HOUSTON 5, GRAND RAPIDS 0
Former AHL All-Star Anton Khudobin made 28 saves for his first shutout of the season as Houston stayed hot with a 5-0 road win over Grand Rapids at Van Andel Arena on Friday night.
The Aeros collected their third consecutive victory and moved to 7-1-0-2 since beginning the season with six losses in eight games (2-5-1-0). Houston continues its busy weekend with a Saturday visit to Chicago before returning home to battle Texas on Sunday.
Khudobin, who snapped a brief two-game losing skid, earned his first shutout of the season and the Aeros’ first as a team since Barry Brust blanked the Griffins in a 1-0 victory on Feb. 13, 2010.
Khudobin improved to 5-4-1 on the season while lowering his goals-against average to 1.87 and upping his save percentage to .940.
Defenseman Maxim Noreau (2-1-3) and veteran forward Jon DiSalvatore (1-2-3) each recorded three points for the Aeros, while defenseman Kris Fredheim and rookie Jarod Palmer also found the back of the net.
Palmer continues to lead the Aeros in scoring with 11 points (3-8-11) in 15 contests, and Noreau (5-5-10) and DiSalvatore (2-8-10) are tied for second with 10 points apiece.
Grand Rapids suffered its second consecutive shutout and was blanked for the third time in its last fiver games overall (1-3-0-1).
SAN ANTONIO 4, MILWAUKEE 3 (SO)
Tim Stapleton tied the score on the power play with 5:20 to play in regulation, and first-place San Antonio stayed red-hot with a 4-3 shootout win over visiting Milwaukee on Friday before 6,413 fans at the AT&T Center.
The Rampage extended their winning streak to six games – tying a season high – and in the process halted Milwaukee’s own winning streak at five games. San Antonio, which is 13-2-0-0 in its last 15 outings, now sits seven points ahead of Oklahoma City and Milwaukee atop the West Division.
Mikkel Boedker, Viktor Tikhonov, and Mathieu Beaudoin all scored shootout goals for the Rampage, and goaltender Matt Climie denied all three of the Admirals’ tries after making 21 saves through the first 65 minutes.
Peter MacArthur and Boedker scored just 15 seconds apart to give San Antonio a 2-0 lead late in the second period, but Milwaukee’s Mike Bartlett cut it to 2-1 only 47 seconds after Boedker’s goal.
Matt Halischuk and Chris Mueller then notched third-period tallies to give the Admirals a 3-2 edge, a lead which stood until Stapleton’s tying marker.
CHARLOTTE 4, ADIRONDACK 3 (OT)
Charlotte coughed up a pair of leads in regulation but ultimately captured a 4-3 overtime win over visiting Adirondack on Friday before 7,591 fans at Time Warner Cable Arena.
Defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti tallied the game-winner 1:37 into the extra session, with Zach Boychuk and Chris Terry earning the assists. Sanguinetti now has a goal in each of his last two games after failing to score in any of his first 17 contests this season.
Boychuk paced the Checkers with a goal and two assists, while Jacob Micflikier and captain Bryan Rodney also found the back of the net. Terry finished with two helpers on the night.
Charlotte goaltender Mike Murphy emerged victorious after stopping 38 of 41 shots in net.
Matt Clackson, Eric Wellwood, and Ben Holmstrom scored for the Phantoms, who overcame deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 to salvage a point out of this contest. Adirondack dipped to 3-13-2-0 on the season.
MANCHESTER 3, WORCESTER 1
Manchester scored once in each period and collected a 3-1 win over visiting Worcester at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Friday.
The teams traded power play goals in the first period. Defenseman Viatcheslav Voynov put the Monarchs on top 6:43 into the contest, but Sharks forward Benn Ferriero notched his team-leading 10th goal of the year just 3:23 later.
Rookie forward Brandon Kozun, who assisted on Voynov’s goal, gave Manchester the lead for good at 3:26 of the second period, and Marc-Andre Cliche’s first goal of the season midway through the third frame provided insurance.
Monarchs goaltender Jeff Zatkoff improved to 7-5-1 on the season by making 27 saves on 28 shots, as Manchester emerged with a victory for the first time in three tries against Worcester this season (1-2-0-0).
BINGHAMTON 4, HERSHEY 2
Rookie Bobby Butler’s league-leading 14th goal of the season snapped a 2-2 third-period deadlock, and Binghamton went on to double up visiting Hershey by a 4-2 count at the Broome County Arena.
It marked the Senators’ first win in three tries against Hershey this season after having been outscored 15-4 in a pair of losses to the two-time defending Calder Cup champions.
Butler’s game-winner was assisted by fellow rookie Colin Greening and Zack Smith, and Roman Wick (1-1-2) iced the victory with a late empty-netter.
Craig Schira and Erik Condra scored to give the Senators a 2-0 first-period lead, but the Bears came back to tie it by second intermission on goals by Boyd Kane and Andrew Joudrey. Rookie forward Dmitri Kugryshev, who entered the night with two assists in 10 games this year, earned an assist on both Hershey goals.
Binghamton goaltender Barry Brust made 20 of his 42 saves during a third period in which his club was outshot by a margin of 20-7. Brust upped his season record to 7-6-1.
BRIDGEPORT 4, PROVIDENCE 3 (OT)
Tony Romano scored at 1:54 overtime as Bridgeport escaped Providence with a 4-3 win over the Bruins on Friday in front of 7,796 fans at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.
The Sound Tigers blew a 3-0 lead in regulation but nonetheless collected their second win in the last three games (2-1-0-0), both coming in overtime.
Robin Figren, Rhett Rakhshani, and Jeremy Colliton all scored to stake Bridgeport to its 3-0 advantage by the game’s midpoint.
Former first-round draft pick Zach Hamill began Providence’s comeback by scoring his first goal of the season (1-10-11) at 13:01 of the second period, and Jamie Arniel made it 3-2 just 37 seconds later.
The Bruins’ comeback appeared to have come up short until defenseman Jeff Penner notched the equalizer on the power play with only 28 seconds left in regulation, also his first goal of the campaign.
Bridgeport rookie goaltender Kevin Poulin stopped 43 of 46 shots in the winning effort, and Providence’s Nolan Schaefer took the loss with 31 stops.
The B’s still earned a point for the sixth time in their last seven games (5-1-1-0).
NORFOLK 4, WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 1
Norfolk closed the book on a five-game road trip by capturing a 4-1 win over East Division-leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Friday at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Blair Jones led the way with two goals and an assist for the Admirals, who overcame a 1-0 deficit to finish 2-1-2-0 on their trip. Alex Berry also had multiple points (1-1-2) in the winning effort, and Chris Durno rounded out Norfolk’s scoring.
Admirals goaltender Cedrick Desjardins (5-4-1) earned the win with 27 saves on 28 shots, halting a personal two-game losing skid.
Norfolk, which has played 11 of its first 16 games on the road, returns to the Scope on Saturday to battle Adirondack.
Tim Wallace notched a first-period power play goal for the Penguins lone score of the night. Wilkes-Barre, which is a perfect 8-0-0-0 on the road thus far, dropped its third straight home game after beginning 4-0-0-0.
LAKE ERIE 2, TORONTO 1
Toronto’s nine-game points streak (6-0-0-3) – all of which coincided with the first nine contests of a 10-game road swing – finally came to an end in the trip’s finale on Friday as the Marlies dropped a 2-1 decision to Lake Erie at Quicken Loans Arena.
After a scoreless opening period, Dale Mitchell gave Toronto a 1-0 lead with his second goal of the year at 2:09 of the second period.
Monsters forward Ryan Stoa, who totaled 23 goals in 54 games as a rookie for the Monsters last year, finally nabbed his first of 2010-11 in game 17 when he scored unassisted at the 16:14 mark.
Mike Carman notched the eventual game-winner for Lake Erie shorthanded at 19:04, and neither side scored in the third period.
Lake Erie goaltender Jason Bacashihua earned the victory with 33 saves and has now stopped 62 of 63 shots (.984) in his last two appearances. The Monsters now have back-to-back wins for the first time since downing Toronto and Manitoba on Oct. 30 and 31.
The Marlies play their first home game since that Oct. 30 game against the Monsters on Saturday when they welcome Hamilton to Ricoh Coliseum.
HARTFORD 5, SPRINGFIELD 2
Hartford’s struggling offense sprang to life on Friday as the Wolf Pack collected a much-needed 5-2 road win over Springfield before 6,226 fans at the MassMutual Center.
The Wolf Pack scored more than three goals in a game for just the third time all season and won for the second time in their last 14 outings (2-9-2-1).
Chad Kolarik, who played 13 games for Springfield this season before a trade last week landed him in Hartford, paced the Wolf Pack’s attack by scoring twice and adding an assist against his former team.
Mats Zuccarello recorded a goal and a helper for Hartford; Justin Soryal and defenseman Wade Redden also scored; and Kris Newbury chipped in a pair of assists.
Maksim Mayorov and rookie Tomas Kubalik potted goals for the Falcons, who suffered their first loss to the rival Wolf Pack this season after three straight victories.
Hartford goaltender Chad Johnson only had to make 11 saves in the victory, as his club held a 27-13 advantage in shots.
ALBANY 4, SYRACUSE 3 (SO)
Michael Swift and rookie David McIntyre notched shootout goals as Albany halted a six-game losing skid with a 4-3 road win over Syracuse at the Onondaga County War Memorial on Friday.
The Devils collected their first win over the Crunch this season (1-2-0-0) and their first victory over anyone since taking a 3-2 shootout decision at Worcester on Nov. 5.
Matt Anderson recorded a goal and an assist in regulation for Albany, while Tim Sestito (first of the season) and rookie Adam Henrique also scored. Defenseman Tyler Eckford posted a pair of assists.
Devils goaltender Jeff Frazee improved his season mark to 5-5-0 after making 32 saves through the first 65 minutes and denying four of Syracuse’s five shootout tries.
The Crunch, who had been shut out in two straight and three of their last four games, finally broke out of it with regulation goals from Nathan Paetsch, Matt Beleskey, and Dan Sexton. Sexton also scored Syracuse’s lone shootout tally.
Syracuse fell to 0-3 in shootouts this season, and Albany improved to 3-0.
HAMILTON 5, ROCHESTER 3
A four-goal second period lifted Hamilton to a 5-3 road win over Rochester on Friday at Blue Cross Arena, the Bulldogs’ third victory in as many tries against the Americans this season.
David Desharnais, who had been held without a point in his previous two outings after beginning the year on a 13-game scoring streak (5-12-17), recorded a goal and two assists to pace the Hamilton offense. Desharnais now shows 20 points (6-14-20) in 16 games overall.
Ben Maxwell, rookie Alexander Avtsin, and defenseman Mathieu Carle all posted a goal and an assist in the victory, and rookie Olivier Fortier added the first regular-season goal of his pro career.
The Bulldogs finished 3-for-6 on the power play, and goaltender Curtis Sanford stopped 22 of 25 shots to move to 5-1-0 in six appearances this season.
Bill Thomas, Kenndal McArdle, and defenseman Paul Baier (first of the season) scored for the Americans, who suffered their season-high third straight loss and dropped under .500 overall at 8-9-1-0.
PEORIA 2, ABBOTSFORD 0
Rookie goaltender Jake Allen made 37 saves for his third shutout in six appearances this season, backstopping Peoria to a 2-0 win over visiting Abbotsford on Friday at Carver Arena.
Allen improved to 5-1-0 on the season and helped the Rivermen win for just the third time in their last 10 games (3-6-0-1) following a 7-1-0-0 start to the season.
Adam Cracknell’s unassisted goal early in the second period provided all the support Allen would need, and rookie Phil McRae added insurance on the power play midway through the third. It marked McRae’s sixth goal of the season and second in as many games.
Abbotsford, which was shut out for the second time this season, watched its six-game points streak (5-0-0-1) come to an end.
The two teams will battle again on Saturday night as the Heat conclude a five-game road swing.
TEXAS 2, OKLAHOMA CITY 1 (SO)
Tomas Vincour and Aaron Gagnon netted shootout goals as Texas continued its recent surge with a 2-1 road win over Oklahoma City on Friday at the Cox Convention Center.
The Stars earned their third consecutive win on the heels of a four-game losing skid and improved to 9-6-0-0 for the season.
Stars forward Travis Morin notched a power play goal to make it 1-0 at 10:21 of the opening period, but Oklahoma City’s Teemu Hartikainen answered with a man-advantage marker of his own 2:38 into the second frame. Neither team scored the rest of the way.
Richard Bachman earned the win for Texas after making 35 saves through the first 65 minutes and stopping four of the Barons five shootout tries.
Hartikainen registered the Barons’ lone successful shootout attempt. Goaltender Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers stopped 34 of 35 shots through regulation and overtime but dropped to 0-2-1 on the season for Oklahoma City.
The Barons still earned a point for the eighth time in their last 10 games (7-2-0-1).
MANITOBA 3, ROCKFORD 1
Rookie forward Jordan Schroeder, who entered the night with one goal in 16 games this season, scored twice in less than six minutes in the third period to help Manitoba past visiting Rockford by a 3-1 count on Saturday before 14,134 fans at the MTS Centre, earning a split of the teams’ two-game set in Winnipeg.
The Moose and IceHogs played scoreless hockey until Schroeder, a first-round draft pick by the Vancouver Canucks in 2009, nabbed a power play goal at 7:02 of the third period.
Schroeder then scored again at the 13-minute mark, and Jeff Tambellini stretched the lead to 3-0 with an empty-net marker at 18:07.
The IceHogs finally got on the board when rookie Jeremy Morin scored on the power play with 55 seconds to play, but it was too late.
That late goal spoiled the shutout bid of Moose goaltender Tyler Weiman, who nonetheless earned the victory with 22 saves on 23 shots in net.
