Johnny Pohl recorded three points during a six-goal second period as Worcester routed Lowell on Sunday, 8-2, to secure a berth in the Calder Cup 2004 Playoffs.
The IceCats will be in the AHL postseason for the ninth consecutive spring.
Worcester trailed by a goal heading into the second period, but Pohl scored twice during a span of 2:36, sandwiched around a Ryan Ready goal to give the IceCats a 3-1 lead. Marc Brown, Mike Glumac and Blake Evans then scored less than five minutes apart to make it 6-2 after 40 minutes.
Ready finished with a goal and two assists, and Peter Sejna and Jon Coleman recorded three assists each. Curtis Sanford stopped 32 Lock Monsters shots to earn the win.
The loss, combined with Portland’s win in Manchester, drops Lowell into sixth place in the Atlantic Division, two points back of the Pirates.
Elsewhere on Sunday:
Boyd Gordon scored with two minutes to play as Portland defeated Manchester, 4-3… Harold Druken‘s penalty shot goal with 13 seconds left capped a three-goal third period and lifted St. John’s to a 5-5 tie with Manitoba; the deadlock knocked the Moose from out of playoff contention, and left the Leafs one point away from being mathematically eliminated themselves… J.F. Damphousse made 22 saves for Hamilton in a 3-1 win over Rochester… Kevin Colley recorded a goal and three assists as Bridgeport rolled past Albany, 6-0… Former Falcon Shane Willis had a goal and an assist to help Hershey defeat Springfield, 3-1… Michael Garnett made 37 saves as Chicago beat San Antonio, 4-2… Jeremy Reich scored with 6:22 left in regulation and Pascal Leclaire finished with 39 saves as Syracuse beat Cleveland, 4-2… Steve ValiquetteM made 35 saves for Hartford in a 3-2 win over Providence… Darryl Bootland scored twice and Joey MacDonald stopped 39 shots for Grand Rapids in a 6-0 rout of Toronto… Julien Vauclair scored in overtime to lift Binghamton over Philadelphia, 3-2.
