Streaks alive… Phantoms win again

In just his fifth start of the season, Neil Little made 40 saves to backstop Philadelphia to a 3-1 win over Hershey on Saturday night, the Phantoms’ AHL-record 17th consecutive victory.

It was also Philadelphia’s 16th straight win over the Bears, also believed to be an AHL record for consecutive victories over a single opponent.

The score was tied at 1-1 before Mark Murphy and Tony Voce scored 49 seconds apart midway through the second period.

Little, a former Bears goaltender, stopped 19 shots in the first, 12 in the second and nine in the third to improve to 5-0-0 on the year.

Philadelphia can extend its own record on Sunday, going for win number 18 in Syracuse. The previous mark was held by the Baltimore Skipjacks, who win 16 in a row during the 1984-85 season.

Elsewhere on Saturday:
Alex Auld returned from the injured list and made 40 saves, while Ryan Kesler scored with 12 seconds remaining in regulation and again with two seconds left in overtime, as Manitoba edged Milwaukee, 2-1… Eric Manlow scored the winner for Grand Rapids in a 3-2 overtime victory over Chicago… Joffrey Lupul and Joel Perrault scored late in the third period to lift Cincinnati past Cleveland, 4-2… Brad Moran scored 1:12 into overtime as Syracuse beat Albany, 3-2… Mike Stuart and Johnny Pohl scored in the third period of Worcester’s 4-2 win over Bridgeport… Manchester won for the 10th straight time and the 17th time in 18 games, rallying from two goals down in the third period to beat Springfield, 4-3, on Matt Ryan‘s overtime goal… After the Pirates had allowed 27 goals in four games, Portland got 30 saves from Maxime Ouellet in a 2-1 shootout win over Norfolk… Jason LaBarbera made 33 saves as Hartford beat Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 4-2, for the Penguins’ first regulation loss in 14 games (8-1-3-2)… Derek Roy capped a four-point night with a goal at 4:08 of overtime, giving Rochester a 4-3 win over Binghamton… Hannu Toivonen made 40 saves as Providence beat Lowell, 3-1… Ben Ondrus scored twice to lead St. John’s over Hamilton, 4-1.

Philadelphia’s 17-game winning streak, a new AHL record:

Game Date Opponent Result
1 Oct. 22 vs. Hamilton W, 5-3
2 Oct. 23 at Hershey W, 3-2 (OT)
3 Oct. 27 vs. Bridgeport W, 5-0
4 Oct. 29 at Hamilton W, 4-1
5 Nov. 3 vs. Cincinnati W, 4-2
6 Nov. 5 vs. Hershey W, 4-1
7 Nov. 7 vs. Cincinnati W, 3-1
8 Nov. 12 vs. W-B/Scranton W, 3-2 (SO)
9 Nov. 13 at Binghamton W, 3-2
10 Nov. 14 vs. Norfolk W, 3-2 (OT)
11 Nov. 17 vs. Binghamton W, 2-1 (SO)
12 Nov. 19 vs. Bridgeport W, 3-1
13 Nov. 20 at Albany W, 4-3 (OT)
14 Nov. 21 at Providence W, 4-3 (OT)
15 Nov. 24 vs. Providence W, 4-1
16 Nov. 26 vs. Hershey W, 4-2
17 Nov. 27 at Hershey W, 3-1