East Notes: Bears surge, Falcons enjoy home

Also see… West Notes: Wolves heat up, Moose break out

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Adirondack had been 0-4-1-0 on Saturdays this season prior to taking a 3-2 shootout victory over Bridgeport last Saturday… Johan Backlund snapped a personal two-game losing skid on Wednesday with a 25-save shutout of Toronto in a 2-0 win… That game marked bench boss Greg Gilbert’s 900th career game as a head coach, counting his days in the NHL and OHL; Gilbert shows a record of 276-244-55 in 575 career AHL games coaching Adirondack, Toronto, and Worcester… Jon Matsumoto scored on Wednesday to avoid going three games without a point for the first time all season… The Phantoms visit Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday in their lone game of the weekend.
 
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Rookie Drayson Bowman returned to Albany’s lineup after a three-game absence on Wednesday and scored two goals in a 5-2 win over Syracuse… Brett Carson scored from his own zone on Sunday at Springfield, one-timing a clearing attempt the length of the ice that handicapped Falcons goaltender Devan Dubnyk… Rookie defenseman Jamie McBain is the only skater to have played in all 19 games for Albany thus far without recording a penalty minute… The River Rats are 8-4-0-1 at home this year but just 1-4-0-1 away from the Times Union Center… Albany hits the road this weekend for games in Manchester and Binghamton.
 
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After going its first 16 games this season without playing a shootout, Binghamton has needed the tiebreaker in its last two contests; the Senators dropped a 6-5 decision to Manchester on Saturday and downed Hartford, 2-1, on Wednesday… Captain Denis Hamel is riding a five-game scoring streak (4-4-8), and Ryan Keller has a point in four of his last five outings (3-4-7)… Josh Hennessy posted five assists in four games last week and now has 84 helpers in his B-Sens career, ranking him third on the club’s all-time list… The Senators host division rivals Hershey and Albany this weekend.
 
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Bridgeport is 2-0-0-1 in three outings since suffering a five-game losing skid to begin the month of November… Both victories came in overtime, a 3-2 win at Springfield on Friday and a 5-4 decision over Portland on Sunday… The Sound Tigers have now won six of their seven games this year that have extended beyond regulation… Goaltender Scott Munroe made a season-high 49 saves on Saturday in a 3-2 shootout loss at Adirondack… Sean Bentivoglio has found the scoresheet in three of his last four games (2-2-4)… The Sound Tigers head west this weekend for a pair of games against Abbotsford, the only Western Conference opponent on Bridgeport’s schedule.
 
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Hartford hosted Binghamton on Wednesday for the first time since Mar. 11, 2006, and dropped a 2-1 shootout decision… The Wolf Pack have still earned a point in three straight games (2-0-0-1) and seven of their last eight (6-1-0-1)… Prior to rookie Chad Johnson pitching back-to-back shutouts last weekend over Manchester and Worcester, the last Hartford goaltender to put up consecutive zeros was Stephen Valiquette, who did so Jan. 15 and 19, 2005… Defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti’s goal on Saturday at Worcester was his sixth of the season, equaling his rookie-year total from last season.
 
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Since a 5-0 loss at Portland on Nov. 6, Hershey has rattled off four straight wins and outscored opponents 17-6 over that span… Michal Neuvirth has been in net for all four victories and is on a personal five-game winning streak overall… The Bears are 8-1-0-0 in their last nine games and own a three-point lead atop the East Division… Karl Alzner became the eighth different Hershey skater to score a game-winning goal this season in Saturday’s 3-1 triumph over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton… Kyle Wilson snapped a 13-game goal-scoring drought in that contest… The Bears visit Binghamton on Friday and host Springfield on Saturday.
 
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Reigning Reebok/AHL player of the week Tyler Eckford was recalled by parent-club New Jersey on Wednesday after tying for fourth among AHL defensemen with 15 points (5-10-15) in 18 games this season… Eckford is tied with teammate Matt Taormina (7-8-15), who has been scoreless in back-to-back games just once all season… Ben Walter’s five-game scoring streak (4-3-7) ended in a 4-3 loss at Springfield on Wednesday, a defeat that also halted Lowell’s winning streak at five games… Stephen Gionta played in his 200th game as a Devil in Saturday’s 5-3 win over Providence… Lowell hosts Norfolk on Friday and Manchester on Saturday afternoon this weekend.
 
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Manchester has won just two of its last seven contests (2-2-1-2) since reeling off six straight wins from Oct. 17-31… Rookie Corey Elkins registered the first multiple-point game of his pro career with two goals and an assist in a 6-5 shootout win at Binghamton on Saturday… Brandon Segal has netted a goal in consecutive games, including one against his old team in the Monarchs’ 2-1 shootout loss to Norfolk on Wednesday… Goaltender Jonathan Bernier (7-4-2, 1.59, .953) has surrendered one or fewer goals in eight of his 13 appearances thus far… The Monarchs host Albany on Friday before visiting Lowell on Saturday and Providence on Sunday.
 
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Norfolk is on a three-game points streak (2-0-0-1) and has put together a 7-2-1-0 mark in November thus far following a 3-6-0-0 month of October… After each of their first 16 games was decided in regulation, the Admirals have required overtime in their last three outings… At 10-8-1-0, the second-place Admirals are over .500 for the first time since finishing the 2006-07 season at 50-22-6-2… Brandon Bochenski leads the AHL with 11 goals and is tied for eighth with 18 points in 19 contests… Blair Jones has registered a point in four of his last five outings (2-5-7) and has 10 points (3-7-10) in his last seven contests… Norfolk continues its road trip this weekend with games in Lowell, Portland, and Worcester.
 
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After being recalled by parent-club Buffalo, rookie Tyler Ennis scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game on Saturday as the Sabres downed Philadelphia, 3-2… Nathan Gerbe returned from injury on Sunday at Bridgeport and has collected four assists in three games since… Mark Mancari has netted a goal in four of his last five contests (5-1-6) and picked up his first multiple-goal game of the campaign in Wednesday’s come-from-behind 5-3 win at Worcester… That marked just the Pirates’ second road triumph of the young season (2-8-1-0) and lifted them past Providence and out of last place in the Atlantic Division… Portland hosts Worcester and Norfolk this weekend.
 
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Providence went 2-1-0-0 last weekend in a stretch that saw the B’s play road games in Syracuse, Lowell, and Worcester… Defenseman Jeff Penner registered a point in all three games (1-3-4), while Jamie Arniel (2-2-4) and Mikko Lehtonen (2-2-4) also put up four points on the weekend… Jeff LoVecchio tallied three goals over the three contests, and his seven goals overall are tied with Lehtonen for the club lead… The Bruins totaled 10 goals in the three games after registering just nine in their previous seven outings combined… Providence plays three home games this weekend, welcoming Springfield, Worcester, and Manchester to town.
 
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Springfield is on a five-game points streak (4-0-1-0) and remains one of two AHL teams yet to suffer a regulation loss at home this season (6-0-2-1)… At 9-5-3-1 overall, the Falcons are four games above .500 for the first time since about this time last year, when they were 9-5-2-1 on Nov. 23… Charles Linglet, who totaled ranks second in the AHL with 22 points (7-15-22) in 18 games; Linglet has a point in four straight games (2-4-6) and eight of his last nine (4-9-13)… Chad Wiseman has netted a goal in four of his last five outings (5-4-9) and shows 15 points (6-9-15) in 14 games since joining the Falcons… Springfield visits Providence on Friday and Hershey on Saturday.
 
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Syracuse has a league-low five victories thus far (5-8-2-2) and is winless in its last three contests (0-2-0-1)… The Crunch have been limited to two or fewer goals in eight of their last 10 outings… Syracuse had surrendered the game’s first goal in five straight contests prior to scoring it in Saturday’s 5-1 loss at Hamilton… Alexandre Picard has a goal in three of his last four games (3-0-3) and a point in four of his last five (3-1-4)… Pascal Pelletier scored twice in his first two games this year but has just one goal in 14 games since… The Crunch visit Rochester on Friday before hosting Hartford on Saturday.
 
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Rookies Brian Strait, Zach Sill, and Eric Tangradi all registered their first career AHL goals in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s 6-1 win over Portland on Nov. 11… The Penguins had outscored opponents 11-3 during a three-game winning streak prior to dropping a 3-1 decision at Hershey on Saturday… Jesse Boulerice tallied the Pens’ lone goal in that defeat… Dustin Jeffrey’s six-game scoring streak (1-8-9) came to an end… Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has surrendered 17 goals in the first and second periods combined this season, but 16 from the third period on… The Penguins visit Hartford on Thursday, have Friday off, and host Adirondack on Saturday night.
 
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Worcester’s current six-game losing skid and five-game home losing skid are both franchise records… The Sharks have been outscored 28-11 in their last six contests and have dropped under .500 (8-9-0-1) for the first time this season… Rookie Logan Couture has found the scoresheet in seven straight games (5-8-13) for Worcester, a streak broken up by multiple NHL call-ups to San Jose… Ryan Vesce scored on Wednesday vs. Portland, his first goal in a Worcester uniform since Oct. 9 at Bridgeport… Steven Zalewski shows three points (2-1-3) in his last two contests… The Sharks visit Portland on Friday and Providence on Saturday before hosting Norfolk on Sunday.