Eastern Conference notebook

	Dec. 7 at Norfolk, L, 3-4 Dec. 9 at Philadelphia, L, 1-6 Dec. 10 vs. Providence, L, 1-2	Dec. 16 at Manchester, 7:35 Dec. 17 at Portland, 7:05 Dec. 18 at Portland, 4:05
Petr Vrana extended his scoring streak to six games (2g, 4a) with a goal and two assists last week. Tuomas Pihlman returned from a three-week stint in New Jersey prior to Saturday’s game, while Barry Tallackson was recalled by the Devils. Albany remains last in the Atlantic Division after three losses last week.

	Dec. 9 vs. Hershey, L, 4-6 Dec. 10 vs. Rochester, L, 2-6	Dec. 16 vs. Norfolk, 7:05 Dec. 17 vs. Providence, 7:05 Dec. 18 at Rochester, 6:05
Binghamton allowed two shorthanded goals for the first time in team history in Friday’s 6-4 loss to Hershey. The Senators had not allowed six goals in a home game since Feb. 11, 2004, before both the Bears and Americans scored six times over the weekend. Billy Thompson returned to action for the B-Sens on Friday night for the first time since suffering a groin injury during a morning skate on Nov. 18.

	Dec. 7 vs. Hershey, L, 1-4 Dec. 9 at Norfolk, L, 2-5 Dec. 10 at Hershey, L, 1-4 Dec. 11 at Hershey, L, 2-4	Dec. 16 vs. Lowell, 7:35 Dec. 17 at Hartford, 7:00 Dec. 18 vs. Norfolk, 4:05
Wade Dubielewicz stopped two penalty shots by Hershey on Saturday, becoming the first AHL goaltender since 1979 to face two attempts in one game. Jeff Hamilton extended his scoring streak to seven games (5g, 6a) with five points last week, and now has 14 points in 14 games since rejoining the Sound Tigers. Since Oct. 22, Bridgeport has lost five in a row, then won six in a row, then lost six in a row, won two in a row and now lost five in a row.

	Dec. 9 at Springfield, W, 4-3 (SO) Dec. 10 vs. Philadelphia, L, 2-3 (SO)	Dec. 14 vs. Manchester, 7:00 Dec. 16 at Providence, 7:05 Dec. 17 vs. Bridgeport, 7:00 Dec. 18 at Lowell, 4:05
The Wolf Pack are unbeaten in regulation in their last eight games (5-0-1-2), their second such streak of the 2005-06 season. Hartford went to 1-4 in shootouts this year with their weekend split. The Pack scored on three of their six attempts at Springfield on Friday after going 1-for-15 in their first three shootouts combined. Colby Genoway, at one point the Wolf Pack’s team leader in goals, snapped a 10-game drought when he scored Saturday vs. Philadelphia.

	Dec. 7 at Bridgeport, W, 4-1 Dec. 9 at Binghamton, W, 6-4 Dec. 10 vs. Bridgeport, W, 4-1 Dec. 11 vs. Bridgeport, W, 4-2	Dec. 17 vs. Hamilton, 7:00 Dec. 18 vs. Wilkes-Barre, 5:00
Hershey extended its winning streak to five games last week and is now 14-1-2-3 in its last 20 games. The Bears defeated Bridgeport four times in a 12-day span from Nov. 30 through Dec. 11. Tomas Fleischmann has 10 points in seven games since returning to Hershey from Washington (NHL).

	Dec. 7 vs. Springfield, L, 0-3 Dec. 9 at Providence, W, 3-2 Dec. 10 vs. Portland, L, 3-4 (SO)	Dec. 16 at Bridgeport, 7:35 Dec. 17 vs. Manchester, 7:35 Dec. 18 vs. Hartford, 4:05
Keith Aucoin returned from a foot injury and recorded five points (2g, 3a) over the weekend, giving him 20 points in his last 10 games. Without him in the lineup, Lowell scored two goals in three games and was shut out twice. Chad LaRose and Vitaly Kolesnik have been impressive in their NHL debuts since being recalled from Lowell. LaRose tallied two assists in his first three games with Carolina, while Kolesnik won his first two starts in net for Colorado. Lowell and Portland combined to score on 11 of 14 attempts in their seven-round shootout on Saturday night.

	Dec. 9 vs. Portland, W, 3-1 Dec. 10 at Springfield, L, 4-5	Dec. 14 at Hartford, 7:00 Dec. 16 vs. Albany, 7:35 Dec. 17 at Lowell, 7:35
Friday’s 3-1 win over Portland helped the Monarchs stay tied with the Pirates for first place in the Atlantic Division at week’s end. Fifteen of Manchester’s 25 games this season have required overtime, with the Monarchs winning 11 of those 15. Manchester’s five regulation victories are tied for the fewest in the AHL. Brad Smyth, who recently reached 300 goals, 300 assists and 600 points for his AHL career, hit two more milestones on Friday when he scored his 400th professional goal in his 800th professional game (including AHL, NHL, IHL, ECHL and Finland).

	Dec. 7 vs. Albany, W, 4-3 Dec. 9 vs. Bridgeport, W, 5-2	Dec. 16 at Binghamton, 7:05 Dec. 17 at Wilkes-Barre, 7:05 Dec. 18 at Bridgeport, 4:05
Norfolk tied a franchise record when Eric Meloche and Matt Keith scored seven seconds apart during Friday’s win over Bridgeport. The Admirals have held the lead at the first intermission just five times in 25 games this season. Norfolk plays four straight on the road heading into the Christmas break, beginning this Friday in Binghamton.

	Dec. 7 vs. Manitoba, L, 1-3 Dec. 9 vs. Albany, W, 6-1 Dec. 10 at Hartford, W, 3-2 (SO)	Dec. 16 vs. Hamilton, 7:05 Dec. 17 at Syracuse, 7:30
John Slaney sits with 452 career points entering the week, one shy of Steve Kraftcheck’s career scoring record for an AHL defenseman. Wednesday’s loss to Manitoba marked the first-ever meeting between the Phantoms and Moose. Philadelphia set season highs with six goals and 51 shots in Friday’s win over Albany.

	Dec. 9 at Manchester, L, 1-3 Dec. 10 at Lowell, W, 4-3 (SO)	Dec. 16 at Springfield, 7:35 Dec. 17 vs. Albany, 7:05 Dec. 18 vs. Albany, 4:05
Corey Perry registered an assist in each of Portland’s two games last week, giving him a point in each of his nine games with the Pirates (6g, 9a). Ryan Getzlaf has picked up 15 points (3g, 12a) in his eight games with Portland. Eight of the Pirates’ last nine games have been decided by one goal.

	Dec. 9 vs. Lowell, L, 2-3 Dec. 10 at Albany, W, 2-1 Dec. 11 vs. Springfield, W, 6-2	Dec. 16 vs. Hartford, 7:05 Dec. 17 at Binghamton, 7:05
Nathan Robinson earned CCM Vector/AHL Player of the Week honors after recording six points in three games last week, including a hat trick in Sunday’s win over Springfield. Eric Healey has recorded a point in each of his last eight AHL games (5g, 6a). The Bruins have not allowed more than four goals in a game this season.

	Dec. 7 at Lowell, W, 3-0 Dec. 9 vs. Hartford, L, 3-4 (SO) Dec. 10 vs. Manchester, W, 5-4 Dec. 11 at Providence, L, 2-6	Dec. 16 vs. Portland, 7:35
Springfield captain Ryan Craig collected three goals and two assists in four games last week, including the winning goal in Saturday’s contest against first-place Manchester. The Falcons are 8-2-1-1 away from home this season, already matching their road win total from a year ago (8-29-3-0). Springfield has a light pre-holiday schedule, playing just twice in a 15-day span from Dec. 12-26.

	Dec. 9 vs. Manitoba, L, 1-3 Dec. 10 vs. Manitoba, W, 7-1	Dec. 16 vs. Syracuse, 7:05 Dec. 17 vs. Norfolk, 7:05 Dec. 17 at Hershey, 5:00
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s 23-game points streak ended on Friday with a 3-1 loss to Manitoba, the Penguins’ first regulation defeat of the year. Rico Fata scored twice during a four-goal first period as the Pens got right back in the win column with a 7-1 rout of the Moose on Saturday. Wilkes-Barre is suddenly just three points up on second-place Hershey in the East Division with a game against the Bears slated for Sunday.