Richardson leads Monster rally past Griffins

LAKE ERIE 5, GRAND RAPIDS 3
Brad Richardson had a hand in all four of Lake Erie’s third-period goals, scoring once and assisting on the other three to lead the Monsters to a 5-3 come-from-behind win over Grand Rapids at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland on Saturday night.

With Lake Erie trailing 3-1, Richardson scored shorthanded 3:56 into the third period before setting up power-play goals by Dan DaSilva, Jeff Jillson and Johnny Boychuk.

Rookie Chris Stewart scored his team-leading 19th goal of the season and Mike Wall made 42 saves for the Monsters, stopping all 31 Grand Rapids shots over the final two periods.

Lake Erie snapped a three-game losing skid with the victory and won on home ice for the first time since Feb. 14.

Garrett Stafford – who played three seasons in Cleveland with the AHL’s Barons (2003-06) – scored for the Griffins, as did Evan McGrath and Jamie Tardif.

Grand Rapids has lost six of its last seven road games.


HARTFORD 2, SAN ANTONIO 1
The trade-deadline deal between the New York Rangers and Phoenix Coyotes paid quick dividends for the Hartford Wolf Pack as Josh Gratton scored the winning goal and David LeNeveu made 31 saves in a 2-1 win at San Antonio on Saturday night.

Gratton and LeNeveu were both playing in San Antonio when they were acquired by the Rangers, along with Fredrik Sjostrom, on Feb. 26 in exchange for Marcel Hossa and Al Montoya.

Montoya made 28 saves Saturday against his former Pack mates.

Brodie Dupont’s goal 10:32 into the second period snapped Hartford’s scoreless drought at 192:29, and Gratton scored his first goal since Dec. 29 off assists from Greg Moore and Thomas Pock with 6:48 remaining in regulation.

Cam Paddock scored the only goal for the Rampage, who went 5-2-0-0 on their seven-game homestand.


SPRINGFIELD 5, HERSHEY 4
Stephane Goulet scored two goals and assisted on Rob Schremp’s game-winner early in the third period as Springfield rallied for a 5-4 win over Hershey at the MassMutual Center.

The win moved the Falcons six points up in the race for the final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division.

Alexandre Giroux and Jason Morgan each had a goal and an assist and Jay Beagle and Josef Boumedienne also scored to stake the Bears to leads of 2-0, 3-1 and 4-2.

After Goulet brought Springfield back to within a goal at 13:04 of the second period, Slava Trukhno scored on a 5-on-3 power play 19 seconds into the third and Schremp followed on the 5-on-4 just 45 seconds later.

Devan Dubnyk stopped 22 of 24 shots to earn the win in relief of Jeff Deslauriers, who allowed two goals in the first 4:18 of the game.

Trukhno and Schremp finished with a goal and an assist each and Liam Reddox and T.J. Kemp added two assists apiece to help the Falcons to their third straight home win.

Falling for the fifth time in their last six outings, the Bears saw their hold on fourth place in the East Division shrink to three points.


ALBANY 2, BINGHAMTON 1 (OT)
Pat Dwyer scored 3:46 into overtime to give Albany a 2-1 win over Binghamton at the Glens Falls Civic Center on Saturday night.

The River Rats had lost five consecutive “home” games in Glens Falls before Saturday’s victory, which moved them to within three points of first place in the East Division.

Dwyer also assisted on Mike Angelidis’ third-period goal as Albany rallied to win for the ninth time in 10 games.

Michael Leighton made 24 saves, lowering his league-leading goals-against average to 2.07 and improving to 6-0-1 against the Senators this season. Binghamton has scored just eight goals in seven games against the River Rats.

Jeff Glass stopped 32 of 34 shots in defeat.


MANITOBA 3, TORONTO 0
Jason Jaffray snapped a scoreless tie with 10:36 left in the third period, propelling Manitoba to a 3-0 win over Toronto at Ricoh Coliseum.

Jaffray added an empty-net goal and Jannik Hansen scored shorthanded as the Moose won their third in a row and posted their second consecutive shutout. Drew MacIntyre made 21 saves for his second goose egg of the year.

Justin Pogge made 18 saves in the loss for the Marlies, who now lead second-place Manitoba by eight points atop the North Division.


PROVIDENCE 5, MANCHESTER 2
Providence snapped a five-game winless streak with a 5-2 win in Manchester on Saturday night.

Defenseman Brett Skinner scored twice and Pascal Pelletier became the AHL’s second 30-goal scorer this season. The Bruins’ magic number to clinch a playoff spot in the Atlantic Division was reduced to seven points.

Jeff Hoggan had a goal and an assist, Chris Collins scored and Tuukka Rask made 27 saves for Providence.

Marc-Andre Cliche and David Meckler had the goals for the Monarchs, who have lost four of six.


PORTLAND 5, BRIDGEPORT 4 (SO)
Andrew Ebbett scored once in regulation and twice in the shootout to help Portland to a 5-4 win over visiting Bridgeport.

The Pirates pulled out their third straight win after squandering a 4-2 lead late in the third period.

Stephen Dixon had a goal and an assist before converting on his shootout attempt and defensemen Bruno St. Jacques and Brian Salcido also scored for Portland.

Sean Bentivoglio, Andy Sertich, Kyle Okposo and Steve Regier scored for the Sound Tigers, who have earned points in five of their last six outings (3-1-0-2).

Joey MacDonald finished with 40 saves for Bridgeport; Mike McKenna had 32 stops for Portland.


LOWELL 3, WORCESTER 2 (SO)
Dave Caruso made four of his 27 saves in overtime and stopped four of five shootout attempts as Lowell dealt Worcester’s playoff hopes a hit with a 3-2 win at the DCU Center on Saturday.

The Sharks fell nine points behind fourth-place Springfield in the Atlantic Division.

Petr Vrana and Rosario Ruggeri scored power-play goals for the Devils and Grant Marshall and Mike Pandolfo scored in the shootout as Lowell improved to 8-4-2-0 in its last 14 games. The Devils have won three straight visits to Worcester.

Lukas Kaspar and Graham Mink scored for the Sharks, while Tom Walsh recorded two assists.


WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 2, SYRACUSE 1 (SO)
John Curry stopped 37 of 38 shots before turning aside four of five shootout attempts to backstop Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to a 2-1 win in Syracuse.

The Penguins’ Jonathan Filewich and the Crunch’s Alexandre Picard traded goals in regulation before Jean-Michel Daoust and Ryan Stone scored in the shootout for Wilkes-Barre. Derick Brassard had Syracuse’s only successful shootout attempt.

Karl Goehring finished with 26 saves for the Crunch, who moved a point ahead of Hamilton and into third place in the North Division. Syracuse is 5-0-0-3 in its last eight games.


CHICAGO 5, QUAD CITY 3
Andre Deveaux scored a pair of goals and Darren Haydar scored the go-ahead goal with 6:35 left in regulation as Chicago edged Quad City, 5-3, at Allstate Arena.

The Wolves improved to 7-1-1-1 in their last 10 home games and became the first Western Conference team to reach 90 points on the season.

Derek Couture, Grant Stevenson and Brett Sutter gave the Flames a 3-1 lead early in the second period, but Joe Motzko and Deveaux scored 20 seconds apart to tie the score seven minutes later.

Colin Stuart registered three assists and he and Boris Valabik were each a plus-4 on the night for Chicago. Robert Gherson made 25 saves for the win in just his fourth start since New Year’s.

It was the Wolves’ seventh win in eight tries against Quad City this season.


MILWAUKEE 3, ROCKFORD 2
Jason Guerriero and Andreas Thuresson scored third-period goals to rally Milwaukee past Rockford, 3-2, in front of 10,767 fans at the Bradley Center.

The victory vaulted the Admirals from sixth place to fourth in the West Division with 73 points.

Rich Peverley had a goal and an assist and Pekka Rinne made 23 saves as Milwaukee won its third in a row.

Troy Brouwer scored his league-leading 20th power-play goal of the season and Jerramie Domish also found the net for the IceHogs, who remain tied with San Antonio for second place in the West.