Sunday’s Boxscores
NORFOLK 5, PORTLAND 1
Radek Smolenak scored a pair of goals, part of four unanswered markers by Norfolk en route to a 5-1 victory over host Portland on Sunday at the Cumberland County Civic Center.
Admirals goaltender Jonathan Boutin stopped 29 of 30 shots in the victory and moved over .500 for the season at 12-11-3. Norfolk improved to 10-3-1-2 in its last 16 contests.
Junior Lessard notched a goal and a helper for the Admirals, and Norm Milley tallied the game-winner in the second period, giving him 18 goals for the season and three in his last two games.
Norfolk’s Jay Rosehill also scored, while Mario Scalzo and rookie Paul Szczechura contributed a pair of assists apiece. Szczechura now has 21 points (11-10-21) in 18 games since joining the Admirals.
Petteri Wirtanen lit the lamp for the Pirates, who will host Norfolk for a rematch on Tuesday.
SPRINGFIELD 7, WORCESTER 4
Grant Potulny notched four goals – his first tallies as a Falcon – part of a season-high seven markers for Springfield in a 7-4 road win over Worcester at the DCU Center.
Potulny, acquired from Hershey last week and playing in his third game for the Falcons, scored three straight goals to turn a 1-1 tie into a 4-1 Springfield lead by the 15:31 mark of the second period. He added another marker in the final stanza, becoming the third AHL player this season to score four goals in a game.
Additionally, Potulny became the second player in the Falcons’ 14-year history to notch a four-goal game, joining 1998 AHL All-Star and current Philadelphia Flyers forward Daniel Briere.
Liam Reddox posted four points (1-3-4) and was plus-4 for the Falcons, and Marc Pouliot added three points (1-2-3). Goaltender Jeff Deslauriers picked up the win with 28 saves.
Graham Mink had a goal and an assist for the Sharks, who also received markers from Devin Setoguchi and 2008 AHL All-Star Mike Iggulden.
Worcester fell to 0-6-1-0 in its last seven games.
ALBANY 2, BRIDGEPORT 1 (SO)
Defenseman Bryan Rodney scored the lone shootout goal for either side as Albany eked out a 2-1 win over host Bridgeport at the Arena at Harbor Yard.
Fellow blueliner Mark Flood netted a power play marker late in the first period to give the River Rats a 1-0 advantage.
After a scoreless second period, Bridgeport’s Jeff Tambellini notched a power play marker 9:12 into the third. The goal was Tambellini’s 29th of the season, tying him for the league lead.
Rodney scored in the shootout’s third round, and River Rats goaltender Michael Leighton denied all five Sound Tiger attempts after making 26 saves through the first 65 minutes.
Albany captured its third win in as many days.
HAMILTON 3, TORONTO 1
Mikhail Grabovski’s power play goal at 15:06 of the first period held up as the game-winner as Hamilton posted a 3-1 road win over Toronto before a sellout crowd of 8,120 at Ricoh Coliseum.
Hamilton’s Duncan Milroy opened the game’s scoring at 11:19 of the first period, but the Marlies tied 2:22 later on a shorthanded goal by Alex Foster, setting up Grabovski’s winner.
The game remained 2-1 until late in the third, when Grabovski added an empty-netter for his second goal of the game.
Bulldogs goaltender Jaroslav Halak only had to make 14 saves in the victory, which improved Hamilton to 6-0-1-0 in its last seven contests. The Bulldogs remained one point back of Manitoba for second place in the North Division.
LOWELL 3, HARTFORD 2 (SO)
Mike Pandolfo scored in the 11th round of a marathon shootout to give Lowell a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over visiting Hartford at the Tsongas Arena.
Entering the third period down 2-0, the Devils received goals from Ryan Murphy and Richard Matvichuk to tie the score.
Hartford’s Lauri Korpikoski and Lowell’s Benoit Mondou each scored in the shootout’s second round, but no one else on either side lit the lamp until Pandolfo’s 11th-round winner.
Devils goaltender Frank Doyle picked up the win with 27 saves through regulation and overtime, and 10 stops in the shootout. The Wolf Pack’s Miika Wiikman made 29 saves in the defeat.
Korpikoski also scored in regulation for Hartford, as did rookie Artem Anisimov.
HERSHEY 3, WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 2
Jay Beagle broke a 2-2 tie with just 19.5 seconds left in regulation to cap a thrilling final three minutes and give Hershey a 3-2 victory over visiting Wilkes-Barre/Scranton before 10,670 fans at the Giant Center.
The teams were tied 1-1 entering the late stages of the third period, and Hershey’s Kyle Wilson netted a power play goal with at 17:41 to put the Bears on top.
But with Bears defenseman Josef Boumedienne in the penalty box and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton goaltender John Curry on the bench, Jean-Michel Daoust tallied the equalizer for the Penguins with just 1:07 on the clock.
Just 47 seconds after that, Beagle tipped a slapshot by Jonathan Paiement past Curry for the game-winner, avoiding overtime.
The goal made a winner of Bears netminder Daren Machesney, who stopped 33 shots and improved to 11-0-2 at home this season.
CHICAGO 3, IOWA 1
A pair of power play goals sent Chicago on its way to a 3-1 victory over visiting Iowa before 10,105 fans at the Allstate Arena.
Alexandre Giroux and Darren Haydar notched the man-advantage markers for the Wolves, with AHL leading scorer Jason Krog (25-52-77) assisting on both. Jesse Schultz padded the lead with an even strength goal.
Wolves rookie goaltender Ondrej Pavelec made 25 saves, improving to 8-1-0 in his last nine starts with a 1.10 GAA over that span.
Stars winger Chris Conner tallied a shorthanded goal in the third period, breaking up Pavelec’s shutout bid.
MANITOBA 4, PEORIA 2
Manitoba took a 3-0 lead and withstood a late Peoria rally on its way to a 3-2 road victory over the Rivermen at Carver Arena.
Brad Moran scored in the first period for the Moose, while Colby Genoway and Jannik Hansen added third-period markers to build the advantage.
Peoria attempted a comeback, as Cam Keith made it 3-1 at 13:49 and Trent Whitfield scored at 17:36.
But Manitoba’s Rick Rypien tallied an empty-net power play goal at 19:59 to seal the victory. Moose rookie goaltender Cory Schneider earned the win with 30 saves on 32 shots.
Manitoba completed a four-game road trip at 3-1-0-0, allowing only five goals in the four games combined.
ROCKFORD 2, MILWAUKEE 0
Troy Brouwer and Derek Nesbitt tallied goals to lead Rockford past visiting Milwaukee by a 2-0 final at the MetroCentre.
IceHogs goaltender Wade Flaherty made 17 saves, picking up his first shutout of the campaign. Flaherty defeated Milwaukee, with whom he won the 2004 Calder Cup, for the second time in three days.
Brouwer tallied his team-leading 26th goal in the first period, and Nesbitt added a second-period marker.
The teams will square off for a rematch on Wednesday in Rockford, which will be their fourth meeting in an 11-day span.
SAN ANTONIO 4, LAKE ERIE 2
Jon DiSalvatore netted a pair of goals and Bill Thomas scored the game-winner as San Antonio doubled up Lake Erie by a 4-2 final at the AT&T Center.
Wyatt Smith and Brent Kelly lit the lamp to give the Monsters a 2-1 lead by the game’s halfway point. But Murley tied the score at 13:38 of the second period, and Thomas made it 3-2 for the Rampage at 17:28.
DiSalvatore sealed the win with an empty-netter in the game’s closing minute. San Antonio’s Travis Roche picked up three assists, and goaltender Josh Tordjman earned the win with 26 saves.
The Rampage remained two points behind Rockford for second place in the West Division with two games in hand on the IceHogs.
HOUSTON 4, ROCHESTER 0
Barry Brust made 24 saves for his first shutout of the season as Houston cruised past host Rochester, 4-0, at the Blue Cross Arena.
Houston defenseman Brandon Rogers provided all the offense the Aeros would need with a power play goal at 5:35 of the second period. It marked his first goal since Mar. 31, 2006, with Norfolk.
Marco Rosa, Benoit Pouliot, and Serge Payer also scored for the Aeros. Jon Awe and Morten Madsen chipped in a pair of assists apiece.
Houston won its third straight game and climbed into a three-way tie for fifth place in the West Division along with Milwaukee and Quad City. The trio sits just one point back of fourth-place Peoria.
QUAD CITY 6, GRAND RAPIDS 1
Kris Chucko and Krys Kolanos each tallied two goals and added two assists, leading Quad City to a 6-1 win over visiting Grand Rapids at the I Wireless Center.
Chucko, who along with Kolanos was plus-4 in the contest, scored the eventual game-winner at 1:01 of the second period, at the time giving the Flames a 2-1 edge.
Tomi Maki and David Van der Gulik also lit the lamp for Quad City, and goaltender Curtis McElhinney made 28 saves in the victory.
His only blemish was a first-period power play goal by the Griffins’ Ryan Oulahen.
The Flames are tied with Milwaukee and Houston with 65 points, good for fifth place in the West Division race. Peoria ranks fourth with 66 points.
