PORTLAND 3, PROVIDENCE 0
David Leggio made 28 saves for his third shutout of the year as Portland snapped a three-game losing streak with a 3-0 win over Providence at the Cumberland County Civic Center on Tuesday night.
Portland, now three points ahead of Manchester atop the Atlantic Division, improved to 8-1-1-1 against the Bruins this season.
The Pirates stormed out of the gates for two goals in the first 5:22 of the game. Dennis McCauley redirected a shot from Nick Crawford past Providence goaltender Anton Khudobin at the 3:30 mark, and Nick Tuzzolino scored his first career AHL goal less than two minutes later.
There would be no more scoring until T.J. Brennan iced the game with an empty-net goal at 19:05 of the third period.
The loss mathematically eliminated the Bruins from playoff contention, leaving five teams – Charlotte, Norfolk, Binghamton, Connecticut and Worcester – in the hunt for the final four spots in the Eastern Conference postseason draw.
ALBANY 6, ADIRONDACK 2
Ryan Ginand had a goal and two assists to pace Albany past Adirondack, 6-2, at the Times Union Center on Tuesday.
The Devils are 6-3-0-1 against the rival Phantoms with two meetings remaining this season.
Ginand, a second-year pro out of Northeastern University, has four points in two games with Albany after being recalled from Trenton (ECHL) last week.
Brad Mills scored twice for the Devils, Nathan Perkovich recorded a goal and an assist and Alexander Vasyunov, Matt Anderson and Chris Murray notched two assists apiece. Adam Henrique scored his 24th goal of the season for Albany, one off the AHL lead among rookies, and defenseman Joe Sova notched his first professional goal.
Matt Read and Harry Zolnierczyk scored for the Phantoms. Read, who just completed his senior season at Bemidji State University, has two goals in four games with Adirondack; Zolnierczyk now has three goals and an assist in 11 AHL games after finishing at Brown University earlier this month.
Jeff Frazee stopped 33 of 35 shots to get the win for the Devils.
HAMILTON 3, ABBOTSFORD 1
Hamilton’s top line of Nigel Dawes (1g, 1a), Aaron Palushaj (1g, 1a) and Dustin Boyd (2a) had two points each to lead Hamilton to a 3-1 victory over Abbotsford at Copps Coliseum.
The Bulldogs, with points in four straight games (2-0-1-1), opened up a four-point lead over fourth-place Toronto in the North Division.
Dawes’s goal, his league-leading 35th of the season, opened the scoring at 14:48 of the first period, and Palushaj broke a 1-1 tie at 8:22 of the second. J.T. Wyman capped the scoring with an empty-netter late in the third. Drew MacIntyre finished with 37 saves for the Bulldogs.
Jon Rheault had the only goal for the Heat, who are winless in their last three games (0-2-0-1) and remain five points behind Chicago for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
The teams meet again Wednesday night.
MANITOBA 3, ROCHESTER 2
Bill Sweatt‘s second goal of the game came with 33 seconds left in regulation and sent Manitoba to a 3-2 victory over Rochester at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg.
The victory moved the Moose back into a tie with Lake Erie for first place in the North Division.
Jason Jaffray, who suffered a knee injury in training camp back in September, made his season debut and scored a power-play goal for the Moose 2:42 into the game.
Yann Sauve recorded two assists for Manitoba, and Eddie Lack (27-19-3) made 22 saves for his third straight win.
Eric Selleck and Bill Thomas scored for Rochester, which was outshot 46-24. Marc Cheverie stopped 43 shots in the loss.
The teams square off again on Wednesday night.
