LOWELL 7, WORCESTER 5
Tim Sestito, who entered the night with 16 career AHL tallies in 145 games, erupted for four goals on Saturday as Lowell spoiled Worcester’s home opener with a 7-5 win over the Sharks at the DCU Center.
Sestito scored once in the first period, once in the second, and twice in the final frame, capping off his performance with an empty-net marker in the closing minute.
Michael Swift and defenseman Rob Davison posted a goal and an assist apiece for the Devils, and blueliner Matt Taormina also found the back of the net.
Lowell received multiple-assist performances from Patrick Davis (0-3-3) and Vladimir Zharkov (0-2-2) en route to its largest offensive output since a 7-3 win at Portland on Jan. 9, 2009.
Sharks rookie forward Logan Couture registered four points (1-3-4) in the losing effort. Steven Zalewski and defenseman Michael Wilson each had a goal and an assist, and newcomer T.J. Trevelyan netted his first goal in a Worcester uniform.
The Sharks, who will host Albany on Sunday, suffered their first regulation defeat of the season (2-1-0-1).
Lowell goaltender Gerald Coleman, who made three appearances for Worcester last season, finished with 38 saves in the victory.
ROCHESTER 4, TORONTO 3 (OT)
David Brine’s unassisted shorthanded goal 1:55 into overtime capped Rochester’s rally from an early 3-0 deficit and gave the Americans a 4-3 road win over Toronto on Saturday afternoon at Ricoh Coliseum.
The Amerks swept a home-and-home set from the Marlies this weekend and improved to 4-1-1-0 overall on the young season.
Toronto staked itself to a 3-0 lead before the game was 15 minutes old. Jeff Hamilton and Andre Deveaux struck on the power play at 4:46 and 13:19, respectively, and Alex Foster added an even-strength marker at 14:49.
Second-year pro Michal Repik began Rochester’s comeback when he scored twice in a 1:05 span late in the second period. It marked the fourth and fifth goals of the season for Repik, who leads the team in that category.
Former AHL All-Star Clay Wilson tallied the equalizer shorthanded just 1:41 into the final frame. Brine picked up an assist on that marker, and then registered a shorthanded one of his own for the game-winner on Rochester’s first shot of overtime.
Kenndal McArdle chipped in three assists, and Amerks goaltender Tyler Plante earned the victory with 40 saves on 43 shots.
MANCHESTER 4, PORTLAND 0
Goaltender Jonathan Bernier made 29 saves for his first shutout of the season, and Manchester celebrated its home opener with a 4-0 win over Portland before 8,605 fans at Verizon Wireless Arena.
After a scoreless opening period, the Monarchs tallied two goals apiece in the second and third frames.
Bud Holloway led the way with two goals and an assist, Scott Parse had a goal and a helper, and defenseman Viatcheslav Voynov rounded out the scoring. Rookie Andrei Loktionov chipped in a pair of assists.
Manchester, playing the first tilt of a six-game homestand, upped its record to 5-2-0-0 and hosts Springfield on Sunday.
ALBANY 2, ADIRONDACK 1 (OT)
Jerome Samson scored his team-leading fourth goal of the season at 2:21 of overtime to lift Albany to a 2-1 road win over Adirondack at the Glens Falls Civic Center.
The River Rats, who held a 1-0 lead for most of the contest after a Nick Dodge goal at 18:20 of the opening period, appeared headed for a regulation victory.
But Krys Kolanos scored his first goal in a Phantoms uniform with 2:25 to play in the third frame, sending the tilt to overtime.
Samson’s game-winner came unassisted and gave the River Rats their fourth consecutive victory since dropping their season opener.
Albany goaltender Justin Peters stopped 30 of 31 shots in the winning effort.
NORFOLK 2, BRIDGEPORT 1
Norfolk wrapped up a three-game road swing with a 2-1 win over Bridgeport on Saturday at the Arena at Harbor Yard.
Brandon Bochenski tallied his fourth goal of the young season to put the Admirals on top with just one second to play in the first period. It remained a 1-0 game until Ryan Craig extended the lead to 2-0 at 5:17 of the third frame.
Greg Moore put the Sound Tigers on the board with 1:16 to play in regulation, but Bridgeport couldn’t tie it and suffered its first loss of the campaign (4-1-0-0).
Admirals goaltender Dustin Tokarski earned the win with 27 saves in net.
SPRINGFIELD 2, HARTFORD 1
Charles Linglet netted a pair of goals as Springfield edged Hartford by a 2-1 final on Saturday at the MassMutual Center.
Linglet gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead 57 seconds into the second period and then extended the advantage to 2-0 at 8:33 of the third frame.
The Wolf Pack got on the board when Michael Sauer scored shorthanded at 10:02, but Hartford could not find the equalizer and fell to 2-4-0-0 on the season.
Springfield goaltender Devan Dubnyk was solid in net, finishing with 32 saves on 33 shots to pick up the victory. Hartford held a 33-14 shots advantage in the contest.
WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 4, SYRACUSE 3 (SO)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton emerged with a 4-3 shootout win over visiting Syracuse on Saturday in a back-and-forth tilt at the Wachovia Arena.
Penguins forward Ryan Bayda scored twice in regulation, including the game-tying goal at 14:48 of the third period. Tim Wallace opened the game’s scoring for the Penguins, and Dustin Jeffrey assisted on all three regulation markers. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton held leads of 1-0 and 2-1 before falling behind, 3-2.
After a scoreless overtime, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton forwards Mark Letestu and Wyatt Smith converted two of the Penguins’ three shootout tries.
Goaltender John Curry denied all four of Syracuse’s shootout tries after making 29 saves through the first 65 minutes.
Tom Sestito, Jonathan Sigalet, and Derek MacKenzie all netted regulation goals for the Crunch, who fell to 0-3-0-1 on the road this season.
HERSHEY 3, BINGHAMTON 2 (OT)
Alexandre Giroux scored twice, including the game-winner at 1:11 of overtime, as Hershey took a 3-2 road victory over Binghamton at the Broome County Arena.
Giroux gave the Bears a 1-0 lead 4:23 into the contest, but the Senators came back to take a 2-1 lead on goals by Josh Hennessy at 7:41 of the first frame and Cody Bass 7:43 into the second.
Hershey rookie defenseman John Carlson netted the equalizer on the power play at 9:33 of the second period, with Giroux and Andrew Gordon earning the assists. Gordon extended his season-opening scoring streak to six games (4-6-10).
Giroux’s game-high 10th shot of the night beat Binghamton goaltender Andy Chiodo in overtime to win it.
Bears goaltender Michal Neuvirth, the reigning Calder Cup Playoffs MVP, made 34 saves to earn his first win of the season (1-1-0).
LAKE ERIE 5, MANITOBA 2
Lake Erie salvaged a split of its weekend set against Manitoba and ended a four-game losing skid overall with a 5-2 victory over the Moose on Saturday at Quicken Loans Arena.
Chris Durno and Ryan Stoa each scored twice for the Monsters, and two-time Calder Cup champion Darren Haydar added his first goal in a Lake Erie uniform.
Rookie winger Brock Bradford chipped in two assists on the night, and Monsters goaltender Tyler Weiman made 19 saves in net.
Matt Pettinger and Guillaume Desbiens notched goals for the Moose in the losing effort.
SAN ANTONIO 7, GRAND RAPIDS 4
San Antonio scored seven times on 15 shots en route to a 7-4 win over visiting Grand Rapids on Saturday at the AT&T Center.
The Rampage racked up six goals in the first period alone, the first time a team had scored as many as six times in the opening stanza of an AHL game since Wilkes-Barre/Scranton scored seven against Hershey on Dec. 26, 2005.
Brett MacLean netted two of those six goals and then completed a hat trick by scoring San Antonio’s final marker of the night late in the third period.
Kyle Turris and Mikkel Boedker each posted a goal and an assist for the Rampage, while Troy Bodie and Stefan Meyer also scored. Defensemen Sean Sullivan and David Schlemko added two assists apiece.
Rampage goaltender Josh Tordjman made 29 saves in the victory, surrendering goals to the Griffins’ Dick Axelsson, Kris Newbury, Mike Walsh, and Jamie Tardif.
HAMILTON 5, CHICAGO 4
Sergei Kostitsyn scored twice and added an assist as Hamilton edged struggling Chicago by a 5-4 count on Saturday at Allstate Arena.
Brock Trotter and Ryan Russell each posted a goal and an assist for the Bulldogs, who grabbed a 4-1 lead by early in the second period. But it was their fifth goal of the night, off the stick of Ryan Russell late in that middle stanza, which turned out to be the game-winner.
Rookie Andrew Kozek paced the Wolves’ offense with two goals and a helper. Joey Crabb and Matt Anderson also scored for Chicago, which is now 1-5-0-0 out of the gate.
Hamilton goaltender Cedrick Desjardins made 30 saves, helping the Bulldogs move to 3-0-0-1.
ROCKFORD 4, PEORIA 3 (SO)
Derek Nesbitt converted in the ninth shootout round to lift Rockford over visiting Peoria by a 4-3 count at the MetroCentre.
The IceHogs rallied from a 3-0 deficit in regulation. Bryan Bickell scored late in the second period before Matt Keith notched a pair of third-period markers, including the tying goal with 3:54 to play.
Danny Bois, Evan Brophey, and Rob Klinkhammer joined Nesbitt with shootout markers. Rockford goaltender Corey Crawford denied six of Peoria’s nine attempts after making 25 saves through the first 65 minutes.
Yan Stastny (1-1-2), Justin Fletcher, and Brendan Bell all scored to give the Rivermen a 3-0 advantage by the 13:12 mark of the second period.
Peoria got its shootout markers from Lars Eller, Adam Cracknell, and Jonas Junland.
TEXAS 5, HOUSTON 1
Texas scored four times in the second period and cruised to a 5-1 road win over Houston at the Toyota Center.
Tyler Shelast, Perttu Lindgren, Garrett Stafford, and Colton Sceviour all scored for the Stars in the middle frame, and rookie Sergei Korostin added an empty-net tally at 15:15 of the third period.
Travis Morin picked up two assists in the win, and Texas goaltender Brent Krahn stopped 21 of 22 shots in net.
The Stars improved to 4-0-0-1 since suffering a 3-2 loss to San Antonio in their first game on Oct. 2
Jean-Michel Daoust netted the Aeros’ lone goal at 8:17 of the third period.
ABBOTSFORD 2, MILWAUKEE 1
Abbotsford continued its hot start to its inaugural season with a 2-1 win over visiting Milwaukee on Saturday and a sweep of the teams’ two-game weekend set at the Entertainment & Sports Centre.
The Heat struck first when Keith Seabrook scored 13:13 into the opening period, with assists going to Gord Baldwin and Brett Sutter.
After a scoreless middle frame, Sutter extended Abbotsford’s lead to 2-0 at 15:29 of the third. Kris Chucko and Brett Palin picked up the helpers.
Heat goaltender Leland Irving secured the victory with 23 saves on 24 shots. His shutout bid was broken up by Milwaukee’s Dave Scatchard at 19:18 of the third frame.
Abbotsford is now 3-0-2-1 on the young campaign, with a two-game home set against Toronto looming on Tuesday and Wednesday.
