East Notes: Three hat tricks to begin season

Also see: West Notes: Splits in Texas, Winnipeg

Andreas Nodl, a second-round draft pick in 2006 who split his rookie 2008-09 campaign between the AHL and the NHL’s Flyers, tallied the first goal in Adirondack Phantoms history at 9:09 of the second period on Saturday vs. Worcester… Patrick Maroon, who notched 23 goals as a rookie for the Philadelphia Phantoms last year, also scored in Adirondack’s 3-2 loss to the Sharks… Joonas Lehtivuori, Kevin Marshall, and goaltender Nic Riopel all made their pro debuts in the contest… The Phantoms host Springfield on Friday and visit Syracuse for their first road tilt of the campaign on Saturday.
 
Albany opened its season with a 6-3 loss to Manchester on Saturday, the first of four straight home games for the River Rats to kick off the campaign… Rats rookies Chris Terry and Drayson Bowman each scored for the first time as a professional in the defeat… Zach Boychuk, Carolina’s first-round draft pick (14th overall) in 2008, assisted on a Brett Carson goal for his second career point in his third AHL game; Boychuk played two games for Albany at the end of last season… The River Rats host non-division foes Portland and Rochester at the Times Union Center on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
 
Binghamton, which took a 5-3 victory over Hartford on Saturday, has now begun its season with a win in three of the last four years… Three-time AHL All-Star Martin St. Pierre registered the first hat trick of his AHL career in the win, and the Sens’ first hat trick since Peter Regin registered one on Feb. 27, 2009, vs. Hershey… Ryan Keller posted a goal and an assist on Saturday in his first AHL action since Apr. 15, 2007, as a member of Syracuse… The Senators wrap up a three-game homestand with divisional tilts against Syracuse and Hershey this weekend before visiting Bridgeport for a Monday afternoon matinee.
 
Bridgeport opened its season with a 4-3 overtime victory against Lowell on Saturday, with defenseman Andrew MacDonald providing the game-winner in the extra session… The Sound Tigers are now 15-5-0-0 all-time against the Devils, including a remarkable 10-0-0-0 mark in Bridgeport… Sean Bentivoglio, who matched his career high with 32 points last season, joined Tyler Haskins in posting a goal and two assists for the Sound Tigers on Saturday… Trevor Smith scored just 38 seconds after the game’s opening face-off… Bridgeport hosts Worcester on Friday, visits Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday, and welcomes Binghamton on Monday afternoon.
 
Saturday’s 5-3 loss in Binghamton marked the first time the Wolf Pack had opened a season on the road since the 2002-03 campaign, when the team began the year with a 4-2 win at Springfield… It also marked Hartford’s first visit to Binghamton since Nov. 11, 2005, a 6-5 loss… Three-time 20-goal scorer Corey Locke netted a pair of goals in his Wolf Pack debut on Saturday… Bobby Sanguinetti, who set a Wolf Pack rookie record for assists by a defensemen last season with 36, posted a pair of helpers… Hartford opens its home schedule on Saturday vs. Springfield, sandwiched between road tilts in Providence on Friday and Sunday.
 
Hershey began defense of its Calder Cup title with a 3-1 win over Norfolk on Saturday… Andrew Gordon recorded a hat trick with all three Bears goals on the night… Braden Holtby, a fourth-round draft pick by Washington in 2008 who joined Hershey for last spring’s playoffs but didn’t get into a game, earned the win on Saturday with 23 saves in his professional debut… Saturday also marked the first career AHL win for head coach Mark French, an assistant with the club last year who took over the top job after Bob Woods accepted an assistant coaching job with parent-club Washington this past summer.
 
Lowell’s 4-3 overtime loss at Bridgeport on Saturday dropped the Devils to 0-6-2-2 all-time at the Arena at Harbor Yard… Ex-Sound Tiger Ben Walter and rookie Eric Castonguay registered a goal and an assist in the loss, and Tim Sestito also scored… Dating back to the 2007-08 season with Springfield, Sestito has scored each of his last eight goals in road games… The Devils had six power play tries in the first period alone on Saturday; Castonguay converted one of the attempts… Lowell opens its home schedule on Saturday against Worcester and then hosts Portland at Tsongas Arena on Sunday afternoon.
 
Manchester’s 6-3 win at Albany on Saturday snapped a two-game winless skid in season openers and marked the first time the Monarchs began a season with a win on the road… The six goals are the most that a Monarchs team has scored in a season opener… Reigning Reebok/AHL player of the week Andrei Loktionov led the way with three goals and an assist in his professional debut… Brandon Segal, Gabe Gauthier, and defenseman Joe Piskula also got in on the scoring action… Manchester’s season-opening five-game road swing continues this weekend with a pair of games in Norfolk followed by a Sunday evening tilt in Hershey.
 
Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Hershey marked the second straight year in which the Admirals have opened their season by dropping a game to the Bears, following a 5-3 defeat in Norfolk on Oct. 10, 2008… Mitch Fadden and goaltender Dustin Tokarski each made their professional debuts in Saturday’s loss… Blair Jones tallied Norfolk’s lone goal for his 97th career point as an Admiral, moving him one point away from a share of 10th place on the club’s all-time list… The Admirals host Manchester for a pair of games this weekend, and are 4-0-0-1 in their last five match-ups with the Monarchs.
 
Portland’s 5-2 loss at Springfield on Saturday marked the third time in the last five seasons the Pirates have opened the year by falling to the Falcons; it also occurred at home in 2007-08 and on the road in 2005-06… Defenseman Marc-Andre Gragnani, who was tied for fourth in scoring among AHL blueliners last season, tallied both goals for the Pirates on Saturday… Paul Byron, a prolific scorer in juniors the past three seasons, registered an assist in his first pro game for Portland… A busy weekend ahead has Portland visiting Albany on Friday, playing its home opener vs. Providence on Saturday, and traveling to Lowell on Sunday afternoon.
 
Providence has won three consecutive season openers since a 7-2 loss at Portland to kick off the 2006-07 campaign… Jeff LoVecchio and Brad Marchand each registered a pair of goals in the Bruins’ 6-2 handling of Springfield on Sunday afternoon, while newcomers Trent Whitfield and defenseman Andy Wozniewski posted a goal and two helpers apiece… Eleven different Bruins recorded at least one point in the victory, including an assist by new goaltender Dany Sabourin… Providence held a 37-12 shots advantage after the second period… The B’s host Hartford on Friday and Sunday this week, with a Saturday jaunt to Portland in between.
 
Springfield’s 5-2 win over Portland on Saturday was its sixth consecutive season-opening victory since a 5-2 loss at Providence to begin the 2003-04 campaign… Offseason acquisition Chris Minard has three points (2-1-3) in his first two games as a Falcon, including a goal in both contests… Minard is tied with defenseman Taylor Chorney (1-2-3) atop Springfield’s scoring list through one week of play… Adam Henrich, who began his pro career with the Falcons in 2004-05, registered a goal and an assist in the opener for his first points in a Springfield uniform since Apr. 4, 2007.

 

Syracuse has dropped three of its last four season openers after Saturday’s 4-2 loss at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton… Newcomer Pascal Pelletier posted a goal and an assist in his Crunch debut on Saturday… Alexandre Picard registered Syracuse’s other score, giving him 21 goals in his last 23 regular-season games dating back to last season… Derek MacKenzie was named the 11th captain in Crunch history prior to the season opener… Syracuse visits Binghamton on Friday, hosts Adirondack for its home opener on Saturday, and then travels to Rochester for a Monday night tilt.
 
Wyatt Smith posted two goals and an assist in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s season-opening 4-2 win over Syracuse on Saturday… Last season for San Antonio, Smith did not record a three-point effort until his 52nd game of the season, when he had a goal and two helpers vs. Houston on Apr. 11… Chris Conner also posted three points (1-2-3) for the Pens on Saturday, his first three-point AHL showing since recording three assists for Iowa on Mar. 1, 2008, at Toronto… Third-year goaltender John Curry earned the victory to improve his career AHL record to 58-27-4 in 91 appearances.
 
Worcester improved to 3-1-0-0 all-time in season openers with Saturday’s dramatic 3-2 win at Adirondack… The Sharks scored two third-period power play goals to erase a 2-1 deficit and got the game-winner from second-year pro Jamie McGinn with 11.2 seconds left in regulation… McGinn had just one game-winning goal among his 19 tallies as a rookie with Worcester in 2008-09… Goaltender Alex Stalock earned the win in his professional debut with 28 saves… Defenseman Danny Groulx, a 2007 Calder Cup champion with Hamilton, posted two assists in his Worcester debut… The Sharks travel to Bridgeport on Friday and to Lowell on Saturday.