Less than 24 hours after Craig Anderson‘s 50-save effort for Rochester on Friday night, rookie Adam Dennis did him four better.
Dennis, making the second start of his professional career, stopped 54 of 55 Toronto shots as the Americans grabbed a 3-1 win over the Marlies at Ricoh Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.
Dennis was coming off a 40-save performance in Rochester’s 3-2 win at Binghamton a week earlier. He allowed a power-play goal to Toronto’s Brad Leeb just 2:18 into the game before shutting the door the rest of the way, finishing with 17 saves in the first period, 15 in the second and 22 in the third.
Dylan Hunter, Drew Stafford and Anthony Stewart had the goals for the Amerks, who improved to 6-0-0-0 on the season despite having been outshot 106-45 over the last two games.
Anderson stopped 50 of 51 Peoria shots in Rochester’s 3-1 win on Friday.
HOUSTON 4, GRAND RAPIDS 3 (SO)
Roman Voloshenko scored twice in the shootout and Dieter Kochan replaced an injured Josh Harding late in the third period and turned away Krys Kolanos in the seventh round as Houston defeated Grand Rapids, 4-3, for its first win of the season.
Danny Irmen added a goal and an assist, and Josh Olson and Benoit Pouliot also scored for the Aeros.
Harding, who has played more minutes and faced more shots than any other AHL goalie in the season’s first three weeks, made 27 saves before leaving due to injury with 6:20 remaining in regulation.
Kyle Quincey, Matt Ellis and Darryl Bootland each scored and Stefan Liv made 28 saves for Grand Rapids (3-1-1-1).
PEORIA 4, HAMILTON 2
David Backes scored twice and Marek Schwarz made 31 saves as Peoria doubled up Hamilton, 4-2, at Copps Coliseum.
All four Rivermen goals came via special teams. Peoria was 3-for-5 on the power play for the game, and Cam Keith added a shorthanded goal.
Michael Lambert and Maxim Lapierre scored for the Bulldogs.
PORTLAND 1, HARTFORD 0
Michael Leighton made 24 saves for his 21st career AHL shutout, leading Portland to a 1-0 win in Hartford.
Pierre Parenteau provided all the offense, scoring his first goal of the season with 1:05 left in the first period.
Al Montoya stopped 31 shots in the loss for the Wolf Pack, who lost for the fourth time in five outings.
BRIDGEPORT 3, HERSHEY 2 (SO)
Michael Mole kicked aside 34 regulation and overtime shots, then slammed the door shut in the shootout to lift Bridgeport over host Hershey, 3-2.
Mole, making his first AHL appearance since 2002-03 and just the second of his career, helped the Sound Tigers improve to 3-1-0-1 and handed the defending Calder Cup champion Bears (4-0-0-1) their first setback of the season.
Peter Ferraro and Jeff Tambellini scored for the Sound Tigers; Alexandre Giroux and Tomas Fleischmann responded for the Bears.
Attendance was 10,630 at the Giant Center for the defending Calder Cup champions’ home opener.
LOWELL 3, WORCESTER 2
Dan McGillis scored two power-play goals and Grant Marshall added one as Lowell edged Worcester, 3-2, at the DCU Center.
McGillis (634) and Marshall (700) have played a combined 1,334 National Hockey League games. Marshall opened the scoring 3:48 into the game for the Devils, then McGillis scored once in the second period and once more in the third, snapping a 2-2 tie with 12:21 left in regulation.
Andy Greene had two assists and Frank Doyle made 30 saves for Lowell.
Doug Murray and Mike Iggulden scored for the Sharks.
MANCHESTER 3, PROVIDENCE 2 (OT)
Lauri Tukonen’s second goal of the game came 1:55 into overtime, giving Manchester a 3-2 win in Providence.
Eric Werner assisted on all three Monarchs goals, and Peter Harrold recorded two assists for the second night in a row.
Manchester scored all three of its goals on the power play, going 3-for-11.
Pascal Pelletier and Sean Curry scored for the Bruins.
BINGHAMTON 4, SPRINGFIELD 3
Josh Hennessy scored twice, Andrew Ebbett recorded three assists and Neil Komadoski netted the winning goal as Binghamton defeated Springfield, 4-3.
Komadoski, who was scoreless in 41 games last season, broke a 3-3 tie with 9:35 left in regulation.
Kelly Guard for the Senators and Sean Burke for the Falcons each made 30 saves.
Eric Healey led Springfield with a goal and an assist.
WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 3, ALBANY 0
Erik Christensen had a goal and an assist and Andrew Penner turned aside all 20 shots he faced to lead Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to a 3-0 win over Albany and a sweep of their home-and-home series.
Maxime Talbot’s goal 38 seconds into the game proved to be all the offense the Penguins would need. Christensen and Jonathan Filewich provided insurance with third-period goals.
It was the fourth straight win for Wilkes-Barre.
NORFOLK 4, PHILADELPHIA 0
Corey Crawford posted a 22-save shutout as Norfolk knocked off Philadelphia, 4-0, for its second win in as many nights over the Phantoms.
The Admirals opened the scoring with three goals in a span of 61 seconds midway through the first period. Dustin Byfuglien scored on a wrister from the point at 10:30, a play that also sent Rejean Beauchemin to the locker room with an apparent injury.
Scott Munroe entered and promptly gave up goals to Troy Brouwer (11:15) and Adam Berti (11:31).
OMAHA 4, SAN ANTONIO 3
Dustin Boyd scored one goal and assisted on two others as Omaha moved to 5-0-1-0 with a 4-3 win over visiting San Antonio.
Boyd joined Brandon Prust and Carsen Germyn in staking the Knights to a 3-0 lead early in the second period. David Moss also scored for Omaha.
The Rampage got two power-play goals from Bryan Helmer and one from Pascal Rheaume.
IOWA 8, SYRACUSE 5
Junior Lessard scored twice in 19 seconds, highlighting a five-goal first period and propelling Iowa to an 8-5 win over visiting Syracuse on Saturday.
Defenseman Nicklas Grossman also scored twice in the period for the Stars, who were up 5-1 after 20 minutes.
Vadim Khomitski recorded three assists and Joel Lundqvist, Marius Holtet, John Lammers and Toby Petersen also scored for Iowa.
The Stars went to 5-0-0-0 with the win, while the Crunch dropped to 0-6-0-0.
