QUAD CITY 6, PEORIA 2
Carsen Germyn notched a hat trick and added an assist on his 26th birthday to help Quad City post a 6-2 victory over visiting Peoria on Friday at the I Wireless Center.
It marked Germyn’s first three-goal effort since Oct. 28, 2005, and gave him 13 tallies for the season. The Flames closed to within two points of Milwaukee for fifth place in the West Division.
The Rivermen initially took a 1-0 first-period lead on Nikolay Lemtyugov’s 17th goal of the season.
But Quad City erupted for four goals in the second stanza – two by Germyn and one each from Tomi Maki and Tim Ramholt.
Germyn completed the hat trick with a power play marker 2:03 into the third period, and Kris Chucko rounded out the Flames’ scoring at 13:23.
Quad City goaltender Curtis McElhinney stopped 28 of 30 shots in the victory, improving his season record to 11-9-2.
ALBANY 4, BRIDGEPORT 1
Albany scored twice in the first period and twice more in the third on its way to a key 4-1 win over visiting Bridgeport at the Times Union Center.
The win allowed the River Rats to leapfrog one point up on the Sound Tigers in the race for the East Division’s fourth and final playoff spot. Binghamton is tied with Bridgeport for fifth.
Albany’s Pat Dwyer and Jerome Samson netted first-period goals, but Bridgeport center Trevor Smith made it a 2-1 game at intermission.
After a scoreless second period, Joe Jensen notched an insurance goal for the River Rats 9:38 into the third, and Jamie Johnson added an empty-net marker at 18:44.
Albany goaltender Michael Leighton earned the victory with 42 saves on 43 shots.
MANITOBA 4, GRAND RAPIDS 1
Rick Rypien’s power play goal at 2:45 of the second period held up as the game-winner as Manitoba posted a 4-1 road win over Grand Rapids at the Van Andel Arena.
Rypien and Shaun Heshka each had a goal and an assist for the Moose, who received late empty-net goals from Alexandre Bolduc and Mike Brown.
2008 AHL All-Star goaltender Drew MacIntyre stopped 41 of 42 shots for Manitoba, including 34 of 35 over the second and third periods.
Grand Rapids’ Francis Lemieux scored in the losing effort.
NORFOLK 3, MANCHESTER 2 (SO)
Junior Lessard and Paul Szczechura, acquired together from Iowa on Jan. 15, netted shootout goals to give Norfolk a 3-2 victory over host Manchester at the Verizon Wireless Arena.
The Admirals received power play goals from Kyle Wanvig and Karl Stewart in regulation, with defenseman Jay Leach assisting on both markers.
Lessard notched the decisive marker in the shootout, beating Monarchs goaltender Daniel Taylor in the seventh round.
Norfolk netminder Jonathan Boutin stopped 41 of 43 shots through regulation and overtime. After allowing a goal to David Meckler in the shootout’s first round, Boutin denied all six subsequent attempts.
Marc-Andre Cliche had a goal and a helper for the Monarchs, and Richard Petiot also scored.
LOWELL 2, WORCESTER 1 (OT)
Stephen Gionta lit the lamp just 20 seconds into overtime to lift Lowell past Worcester by a 2-1 final in a defensive battle at the DCU Center.
Both regulation goals came in a 1:13 span late in the first period. Patrick Davis gave the Devils a 1-0 edge on the power play at 15:26, but Worcester’s Dennis Packard answered at 16:39.
Packard has six goals on the season, and three of them have come against the Devils. The loss extended the Sharks’ winless skid to five games (0-4-1-0).
Lowell goaltender Frank Doyle made 33 saves in the winning effort, helping the Devils improve to 3-1-1-0 in their last five contests.
HERSHEY 3, PHILADELPHIA 2
Defenseman Josef Boumedienne’s power play goal with 3:40 left in the second period turned out to be the game-winner as Hershey edged host Philadelphia by a 3-2 count at the Wachovia Spectrum.
The goal extended Boumedienne’s scoring streak to 15 games — matching the longest in the AHL this season — and allowed the Bears to jump over idle Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for second place in the tight East Division race.
Scott Barney and Chris Bourque also netted goals for Hershey, and goaltender Frederic Cassivi earned the win with 22 saves.
Boyd Kane and Jared Ross scored for the Phantoms, who saw their six-game points streak (5-0-1-0) come to an end.
The teams will lock horns for a rematch on Saturday night in Hershey.
SPRINGFIELD 2, PORTLAND 1 (SO)
2008 AHL All-Star Rob Schremp scored in regulation and the shootout to lead Springfield past visiting Portland, 2-1, at the MassMutual Center.
Schremp’s 18th goal of the season at 18:14 of the first period put the Falcons on top, and the 1-0 advantage would hold until Portland’s Drew Miller tied it 5:22 into the third stanza.
Marc Pouliot also scored in the shootout for Springfield, which moved to 5-2-1-0 in its last eight games.
The Falcons won despite being outshot 43-19 in the game and 16-3 in the third period alone. Springfield rookie goaltender Devan Dubnyk held strong, stopping 42 shots through the first 65 minutes and all four of Portland’s shootout tries.
HOUSTON 5, SYRACUSE 4 (SO)
Houston rallied for a pair of third-period goals and went on to a 5-4 shootout victory over host Syracuse at the Onondaga County War Memorial.
With the Aeros down 4-2 entering the period, Clayton Stoner and Benoit Pouliot scored less than four minutes apart in the final stanza. Pouliot scored again in the shootout, along with Ryan Hamilton.
Houston goaltender Barry Brust made 32 saves on the night and stopped all four Syracuse shootout attempts.
Syracuse’s Derek MacKenzie and Joakim Lindstrom each netted shorthanded goals in regulation, giving the Crunch a league-leading 17 “shorties” for the season.
BINGHAMTON 4, ROCHESTER 0
Binghamton scored three power play goals and netminder Brian Elliott made 37 saves for his first career shutout as the Senators blanked host Rochester by a 4-0 count at the Blue Cross Arena.
Denis Hamel and Justin Mapletoft each had a goal and a helper for the Senators, while Shawn Weller and Matt Kinch also scored.
Scott May and Derek Smith contributed a pair of assists apiece in the winning effort, which ended Binghamton’s 0-3-1-0 slide.
With the shutout win, Elliott improved his season record to 11-13-0.
ROCKFORD 3, MILWAUKEE 2
Rockford ended its eight-game winless skid (0-6-1-1) with a 3-2 road victory over Milwaukee at the Bradley Center.
Former University of Wisconsin forward and Madison native Jack Skille, selected seventh overall by Chicago in the 2005 draft, notched the game-winning goal unassisted off a Milwaukee turnover with just 56.3 seconds left in the third period.
The IceHogs also received goals from Troy Brouwer and Bryan Bickell, as the team scored once in each period.
Rockford goaltender Wade Flaherty, who was named playoff MVP while winning a Calder Cup with Milwaukee in 2004, made 20 saves in the victory over his former team.
Jason Guerriero and Cody Franson lit the lamp for the Admrials, whose four-game winning streak came to an end.
SAN ANTONIO 1, LAKE ERIE 0
San Antonio goaltender Josh Tordjman made 26 saves for his first shutout of the season as the Rampage edged visiting Lake Erie by a 1-0 count at the AT&T Center.
Bill Thomas netted the game’s lone goal in the second period for San Antonio, which was playing its first home game since Jan. 20. Joey Tenute and Jon DiSalvatore picked up assists.
The teams will meet for a rematch on Sunday, also at the AT&T Center.
CHICAGO 3, IOWA 1
A pair of first-period goals sent Chicago on its way to a 3-1 road victory over Iowa at the Wells Fargo Arena.
Brett Sterling tallied his league-leading 29th goal of the season for the Wolves, while AHL leading scorer Jason Krog (25-50-75) and Alexandre Giroux also lit the lamp.
Sterling notched his fourth consecutive game-winning goal for the Wolves, giving him a league-leading eight game-winners on the campaign.
Chicago defenseman Joel Kwiatkowski contributed a pair of assists, giving him 42 points for the season (17-25-42), which ranks third among AHL blueliners.
Goaltender Ondrej Pavelec made 23 saves and improved to 7-1-0 in his last eight decisions. The rookie goaltender boasts a 1.12 GAA and .958 save percentage over that span.
Iowa captain Toby Petersen tallied his team-leading 19th goal of the season early in the second period.
