Falcons end losing skid on special night

In an emotionally charged night, the Springfield Falcons ended their nine-game losing skid with a 5-2 defeat of their division rival Hartford Wolf Pack on Saturday night.

The Falcons honored former captain Rob Murray by raising his number 23 to the rafters, joining AHL Hall of Famer Eddie Shore as the only players to have their numbers retired in Springfield.

Newly acquired forward Kyle Wanvig netted a hat trick for the Falcons, Daniel Corso provided two goals and David Spina had three assists for Springfield, which scored three goals on three shots in the third period to snap a 2-2 tie.

Making just his second AHL start this season, netminder Gerald Coleman stopped 36 of 38 shots in the win for Springfield.

Former Falcon Brad Isbister and Greg Moore provided the goals for Hartford in the loss.


SAN ANTONIO 5, MILWAUKEE 3
Pascal Rheaume had a pair of goals and added an assist as the Rampage defeated the Milwaukee Admirals, 5-3, at the Bradley Center.

Rheaume now has 16 points (6g, 10a) in his last 16 games.

San Antonio avenged a 3-2 shootout loss on Friday to the Admirals as Randall Gelech also recorded three points, tallying a goal and two assists to give the Rampage their third win in the last five outings.

Josh Tordjman stopped 31 of 34 shots in the contest to record his 10th win of the year for San Antonio, which played its ninth game on a 16-game road trip.

Kelsey Wilson and Cal O’Reilly led the Admirals in the loss by scoring a goal and an assist each.


TORONTO 3, CHICAGO 2 (SO)
Justin Pogge finally collected his first win of the season on home ice, making 33 saves and stopping three of five shootout attempts to lead the Marlies to a 3-2 win at Ricoh Coliseum.

The rookie Pogge, one of the top prospects in the Maple Leafs system, had been 0-9-0 in games played at Ricoh and the Air Canada Centre.

Erik Westrum tallied a goal and an assist in regulation and also netted a goal in the shootout to give the Marlies their second win in the last three games and get revenge on the Wolves after an 8-1 rout by Chicago on Feb. 5.

Aleksander Suglobov also scored in regulation as well as the shootout for Toronto, which plays six of its next seven games at home.

Jared Ross forced overtime by scoring with 58 seconds left in regulation for the Wolves.


BRIDGEPORT 4, LOWELL 3 (SO)
Brandon Nolan scored the game-winning goal in the fifth round of a shootout as the Sound Tigers edged the visiting Lowell Devils 4-3 at the Arena at Harbor Yard.

Bridgeport earned its fourth straight win and fifth consecutive triumph on home ice and improved to 24-20-1-4 and 53 points on the year, remaining in fourth place in the East Division.

Wade Dubielewicz stopped four of five Lowell players in the shootout made 38 saves on 41 regulation and overtime shots to go to 17-6-4 on the season.

Nolan added two assists in regulation as Mark Wotton and Blake Comeau each had a goal and an assist in the win.

Nicklas Bergfors led the Devils, who have dropped two straight, with a goal and an assist.


HAMILTON 4, PHILADELPHIA 2
The Hamilton Bulldogs extended their point streak to a season-high nine games by defeating the Philadelphia Phantoms 4-2 at Copps Coliseum in front of 6,263 fans.

Cory Urquhart and Andrei Kostitsyn led the Bulldogs with a goal and an assist each, while netminder Jaroslav Halak made 21 saves on the night to earn his 15th win of the year.

Hamilton is now 7-0-1-1 in its last nine outings and remains in second place in the North Division with a 30-18-2-2 record.

Matt Ellison and Stefan Ruzicka provided the goals in the loss for the Phantoms.


HERSHEY 4, ALBANY 0
Frederic Cassivi made 27 saves and earned his second shutout of the season as the Hershey Bears blanked the Albany River Rats, 4-0.

Dave Steckel scored two goals and Deryk Engelland and Chad Wiseman also scored for the Bears, who won their 19th consecutive game against the River Rats, a streak that dates back to Apr. 7, 2004.

The Bears have won its last two games on home ice, outscoring opponents 9-2 in the last two games and face off against the River Rats again in their next outing on Feb. 17.


GRAND RAPIDS 5, IOWA 3
The Griffins scored the final four goals of the game in their 5-3 win over Iowa at Wells Fargo Arena.

Matt Hussey scored two goals and an assist and Kip Miller added three helpers for the visiting Griffins, who are winners of four straight games, having outscored opponents 19-9 during that stretch.

Jimmy Howard stopped 32 of 35 shots in the win for Grand Rapids, improving his record to 14-13-1 this season.

Marius Holtet, Vojtech Polak and Francis Wathier each tallied goals for Iowa in the loss.


WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 4, BINGHAMTON 2
Four different players tallied goals and nine skaters registered a point for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton as they doubled up the visiting Binghamton Senators by a score of 4-2.

Connor James and Matt Carkner scored the first two goals of the contest, before tallies from Binghamton’s Neil Komadoski and Josh Hennessy tied the game back up at 2-apiece.

Daniel Carcillo scored what proved to be the game winner with 2:20 left in regulation and Kurtis McLean added and empty-net goal for the Penguins, who have won three of their last four contests.

Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers made 20 saves to earn his first win since Jan. 12 for Wilkes-Barre.


PORTLAND 4, NORFOLK 2
Three unanswered goals in the third period by the Portland Pirates led to a 4-2 loss for the Norfolk Admirals on Saturday night in front of 8,174 fans at Norfolk Scope.

Tim Brent, Simon Ferguson, Ryan Carter and 2007 AHL All-Star Joe Motzko provided the scoring for Portland, which after losing seven straight games has won three of its last four.

Mike Wall picked up the victory with 29 saves to earn his career-high 10th win.

Defenseman Dustin Byfuglien had a goal on the night, while Danny Richmond added a goal and an assist to lead the Admirals in their second straight loss following a 14-game home winning streak.


MANITOBA 5, SYRACUSE 2
The Moose scored five goals in the second period, including two from Jesse Schultz, to defeat the visiting Syracuse Crunch by a score of 5-2 before 14,105 fans at the MTS Centre.

Jason Jaffray and Nathan Smith each recorded a goal and two helpers on the night to give Manitoba its third straight win and second against Syracuse.

Drew MacIntyre stopped 25 shots on the night to earn his seventh win in his last eight starts for the Moose.

Geoff Platt and Steven Goertzen both scored in the loss for the Crunch.


MANCHESTER 3, WORCESTER 0
The Manchester Monarchs earned a season-high 11th consecutive win by beating the Worcester Sharks, 3-0, in front of a capacity crowd of 9,932 fans at the Verizon Wireless Arena.

Barry Brust earned his first shutout of the season stopping all 34 shots from the Sharks for the win. The Monarchs have gone 144 minutes and 12 seconds without allowing a goal.

Shay Stephenson tallied a pair of goals and defenseman Kevin Dallman added the other mark for Manchester.


PEORIA 4, HOUSTON 3
The Peoria Rivermen traded goals all night with the Houston Aeros and then took their first lead of the game on a power play goal with 1:12 remaining to win 4-3 in front of 5,076 at Carver Arena.

Michal Birner led the way with a pair of goals, while teammates Cam Keith and Jon DiSalvatore rounded out the scoring with a goal each to give Peoria its second straight victory.

Jason Bacashihua earned his first AHL win since Dec. 1, 2006, by stopping 22 of 25 shots for Peoria, including a Danny Irmen penalty shot with 2.2 seconds left in regulation.

Jason Morgan and Matt Foy, who has scored in his last four games (3g, 3a), led the Aeros with a goal and an assist in the loss.


ROCHESTER 3, OMAHA 1
The Rochester Americans got a power-play goal from Clarke MacArthur late in the second period and held on for a 3-1 win over the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights at Blue Cross Arena.

Anthony Stewart and Patrick Kaleta provided the other tallies for Rochester, which ended its three-game losing skid with the win.

Craig Anderson earned his 19th win of the year with 37 saves on 38 shots while defenseman Brandon Smith had a pair of assists for the Amerks.

Defenseman Brad Ference scored the lone goal for Omaha in the loss.