Sat. roundup: Moore lifts Phantoms late

Saturday’s AHL Boxscores

ADIRONDACK 2, ALBANY 1
Greg Moore snapped a 1-1 tie with 3:54 to play in regulation, and Adirondack held on to edge visiting Albany by a 2-1 count on Saturday at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

Moore, a two-time 20-goal scorer and former AHL All-Star, now has a goal in four straight games after failing to score in his first 32 outings this season.

Adirondack collected its second victory in as many nights and improved to 5-2-0- 0 in its last seven games after beginning the season 4-23-2-0.

Veteran Denis Hamel and rookie Luke Pither picked up assists on the game-winner by Moore. Pither is now riding a four-game scoring streak.

Phantoms rookie goaltender Brian Stewart stopped 18 of 19 shots to collect his second consecutive victory after beginning the year with five straight losses and a no-decision.

Michael Swift initially gave the Devils a 1-0 lead on the power play just 32 seconds into the second period, but Adirondack’s Michael Ryan tied it up less than five minutes later.

Albany’s three-game points streak came to an end.

CONNECTICUT 6, PROVIDENCE 2
Evgeny Grachev tallied a goal and two assists for a game-high three points to pace Connecticut past visiting Providence on Saturday afternoon at the XL Center.

Jeremy Williams (1-1-2), Brodie Dupont, Tim Kennedy, Justin Soryal, and Todd White also scored for the
Whale, who extended their winning streak to four games and are now 14-2-0-3 in their last 19 contests.

At 18-12-2-5 (43 points) for the season, Connecticut moved two points up on Portland for sole possession of second place in the Atlantic Division, five points back of first-place Manchester.

Devin DiDiomete and defenseman Wade Redden each had two assists in the victory, and Whale rookie goaltender Cameron Talbot stopped 24 of 26 shots between the pipes.

Rookie Jordan Caron notched his first career AHL goal for the Bruins and Lane MacDermid also found the back of the net. Providence has now matched a season high with a four-game losing skid and fell to 4-11-0-0 in its last 15 outings.

BINGHAMTON 3, CHARLOTTE 0
Binghamton goaltender Barry Brust had to make 16 of his 32 saves in the third period but held on for the shutout as the Senators took a 3-0 road win over Charlotte before 9,868 fans at Time Warner Cable Arena.

Brust picked up his fourth shutout of the season and improved his record above .500 at 12-11-1.

Kaspars Daugavins provided all the offense the Senators would need when he registered a power play goal 4:44 into the second period, extending his goal-scoring streak to five games (5-1-6).

Captain Ryan Keller and Mike Hoffman rounded out Binghamton’s offense, and Corey Locke picked up two assists to run his points streak to five games (0-9-9).

The Checkers, who lost in regulation for just the second time in their last seven games (5-2-0-0), will seek revenge when they host Binghamton again on Sunday afternoon.

PEORIA 2, GRAND RAPIDS 0
Rookie goaltender Jake Allen stopped 30 shots for his league-leading fifth shutout of the year as Peoria captured a 2-0 road win over Grand Rapids on Saturday at Van Andel Arena.

Allen, who upped his season mark to 13-3-0 in 16 appearances, had to make eight saves in the opening period and then 11 apiece in the second and third frames.

The teams were locked in a scoreless deadlock until the 12:01 mark of the third period, when Rivermen forward Anthony Nigro beat Griffins goaltender Joey MacDonald. David Spina and Nikita Nikitin earned the assists.

T.J. Hensick’s last-minute empty-netter iced the victory, with Spina earning another helper. Peoria collected its second straight win on the heels of a three-game losing skid.

Grand Rapids suffered its fourth shutout of the season but its first since a 5-0 loss to Houston Nov. 19.

SPRINGFIELD 3, MANCHESTER 1
Springfield scored once in each period en route to a 3-1 win over visiting Manchester at the MassMutual Center on Saturday, extending its points streak to four games (2-0-0-2).

Nick Holden, Cody Goloubef, and Ben Guite notched goals for the Falcons, who moved back above the .500 mark overall at 16-15-1-3.

Falcons goaltender Gustaf Wesslau (4-5-1) secured the victory with 25 saves on 26 shots in net.

Defenseman Viatcheslav Voynov netted the lone goal for the Monarchs, whose six-game winning streak came to an end. Manchester had also won four straight against Springfield since a 3-1 loss to the Falcons on Oct. 17.

WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 4, NORFOLK 3
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton built leads of 2-0 and 4-1 but then had to hold on for a 4-3 win over visiting Norfolk on Saturday at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

The East Division-leading Penguins (26-8-0-0) collected their first win in four tries this season against the second-place Admirals (18-8-6-2), who are now winless in four straight games (0-2-1-1).

Bryan Lerg tallied a pair of goals for the Penguins, captain Ryan Craig had a goal and an assist, and Nick Johnson also found the back of the net.

Lerg’s power play goal 5:06 into the third period put Wilkes-Barre on top 4-1, but Norfolk crept back into it on man-advantage goals of their own by Troy Milam (12:55) and Marc-Antoine Pouliot (15:36).

Penguins goaltender John Curry (12-5-0) held on from there, though, and finished with 20 saves on the night.

LAKE ERIE 3, HAMILTON 0
John Grahame posted a 30-save shutout to backstop Lake Erie past visiting Hamilton by a 3-0 count on Saturday at Quicken Loans Arena.

Grahame, who won the 1999 Calder Cup championship as a member of Providence, earned his first AHL shutout since the 1999-00 season with the Bruins. He only had to make five saves in the opening period but stopped 12 in the second frame and 13 more in the third.

Ryan Stoa and Matthew Ford each scored his 11th goal of the season for the Monsters, and Mike Carman netted a power play goal in the winning effort.

Lake Erie (15-15-3-4) secured its first shutout as a team since Nov. 17, when Jason Bacashihua blanked Grand Rapids on 29 shots.

The Bulldogs suffered their first whitewash of the season.

SYRACUSE 4, ROCHESTER 1
Syracuse owned a commanding 42-19 advantage in shots on goal and finished with a three-goal edge where it mattered in a 4-1 road win over Rochester at the Blue Cross Arena on Saturday.

Former Amerks defenseman Nathan Paetsch led the way for Syracuse with two goals and an assist on the night, including the eventual game-winner on the power play late in the second period.

Syracuse also got goals from Maxime Macenauer (1-1-2) and MacGregor Sharp en route to its second straight victory following three consecutive losses.

Crunch goaltender Timo Pielmeier only had to make 18 saves on 19 shots to pick up his eighth win of the season (8-10-1).

Scott Timmins notched the Amerks’ lone goal shorthanded just 19 seconds into the third period.

OKLAHOMA CITY 2, ROCKFORD 1
Just back from an NHL stint with Edmonton, Linus Omark broke a 1-1 tie with 8:10 left in regulation to send Oklahoma City to a 2-1 come-from-behind win over visiting Rockford at Cox Convention Center on Saturday.

The IceHogs carried a 1-0 lead into the final 20 minutes after Evan Brophey beat Bryan Pitton midway through the second period.

But Barons forward Colin McDonald nabbed his team-leading 18th goal of the season 9:06 into the third period to tie it, and Omark followed 2:46 later. Both markers came on the power play.

Omark, who accrued five points (1-4-5) in eight NHL games with the Oilers, now shows 27 points (14-13-27) in just 27 outings for Oklahoma City.

In just his fourth AHL appearance of the year, Pitton turned aside 30 of 31 shots in the Barons’ net.

The West Division rivals will meet again on Sunday afternoon in Oklahoma City.

CHICAGO 3, MANITOBA 2
Defenseman Paul Postma scored twice – including the game-winning goal – and added an assist as Chicago eked out a 3-2 road win over Manitoba on Saturday at the MTS Centre.

The Wolves earned a split of their two-game set in Winnipeg and improved to 7-2-0-1 in their last 10 games. Chicago went 3-1-0-0 on a four-game road trip against Canadian opponents.

Andre Deveaux also scored for the Wolves, and ex-Moose goaltender Drew MacIntytre stopped 14 of 16 shots in net.

The three-point effort matched a season high for Postma, who registered a trio of assists on Dec. 11 at Abbotsford. Postma’s marker at 3:50 of the third period on Saturday gave Chicago a 3-1 advantage and turned out to be decisive.

Bill Sweatt and Sergei Shirokov potted goals for the Moose, whose season-high six-game winning streak came to an end. Manitoba will now travel to Abbotsford for games against the Heat on Monday and Tuesday.

Chicago, which has played 24 of its first 39 contests on the road, begins a seven-game homestand on Wednesday vs. Toronto.