLAND 3, MANCHESTER 0
David McKee earned his second win in as many AHL starts, making 17 saves as Portland shut out Manchester, 3-0, at the Verizon Wireless Arena.
Defenseman Sean Blanchard scored a pair of goals and Joe Motzko also tallied for the Pirates, who won their second straight road game.
The win snaps the Monarchs’ three-game win streak and moves the Pirates to within five points of a playoff spot in the Atlantic Division.
TORONTO 5, ROCHESTER 4
The Toronto Marlies won their third straight game, a 5-4 victory over the Rochester Americans at the Blue Cross Arena.
Colin Murphy tallied a pair of goals and John Mitchell and David Cloutier each had a goal and an assist for Toronto, which has a 6-2-0-0 mark since Mar. 11.
Justin Pogge stopped 23 of 27 shots to earn his 16th win of the year and fourth victory in his last five starts.
Brett Engelhardt rounded out the scoring for the Marlies to extend his scoring streak to three games (2g, 4a).
Drew Larman and Mark Mancari each had a goal and an assist in the loss for the Amerks.
CHICAGO 5, MANITOBA 2
The Chicago Wolves tallied three unanswered goals to break a 2-2 tie with Manitoba and defeat the Moose by a score of 5-2 at Allstate Arena.
Jason Krog tallied a pair of goals to extend his scoring streak to 10 games (4g, 12a) and Colin Stuart and Darren Haydar each recorded a goal and an assist for Chicago, which opened up a three-point lead over Omaha atop the West Division.
Fred Brathwaite ended a two-game skid and secured his 21st victory of the year by stopping 26 of 28 shots on the night.
Nathan Smith scored both goals for the Moose in a losing effort.
HARTFORD 7, BRIDGEPORT 2
Rookies Alex Bourret, Lauri Korpikoski and Corey Potter each recorded three points as Hartford rolled to a 7-2 win over Bridgeport in a special Wednesday school-day matinee at the Hartford Civic Center.
Potter had a goal and two assists during the Wolf Pack’s three-goal first period, and Bourret scored twice in a three-goal second for Hartford, which won its third game in a row.
The Pack scored six times on 30 shots off Wade Dubielewicz, who got the call for the 11:00 a.m. start after playing Tuesday night on Long Island for the parent New York Islanders. Billy Thompson mopped up and made 12 saves in the final stanza for the Sound Tigers.
Al Montoya stopped 18 of 19 shots in two periods of work to improve his record to 23-15-0 on the season for Hartford, winner of seven straight meetings between the in-state rivals.
Jeff Tambellini, who also played for the Islanders on Tuesday, scored his 29th and 30th goals of the year for Bridgeport.
The teams wrap up the home-and-home series Friday night at the Arena at Harbor Yard.
