ALBANY 3, MANCHESTER 1
Albany netted a pair of first-period goals and never looked back en route to a 3-1 road win over Manchester on Wednesday at the Verizon Wireless Arena.
Dave Gove notched a goal and an assist for the River Rats, who also received goals from Jerome Samson and Jakub Petruzalek. It marked Albany’s first victory in 10 lifetime visits to Manchester.
Samson opened the scoring at 14:05 of the first period, followed by a power play goal by Gove at 17:24.
After a scoreless second period, Petruzalek made it 3-0 with a man-advantage tally of his own at 2:52 of the third stanza.
River Rats goaltender John Grahame made 27 saves on 28 shots, picking up his first AHL victory since the 2000-01 season, when he was a member of Providence.
Manchester’s Brian Boyle broke up the shutout bid with his team-leading 17th goal of the season at 3:53 of the third period.
PORTLAND 5, BRIDGEPORT 3
Drew Miller notched his first career hat trick and chipped in an assist as Portland defeated host Bridgeport, 5-3, at the Arena at Harbor Yard.
Miller, a second-year pro who has played 25 games for parent-club Anaheim this season, scored once in the first period and twice more in the third stanza.
Geoff Platt picked up his team-leading 20th goal for the Pirates, Stephen Dixon also scored, and goaltender Gerald Coleman earned the win with 28 saves on 31 shots.
Trevor Smith, Dustin Kohn, and Frans Nielsen netted goals for the Sound Tigers, who lost their third in a row.
The game was played hours after the teams’ NHL affiliates swapped forwards, with Matt Keith going from Portland to Bridgeport and Darryl Bootland heading in the opposite direction. Each player suited up against his old club on Wednesday, but neither found the scoresheet.
HERSHEY 2, NORFOLK 1
Chris Bourque and Scott Barney tallied goals as Hershey downed visiting Norfolk, 2-1, at the Giant Center.
Bourque notched his 11th of the season just 40 seconds after the opening faceoff to give the Bears the early lead.
Norfolk defenseman Mario Scalzo scored the equalizer for the Admirals at 11:33, but Barney netted the eventual game-winner at 12:44 of the middle stanza.
Bears goaltender Daren Machesney stopped 29 of 30 shots to pick up the win.
PHILADELPHIA 4, LOWELL 2
Darroll Powe recorded three points (1-2-3) to lead Philadelphia past Lowell by a 4-2 final at the Tsongas Arena.
Frederik Cabana, Triston Grant, and Jared Ross also scored for the Phantoms, who notched four straight goals after falling behind 1-0.
Lowell took that 1-0 lead on a power play goal by Joe Rooney, and Devils winger Barry Tallackson capped the game’s scoring with a man-advantage goal in the third period.
Philadelphia goaltender Brian Boucher made 31 saves in net, helping his team win its fourth straight game.
WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 3, LAKE ERIE 1
Jonathan Filewich factored into every goal, scoring once and adding two helpers as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton downed visiting Lake Erie by a 3-1 count at the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza.
Mark Letestu scored twice for the Penguins, and rookie John Curry earned the win with 14 saves on 15 shots.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton won for the 10th time in its last 11 games (10-1-0-0) and maintained its one-point lead over Hershey and Albany for second place in the East Division.
Matt Hussey netted Lake Erie’s lone goal.
HAMILTON 3, BINGHAMTON 2 (OT)
Matt D’Agostini scored 1:11 into overtime to lift Hamilton over visiting Binghamton by a 3-2 final at Copps Coliseum.
Ryan Russell and Ajay Baines notched the other Bulldogs goals, helping Hamilton move to 5-1-0-0 in its last six outings.
Bulldogs goaltender Carey Price, the MVP of the 2007 Calder Cup Playoffs as Hamilton captured the Calder Cup, made 22 saves to pick up the win in his first AHL action of the season.
Scott May and Lawrence Nycholat scored for the Senators in the losing effort.
QUAD CITY 5, GRAND RAPIDS 4 (SO)
Three of four Quad City skaters scored in the shootout as the Flames edged visiting Grand Rapids, 5-4, at the I Wireless Center.
Flames winger Brandon Prust sent the game to overtime with a goal at 18:16 of the third period, erasing what had been a 4-3 Grand Rapids advantage.
Krys Kolanos had two regulation goals and a shootout tally for the Flames, and Tomi Maki scored once each in regulation and the shootout.
Quad City goaltender Matt Keetley picked up the win, stopping 24 of 28 through the first 65 minutes and denying three of four in the shootout.
Mark Cullen and Mark Hartigan each had a goal and an assist for the Griffins.
CHICAGO 6, IOWA 4
Six different skaters netted goals as Chicago outlasted visiting Iowa by a 6-4 final at the Allstate Arena.
Jesse Schultz and Darren Haydar led the Wolves with a goal and an assist each, while defenseman Brian Sipotz also posted multiple points with a pair of helpers.
The Wolves reached six goals for the second straight game, and they have been held to under four goals just once in their last 10 contests.
Chicago goaltender Ondrej Pavelec picked up the win with 28 saves on 32 shots.
Chris Conner, Vojtech Polak, and Konstantin Pushkarev had a goal and an assist each for the Stars.
