Wolves double Peoria, continue surge

Tuesday’s AHL Boxscores

CHICAGO 4, PEORIA 2
Chicago tallied a pair of third-period goals to break a 2-2 tie and claim a 4-2 win over visiting Peoria at Allstate Arena on Tuesday.

Joey Crabb scored twice for the Wolves, who extended their points streak to seven games (5-0-0-2) and moved to 17-3-0-2 in their last 22 contests.

With 64 points overall, Chicago moved into a tie with Milwaukee for third place in the West Division, just one point back of Texas and Rockford for the division’s top spot.

Defenseman Jonas Junland tallied a power play goal to put the Rivermen ahead at 6:40 of the first period, but the Wolves took a 2-1 lead into intermission on goals by Riley Holzapfel and Crabb, the latter on the power play.

Peoria forward Brett Sonne notched the only goal of the second period, making it a 2-2 tilt heading into the final 20 minutes.

Wolves defenseman Paul Postma snapped the deadlock on the power play 13:01 into the third frame, and Crabb sealed the win with an empty-netter in the closing minute.

Matt Anderson chipped in three assists for Chicago, and goaltender Peter Mannino made 22 saves to improve to 15-3-0 on the season.

Peoria finished 1-3-0-0 on a four-game road swing and will return to Carver Arena for a two-game set against San Antonio this weekend.

ABBOTSFORD 4, TORONTO 3 (SO)
Abbotsford tallied three power play goals to rally from a 3-0 deficit and then prevailed in an eight-round shootout, emerging with a 4-3 win over Toronto on Tuesday at the Entertainment & Sports Centre.

David Van der Gulik notched the game-winning marker in the eighth round for the Heat, after Brett Sutter had converted in round number two. Heat goaltender Matt Keetley, who stopped all 11 shots he faced in relief, denied seven of Toronto’s eight shootout tries.

The Marlies jumped out to a 3-0 edge by the game’s midpoint on goals by Kyle Calder, Ashton Rome, and Greg Scott, with Andre Deveaux picking up a pair of assists.

Winger Shawn Weller began Abbotsford’s comeback with a power play strike at 15:11 of the second period, notching his first goal of the season.

Defenseman Gord Baldwin brought the Heat within a goal just 1:28 into the third period, and Cam Cunning, who assisted on Baldwin’s marker, tallied the equalizer with 5:02 to play in regulation.

The victory gave Abbotsford a split of the teams’ two-game set – both sides won in a shootout – and moved the Heat two points ahead of Lake Erie for the North Division’s fourth and final playoff spot.

GRAND RAPIDS 2, TEXAS 1
Grand Rapids tallied a pair of first-period goals and held on for a 2-1 win road win over Texas on Tuesday at the Cedar Park Center.

2010 AHL All-Star Patrick Rissmiller gave the Griffins a 1-0 lead with a power play strike 5:46 into the contest, and Francis Pare’s 11th goal of the season made it 2-0 at 16:04.

It remained a 2-0 contest through the second period and most of the third until Texas defenseman Trevor Ludwig broke through against Griffins goaltender Daniel Larsson at 15:58 of the third period.

But Larsson held the fort the rest of the way, finishing with 30 saves in the winning effort. A 2009 AHL All-Star, Larsson stopped 23 of 24 shots over the final two periods alone.

The Griffins won for the second time in their last three games and will continue their swing through the Lone Star State with a pair of contests in Houston this weekend.

Texas, which hosts Chicago for a two-game set this weekend, dropped to 1-3-0-0 in its last four outings.