MILWAUKEE 4, PEORIA 1
Mike Santorelli registered a goal and an assist as Milwaukee secured the West Division’s final playoff spot with a 4-1 home-ice win over Peoria on Tuesday afternoon.
The Admirals, who won the Calder Cup in 2004 and reached the Finals in 2006, advance to postseason play for the eighth consecutive year.
Peoria, which was eliminated from contention with the regulation loss, will miss the playoffs for the third time in the last four seasons.
After a scoreless first period, Andreas Thuresson gave the Admirals a 1-0 lead at 4:40 of the second frame, with assists going to Santorelli and Dave Scatchard.
Chris Mueller made it 2-0 in favor of Milwaukee 7:32 into the third period, and Santorelli gave the Admirals a 3-0 bulge with his 25th goal of the year less than four minutes later.
After AHL All-Rookie forward Lars Eller buried a power play marker to put the Rivermen on the board, Teemu Laakso sealed the Admirals’ victory with an empty-netter at 18:43.
Santorelli, who leads Milwaukee in both goals (25) and points (57) in just 54 games, has found the scoresheet in six straight games (3-6-9) and 11 of his last 12 contests (5-10-15).
Admirals goaltender Mark Dekanich picked up the win with 24 saves on 25 shots, improving to 26-16-4 on the campaign.
SYRACUSE 3, HERSHEY 1
Syracuse tallied a trio of power play goals against the AHL’s top-ranked penalty-killing unit and earned a 3-1 win over visiting Hershey on Tuesday at the Onondaga County War Memorial.
The Crunch managed to salvage one victory in their six-game season series with the league-leading Bears, finishing 1-5-0-0, and handed Hershey just its third loss in 12 contests overall (9-3-0-0).
Maksim Mayorov had a hand in all three goals for Syracuse. He opened the scoring at 15:21 of the first period and then assisted on a second-period marker by Tom Sestito and a third-period goal off the stick of Tyler Murovich, who scored for the first time as a pro.
Syracuse finished 3-for-7 on the power play against a Hershey squad that entered the night having killed off 88.0 percent of opponent man advantages for the season.
Defenseman Brent Regner chipped in two assists for the Crunch, and goaltender Dan Taylor came up big with 41 saves on 42 shots, stopping 21 of 22 shots in the third period alone.
Zach Miskovic registered the Bears’ lone goal of the night. Hershey will wrap up the regular season with a pair of games in Norfolk this weekend.
TEXAS 3, SAN ANTONIO 1
Texas registered a pair of third-period goals to break a 1-1 tie and post a 3-1 win over visiting San Antonio on Tuesday at the Cedar Park Center.
With their 15th win in 19 games (15-4-0-0), the Stars closed to within two points of idle Chicago for first place in the West Division, though the Wolves now hold a game in hand.
Stars rookie Colton Sceviour tallied the eventual game-winning goal at 10:55 of the third period, and Francis Wathier provided insurance with an unassisted marker just over three minutes later.
Wathier finished with two points on the night (1-1-2), having assisted on a first-period strike by rookie Sergei Korostin. That gave Texas an early 1-0 lead, but San Antonio captain Jeff Hoggan tied it up in the early stages of the second frame.
Texas goaltender Brent Krahn stopped all 17 shots in the first period before giving way to Richard Bachman, who turned aside 25 of 26 shots over the final 40 minutes.
The Rampage, whose three-game points streak (2-0-1-0) ended, had been eliminated from playoff contention on Tuesday afternoon when Milwaukee defeated Peoria.
MANITOBA 2, HAMILTON 1
Manitoba rallied for a pair of third-period goals to pull out a 2-1 road win over Hamilton on Tuesday in a potential first-round playoff preview at Copps Coliseum.
Rookie Evan Oberg tied the game with a power play goal 3:13 into the third frame, and fellow rookie Sergei Shirokov notched the eventual game-winner just 3:47 later.
Shirokov picked up an assist on Oberg’s marker, and Moose leading scorer Marco Rosa helped out on both goals.
Manitoba goaltender Cory Schneider made 34 saves on 35 shots to earn his 33rd victory of the season (33-23-2).
Maxime Lacroix tallied his first AHL goal of the season for the Bulldogs, who have clinched the North Division crown and would currently open the playoffs against the fourth-place Moose.
Manitoba, however, is now just two points back of Abbotsford for third place in the division.
ROCKFORD 3, HOUSTON 1
Mark Cullen netted a pair of goals as Rockford captured a 3-1 road win over Houston on Tuesday at the Toyota Center.
Cullen netted his first goal for the IceHogs since Feb. 3 vs. Grand Rapids and recorded his first multiple-goal performance since scoring twice against Toronto on Jan. 6. The former Calder Cup champion remains atop the team scoring list with 50 points (19-31-50) in 60 games this season.
Rockford forward Jack Skille also found the back of the net to snap a seven-game points drought, while Matt Keith and Pete MacArthur each chipped in a pair of assists.
Goaltender Corey Crawford earned the win with 22 saves for the IceHogs, who maintained a three-point edge on Milwaukee for third place in the West Division.
Houston received its lone goal of the night from Jean-Michel Daoust in the closing minute of the second period.
