SPRINGFIELD 5, BRIDGEPORT 2
Springfield matched a season high with five goals en route to a 5-2 win over Bridgeport on Friday at the MassMutual Center. Goaltender Devan Dubnyk earned the win with 34 saves in net, his eleventh 30-plus save effort in 12 appearances.
Chad Wiseman netted a pair of goals to pace the Falcons’ offense, which also received tallies from ex-Sound Tiger Colton Fretter (1-1-2), Liam Reddox, and Colin McDonald.
Theo Peckham posted a pair of assists for the Falcons, who also scored five goals on opening night in a 5-2 victory over Portland.
Dubnyk, who leads the league with 409 saves on the campaign, improved his season record to 5-6-1.
Matt Martin and defenseman Brett Westgarth lit the lamp for the Sound Tigers, who dropped their third straight game and fell under .500 overall at 7-8-0-0.
ALBANY 5, LOWELL 4 (OT)
Jamie McBain scored 1:02 into overtime to give Albany a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over visiting Lowell at the Times Union Center.
The River Rats, who entered on a four-game winless skid (0-3-0-1), trailed 3-0 after the opening 20 minutes. But they climbed back to a draw on second-period tallies by Nicolas Blanchard and Drayson Bowman, and a Nick Dodge marker 3:19 into the third.
Defenseman Matt Taormina regained a one-goal lead for the Devils at 7:07 of the third frame, but the River Rats’ Chris Terry tied it again at 14:02.
That set the stage for McBain’s overtime winner, which came on the power play and was assisted by Brett Bellemore and Bowman.
Jay Harrison chipped in two helpers for the River Rats, and goaltender Mike Murphy stopped 25 shots in the winning effort.
Stephen Gionta, Matthew Corrente, and Michael Swift also scored for the Devils, who dropped to 1-3-2-0 in their last six games.
PORTLAND 5, HERSHEY 0
Portland halted Hershey’s four-game winning streak with a 5-0 win over the visiting Bears on Friday at the Cumberland County Civic Center.
The Pirates took a 2-0 first-period lead on goals less than five minutes apart from Kyle Wanvig and Jeff Cowan, with rookie Philip Gogulla picking up an assist on both.
After a scoreless second frame, Portland struck for three more in the third to put the game out of reach. Derek Whitmore poked the puck in off a scrum in front of the net at 2:58, rookie Travis Turnbull converted a partial breakaway for his first professional goal at 9:37, and Mark Mancari’s shot through a screen found twine at 12:55.
Rookie Portland goaltender Jean-Philippe Lamoureux made 25 saves to earn his first career AHL shutout.
Prior to Friday, Hershey netminder Jason Bacashihua (4-1-0) had surrendered just four goals in his first four outings this season.
HARTFORD 5, PROVIDENCE 3
A three-goal second period propelled Hartford to a 5-3 road win over Providence on Friday at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.
Brodie Dupont snapped a nine-game drought with a pair of goals for the Wolf Pack, while Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau, Jordan Owens, and rookie Evgeny Grachev each posted a goal and an assist.
Corey Locke chipped in a pair of assists in the win, and Hartford goaltender Chad Johnson stopped 29 of 32 shots between the pipes.
The Wolf Pack won their third straight game overall and their third straight over Providence since a 5-3 loss on Oct. 9.
Mikko Lehtonen netted a pair of goals for the Bruins, and Jamie Arniel potted his first goal of the campaign.
GRAND RAPIDS 5, CHICAGO 4
Grand Rapids overcame an early 2-0 deficit to edge visiting Chicago by a 5-4 count before 7,353 fans at Van Andel Arena on Friday. The Griffins finished a perfect 6-0-0-0 on their six-game homestand.
After Brett Sterling and rookie Andrew Kozek gave the Wolves a 2-0 lead by 6:50 of the opening period, Jamie Tardif put the Griffins on the board at 7:46.
Grand Rapids’ Cory Emmerton, who entered the night without a goal in nine games, tallied the equalizer 3:36 into the middle frame and gave the Griffins a 3-2 lead at 7:15.
The teams traded markers the rest of the way, with Jeremy Williams and Jan Mursak scoring for the Griffins, and Johnny Pohl and Joey Crabb converting for the Wolves.
Grand Rapids goaltender Daniel Larsson made 28 saves to pick up the victory.
NORFOLK 2, WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 1
Norfolk netted a pair of first-period goals and held on for a 2-1 road win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at the Wachovia Arena.
Mark Parrish put the Admirals on top with a power play marker just two minutes into the contest, and rookie Matt Syroczynski followed at 16:11 with his first career AHL goal.
Admirals rookie goaltender Dustin Tokarski made it stand up, finishing with 30 saves in the victory. His shutout bid was snapped by the Penguins’ Ryan Bayda with just 1:50 to play in regulation.
Norfolk earned its third consecutive victory and has surrendered just three goals in the three victories. The Admirals moved back to .500 on the season overall (6-6-0-0).
ROCHESTER 4, SYRACUSE 3 (OT)
Chris Taylor’s power play goal at 3:54 of overtime allowed Rochester to escape with a 4-3 win over visiting Syracuse before 6,035 fans at the Blue Cross Arena.
Michael Duco (1-1-2), Graham Mink (1-1-2), and Mike York all scored in regulation to stake the Americans to a 3-0 lead after two periods.
But the Crunch rallied for a trio of goals in the final 20 minutes to knot up the contest. Kevin Harvey, Trevor Frischmon, and Nick Holden each scored his first goal of the season for the Crunch, with Holden’s marker coming shorthanded at 19:46 to tie it.
Mink and Clay Wilson picked up assists on Taylor’s overtime tally. It made a winner of Rochester rookie goaltender Alexander Salak, who improved to 7-0-0 with 26 saves in net.
The Americans captured their ninth straight win and improved to an AHL-best 10-1-1-0 (21 points) overall.
WORCESTER 2, MANCHESTER 1 (SO)
Defenseman Danny Groulx scored in the ninth round of a shootout to push Worcester past visiting Manchester by a 2-1 count at the DCU Center on Friday.
The Sharks captured their fifth consecutive home-ice victory and improved to 8-3-0-1 (17 points) overall, three points back of the division-leading Monarchs.
Worcester’s Dwight Helminen beat Monarchs goaltender Jonathan Bernier in the shootout’s second round, but Trevor Lewis temporarily kept Manchester alive with a fifth-round conversion.
Manchester’s David Kolomatis and Worcester’s Helminen traded tallies in regulation, with Helminen snapping an eight-game goal-scoring drought.
Sharks rookie goaltender Alex Stalock earned the victory with 29 saves through the first 65 minutes before stopping eight of nine in the shootout.
Bernier finished with 45 saves on the evening, his third 40-plus save performance of the young season.
TORONTO 3, LAKE ERIE 2
Rookie forward Christian Hanson put up a goal and two assists to lead Toronto past host Lake Erie by a 3-2 final at Quicken Loans Arena.
Hanson, who now has five points (3-2-5) in his last two games, tied the game for the Marlies at 16:48 of the second period before assisting on third-period markers by Viktor Stalberg and Jeff Hamilton, the latter into an empty net.
Toronto’s Mike Zigomanis registered a pair of assists in the victory and shows 12 helpers in six games since joining the team, including at least one in all six contests.
Marlies goaltender James Reimer earned the win with 26 saves on 28 shots.
Brock Bradford and Ryan Stoa netted goals for the Monsters.
BINGHAMTON 2, HAMILTON 1
Binghamton finally handed Hamilton its first regulation loss of the season on Friday, a 2-1 decision before 14,702 fans at the Bell Centre, home of the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens.
Ryan Keller put the Senators on top with his team-leading seventh goal of the season at 15:59, a power play marker. Jason Bailey’s first professional marker made it a 2-0 game midway through the second frame.
Defenseman P.K. Subban put the Bulldogs on the board with a power play score at 8:39 of the third, but Hamilton was unable to find the equalizer and saw its 11-game points streak (7-0-1-3) come to an end.
Senators goaltender Mike Brodeur stopped 36 of 37 shots in net to pick up the victory.
After an off-day Saturday, the teams will clash on Sunday at Scotiabank Place, home of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators.
PEORIA 4, MILWAUKEE 3 (SO)
Peoria coughed up a 3-1 lead in regulation but converted all four of its shootout tries to emerge with a 4-3 road win over Milwaukee at the Bradley Center.
Aaron Palushaj, Julian Talbot, Nicholas Drazenovic, and Brendan Bell each beat Milwaukee goaltender Mark Dekanich in the shootout to give the Rivermen their second shootout victory in as many days.
After Milwaukee’s Cal O’Reilly gave his club a 1-0 lead, Peoria came back to take a 3-1 advantage on power play goals by defensemen Bryce Lampman and Danny Richmond, and an even strength marker off the stick of Cam Paddock.
But Peter Olvecky brought the Admirals within a goal late in the second frame, and Hugh Jessiman’s first goal of the season tied it up at 11:39 of the third.
Rivermen goaltender Ben Bishop wound up with the victory, stopping 24 shots through the first 65 minutes and denying two of four shootout attempts.
TEXAS 4, MANITOBA 0
Texas continued its sparkling defensive play with a 4-0 shutout of Manitoba at the Cedar Park Center on Friday.
Goaltender Matt Climie made 24 saves to pick up the shutout for the Stars, who have won four straight games and surrendered just two goals in the process. Texas also has a point in its last six outings (5-0-0-1) and sits atop the West Division at 9-2-0-2 overall.
Texas defenseman Ivan Vishnevskiy posted a goal and an assist in the victory, and the Stars also got goals from Perttu Lindgren, Aaron Gagnon, and Greg Rallo. Scott McCulloch chipped in a pair of assists for Texas.
The struggling Moose have now totaled just three goals in dropping four straight contests, but Manitoba looks for revenge against the Stars when the teams clash again on Saturday night.
ABBOTSFORD 4, ROCKFORD 2
Abbotsford jumped to a 3-0 lead and doubled up Rockford by a 4-2 count on Friday at the Entertainment & Sports Centre.
Cam Cunning and Jamie Lundmark gave the Heat a 2-0 advantage with goals just 19 seconds apart in the first period, and Garth Murray’s shorthanded goal 47 seconds into the second frame made it a 3-0 contest.
The IceHogs’ Pete MacArthur scored on that same power play just 15 seconds later, but Jason Jaffray restored the Heat’s three-goal lead only 1:08 after MacArthur’s goal.
Rockford’s Bracken Kearns scored the only marker of the third period for either side.
Goaltender Leland Irving earned the victory with 33 saves for the Heat, who won their fourth straight game and will host Rockford for a rematch on Saturday night.
