Boychuk, Bruins rally past Hartford


Sunday’s boxscores

PROVIDENCE 5, HARTFORD 3
Johnny Boychuk continued to build his case for the Eddie Shore Award with two goals and an assist as Providence grabbed a crucial 5-3 decision from Hartford at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center on Sunday afternoon.

The Bruins entered the game three points behind the first-place Wolf Pack and were quickly in a 2-0 hole on goals by Artem Anisimov and Michael Sauer.

Providence rallied to tie it at 2-2 before falling behind again, and Kirk MacDonald got it back to 3-3 with just 44.5 seconds left in the second period.

Boychuk’s blast on a 5-on-3 power play early in the third gave the B’s their first lead of the contest, and Wacey Rabbit iced the win with an empty-net tally.

Boychuk leads all AHL defensemen with 19 goals and 58 points, and his plus-15 rating is good for second on the club. Boychuk also took a game-high seven shots on goal in the match.

Martin St. Pierre added three assists for Providence.

HERSHEY 3, MANCHESTER 2 (SO)
Alexandre Giroux became the first Hershey skater in 22 years to score 50 goals in a season and Michal Neuvirth made 47 saves as the Bears pulled out a 3-2 shootout win in Manchester.

Giroux’s tying goal in the third period allowed him to become just the fifth player in Bears history to hit the 50-goal mark, and the first since AHL Hall of Famer Tim Tookey scored 51 in 1986-87. Giroux also moved closer to the franchise record of 53 goals, set by Tony Cassolato in 1982-83.

Giroux also assisted on Graham Mink’s goal 51 seconds into the game, but the outcome was in doubt until Keith Aucoin converted on his attempt in the ninth shootout round.

Trevor Lewis and Marty Murray scored and Jonathan Bernier finished with 37 saves for the Monarchs, whose winless skid hit five games (0-3-0-2).

Neuvirth’s first road win of the season allowed the Bears to remain one point out of first place in the East Division.

SPRINGFIELD 2, WORCESTER 0
Devan Dubnyk made 32 saves for his third shutout of the season, leading Springfield to a 2-0 win over Worcester at the MassMutual Center on Sunday.

Dubnyk improved to 3-0-1 in his last four decisions following his 15-game losing streak, winning for the first time in regulation since Jan. 19.

Viacheslav Trukhno scored on a power play 7:34 into the game and Colin McDonald closed out the scoring with an empty-netter in the final minute of the third period.

It was Dubnyk’s second shutout of the Sharks this season; he is 2-5-0 with a 1.98 goals-against average and a .944 save percentage in seven starts vs. Worcester.

The Sharks were blanked for the second night in a row and finished their three-game weekend with one
goal on 113 shots.

BRIDGEPORT 4, PORTLAND 3
Bridgeport capped off a three-game weekend with a 4-3 win over Portland on Sunday, moving closer to clinching their first trip to the Calder Cup Playoffs in three years.

Sean Bentivoglio’s goal with 36 seconds remaining in the second period would be the eventual game-winner after Peter Mannino stopped all 10 shots he saw in the third period.

Chris Lee, Trevor Smith and Micheal Haley each had a tally in the opening frame for the Sound Tigers, while the Pirates received goals from Derek Whitmore, Marek Zagrapan and Mathieu Darche.

Mannino, who returned from the parent New York Islanders earlier in the day, earned his 14th win of the season with 34 saves total.

The Sound Tigers remain the top team in the Eastern Conference with a record of 44-20-3-5 and 96 points, one more than Hershey.

Portland remains two points ahead of Worcester for fourth place in the Atlantic Division.

MILWAUKEE 3, HAMILTON 2
Mike Santorelli’s two third-period goals lifted Milwaukee to a 3-2 victory over Hamilton before 9,154 fans at the Bradley Center.

The Admirals trailed before Santorelli tied the score at 9:10, then took their first lead of the game less than three minutes later.

Kelsey Wilson also scored for Milwaukee and Cody Franson had three assists as Milwaukee maintained its 17-point lead atop the West Division with 11 games to go.

Ryan White and Mike Glumac scored for Hamilton and Cedrick Desjardins made 37 saves as the Bulldogs were outshot, 40-17.

GRAND RAPIDS 3, LAKE ERIE 2
Darren Haydar and Francis Pare scored 1:41 apart midway through the third period, turning a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 Grand Rapids victory over Lake Erie at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

The Griffins’ third straight win moves them four points out of first place in the North Division.

Ville Leino had a goal and an assist and Jimmy Howard made 24 saves for Grand Rapids.

Matt Hendricks and Per Ledin scored for the Monsters.

SAN ANTONIO 3, TORONTO 2 (OT)
Joel Perrault capped a three-point night with his second goal of the game 1:18 into overtime, giving San Antonio a 3-2 road win over Toronto at Ricoh Coliseum.

It was the Rampage’s first visit to Ricoh since falling in Game 7 of last year’s first-round playoff series.

Perrault assisted on Brett MacLean’s early goal before scoring himself to give San Antonio a 2-0 lead at the first intermission.

The Marlies rallied to tie on goals by Tim Stapleton and Jaime Sifers, the latter coming with just 42 seconds left in regulation.

Al Montoya made his ninth straight start and stopped 24 of 26 shots in the win.

ALBANY 2, PHILADELPHIA 0
Justin Peters made 32 saves for his second consecutive shutout, backstopping Albany to a 2-0 win over visiting Philadelphia.

Peters, who posted a 47-save blanking of Providence on Friday night, now has four shutouts on the year.

Dominic D’Amour, who played 10 games with the Phantoms earlier this season, scored his first AHL goal of the season and Yannick Tifu added his second.

Philadelphia outshot Albany by a 17-3 count in the third period and a 32-25 margin for the game.

HOUSTON 4, PEORIA 3 (SO)
Corey Locke scored twice in regulation and twice in the shootout to lead Houston past Peoria, 4-3.

Marco Rosa had a goal and an assist and Krys Kolanos converted on both of his shootout attempts, including the winner in the eighth round.

Yan Stastny recorded two goals and an assist and Trent Whitfield had a goal and an assist for the Rivermen.

With the win, second-place Houston is now three points up on third-place Peoria in the West Division.

ROCHESTER 2, SYRACUSE 1
Keaton Ellerby and Randall Gelech scored and Mike Brodeur made 30 saves as Rochester snapped an eight-game winless slide with a 2-1 victory at the Blue Cross Arena.

The Crunch fell to three points behind fourth-place Toronto in the North Division with the loss.

Brodeur stopped all 17 shots he faced in the third period to preserve the win, ending the Crunch’s five-game winning streak.

Michael Blunden had the only goal for the Crunch, who have lost four straight on the road. Syracuse now heads to Winnipeg to meet the division-leading Moose on Tuesday and Wednesday.