Brandon Bochenski became the first Norfolk Admiral ever to score four goals in a game as the Admirals defeated Philadelphia 7-5 on Saturday night at Scope.
Michael Blunden scored twice, Martin St. Pierre had four assists and Jonas Nordqvist added three helpers for Norfolk, which took over sole possession of first place in the East Division with the win.
Bochenski is now tied for second in the AHL with 18 goals and tied for third with 32 points in 19 games this season. He has 16 points in his last seven contests.
The Phantoms jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening 15 minutes of the first period. Niko Dimitrakos gave Philadelphia a 1-0 edge just 13 seconds into the game. Former Admirals captain Nolan Baumgartner assisted on the Phantoms’ second strike by Darren Reid at 13:41.
However, the Admirals came to life in the final five minutes of the opening frame. With 4:02 left in the period, Jonas Nordqvist fired a point shot that deflected off a Phantoms defender and Bryan Bickell’s stick before snaking its way past netminder Rejean Beauchemin. Bickell was credited with his third goal of the season at 15:58.
Bochenski scored his first goal on the night less than one minute later, sending a rebound past Beauchemin at 16:53. Norfolk took the lead with 1:19 left in the period when Michael Blunden skated over the blue line and slipped past two defenders before rifling a shot that just made its way through Beauchemin’s pads. The Admirals led 3-2 after one period.
Norfolk took a 4-2 lead while on the power play late in the second period. Nordqvist’s centering pass found Bochenski, who sent a quick wrister past Beauchemin at 15:02 for his second goal on the evening.
However, two power-play goals by Philadelphia’s Ryan Potulny knotted the score at 4-4 heading into the third period. Potulny’s first goal came with the Phantoms on a two-man advantage when he re-directed an offering by former Admiral Mark Cullen at 16:58. Potulny tied the game just 58 seconds later when his shot from a sharp angle to the right of Corey Crawford found an opening along the post and made its way into the back of the net.
Bochenski completed his hat trick 7:15 into the final frame off a feed from Martin St. Pierre, and he capped his career evening with an off-wing shot on the power play at 10:06. Blunden tallied his second goal on the night at 12:38 by beating Beauchemin five-hole with a wrister from the right face-off circle for his first pro multi-goal game.
Cullen closed scoring with the Phantoms’ fifth goal at 16:37.
Crawford made 25 saves to earn his AHL-leading 12th win of the season.
CHICAGO 7, HOUSTON 3
Sparked by the return of Jason Krog from a one-day stint in the NHL, the Chicago Wolves pounced on the Houston Aeros, 7-3, at Allstate Arena.
Krog, who scored a goal for the parent Atlanta Thrashers on Friday, had a goal and two assists, as did Darren Haydar, whose 20-game scoring streak matches the longest in the AHL in the last 13 years.
Brett Sterling had a four-point night for Chicago, including his 17th and 18th goals of the season.
Jared Ross added a pair of goals and Fred Brathwaite made 39 saves for the Wolves.
Alex Leavitt, Curtis Murphy and Peter Ratchuk scored for the Aeros, who have lost four of their last five.
TORONTO 5, SYRACUSE 3
Robbie Earl and Kris Newbury each recorded three points to lead Toronto to a 5-3 win over Syracuse at Ricoh Coliseum.
Earl had two goals and an assist and Newbury scored one goal and assisted on two others for the Marlies, winners of two in a row for the first time this season. The loss was the fourth straight for the Crunch.
Colin Murphy and Chris Harrington also scored for Toronto.
Geoff Platt picked up his team-leading 11th goal of the season for Syracuse in the loss.
ALBANY 5, LOWELL 0
Shane Willis had two goals and an assist and Tyler Weiman made 19 saves for his first shutout as Albany ruined the Devils’ return to the Pepsi Arena with a 5-0 whitewash of Lowell.
It was the first game for the Devils back in Albany, where New Jersey housed its AHL affiliate from 1993-2006.
Jakub Petruzalek, acquired last week from the New York Rangers in a deal for Brad Isbister, recorded a goal and an assist in his River Rats debut, and Scott Kelman and Matt Murley scored two of Albany’s four power-play goals on the night.
Albany finished with a 47-19 edge in shots on goal.
HAMILTON 6, ROCHESTER 0
Jaroslav Halak made 28 saves for his third shutout of the month, leading Hamilton to a 6-0 rout of league-leading Rochester at Copps Coliseum.
It was just the second regulation loss of the season for the Americans (15-2-1-0), while the Bulldogs improved to 7-2-0-1 in their last 10 games.
Corey Locke recorded a goal and two assists and Eric Manlow added three assists for Hamilton.
HARTFORD 3, BRIDGEPORT 2 (OT)
Craig Weller’s goal 3:11 into overtime helped Hartford salvage a 3-2 win over Bridgeport.
Ryan Callahan and Bryce Lampman gave the Wolf Pack a two-goal lead through two periods, but Blake Comeau and Eric Boguniecki answered in the third, Boguniecki’s shorthanded, extra-attacker equalizer coming with 19.1 seconds left in regulation.
Callahan’s goal was his 14th of the season and 12th in 12 games during November.
HERSHEY 5, MANCHESTER 4
Alexandre Giroux scored twice and Chris Bourque had a goal and two assists as Hershey defeated Manchester, 5-4, at the Giant Center.
Former Monarch Dave Steckel had a goal and an assist and Matt Koalska also scored for the Bears, whose .806 points percentage (13-2-1-2) is tops in the Eastern Conference.
Hershey scored three times in 10 shots to chase former AHL MVP Jason LaBarbera just 8:22 into the game. Barry Brust stopped 26 of 28 shots the rest of the way.
Maxime Daigneault finished with 27 saves for the Bears.
GRAND RAPIDS 5, SAN ANTONIO 3
Kip Miller had two goals and an assist to lead Grand Rapids to a 5-3 win in San Antonio on Saturday night.
Eric Himelfarb added a goal and an assist and Matt Hussey and Darryl Bootland also scored for the Griffins, who have won two in a row following a seven-game losing streak.
Jimmy Howard made 29 saves for the win.
Josh Tordjman was the hard-luck loser in net despite stopping 17 of 18 shots in relief of Mike Morrison.
PEORIA 3, OMAHA 2
Trent Whitfield’s goal 8:01 into the second period was the difference as Peoria completed a home-and-home sweep with a 3-2 win in Omaha.
The Rivermen are 4-0-1-1 in their last six games and sit two points behind the second-place Knights in the West Division.
David Backes and Ryan Ramsay also scored for the Rivermen, and Marek Schwarz made 21 saves.
Brandon Prust and Richie Regehr had the Omaha goals.
BINGHAMTON 6, WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 5 (SO)
Binghamton staged a furious comeback and rallied for a 6-5 shootout win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at the Broome County Arena.
The Senators trailed 4-0 and 5-1 before Danny Bois scored twice early in the second period, Charlie Cook found the net in the waning seconds of the frame and Grant Potulny tied things up at the 3:43 mark of the third.
The Sens then scored on three of four shootout attempts, with Ryan Vesce, Josh Hennessy and Jeff Heerema converting on their chances.
Kelly Guard stopped 22 of 23 shots and three of five shootout attempts for Binghamton in relief of Jeff Glass.
Alexei Mikhnov led the Penguins with two goals and an assist.
WORCESTER 5, SPRINGFIELD 2
Worcester scored five times in the third period to rally for a 5-2 win over visiting Springfield.
Mathieu Darche, Riley Armstrong and Mike Iggulden each had a goal and an assist for the Sharks, while Ashton Rome and Craig Valette also scored.
Josh Prudden and Grant Stevenson recorded two assists apiece, and Dimitri Patzold made 28 saves.
Eric Healey and Norm Milley scored for the Falcons, who lost for just the second time in their last seven games (5-2-0-0).
PORTLAND 4, PROVIDENCE 1
In a game that saw 273 minutes in penalties handed out, Portland opened up a five-point lead atop the Atlantic Division with a 4-1 win over visiting Providence.
The teams combined for four goals in 3:37 during the first period, with the Pirates getting goals from Pierre Parenteau, Petteri Wirtanen and Brian Salcido. Tim Brent added a marker early in the second period.
The rivalry, which included a meeting in the first round of last year’s playoffs, boiled over at the 10:52 mark of the third period, when 139 PIM, including eight game misconducts, resulted from a series of altercations.
MILWAUKEE 2, MANITOBA 1 (OT)
Ramzi Abid’s goal with 45 seconds left in overtime gave visiting Milwaukee a 2-1 win over Manitoba.
The Admirals’ Frederic Cloutier was 1:12 away from a shutout in his first AHL start of the season when Jesse Schultz tied the score late in regulation.
Kelsey Wilson also scored for Milwaukee, which has won two of three to begin its 10-game road trip.
Even with the loss, the Moose have earned points in five straight games (3-0-2-0).
