East Notes: Perfect tie atop the East

 Also see… West Notes

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Twenty-year-old Eric Wellwood’s first pro goal proved to be the game-winner in Adirondack’s 3-2 win over Syracuse on Friday… Wellwood, coming off a 31-goal and 68-point season for Windsor (OHL), added a goal and an assist on Saturday vs. Albany… Patrick Maroon, who dipped to 11 goals last season after scoring 23 as a rookie, has netted a goal in four of Adirondack’s first six games to begin the year (4-2-6)… Goaltender Johan Backlund has totaled 161 saves though his first five appearances, an average of 32.2 stops per contest… The Phantoms host Charlotte on Friday before visiting Hershey on both Saturday and Sunday.
 
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Albany dropped a 5-3 decision to Adirondack in its season opener on Oct. 9 but has reeled off three straight victories since… The Devils have recorded all three types of win thus far – shootout over Hartford on Friday, overtime at Adirondack on Saturday, and in regulation vs. Charlotte on Wednesday… This marks the first time in five years that the Devils franchise has started a season as strongly as 3-1-0-0… Goaltender Jeff Frazee surrendered five goals on 31 shots in Albany’s season-opening loss but has stopped 43 of 44 shots (.977)… Stephen Gionta has a point in three of his first four games this year (1-3-4)… Albany hosts Norfolk on Saturday in its only game of the weekend.
 
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Four-time AHL All-Star Corey Locke has recorded a point in each of his first five games in a Binghamton uniform (1-5-6), and Locke is tied with defenseman Andre Benoit (0-6-6) for the club lead in scoring… Rookie Bobby Butler began his AHL career on a four-game scoring streak (3-2-5) before being held without a point in the Sens’ 3-1 win at Toronto on Sunday… Defenseman Derek Smith has surpassed Jan Platil on the B-Sens’ all-time games played list; Smith now ranks eighth overall with 206 games… Binghamton hits the road this weekend for games in Hartford on Friday and Wilkes-Barre on Saturday.
 
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Bridgeport had scored exactly one goal in three straight games – all losses – before bouncing back with a 4-1 win over Atlantic Division-leading Portland on Sunday, which handed the Pirates their first loss of the season… Jesse Joensuu snapped a four-game season-opening scoring drought with a goal and an assist… Rookie Rhett Rakhshani now has a goal in back-to-back contests, including the game-winner on Sunday… Rookie goaltender Kevin Poulin stopped 31 of 32 shots against Portland to earn his first pro win… The Sound Tigers visit Manchester and Portland this weekend.
 
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Charlotte is currently on a four-game losing skid and has won just one of their first six AHL contests (1-5-0-0), a 4-1 triumph at Springfield on Oct. 10… The Checkers have scored the first goal in three of their six games but are 0-3-0-0 in those three contests… Jerome Samson’s four-game goal-scoring streak (4-0-4) came to an end in Wednesday’s 2-1 loss at Albany… Jon Matsumoto started the year with a goal in back-to-back games but has been held without a tally in four outings since… Charlotte drew 12,512 fans to its home opener vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Friday, the largest crowd to ever watch a hockey game in the city… The Checkers continue a five-game road trip with stops in Adirondack and Manchester this weekend.
 
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Hartford suffered its most lopsided loss in the early going on Wednesday, a 5-1 setback to Norfolk after getting out to a 1-0 lead… That defeat ended the Wolf Pack’s brief three-game points streak (2-0-0-1)… All three games of that points streak were played on the road; Hartford finished just 14-20-3-3 in road contests a season ago… Defenseman Wade Redden’s season-opening five-game scoring streak (1-5-6) ended in the loss to the Admirals… Kris Newbury posted the Wolf Pack’s first three-assist game of the season in Sunday’s 3-0 win at Providence; Newbury paces Hartford with eight points, all assists… The Wolf Pack host East Division foes Binghamton and Syracuse this weekend.
 
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Hershey has been idle since dropping a 3-2 decision in Rochester on Saturday, one night after taking a 7-1 victory at Binghamton… The Bears’ two leading scorers – Keith Aucoin (3-6-9) and Andrew Gordon (3-4-7) – have each registered a point in four straight games to begin the season… Brian Willsie shows six points (2-4-6) in his last two games after going scoreless in his first two of the campaign… Kyle Greentree’s three-game scoring run (2-2-4) ended on Saturday… Hershey’s power play ranks third in the AHL at 28.6 percent (6-for-21)… The Bears visit Wilkes-Barre on Friday before hosting Adirondack twice to close the weekend.
 
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Manchester suffered its first shootout loss of the season on Tuesday, a nine-round marathon at Portland… Second-year Dwight King has begun the season with a goal in four of his first five games (4-1-5); as a rookie in 2009-10, King totaled 10 goals in 52 AHL contests (10-16-26)… Rookie forward Brandon Kozun shows a point in three of his last four games (3-1-4), as does returnee Bud Holloway (0-3-3… The Monarchs and their opponents have combined for 14 goals in the first two periods of games but for 15 in the third period alone thus far… Manchester hosts Bridgeport and Charlotte this weekend, with a Saturday visit to Springfield in between.
 
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Norfolk is the AHL’s hottest team out of the gate, jumping to a 4-0-0-0 start and outscoring opponents 23-7 in those four contests for a league-best average of 5.75 goals per game… The Admirals have also allowed a league-low average of 1.75 goals per tilt… New goaltender Cedrick Desjardins has stopped 53 of 54 shots (.981) through two appearances, including a 29-save shutout of Worcester in his Norfolk debut on Friday…James Wright has a point in all four games thus far (1-5-6), and his six points are tied with Johan Harju (2-4-6) for second on the team behind Marc-Antoine Pouliot’s seven (1-6-7)… The Admirals visit Syracuse, Albany, and Worcester this weekend to wrap up a four-game road trip.
 
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Portland is on a five-game home winning streak to start the season and checks in a 5-1-0-0 overall, good for first place in the Atlantic Division… The Pirates didn’t collect their fifth win last year until game number 13, a 5-0 win over Hershey on Nov. 6, 2009… Luke Adam leads all AHL rookies with five goals and 10 points, the latter of which is tied for second in the entire league… Adam already has a pair of four-point efforts to his credit and brings a three-game goal-scoring run (3-3-6) into the weekend… Mark Mancari is scoreless in back-to-back games since his four-game goal-scoring streak (5-5-10) ended… Portland visits Springfield on Friday and hosts Bridgeport on Saturday.
 
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Providence is currently on a three-game winless skid (1-3-0-1) and is just 1-3-0-1 overall thus far… The Bruins scored six times in their lone victory, a 6-5 decision at Springfield on Oct. 9, but have totaled just four goals in their four other contests… Rookie Maxime Sauve (3-1-4) and returnee Kirk MacDonald (2-0-2) are the only skaters with more than one goal thus far; Sauve is tied with rookie defenseman Steven Kampfer (1-3-4) for the team scoring lead… Providence is one of three AHL teams (Binghamton, Springfield) to have already used three goaltenders – Michael Hutchisnon, Nolan Schaefer, and Matt Dalton… The B’s visit Worcester on Saturday for their lone game of the weekend.
 
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A season after finishing 11-21-6-2 on the road, Springfield is already 3-1-0-0 away from the MassMutual Center in 2009-10… The Falcons were 0-8-2-0 in their previous 10 visits to the Dunkin’ Donuts Center before beginning with two straight wins there this season, and Sunday’s 3-1 win at Manchester snapped an 0-8-0-0 drought at the Verizon Wireless Arena… Rookie defenseman Cody Goloubef’s first pro goal on Sunday turned out to be the game-winner… Rookie forward Matt Calvert shows a point in four of his first six pro games (2-2-4)… Goaltender Dan Taylor has surrendered just two goals in his two wins so far but seven goals in his two losses.
 
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Syracuse and its opponents have combined for only 16 goals in four games this season, by far the lowest total in the AHL… The Crunch earned their first victory of the season on Saturday at Binghamton, a 2-1 final… Nicolas Deschamps recorded his first pro goal in the victory, and Nick Bonino’s assist on the play marked his first pro point… Rookie Brandon McMillan (2-0-2) is the only member of the Crunch with more than one goal thus far, and his two points are good for a five-way tie for most on the team… Syracuse hosts Norfolk on Friday before hitting the road for a game in Hartford on Saturday.
 
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Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is tied for first place in the East Division with a 4-0-0-0 start, and all four victories have been by either a one- or two-goal margin… Second-year pro Joe Vitale has notched two goals in the early going (2-1-3), and both have been game-winning tallies… Vitale’s only other game-winner came in last regular season’s final game vs. Binghamton… In his two starts, John Curry has surrendered four first-period goals on 14 shots (.714) but has not allowed a goal on 33 shots faced in the second and third periods… Overall, the Pens have surrendered 2.25 goals per contest, tied for second-fewest in the AHL… Wilkes-Barre hosts division rivals Hershey and Binghamton this season.
 
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After starting 2010-11 with four straight road contests, Worcester becomes the last AHL team to play its home opener on Saturday when it hosts Providence at the DCU Center… The Sharks went 1-2-0-1 in the four road outings but are coming off a tough two-game visit to Norfolk in which they suffered two losses and were outscored 11-2… Rookie James Marcou and second-year pro Benn Ferriero recorded the Sharks’ only goals in Virginia… Brandon Mashinter had three points (2-1-3) and a plus-1 rating in Worcester’s first two games but went scoreless with a minus-3 on the Norfolk trip… The Sharks have a home-ice rematch with the Admirals set for Sunday.