NORFOLK 1, LOWELL 0
Norfolk completed an impressive opening leg to its seven-game road trip with a 1-0 road win over Lowell at Tsongas Arena on Sunday. Goaltender Dustin Tokarski pitched a 24-save shutout for the Admirals, who captured their third win in as many days.
Under new head coach Jim Johnson, the Admirals have won three straight games for the first time since Dec. 12-16. Norfolk previously defeated Springfield on Friday and Manchester on Saturday.
The contest was scoreless through the first two periods and half of the third, but Norfolk forward Dana Tyrell finally broke the deadlock with his first goal of the season with 7:16 to play in regulation. Ryan Craig and Adam Hall picked up assists on the play.
Tokarski earned his third shutout of the season and improved his record to 13-13-0.
The Devils, who were blanked at home for the first time this season, saw their four-game points streak (3-0-0-1) come to an end.
CHICAGO 5, GRAND RAPIDS 1
Joey Crabb notched a pair of goals as Chicago bounced back from a loss at Peoria on Saturday to post a 5-1 win over visiting Grand Rapids before 7,506 fans at Allstate Arena on Sunday. The Wolves improved to 8-1-0-0 in their last nine contests.
Crabb, who registered the eventual game-winning tally, has now found the scoresheet in seven of his last eight contests (5-5-10).
Tim Stapleton and Spencer Machacek each recorded a goal and an assist for Chicago, and Jason Krog also found the back of the net.
Wolves forward Matt Anderson chipped in a pair of assists, and goaltender Peter Mannino earned the victory with 26 saves on 27 shots in net.
Jeremy Williams scored for the Griffins, whose losing skid extended to four games.
MANCHESTER 6, HARTFORD 1
Manchester continued its domination of Hartford on home ice Sunday with a 6-1 win over the Wolf Pack at the Verizon Wireless Arena.
The Monarchs finished 4-0-0-0 against Hartford at home this season and outscored the Wolf Pack by a combined total of 19-4 in the four victories.
Manchester forward Bud Holloway tallied a pair of power play goals in the first period and later added an assist for a three-point effort. Rookie Corey Elkins and defenseman Andrew Campbell each put up a goal and a helper in the win, and Gabe Gauthier rounded out the offense.
David Meckler contributed two assists for the Monarchs, and 2010 AHL All-Star goaltender Jonathan Bernier earned the win with 22 saves in net.
Corey Locke notched the Wolf Pack’s lone goal of the night, as Hartford dropped to 1-2-1-0 in its last four contests.
MILWAUKEE 4, SAN ANTONIO 3 (SO)
Mike Santorelli tallied two goals in regulation and added a successful shootout try to propel Milwaukee to a 4-3 road shootout win over San Antonio at the AT&T Center.
Santorelli notched his team-leading 14th and 15th goals of the season in the first and second periods, respectively, to give the Admirals a 2-0 lead.
But the Rampage came back to tie it in the second frame on a pair of special teams markers. 2010 AHL All-Star defenseman Sean Sullivan scored shorthanded at the 5:38 mark, and forward Matt Watkins converted a power play with 1:04 to play in the stanza.
After Andreas Thuresson put Milwaukee back on top early in the third frame, David Schlemko sent the game to overtime with another power play strike for San Antonio.
Wacey Rabbit’s seventh-round shootout goal proved to be the difference for the Admirals, who improved to 8-2-0-0 in their last 10 contests. Ads goaltender Chet Pickard stopped six of seven shootout tries after making 33 saves through the first 65 minutes.
Rampage goaltender Justin Pogge made 44 saves in the losing effort.
SYRACUSE 4, TORONTO 3 (SO)
Toronto staged a third-period rally to salvage a point, but Syracuse emerged with a 4-3 shootout win over the Marlies on Sunday at Ricoh Coliseum.
The Crunch built a 3-1 lead by the 14:03 mark of the third period on a pair of goals by Tomas Kana and one from Derek MacKenzie, with a Toronto goal from Stefano Giliati mixed in between.
But Toronto roared back with two goals in a 22-second span late in the third frame. Brendan Mikkelson scored at 14:58, and Andre Deveaux followed with his team-leading 12th goal of the season at 15:20.
Former Marlie Brendan Bell joined Kana in potting shootout goals for the Crunch, and goaltender Kevin Lalande stopped four of Toronto’s five tries after making 31 saves through regulation and overtime.
Tim Brent notched Toronto’s lone goal of the shootout.
PROVIDENCE 3, SPRINGFIELD 0
Providence snapped a three-game winless skid (0-2-1-0) with a 3-0 win over visiting Springfield on Sunday before 6,931 fans at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.
Bruins goaltender Dany Sabourin (18-15-0) stopped all 26 shots he faced to pick up his second shutout of the season and first since a 35-save blanking of Lowell on Dec. 11.
The game was scoreless until Zach Hamill broke the deadlock with 1:50 to play in the second period, and Providence received third-period insurance markers from Jeff LoVecchio and Jamie Arniel.
Providence collected just its third win in its last 10 games (3-5-2-0) and moved within four points of a playoff position in the Atlantic Division race.
The Falcons suffered their first shutout since a 2-0 setback at Bridgeport on Dec. 20.
ROCHESTER 3, ADIRONDACK 1
Rochester recovered from a 1-0 second-period deficit to pull away with a 3-1 win over visiting Adirondack on Sunday at the Blue Cross Arena.
After a scoreless first period, the Phantoms got on the board when Jason Ward netted his seventh goal of the season at 10:14 of the second frame.
But 2010 AHL All-Star captain Graham Mink tied it for Rochester just 24 seconds later, and Michal Repik put the Americans on top for good with a shorthanded marker 2:52 into the third period.
Repik added an empty-netter in the game’s closing seconds, and Amerks goaltender Alexander Salak stopped 24 of 25 shots in the winning effort.
Rochester improved to 5-1-0-0 in its last six outings since suffering a five-game losing skid from Dec. 30 to Jan. 9.
The Phantoms are now winless in three straight contests (0-2-0-1).
