Jon Awe rang in the new year with an overtime goal in Houston’s 3-2 win at Peoria on Tuesday night… In New Year’s Eve action, Lukas Kaspar broke a 2-2 tie with 2.1 seconds left in regulation to lift Worcester over Manchester, 3-2… Milan Gajic had two goals and an assist as Manitoba downed Lake Erie, 3-1… John Vigilante had four points (2-2-4) in Milwaukee’s 5-3 win at Rockford.
Mon 12/31
Providence 3, SPRINGFIELD 2 (OT)
MANITOBA 3, Lake Erie 1
HERSHEY 2, Philadelphia 1
IOWA 5, Houston 4
PORTLAND 3, Lowell 0
Bridgeport 3, BINGHAMTON 2
Worcester 3, MANCHESTER 2
W-B/SCRANTON 6, Norfolk 3
Hamilton 1, GRAND RAPIDS 0
Milwaukee 5, ROCKFORD 3
Tue 1/1
Houston 3, PEORIA 2 (OT)
MANITOBA 4, Lake Erie 2
LOOKING AHEAD: 
Portland sits just three points behind Hartford for second place in the Atlantic Division as the two clubs lock horns on Wednesday in Connecticut’s capital… The Wolf Pack are 2-1-0-0 in the season series and 9-0-0-1 in their last 10 divisional contests… Former Pirate Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau paces the Pack with four points (2-2-4) against his old club this season… Greg Moore is tied for fourth in the AHL with 17 goals and first in the league with a plus-22 rating in 31 games… Portland has have picked up a standings point in five straight games (3-0-1-1) and seven of its last eight (5-1-1-1)… Geoff Platt leads Portland with 15 goals (15-15-30) and has a point in 14 of 17 games since joining the Pirates from Syracuse on Nov. 16… Brian Salcido ranks second among AHL defensemen in both assists (23) and points (31).
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton brings an eight-game winning streak, longest in the AHL this season, into Wednesday’s contest against Syracuse, the teams’ third meeting in eight days… The Penguins have outscored opponents 35-13 during their surge… Tim Brent (4-12-16) and Nathan Smith (5-6-11) both have a point in all eight games of the winning streak, and Smith has seven points and a plus-7 rating in four meetings with the Crunch this season… Chris Minard has three goals in his last two games (3-1-4) and leads Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with 13 markers on the season (13-11-24)… Rookie goaltenders John Curry and David Brown have each won four games during the club’s winning streak… Curry has a 1.00 GAA and .957 save percentage over that span… Syracuse is 4-2-0-0 in its last six games, with the only two losses coming to the Penguins… Goaltender Craig Kowalski is 2-0-0 since joining the Crunch and has stopped 48 of 50 shots (.960), including a shutout… Rookie winger Tom Sestito has three goals in his last two games after scoring two in his first 27 contests.
West-leading Rockford hosts Hamilton in the second game of a five-game homestand… The IceHogs saw their 16-game points streak (11-0-1-4) snapped in a 5-3 loss to Milwaukee on New Year’s Eve… Rockford forward Martin St. Pierre is riding an AHL season-high 13-game scoring streak (5-14-19) and now ranks third in the league with 43 points (13-30-43) on the year… Second-year pro Troy Brouwer, who was second in the league with 20 power-play goals in 2006-07, has an AHL-high 13 already this season… Colin Fraser had a pair of goals on New Year’s Eve and brings a five-game scoring streak (4-2-6) into Wednesday’s action… Hamilton posted a 5-1 win in the teams’ first meeting on Oct. 28, one of only three times this season Rockford has failed to score at least two goals… Bulldogs goaltender Jaroslav Halak, who stopped 35 of 36 shots in that contest, has a 1.98 GAA over his last five games overall (3-2-0) and is coming off a 22-save shutout of Grand Rapids on New Year’s Eve… Corey Locke paces the Hamilton offense with 23 points (8-15-23) in 30 games.
(all times Eastern)
Wed 1/2
Portland @ Hartford, 7:00
Springfield @ Lowell, 7:05
Hershey @ Worcester, 7:05
Syracuse @ W-B/Scranton, 7:05
Rochester @ Toronto, 7:30
Milwaukee @ Chicago, 8:00
Hamilton @ Rockford, 8:05
Thu 1/3
No games scheduled
ALUMNI WATCH:
On Tuesday, Ty Conklin made 36 saves and Kristopher Letang scored his fourth shootout goal in as many attempts to help Pittsburgh defeat Buffalo, 2-1, in the AMP Energy NHL Winter Classic… Conklin and Letang were two of the 34 AHL alumni in the lineups for the second regular-season outdoor game in NHL history… Also Tuesday, 2000 AHL All-Star Ladislav Nagy notched a hat trick and matched a career high with five points in Los Angeles’ 9-2 victory over Chicago.
BY THE NUMBERS:
6 — Consecutive games played by Worcester that have been decided by one goal (2-2-2-0)… The Sharks are 7-4-3-2 overall in one-goal games entering Wednesday’s contest against Hershey, which is 7-3-0-2 in one-goal affairs.
AHL ALL-STAR FAN BALLOTING:
2008 AHL All-Star Classic Fan Balloting presented by Reebok is underway now through January 6 on theahl.com. Vote today to help pick the starting lineups and for a chance to win a team-signed AHL All-Star jersey.
AHL ON B2 NETWORKS:
B2 Networks brings AHL action to your computer all season long with live video webcasts of every AHL game… Visit theahl.com for details.
