BINGHAMTON 6, SYRACUSE 3
Binghamton captain Denis Hamel notched two goals, including the game-winner, and added an assist as the Senators doubled up visiting Syracuse by a 6-3 final on Friday at the Broome County Arena.
With the victory, Binghamton moved to 5-0-1-1 in its last seven games and jumped ahead of Hershey into fourth place in the tight East Division standings.
Hamel, who will also captain this year’s Canadian AHL All-Star team, broke a 3-3 tie at 3:28 of the third period and added an empty-netter at 18:49.
He assisted on Nick Foligno’s first goal of the season in the second stanza. The three-point effort was one below Hamel’s season high and came in his second game back after missing 13 contests due to injury.
Shawn Weller had a game-high four points (1-3-4) for the Senators, while Justin Mapletoft and Lawrence Nycholat also scored. Alexander Nikulin chipped in with three assists.
Zenon Konopka scored twice for the Crunch, and Derek MacKenzie also lit the lamp.
ALBANY 4, HERSHEY 2
Albany scored twice in the third period to take a 4-2 win over visiting Hershey at the Times Union Center.
With the score knotted at 2-2, River Rats center Jordan Fox tallied his second of the season at 12:26, and leading scorer Keith Aucoin provided insurance on the power play at 16:05.
Each team netted two goals in the second period. Jakub Petruzalek and Brandon Nolan gave Albany a 2-0 lead, but the Bears came back on a pair of tallies by Chris Bourque.
River Rats goaltender John Grahame made 32 saves in the win, which was Albany’s first over the Bears at the Times Union Center since Mar. 28, 2004, snapping a 13-game skid.
BRIDGEPORT 2, PHILADELPHIA 1 (SO)
Trevor Smith and Jeff Tambellini netted shootout goals to push visiting Bridgeport past Philadelphia by a 2-1 final at the Wachovia Spectrum.
Frans Nielsen scored in regulation for the Sound Tigers, notching a second-period goal to tie the score at 1-1. Philadelphia’s Pete Zingoni netted a goal in the opening period.
Sound Tigers goaltender Wade Dubielewicz, on a conditioning assignment from the parent New York Islanders, picked up the win in his first AHL appearance since Mar. 28, 2007.
Dubielewicz made 29 saves through regulation and overtime, and he denied four of five Philadelphia attempts in the shootout.
WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 3, NORFOLK 1
Kurtis McLean scored a pair of goals and added an assist to lead Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to a 3-1 road win over Norfolk at the Scope.
McLean tallied his 12th and 13th markers of the season, scoring once each in the second and third periods.
Tim Brent also lit the lamp for the Penguins, and rookie goaltender David Brown earned the win with 19 saves.
Radek Smolenak tallied Norfolk’s lone goal as the Admirals fell to 1-14-0-1 in their last 16 games.
PROVIDENCE 7, LOWELL 1
Aaron Slattengren tallied the first two goals of his AHL career and Providence cruised to a 7-1 win over visiting Lowell at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.
Slattengren scored a pair of power play markers in the first period, a stanza in which the Bruins outscored the Devils 3-0 and outshot them 18-3 on their way to a final advantage of 37-17.
Matt Hendricks (2-1-3) and Martins Karsums (1-2-3) each had three points for the Bruins, who also received goals from Jeff Hoggan and Sean Curry.
Rookie goaltender Tuukka Rask made 16 saves, helping the Bruins improve to 6-1-0 against Lowell this season.
Benoit Mondou scored a power play goal in the third period for the Devils.
PORTLAND 4, WORCESTER 3 (SO)
Portland’s Geoff Platt scored once in regulation and twice in a shootout as Portland spoiled Worcester’s rally with a 4-3 road win at the DCU Center.
After Lukas Kaspar gave Worcester a 1-0 lead just 54 seconds into the game, the Pirates scored three straight goals, off the sticks of Simon Ferguson, Stephen Dixon, and Platt.
With his team trailing 3-1 entering the third stanza, Sharks leading scorer Mike Iggulden potted an unassisted marker at 4:22 and tallied the equalizer on the power play at 13:51.
Iggulden also scored twice in the shootout for the Sharks, but it wasn’t enough, as Portland’s Bobby Ryan netted the decisive goal in the seventh round.
Portland moved to 5-0-0-1 in its last six games and 8-1-0-1 in its last 10 outings.
SPRINGFIELD 3, HARTFORD 1
Springfield scored once in each period and overcame a 36-19 shots disadvantage to defeat visiting Hartford, 3-1, at the MassMutual Center.
Troy Bodie, Jean-Francois Jacques, and Tom Sestito scored for the Falcons, and goaltender Jeff Deslauriers earned the win with 35 saves on 36 shots.
Jacques’ goal at 5:09 of the second period, a sizzling slap shot from the left point, held up as the game-winner.
The Wolf Pack received their lone goal from Ryan Callahan in the opening period. Hartford saw its four-game winning streak come to an end.
GRAND RAPIDS 3, ROCHESTER 1
Mark Hartigan factored into all three goals, scoring two and posting an assist, to lead Grand Rapids to a 3-1 win over visiting Rochester at the Van Andel Arena.
Hartigan, who also had a game-high seven shots on goal, tallied his team-leading 18th and 19th goals of the season in a 2:05 span during the opening period.
Jamie Tardif made it 3-0 Griffins with a power play marker late in the second period.
Griffins goaltender Jimmy Howard picked up the win with 22 saves on 23 shots.
Rochester’s Franklin MacDonald scored his first career AHL goal with 20 seconds left in the game, breaking up Howard’s shutout bid.
Amerks netminder Tyler Plante made 38 saves in the losing effort.
PEORIA 2, MANITOBA 1
Peoria scored twice in the second period on its way to a 2-1 win over host Manitoba and a sweep of the teams’ two-game set at the MTS Centre.
The Rivermen extended their winning streak to nine games, matching Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the longest in the AHL this season.
Chris Porter and Ryan Glenn scored in the second period for Peoria, turning a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead that would hold up for the remainder of the game.
Rivermen goaltender Chris Beckford-Tseu stopped 31 of 32 shots and won his fifth straight start.
Greg Classen scored for the Moose, who dropped their sixth straight game.
HAMILTON 5, SAN ANTONIO 2
A three-goal third period lifted Hamilton to a 5-2 win over host San Antonio at the AT&T Center.
Eric Manlow, Kyle Chipchura, and Matt D’Agostini all scored in the final stanza for the Bulldogs, turning a 2-2 game into a 5-2 lead.
Corey Locke had three points (1-2-3) for Hamilton after being added to the Canadian AHL All-Star team roster earlier in the day.
Bulldogs winger Greg Stewart also scored, and goaltender Yann Danis picked up the win with 30 saves.
Enver Lisin and David Spina notched goals for the Rampage, both coming in the second period.
MANCHESTER 1, MILWAUKEE 0
Goaltender Daniel Taylor made 30 saves for his first professional shutout as Manchester edged host Milwaukee by a 1-0 final at the Bradley Center in the teams’ first-ever meeting.
Monarchs winger Petr Kanko scored the game’s lone goal in the second period, with defenseman Jon Klemm picking up the lone assist.
Taylor, a native of Plymouth, England, made 23 of his saves over the game’s final two periods. The Monarchs were outshot 13-5 in the third period and 30-16 for the game.
Manchester improved to 4-1-0-0 on a six-game non-divisional road swing, which concludes with a tilt against Chicago at the Allstate Arena on Saturday.
CHICAGO 3, QUAD CITY 2
Alexandre Giroux broke a 2-2 tie at 11:33 of the third period as Chicago rallied past host Quad City, 3-2, at the I Wireless Center.
After a scoreless first period, the Flames took a 2-0 lead on a pair of power play goals in the second, with Grant Stevenson and Krys Kolanos doing the honors.
But the Wolves came right back, as Jordan LaVallee and Darren Haydar made it a 2-2 game entering the final 40 minutes.
Giroux tallied his 12th goal of the season, four of which have been game-winners.
Wolves goaltender Ondrej Pavelec earned the victory with 29 saves on 31 shots.
ROCKFORD 4, IOWA 2
Martin St. Pierre had a game-high three points (1-2-3) as Rockford doubled up host Iowa by a 4-2 final at the Wells Fargo Arena.
The three-point night moved St. Pierre into a share of the league’s scoring lead with 58 points on the season (15-43-58).
Derek Nesbitt, Gavin Morgan, and Troy Brouwer also netted goals for the IceHogs, who broke open a 4-0 lead by the game’s mid-point.
The Stars cut the deficit in half on goals by Marius Holtet and Richard Clune – his first career AHL goal – but could get no closer.
Rockford goaltender Corey Crawford made 33 saves for his fifth straight win.
TORONTO 5, HOUSTON 4 (OT)
Toronto’s John Mitchell scored the game-tying goal with 41 seconds left in regulation and assisted on Staffan Kronwall’s winner in overtime as the visiting Marlies downed Houston, 5-4, at the Toyota Center.
Jeremy Williams, Kris Newbury, and Colin Murphy tallied Toronto’s other goals, and netminder Justin Pogge improved to 15-3-4 on the season with 28 saves.
Aeros forwards Adrian Foster and Cal Clutterbuck scored at 15:19 and 17:31 of the third period, respectively, turning a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 lead.
Mitchell then scored at 19:19, and Kronwall’s game-winner came at 3:02 of the extra session.
The Marlies are now 3-3-0-0 on an eight-game road swing, the first seven of which are against West Division foes. That stretch concludes with a game at San Antonio on Sunday.
