Al Montoya showed on Friday night why he is worthy of his selection to the PlanetUSA team for the 2006 Rbk Hockey AHL All-Star Classic.
The Wolf Pack goaltender shut down the Hershey Bears to pick up the 4-0 win at the Hartford Civic Center making 31 saves to earn his first shutout of the season. 17 of the Hershey shots came in the first period alone. The win is Montoya’s 13th of the season. He also figured into the offense, assisting on two Wolf Pack goals.
Nigel Dawes scored a pair of third period goals for Hartford and is now second on the team in scoring with 17 goals on the season. Dawes trails only Dwight Helminen who has 20 goals on the season. Helminen figured into the scorin with a goal and assist on the night.
In one of the few bright spots for the Bears, goaltender Frederic Cassivi stopped Alexandre Giroux on a penalty shot in the third period.
With the win the Wolf Pack (22-10-2-5, 51 pts.) move into sole possession of second place in the Atlantic division. The Bears will be happy to see the Giant Center as they finished up a four game road trip with a 1-3 record. Hershey (23-9-2-6, 54 pts.) remains in second place in the East division.
Elsewhere on Friday:
Denis Hamel scored three times in Binghamton’s 9-4 rout of Springfield; the Falcons are now winless in their last 12 games… NHL veteran Alexander Mogilny scored the game-winning goal in Albany’s 2-1 win over Rochester… Mark Hartigan scored three goals and added an assist in Syracuse’s 4-1 win over Hamilton… Matt Ellis scored two goals for the Griffins as Grand Rapids beat Chicago 5-4 in a shootout… Norfolk’s Ajay Baines scored a goal and an assist, giving him a Norfolk franchise-record 175 points and leading the Admirals to a 5-3 win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton… The Bruins’ Jason MacDonald scored two goals as Providence beat Portland, 3-2… Milwaukee beat Cleveland, 6-4, helped by a pair of goals by both Darren Haydar and Scott Nichol… Peoria scored four unanswered goals and beat Omaha, 4-1… Martin Sonnenberg scored 2:27 into overtime to lead San Antonio to a 4-3 win over Toronto… Wade Flaherty stopped 14 of 15 shots in Manitoba’s 3-1 win over Philadelphia… Cody McLeod scored a goal and an assist in Lowell’s 5-3 victory over Manchester… Patrick Traverse recorded a goal and an assist to help Iowa to a 3-2 win over Houston.
