📝 With files from Patrick Williams
Here is a look at Friday’s action around the AHL:
LAVAL 3, HERSHEY 2 (OT)
Joël Teasdale completed his second career AHL hat trick with 1:07 to go in overtime as the Rocket erased a two-goal deficit and took down Eastern Conference leader Hershey at Place Bell. All three of Teasdale’s goals came on the power play; he had three power-play goals in 96 career AHL games entering the night. Anthony Richard and William Trudeau had two assists apiece for Laval, and Kevin Poulin made 25 saves to earn the win. Former Rocket netminder Zach Fucale finished with 39 saves for the Bears.
BRIDGEPORT 1, ROCHESTER 0 (OT)
Cory Schneider made 40 saves for his first shutout of the season and the 40th of his pro career (14 AHL, 26 NHL) and William Dufour scored 1:35 into overtime as the Islanders ended a nine-game home losing streak with a 1-0 win over the Amerks. It was the second game-winning goal this week for Dufour, who also made his NHL debut on Wednesday. Malcolm Subban had 26 saves for Rochester, which saw its five-game road winning streak end.
PROVIDENCE 5, HARTFORD 3
The Bruins scored three times in the third period to nail down a come-from-behind win over the Wolf Pack at XL Center, ending the hosts’ seven-game point streak. Luke Toporowski tied the game on a penalty shot at 4:56 of the third before Marc McLaughlin notched the game-winner with 3:14 remaining, capping a three-point night. Jakub Lauko, Vinni Lettieri and Oskar Steen rounded out Providence’s scoring, while Keith Kinkaid (20 saves) took the win against his former club. Will Cuylle scored his team-leading 12th goal of the season for Hartford.
SYRACUSE 2, UTICA 0
Max Lagace made 25 saves for his first shutout of the season as the Crunch won their fifth game in a row. Gabriel Dumont and Jaydon Dureau scored and Alex Barré-Boulet notched two assists to become the Crunch franchise’s all-time leading scorer with 243 points, surpassing Brad Moran. Akira Schmid stopped 20 shots for the Comets, who have been outscored 20-5 in losing each of their first four meetings with Syracuse this season.
TORONTO 4, BELLEVILLE 3
Adam Gaudette and Kyle Clifford scored third-period goals to lift the Marlies to their seventh win in a row. Joseph Woll made 29 saves to remain perfect at 11-0-0 this season, while Alex Steeves and Logan Shaw provided Toronto’s other goals. Cole Reinhardt, Egor Sokolov and Jacob Larsson scored for the Senators, and Kevin Mandolese had 27 stops.
LEHIGH VALLEY 5, WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 2
Tyson Foerster scored twice during a four-goal second period, sparking the Phantoms to a win at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Captain Cal O’Reilly became the 25th player in AHL history to reach 700 career points, picking up an assist on Wyatte Wylie’s goal that tied the game at 1-1. Bobby Brink and former Penguin Jordy Bellerive added Lehigh Valley’s other tallies, and Samuel Ersson stopped 28 shots in his first start with the Phantoms since Dec. 18 after a month on recall to the Philadelphia Flyers. Lukas Svejkovsky and Nathan Légaré scored for the Penguins.
IOWA 3, MILWAUKEE 2 (OT)
Nic Petan struck 27 seconds into overtime as the Wild won their sixth consecutive game. Three of Petan’s seven goals this season have been game-winners. Jesper Wallstedt made 36 saves, allowing only power-play goals to Phil Tomasino and Kiefer Sherwood, while Yaroslav Askarov stopped 22 shots in a goaltending match-up of first-round draft picks and Central Division AHL All-Stars.
SPRINGFIELD 7, ROCKFORD 2
Vadim Zherenko made 41 saves and Jacob Hayhurst scored his first two career AHL goals as the Thunderbirds handled the IceHogs. Springfield went 3-for-6 on the power play and also got a shorthanded goal from Illinois native Hugh McGing, while former IceHog Matthew Highmore tallied a goal and an assist in his return to Rockford. Luke Philp and David Gust notched a goal and an assist apiece for the Hogs.
TUCSON 6, BAKERSFIELD 2
The Roadrunners scored three times in the first 6:13 of the game and again three times in the third period to hold off the Condors at Tucson Arena. Jean-Sebastien Dea (1g, 2a) and Laurent Dauphin (3a) each put up three points, and Nathan Smith added a pair of goals as the Roadrunners halted a five-game home losing streak. Tyler Parks made 23 saves to earn the win in his AHL season debut. In his return from recall to Edmonton, Markus Niemelainen scored both Bakersfield goals, his first two tallies of the season.
CALGARY 5, ABBOTSFORD 4 (SO)
Matthew Phillips scored with 2:40 left in regulation and then completed the Wranglers’ comeback victory with the deciding shootout tally in the second of three meetings this week between the Pacific Division rivals. The Canucks raced out to a 3-0 lead on goals by Kyle Rau, Justin Dowling and Phil Di Giuseppe late in the first period, but Calgary responded with second-period tallies by Connor Zary, Ben Jones and Nicolas Meloche. Tristen Nielsen restored the Abbotsford lead before Phillips netted his league-leading 23rd goal of the season to force OT. The Wranglers have won five of six meetings with the Canucks this season.
SAN JOSE 6, SAN DIEGO 0
Acquired from Detroit on Wednesday, Kyle Criscuolo scored two goals in his San Jose debut as the Barracuda blanked the Gulls. Eetu Makiniemi made 20 saves for his second shutout of the season, and his second straight win following a personal six-game losing streak. Andrew Agozzino, Darren Brady, Thomas Bordeleau and Artemi Kniazev accounted for the rest of the scoring while C.J. Suess and Max Veronneau collected two assists each.
TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams has been on the American Hockey League beat for nearly two decades for outlets including NHL.com, Sportsnet, TSN, The Hockey News, SiriusXM NHL Network Radio and SLAM! Sports, and was most recently the co-host of The Hockey News On The ‘A’ podcast. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.
