Norfolk tallied three unanswered goals in the third period to defeat its rival in the East Division, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, by a score of 4-2 at Norfolk Scope on Wednesday.
Adam Burish scored the winning goal with 3:31 left in regulation, Martin St. Pierre picked up a goal and an assist and Pierre Parenteau added two assists to help the Admirals end the Penguins’ five-game winning streak.
With the win, Norfolk remains unbeaten in regulation in its last four games (3-0-1-0) and improves its record to 42-17-5-1, becoming the first team in the league to 90 points.
Corey Crawford earned his 32nd win of the year with 27 saves on the night for the Admirals.
Carl Corazzini and Troy Brouwer also provided goals in the win for Norfolk.
Rob Schremp led the way for the Penguins, tallying a goal and an assist in the loss.
IOWA 3, OMAHA 0
Dan Ellis stopped all 22 shots he faced as the Iowa Stars shut out the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights, 3-0, at the Civic Auditorium, ending the Knights’ six-game winning streak.
The Stars extended their own road winning streak to eight games with the victory.
Junior Lessard scored a pair of goals for Iowa, which moves back into a tie for fourth place in the West Division with Peoria.
CHICAGO 4, HOUSTON 1
The Chicago Wolves tallied the first four goals of the game and cruised to a 4-1 victory over the Houston Aeros at Allstate Arena.
Jordan LaVallee recorded a goal and an assist and Jason Krog, Darren Haydar and Niko Dimitrakos recorded two assists apiece for Chicago, which opened up a three-point lead over Omaha atop the West Divisoin.
Cory Larose, Mark Popovic and Andy Delmore also scored for the Wolves and Michael Garnett stopped 35 of 36 shots on the night.
Ben Thomson had the lone goal for Houston, which has scored a total of nine goals during its eight-game winless streak (0-7-0-1).
LOWELL 4, ALBANY 3
After falling behind three times in the contest, the Lowell Devils rallied in the third period and took a 4-3 victory from the visiting Albany River Rats.
Tuomas Pihlman and Dan LaCouture scored 41 seconds apart in the third to move the Devils into sole possession of fourth place in the Atlantic Division, one point up on Worcester, which lost to Portland (see below).
LaCouture finished with a pair of goals and Jordan Parise made 39 saves to improve his record to 13-9-1 on the season.
Matt Murley led Albany with a pair of goals in the loss.
MANCHESTER 4, HARTFORD 1
In a battle of 1 vs. 2 in the Atlantic Division, the first-place Manchester Monarchs distanced themselves further from Hartford with a 4-1 win over the Wolf Pack at the Verizon Wireless Arena.
The Monarchs scored three times in the first period, chasing Wolf Pack starter Al Montoya with two goals in the first 8:48, and opened up a 10-point lead over the rest of the division.
Oleg Tverdovsky had a goal and an assist for Manchester, giving him six points in three games since joining the club last week. Jason LaBarbera stopped 40 of 41 shots to earn his league-leading 33rd win of the season.
Petr Kanko, Shay Stephenson and Dany Roussin also scored for the Monarchs, who have won 10 of their last 11 home games.
Nigel Dawes scored the lone goal for Hartford in a losing effort.
PORTLAND 4, WORCESTER 1
Mark Hartigan had a goal and two assists to lead the Portland Pirates to a 4-1 win over the Worcester Sharks at the Cumberland County Civic Center.
Geoff Peters and Drew Miller both tallied a goal and an assist for the Pirates, who are now three points back of the fourth and final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division.
Sebastien Caron recorded 26 saves on 27 shots to earn his 10th win of the year and sixth in a Portland sweater.
Mike Iggulden provided the only goal of the night for Worcester, which is winless in its last four outings (0-2-0-2).
