MANITOBA 3, TEXAS 2
In front of a crowd of 11,820 fans at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Brian Salcido and Michael Grabner scored late in the second period and Cory Schneider made 15 of his 34 saves in the third as Manitoba held on for a 3-2 win over visiting Texas.
The Moose opened the scoring 1:59 into the match. Grabner’s initial shot was blocked by goaltender Matt Climie (26 saves), but Marco Rosa smacked in the rebound to put his club in the first lead of the night.
Manitoba didn’t enjoy their lead long, however, as Colton Sceviour danced around two Moose defenders and went top corner on Schneider to get back on even ground 57 seconds later. The Stars found their way to the lead at 13:39 of the second period when Travis Morin beat Schneider under his left goal pad.
Four-on-four hockey paid off for the Moose with 4:00 left in the middle frame. With a feed from Guillaume Desbiens, Salcido drove the puck from inside the blue line and into the mesh to knot the game at 2-2. Grabner then fired a shot from the slot that trickled over the goal line for a 3-2 lead at 19:05.
Texas couldn’t capitalize on three third-period power plays and saw its winless skid reach four games (0-3-0-1).
ALBANY 1, ADIRONDACK 0
Rookie Mike Murphy made 34 saves for the first shutout of his pro career as Albany snapped a three-game skid with a 1-0 win over Adirondack at the Glens Falls Civic Center.
Zach Boychuk provided the game’s only offense at 16:02 of the first period. The rookie forward flew down the left wing on the power play and drove wide of defenseman Logan Stephenson, who hauled down the speedy winger for a tripping penalty. Despite being sent to the ice, Boychuk was able to muscle a shot on goal and poke home his own rebound for the first-round draft pick’s team-leading 11th goal of the season and his third in three games.
Murphy won his fourth straight decision and his eighth of the season to lift Albany to a 19-14-1-2 record this season. He has made at least 30 saves in seven of his last eight starts.
Phantoms goalie Johan Backlund stopped 23 of 24 shots and took the loss, as Adirondack fell to 15-15-2-0 this year.
The Phantoms outshot the River Rats, 34-24, in the game and went 0-for-3 on the power play, while Albany was 1-for-2 on the man advantage.
LAKE ERIE 5, ROCHESTER 1
Darren Haydar, Brian Willsie and Marty Sertich each scored a goal and assist as Lake Erie defeated Rochester, 5-1, for the Monsters’ fifth win in their last six outings.
T.J. Hensick assisted on two goals and Tyler Weiman garnered his 12th win of the season with a 19-save effort between the pipes.
Haydar gave the Monsters a 1-0 lead at 7:44 of the opening period with his team-leading 16th goal of the season. Ryan Stoa and Brian Fahey were each credited with assists on the play. Lake Erie extended its lead to 2-0 just under four minutes later on Willsie’s 10th of the season at the 11:21 mark.
Michal Repik responded with his 10th of the campaign on the power play at 14:00 to cut the Americans’ deficit in half heading into the second stanza. Jamie Johnson collected his team-high 33rd point with an assist on the goal and defenseman Clay Wilson became the American Hockey League’s leader in power-play assists with his 14th helper on the man advantage.
The Monsters regained their two-goal lead as Sertich found the back of the net at 11:37 of the middle frame to make it a 3-1 game. Lake Erie would maintain the two-point cushion heading into the third before Cedric McNicoll scored at 7:53 to increase the lead to 4-1. Stoa rounded out the scoring with his 13th of the year on the power-play at 15:58 to secure the win for Lake Erie, which finished with a 43-20 edge in shots on goal.
WORCESTER 3, PORTLAND 1
Dan DaSilva, Dennis McCauley and Logan Couture each scored for the Worcester Sharks as they skated to a 3-1 win over the Portland Pirates before 5,000 fans at the Cumberland County Civic Center.
Steven Zalewski added a pair of assists for the Sharks, who won their fourth straight to improve to 20-12-0-2 on the season.
Dennis Persson, a first-round draft choice by Buffalo in 2006, netted his first career AHL goal for the lone Pirates goal. Portland dropped to 16-13-4-2 with the loss.
DaSilva opened the scoring for the Sharks scoring midway through the opening period to give the visitors a 1-0 lead after one. Worcester upped the count to 2-0 at 6:58 of the second as McCauley scored on a breakaway. Three minutes later Persson got the Pirates on the board with a power-play goal that caromed into the net off a Sharks player to leave Worcester ahead 2-1 after two. Couture completed the scoring with less than five minutes remaining in the third to ice the victory.
The Sharks outshot the Pirates 29-18 in the game. Alex Stalock made 17 saves for his 12 win in his last 14 decisions and his league-leading 18th victory of the season.
BINGHAMTON 3, NORFOLK 2 (OT)
Brian Lee scored 1:31 into overtime as Binghamton ended a three-game slide with a 3-2 win over Norfolk on New Year’s Eve at the Broome County Arena.
The Senators took a 1-0 lead just 19 seconds into the contest when Brandon Svendsen intercepted an Admirals pass in the left circle of the Norfolk zone, skated into the slot and sent a backhand shot through the leg pads of goaltender Dustin Tokarski (38 saves).
The Admirals tied the game 10:49 into the second stanza. Martins Karsums found his own rebound in the slot and sent a shot from between the hashmarks over the outstretched glove hand of Binghamton goaltender Chris Holt (36 saves) for his fourth goal of the season.
The Senators capitalized on a five-on-three power play less than three minutes later, with captain Denis Hamel sending a slap shot from the high slot through a screen and past Tokarski at 13:14.
The Admirals knotted the score again midway through the third period. Matt Lashoff picked off a clearing attempt in the high slot and sent a slap shot into the net at 9:36 for his second goal of the season.
On the winner, Lee accepted a drop pass in the high slot and skated through the right circle, eluding a sliding defender before sending a forehand shot from below the faceoff dot past Tokarski’s glove.
Dustin Tokarski (41 shots, 38 saves) was saddled with the loss. Chris Holt (38 shots, 36 saves) earned the victory.
Binghamton has now won six of its last seven home dates. Norfolk has lost four straight overall and seven of eight on the road.
HAMILTON 7, GRAND RAPIDS 3
Hamilton scored six times in the second period, tying an AHL season high, and the Bulldogs rolled to a 7-3 win over Grand Rapids at Van Andel Arena.
Ryan White scored just 18 seconds into the game for Hamilton, but it was the Griffins who held the lead at the first intermission after getting goals from Cory Emmerton and Andy Delmore.
Frederic St. Denis (1:17) and P.K. Subban (1:43) scored 26 seconds apart to put the Bulldogs back in front, and Brock Trotter chased starting goaltender Daniel Larsson with his goal at the 5:12 mark. Andre Benoit (9:18), Tom Pyatt (12:29) and Ryan Russell (17:23) scored off Thomas McCollum to make it 7-2 before Larsson returned to the crease.
Pyatt (1g, 3a) and Mathieu Darche (4a) led Hamilton’s offense with four points each. Subban finished with a goal, two assists and a plus-4 rating.
Cedrick Desjardins stopped 13 of 14 shots in relief of Curtis Sanford and improved to 13-4-1 on the season, including 8-0-0 in the month of December.
LOWELL 5, MANCHESTER 2
Lowell scored three times on five shots in the first period and cruised to a 5-2 road victory over Manchester, closing the gap on the first-place Monarchs to six points in the Atlantic Division.
Patrick Davis, Tim Sestito and Tyler Eckford scored in the opening stanza and Alexander Vasyunov and Nathan Perkovich added power-play goals as the Devils improved to 20-13-3-0.
Jeff Frazee made 30 saves for the win, allowing only a shorthanded goal to Corey Elkins with 7:01 remaining and a goal to David Meckler in the final second of the game.
Jonathan Bernier played the final two periods in relief of starter Jeff Zatkoff and stopped 26 of 28 shots.
CHICAGO 4, PEORIA 1
Peter Mannino made 45 saves and shut out Peoria for more than 59 minutes, backstopping Chicago to a 4-0 win in front of 6,067 fans at Carver Arena on Thursday evening.
Mannino (7-2-0) stopped 12 shots in the first period, 11 in the second and 22 more in the third for his fourth consecutive victory. He allowed only a power-play goal by Julian Talbot with 38 seconds remaining.
Joey Crabb recorded a goal and an assist and Tim Stapleton, Kevin Doell and Brett Sterling also scored for the Wolves, who have outscored the Rivermen 7-2 in two meetings this season.
Ben Bishop finished with 26 saves for Peoria and lost for just the second time in his last 10 decisions.
ROCKFORD 5, HOUSTON 4 (OT)
Jack Skille capped a three-point night with a power-play goal at 1:13 of overtime, giving Rockford a 5-4 victory over visiting Houston at the MetroCentre.
Skille assisted on goals by Mike Brennan with 10:00 remaining and by Mark Cullen with 4:39 to go as the IceHogs rallied from a 4-2 deficit.
Adam Hobson and Jake Dowell also scored for Rockford, which moved to 12-6-1-0 at home this season.
Jon DiSalvatore led the Aeros with two goals and an assist, the only player in the AHL to score twice on a night that featured 52 goals in nine games. Nathan Smith had a goal and an assist and
Chad Rau picked up his eighth goal of the season. Maxim Noreau and Jean-Michel Daoust each notched two assists for Houston.
Rockford finished with a 34-18 edge in shots for the game.
