Keith Aucoin scored twice and Vitaly Kolesnik made 41 saves to lead the Lowell Lock Monsters to a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phantoms at the Tsongas Arena on Wednesday night.
The win ended a three-game slide for the Lock Monsters, who moved to 3-3-0-0 on the season.
Aucoin, who last faced the Phantoms as a member of the Providence Bruins during last spring’s Eastern Conference championship series, opened the scoring 5:01 into the game, then gave Lowell a big 3-0 advantage in the waning minutes of the second period.
Chad Larose netted his first goal of the season for the Lock Monsters and David Gove added a shorthanded empty-net marker. Colin Forbes was credited with two assists.
Kolesnik, a 26-year-old Colorado prospect in his first North American season out of Kazakhstan, won for the third time in five starts. He has faced at least 35 shots in four of those outings.
Pat Kavanagh picked up Philadelphia’s only goal of the game at the 6:49 mark of the third.
SYRACUSE 3, HAMILTON 2
Syracuse had a rude welcome for returning Hamilton goaltender Ty Conklin, scoring three times late in the first period and hanging on for a 3-2 win over the Bulldogs at Copps Coliseum.
Conklin, making his first appearance on a conditioning assignment from Edmonton, was beaten by Andrew Murray, Tyler Kolarik and Aaron Johnson in the final seven minutes of the opening frame. For both Murray and Kolarik, it was their first career AHL goals.
Hamilton attempted to mount a comeback, with Peter Vandermeer and Ron Hainsey cutting the deficit to one, but Mike Ayers shut the door for the Crunch, finishing with 28 saves and earning just his second career AHL victory.
CHICAGO 5, SAN ANTONIO 2
Chicago used four special-teams goals and some early strikes to post a 5-2 victory in San Antonio.
Scott Barney and Travis Roche scored on the power play for the Wolves, while Brian Maloney and Pat Dwyer scored shorthanded in the third period to salt the game away.
Three of Chicago’s five goals came within the first two minutes of a period.
Gregg Naumenko made 22 saves for the Wolves, becoming the third Chicago goaltender to earn a victory in 2005-06.
