Hershey kisses Phantom curse good-bye

Carl Corazzini scored twice, Marek Svatos recorded two assists, Peter Budaj made 29 saves and one demon was exorcised at the Wachovia Center on Friday night.

Corazzini’s second goal of the game broke a tie with 12:14 left in regulation and Hershey held on for a 4-3 win over Philadelphia. It was the Bears’ first win in 17 tries against the rival Phantoms.

Philadelphia owned three separate one-goal leads in the game, as Patrick Sharp, Ryan Ready and Ben Stafford scored.

Corazzini, Mathieu Darche and Ryan Steeves replied for the Bears, whose last win against the Phantoms had been on Apr. 5, 2003. Hershey had also lost nine in a row in Philadelphia.

The 25-year-old Corazzini, a native of Framingham, Mass., was acquired by Hershey from Providence earlier this season. In 11 games with the Bears, Corazzini now has four goals and two assists for six points.

Elsewhere on Friday:
Nathan Smith scored with 2:24 left in regulation and Alex Auld made 38 saves to lead Manitoba to a 3-2 win over Edmonton in a battle of North Division leaders… Andy Hilbert scored twice and ex-Wolf Pack defenseman Jamie Filipowicz broke a tie with 66 seconds remaining as Providence beat Hartford, 3-2… Brendan Bell and Brad Leeb scored and J.S. Aubin made 28 saves as St. John’s defeated Portland, 2-0… Albany scored five unanswered goals and defeated Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 5-2… Worcester’s Jason Bacashihua needed just 14 saves to earn a 1-0 shutout of Springfield… After an 0-9-0 start, Dan Ellis earned his second straight win, making 29 saves in Hamilton’s 2-0 victory over Cleveland… Eric Staal scored twice and Cam Ward stopped 34 shots as Lowell beat Norfolk, 3-1… Brandon Bochenski had two goals and an assist, including Binghamton’s sixth overtime goal of the season, as the Senators erased a three-goal deficit and beat Syracuse, 4-3 in OT… Rob Collins had two goals and an assist for Bridgeport in a 4-2 win over Manchester, ending the Monarchs’ points streak at 14 games (13-0-1-0)… Joey MacDonald made 36 saves to backstop Grand Rapids to a 3-2 win in Cincinnati… Brian Finley turned aside 30 shots in Milwaukee’s 4-1 win over Rochester… Jeff Taffe scored the winning goal midway through the third period as Utah beat San Antonio, 3-2.