Bruins edge Wolves in battle of AHL’s top two teams


Friday’s AHL boxscores

PROVIDENCE 4, CHICAGO 3
Providence scored three third-period goals in a span of 2:13 to rally past Chicago, 4-3, at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center on Friday in a game that featured the AHL’s first and second-place teams. Pascal Pelletier netted a pair of goals and Matt Hendricks tallied the eventual game-winner for the league-leading Bruins (19-3-2-0), who won a season-high fifth straight game.

Steve MacIntyre gave the P-Bruins a 1-0 lead at 7:38 of the opening period, with the lone assist going to Wacey Rabbit.

Chicago defenseman Joel Kwiatkowski then lit the lamp at 16:06 of the first, and the Wolves took a 2-1 advantage courtesy of Jordan LaVallee at 4:29 of the third period.

Pelletier pulled Providence even at 8:59 and gave the Bruins a 3-2 lead at 10:29. Hendricks scored just 43 seconds later, extending the advantage to 4-2.

That goal would prove to be big, as Wolves second-year pro Nathan Oystrick scored with 35 seconds remaining to account for the final 4-3 score.

Bruins goaltender Andy Franck made 21 saves and has now won the first four starts of his AHL career.

The Wolves lost their third straight game but still lead the Western Conference at 17-5-1-0 on the season.


ROCKFORD 4, LAKE ERIE 3 (SO)
Martin St. Pierre scored twice in regulation, including the game-tying goal with 1:41 left, and went on to tally the decisive shootout goal as Rockford edged Lake Erie, 4-3, at the Quicken Loans Arena.

St. Pierre, the CCM/AHL Player of the Month for November, picked up his team-leading 10th and 11th goals of the season and added an assist for a three-point night.

Troy Brouwer netted the IceHogs’ other regulation goal, and netminder Corey Crawford earned the victory with 35 saves through regulation and overtime.

The Monsters jumped out to a 2-0 lead by the 3:19 mark of the first period on goals by Ray Macias and Eric Healey, and Chris Stewart scored on the power play in the third stanza.

Rockford has now gone to a shootout in each of its last four games. The IceHogs dropped the first two at Providence and Manchester before defeating Syracuse on Wednesday. Overall, Rockford is 4-0-0-2 in its last six games, pulling within two points of Chicago for the West Division lead.


TORONTO 5, ROCHESTER 2
Kris Newbury notched a four-point night (2-2-4) as visiting Toronto defeated Rochester, 5-2, at the Blue Cross Arena.

Newbury now has three goals and six points over his last two games and leads the Marlies with nine goals on the campaign (9-11-20).

Staffan Kronwall and rookie Jiri Tlusty each scored a goal in their first game back with the Marlies after lengthy stints with the parent Toronto Maple Leafs.

Anthony Stewart and Marek Zagrapan netted goals for the Americans.


GRAND RAPIDS 2, SYRACUSE 0
Jimmy Howard made 26 saves in net, posting a shutout for the second time in his last three starts, as Grand Rapids defeated Syracuse by a 2-0 final at the Van Andel Arena.

Howard now has a .971 save percentage over his last three games, all wins. He earned a 22-save shutout on Dec. 2 at Milwaukee and stopped 20 of 22 shots in a 3-2 win over Lake Erie on Wednesday prior to Friday’s outing.

Carl Corazzini and Mark Hartigan both posted a goal and an assist for Grand Rapids, as each player assisted on the other’s goal.

The three-game winning streak is a season high for the Griffins. They improved to 4-1-1-0 in their last six contests.


ALBANY 2, PORTLAND 0
Albany broke a scoreless deadlock with two third-period goals and prevailed over Portland by a 2-0 final at the Times Union Center.

Brandon Nolan and Keith Aucoin each tallied a goal for the River Rats, who snapped a brief two-game losing skid.

Goaltender Michael Leighton made 26 saves in net to earn the shutout. It marked his fifth blanking of the season and Albany’s seventh as a team. Both marks lead the league and are new River Rats franchise records.


HARTFORD 3, LOWELL 1
Hartford netted two goals just 1:21 apart late in the second period on its way to a 3-1 win over Lowell at the Hartford Civic Center.

Former first-round draft pick Hugh Jessiman scored at 18:37 of the second, and Nigel Dawes followed with the eventual game-winner on the power play at 19:58.

Mike Ouellette scored into an empty net, his first career AHL goal, to seal the victory late in the third period. Goaltender Al Montoya made 31 saves to help the Wolf Pack improve to 7-0-0-1 in their last eight games.

The Devils initially took a 1-0 lead on a second-period goal by Nicklas Bergfors.


MANCHESTER 4, WORCESTER 3 (SO)
Manchester prevailed in a shootout over Worcester, 4-3, in a back-and-forth game at the DCU Center.

The Monarchs had two separate one-goal leads in the contest, and Worcester had one of its own, but neither team could hold on for the regulation win.

Jeff Giuliano, Patrick Jarrett, and Brian Boyle scored for the Monarchs, with Boyle’s representing the tying goal at 14:37 of the third period.

Defenseman Peter Harrold netted the decisive shootout goal for the visitors, and rookie goaltender Daniel Taylor made 37 saves in his AHL debut to pick up the victory.

The Sharks received regulation goals from Lukas Kaspar, Derek Joslin, and Patrick Traverse, but they still fell to 1-5-0-2 in their last eight games.


NORFOLK 2, PHILADELPHIA 1
Blair Jones scored at 6:54 of the third period to lift visiting Norfolk to a 2-1 victory over Philadelphia at the Wachovia Spectrum.

Justin Keller also scored for the Admirals, and goaltender Karri Ramo picked up his first victory over the season with 39 saves.

Norfolk outshot the Phantoms 40-17 in the game and snapped a four-game winless skid (0-3-1-0).

Ryan Potulny scored the lone goal for Philadelphia, which fell for the third straight game and fifth time in its last seven outings (2-5-0-0).


HERSHEY 5, WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 2
Hershey continued its strong play of late with a 5-2 road win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at the Wachovia Arena.

Grant Potulny netted as pair of goals for the Bears. Andrew Gordon, Jason Morgan, and Scott Barney each tallied a goal and an assist.

Hershey goaltender Frederic Cassivi stopped 28 of 30 shots as his club moved to 9-1-0-1 in its last 11 games.

Tim Wallace and Chris Minard scored for the Penguins, who saw their three-game winning streak come to an end.


HAMILTON 5, BINGHAMTON 1
Hamilton got out to a 4-0 lead by the 6:15 mark of the third period and cruised to a 5-1 win over visiting Binghamton at the Copps Coliseum.
Corey Locke paced the Bulldogs’ offense with a goal and two assists on the evening.

Rookie winger Sergei Kostitsyn notched a goal and one helper for the Bulldogs, as did Janne Lahti and Duncan Milroy.

Goaltender Yann Danis improved to 4-5-1 on the campaign with 26 saves on 27 shots.

The Senators, who entered the night 5-0-1-1 in their last seven outings, received their lone goal from defenseman Matt Kinch.


BRIDGEPORT 7, SPRINGFIELD 2
Bridgeport erupted for four second-period goals and never looked back in defeating Springfield by a 7-2 count at the MassMutual Center.

Ryan Kinasewich scored twice for the Sound Tigers, and Sean Bentivoglio posted a goal and two assists.

Steve Regier added a goal and an assist, and Bridgeport also had goals by Frans Nielsen, Michael Haley, and Ben Walter.

Defensemen Matthew Spiller and Drew Fata were both plus-4 on the night despite being held scoreless, and goaltender Mike Morrison made 19 saves to secure the win.

Colin McDonald and T.J. Kemp netted goals for the Falcons.


QUAD CITY 3, PEORIA 2 (SO)
Krys’ Kolanos’ power play goal at 19:42 of the third period sent the game to overtime, and he netted the only goal Quad City would need in the shootout to take a 3-2 road win over Peoria at the Carver Arena.

Adam Cracknell also scored in the shootout for the Flames, and rookie goaltender Matt Keetley stopped all four Peoria attempts to secure the win. He made 21 saves through the game’s first 65 minutes.

The Rivermen took a 2-0 lead by the game’s mid-point on an unassisted goal by Nikolay Lemtyugov and a power play marker from Charles Linglet.

Grant Stevenson brought the Flames within a goal at 18:33 of the second period, setting the stage for Kolanos’ late heroics.


HOUSTON 2, MANITOBA 1 (SO)
Morten Madsen’s goal in the seventh round of the shootout lifted visiting Houston to a 2-1 victory over Manitoba at the MTS Centre.

The Aeros’ Danny Irmen scored in regulation, and Ryan Hamilton also netted a shootout goal, his coming in the first round.

Houston goaltender Nolan Schaefer made 28 saves in the first 65 minutes to pick up the win. His Manitoba counterpart, Drew MacIntyre, made an identical number of saves in the losing effort.

Michael Grabner scored the Moose’s lone regulation goal. Colby Genoway was successful in the shootout’s first round, but Schaefer denied each of the next six attempts by Manitoba.