MANCHESTER 4, PORTLAND 0
Manchester goaltender Erik Ersberg made 21 saves to earn his first North American pro shutout as the Monarchs blanked visiting Portland by a 4-0 final at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Friday.
Four different skaters netted goals in the win, including AHL leading scorer Teddy Purcell (9-25-34). It marked Manchester’s third straight win, a new season high.
Matt Moulson, Troy Milam, and David Meckler also scored for the Monarchs, while Gabe Gauthier contributed a pair of assists.
Ersberg improved his record to 5-3-1 on the season.
The shutout was also Manchester’s first as a team this year, while the Pirates suffered their second blanking in a four-game span.
MILWAUKEE 4, IOWA 1
Rich Peverley scored twice and Matt Ellison contributed three assists as host Milwaukee defeated Iowa by a 4-1 score at the Bradley Center, avenging a loss to the Stars by the same score on Tuesday.
Defenseman Cody Franson and rookie James Sixsmith also netted goals in the win, which pushed the Admirals to 5-2-0-1 in their last eight contests.
The Stars initially took a 1-0 lead when B.J. Crombeen scored at 8:49 of the opening period.
Milwaukee went on to score four unanswered goals from that point, notching two in the first period and two more in the third.
Milwaukee goaltender Pekka Rinne made 22 saves, improving his season record to 12-8-1.
GRAND RAPIDS 4, HAMILTON 3 (SO)
Grand Rapids took a quick 2-0 lead and wound up defeating Hamilton in a shootout, 4-3, at the Van Andel Arena.
Brett Engelhardt tallied a goal and two assists for the Griffins, who held a 50-28 advantage in shots. Jonathan Ericsson added a goal and a helper.
Griffins goaltender Jimmy Howard moved to 4-1-0 in his last five starts with 25 saves.
Corey Locke scored twice in regulation and once in the shootout for the Bulldogs, and Eric Manlow also lit the lamp.
Hamilton goaltender Yann Danis made 46 saves in the losing effort.
ALBANY 3, LOWELL 2 (OT)
Albany netted a pair of power play goals in the third period and added another in overtime to rally past host Lowell, 3-2, at the Tsongas Arena.
Bobby Hughes scored with the man-advantage at both 5:24 and 9:06 of the third for the River Rats, who entered the period down 2-0.
Andrew Ladd capped the comeback with his first AHL goal of the season at 2:45 of overtime.
Goaltender Justin Peters picked up the win with 30 saves, as Albany won its fourth straight and eighth of its last 11 (8-2-0-1).
Lowell built its 2-0 lead on the strength of goals from Barry Tallackson and Noah Clarke.
PROVIDENCE 4, BRIDGEPORT 1
Defenseman Sean Curry netted a pair of goals to help Providence past Bridgeport by a 4-1 count at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.
Chris Collins and Wacey Rabbit also scored for the Bruins, who increased their league-best record to 21-4-2-0 on the season.
Providence goaltender Andy Franck moved to 6-1-0 in his AHL career with 21 saves on 22 shots.
Steve Regier scored Bridgeport’s lone goal, picking up his 10th tally of the campaign.
WORCESTER 2, WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 1 (SO)
A pair of players recently back from injuries helped Worcester to a 2-1 shootout win over visiting Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at the DCU Center.
Tomas Plihal, playing in just his third game of the season, notched the Sharks’ lone regulation goal.
Rookie Mike Morris, also in his third game, scored the only shootout goal for either side, helping Worcester end a five-game winless skid (0-3-0-2).
Sharks goaltender Thomas Greiss stopped 41 of 42 shots on the night to pick up the win.
Alain Nasreddine scored for the Penguins, who are now winless in three straight (0-2-0-1).
PHILADELPHIA 2, TORONTO 1 (SO)
Stefan Ruzicka’s goal in the seventh round of a shootout lifted Philadelphia over Toronto by a 2-1 final at the Wachovia Spectrum.
Toronto led most of the game, taking a 1-0 lead on Robbie Earl’s sixth of the season at 9:16 of the opening stanza.
The Marlies maintained slim lead until Philadelphia’s Frederik Cabana scored at 7:59 of the third period.
Phantoms center Jared Ross also scored in the shootout, and goaltender Brian Boucher denied six of seven attempts to earn the win. He made 23 saves through regulation and overtime.
BINGHAMTON 4, SYRACUSE 3
Binghamton received goals from four different players in a 4-3 home win over Syracuse at the Broome County Arena.
Justin Mapletoft started the scoring with a shorthanded goal at 2:40 of the first period.
Lawrence Nycholat netted an even-strength tally in the second stanza, followed by power play tallies in the third period from Tyler Donati and Denis Hamel.
Hamel’s goal at 15:16 of the third broke a 3-3 tie and stood up as the game-winner.
Alexandre Picard, Derek MacKenzie, and Zenon Konopka scored for Syracuse in the losing effort.
HERSHEY 5, NORFOLK 1
Hershey scored four times in the third period to run away with a 5-1 road victory over Norfolk at the Scope.
Kyle Wilson and Grant Potulny tallied a goal and two assists apiece, while Andrew Joudrey netted a pair of goals.
Goaltender Daren Machesney stopped 19 of 20 shots in goal for the Bears, who are 10-2-0-2 in their last 14 outings.
Karl Stewart scored Norfolk’s lone goal unassisted in the third period.
SPRINGFIELD 4, HOUSTON 3 (SO)
Marc Pouliot scored the decisive shootout goal to lead host Springfield past Houston, 4-3, at the MassMutual Center.
Liam Reddox and Rob Schremp also were successful for Springfield in the shootout, which extended to a seventh round.
The Falcons received regulation goals from Theo Peckham, Ben Simon, and Viacheslav Trukhno on their way to a season-high third consecutive win.
Houston’s five-game winning streak ended in the defeat. Benoit Pouliot notched a pair of goals for the Aeros, and Paul Albers added a goal and an assist.
PEORIA 4, CHICAGO 1
Peoria took a 2-0 lead after the first period and never looked backing defeating Chicago by a 4-1 count at the Carver Arena.
Nikolay Lemtyugov, Micki DuPont, Chris Porter, and Jean-Guy Trudel all netted goals for the Rivermen, who have a standings point in eight of their last nine games (5-1-2-1).
Chris Beckford-Tseu picked up his fifth win of the season (5-3-1) with 17 saves in net, as Peoria held a 32-18 advantage in shots.
Jesse Schultz scored for the Wolves, who have lost five of their last six games (1-5-0-0).
SAN ANTONIO 2, QUAD CITY 1 (SO)
Travis Roche’s goal in the fifth round of the shootout lifted San Antonio over visiting Quad City, 2-1, at the AT&T Center.
Enver Lisin scored in regulation for the Rampage, and goaltender David LeNeveu secured the win with 32 saves on 33 shots through regulation and overtime.
The Rampage moved to 4-3-1-0 on their 10-game homestand, which continues against Rockford on Sunday.
John Van der Gulik netted Quad City’s only regulation goal of the night.
LAKE ERIE 4, MANITOBA 1
Eric Healey netted a pair of goals to lead visiting Lake Erie over Manitoba by a 4-1 count in front of 7,066 fans at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg.
Jeff Jillson and Wes O’Neill also scored for the Monsters, and Brent Kelly chipped in with two assists.
Lake Erie snapped a five-game winless skid (0-3-1-1) and moved to 2-1-0-0 against the Moose this season.
Danny Groulx lit the lamp for Manitoba, which dropped to 0-2-0-1 on a six-game homestand.
The Monsters and Moose will be back on the same MTS Centre ice for a rematch on Saturday.
ROCKFORD 5, ROCHESTER 1
Rockford scored four times in the third period to pull away from Rochester by a 5-1 final at the MetroCentre.
Petri Kontiola scored twice for the IceHogs, and Troy Brouwer added a goal and an assist. Brouwer’s goal came via a penalty shot in the second period.
Rockford goaltender Corey Crawford stopped 17 of 18 shots in the win. The IceHogs won their fourth straight game and moved to 6-0-0-2 in their last eight contests.
Clarke MacArthur scored for Rochester, at the time giving the Amerks a 1-0 first-period lead. It wasn’t enough to keep his club from dropping its fifth straight game.
