HAMILTON 3, LAKE ERIE 1
Ben Maxwell and Brock Trotter scored second-period goals and Cedrick Desjardins made 26 saves as Hamilton improved to 14-3-1-0 in its last 18 games with a 3-1 victory over Lake Erie at Copps Coliseum.
The Bulldogs opened the game’s scoring at 11:54 of the second period when Trotter sent the puck to Maxwell, who skated down the left side and rifled a shot over the glove of Lake Erie goaltender Tyler Weiman.
Hamilton extended its lead while on the power play at 19:30, as Trotter banged home a rebound of a Yannick Weber point shot.
Monsters rookie Ryan Stoa scored 12 seconds into the third period – his 11th goal in his last 15 games – to pull Lake Erie to within a goal, but the Bulldogs held on until Mathieu Darche iced the victory with an empty-netter late.
Desjardins made 13 of his 26 stops in the third period and has now won 12 of his last 13 decisions in the Hamilton cage.
Lake Erie continues its six-game road swing in Rochester on Saturday afternoon.
TEXAS 3, ABBOTSFORD 1
David Van der Gulik had a goal and an assist and Matt Keetley made 24 saves in Abbotsford’s 3-1 win over Texas at the Entertainment & Sports Centre.
It was the third straight win for the Heat, who improved to 8-6-2-1 on home ice.
Van der Gulik scored on a rebound of a Brad Cole shot 3:53 into the game to give Abbotsford the early lead. Riley Armstrong made it 2-0 at 8:45 of the second period, ripping home a one-timer from the left-wing circle, but Texas got on the board 1:05 later on a slap shot from Maxime Fortunus.
Brett Sutter’s fourth goal of the year at 15:50 of the third period provided some breathing room for the Heat.
Matt Climie turned aside 31 of 34 shots in the loss as Texas fell to 2-6-0-2 in its last 10 games.
The teams play again Saturday in Abbotsford.
HERSHEY 2, MANITOBA 1 (SO)
Andrew Gordon scored Hershey’s only goal in regulation and tallied the decisive goal in the seventh shootout round as the Bears tied a franchise record with their 11th consecutive win, a 2-1 victory over Manitoba at the MTS Centre.
It was Hershey’s first visit to Winnipeg since winning the Calder Cup there last June.
Gordon’s 17th goal of the season snapped a scoreless tie 13 seconds into the middle frame, and Matt Pettinger responded for the Moose with 3:08 left in the period.
Braden Holtby made 30 saves, improving to 10-1-1 in 12 AHL appearances this season. Cory Schneider turned aside 33 of 34 shots in the shootout loss, which was Manitoba’s first in seven trips to the shootout this season.
The teams meet again Saturday night.
PEORIA 5, TORONTO 1
Peoria scored four power-play goals en route to a 5-1 victory over visiting Toronto at Carver Arena on Friday night.
Nicholas Drazenovic, Barry Tallackson, Steve Wagner and Tyson Strachan all scored with the man advantage for the Rivermen, who rank second in the AHL with a 21.5 percent efficiency for the year. Peoria was 4-for-6 on the night.
Hannu Toivonen made 29 saves for the win as Peoria snapped a three-game winless streak.
Kyle Rogers had the lone goal for the Marlies, whose road struggles continued. Toronto, which is two games into an eight-game road swing, is 4-11-1-2 away from home this season.
HOUSTON 5, ROCKFORD 3
In the first of four meetings between the teams over the next eight days, Jon DiSalvatore, Petr Kalus and Matt Kassian scored third-period goals to propel Houston to a 5-3 win over Rockford at Toyota Center on Friday.
Jamie Fraser and Jean-Michel Daoust also scored for the Aeros, who now have points in five straight games (2-0-3-0).
Wade Dubielewicz made 34 saves for his sixth consecutive win.
The IceHogs got goals from Jack Skille, Bryan Bickell and Rob Klinkhammer.
PROVIDENCE 3, ADIRONDACK 1
Drew Larman broke a 1-1 tie in the opening minute of the third period and Providence went on to a 3-1 win over Adirondack in front of 8.763 fans at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center on Friday.
The Bruins took a 1-0 advantage at the 9:57 mark of the opening period. Craig Weller held the puck halfway up the boards and sent it to Andy Wozniewski at the point. His shot was redirected into the net by Lane MacDermid for the first goal and point of his AHL career. MacDermid, a fourth-round draft choice by Boston in 2009, had been held off the scoresheet through his first 35 games of the season.
The Phantoms tied the game at 1:42 of the second period when Jason Ward tallied his sixth goal of the season, with Jared Ross and David Sloane picking up the assists.
Providence retook the lead 31 seconds into the third period. Wozniewski sent the puck into the zone for Weller, who skated it behind the net before tossing it in front for Larman, who scored his fourth goal of the season. The B’s added an empty net goal by Jeff LoVecchio at 19:27.
Dany Sabourin stopped 30 of 31 shots for Providence. John Grahame, who backstopped Providence to the 1999 Calder Cup championship and conference finals appearances the following two seasons, returned to the Dunk for the first time since the 2001 playoffs and made 37 saves for the Phantoms.
GRAND RAPIDS 6, ROCHESTER 3
Francis Lemieux scored his first two goals of the season to help Grand Rapids to a 6-3 win in Rochester on Friday.
The game was tied at 3-3 until Jan Mursak and Jamie Tardif scored 89 seconds apart midway through the third period. Mattias Ritola and Tomas Tatar had a goal and an assist each and Logan Pyett recorded three assists for the Griffins, and Jordan Pearce made 32 saves for his first career AHL win.
Chris Taylor, Jamie Johnson and Jordan Henry scored for the Americans, who lost their fourth in a row. Alexander Salak returned to the Rochester lineup after missing three weeks due to injury and stopped 29 of 35 shots.
BINGHAMTON 4, PORTLAND 3
Two early-period goals by Denis Hamel and 34 saves from Mike Brodeur propelled Binghamton to a 4-3 win over visiting Portland.
Hamel scored 59 seconds into the second period to snap a 1-1 tie, and then scored again 58 seconds into the third to give the Senators a 4-2 cushion. Keegan Dansereau and Brandon Svendsen also scored for Binghamton, and Craig Schira and Derek Smith notched two assists each.
Cody McCormick, Mark Mancari and Mike Weber scored for the Pirates, who lost in regulation for just the second time in their last 13 road games (8-2-2-1).
ALBANY 3, MANCHESTER 2 (SO)
Playing without four of its top six scorers, Albany got a 38-save effort from Justin Peters to sneak past Atlantic Division leader Manchester, 3-2, at the Times Union Center.
With Jerome Samson, Zach Boychuk, Pat Dwyer and Jiri Tlusty all on NHL recall to Carolina, the River Rats got regulation goals from Drayson Bowman and Nicolas Blanchard. Jacob Micflikier notched two assists before scoring on his shootout attempt.
Viatcheslav Voynov and Marc-Andre Cliche scored for the Monarchs, and Jonathan Bernier finished with 33 saves but allowed three goals on four shootout attempts.
WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 3, LOWELL 2
Dustin Jeffrey’s goal with 2:07 left in regulation gave Wilkes-Barre/Scranton a 3-2 win over Lowell on Friday night.
Konstantin Pushkarev and Eric Tangradi also scored for the Penguins, and Robert Bortuzzo tallied two assists. John Curry needed just 13 saves as the Penguins finished with a 32-15 edge in shots.
Ben Walter and Stephen Gionta were the goal-scorers for the Devils. Jeff Frazee made 29 saves in defeat.
HARTFORD 5, WORCESTER 2
Corey Locke and Dale Weise each scored twice as Hartford put a halt to Worcester’s six-game winning streak with a 5-2 road win over the Sharks at the DCU Center.
Worcester lost in regulation for just the third time in its last 18 outings (14-3-0-1).
Ilkka Heikkinen chipped in with a goal and an assist for the Wolf Pack, giving him 2-4-6 in his last four games. Dane Byers and P.A. Parenteau had two assists each and Matt Zaba stopped 29 of 31 shots.
T.J. Trevelyan and Joe Callahan scored for the Sharks. Logan Couture’s nine-game scoring streak came to an end, as did Benn Ferriero’s eight-game run.
SYRACUSE 4, NORFOLK 1
Jared Aulin and Brendan Bell had a goal and two assists each as Syracuse opened a two-game set at Scope with a 4-1 win over host Norfolk.
Juraj Simek gave the Admirals a lead with a power-play goal just 1:07 into the game, but Kevin Lalande shut the door the rest of the way and finished with 33 saves.
Jonathan Sigalet and former Admiral Michael Blunden also scored for the Crunch, who improved to 3-1-1-1 in their last six games.
BRIDGEPORT 3, SPRINGFIELD 2
Micheal Haley scored the go-ahead goal with 6:42 left in regulation and Bridgeport held on for a 3-2 win over Springfield at the MassMutual Center.
Haley’s goal came just 36 seconds after Liam Reddox had tied things up for the Falcons, and sent Springfield to its 20th setback in 21 games (1-15-4-1).
Greg Moore and Jesse Joensuu also scored for the Sound Tigers and Nathan Lawson turned aside 37 of 39 shots on the night.
Springfield’s Rob Hisey had a goal and an assist, giving him 5-2-7 in six games since joining the Falcons on Dec. 29.
