WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 4, ALBANY 3
Dave Gove tallied two goals and an assist against his former team and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton held on for a 4-3 road win over Albany in front of 6,429 fans at the Times Union Center.
The Penguins moved to 15-2-2-1 in their last 20 games and are now a win or a Philadelphia loss away from clinching their second East Division championship in the last three years.
Gove, who had 23 points in 45 games for the River Rats to begin the season, netted the eventual game-winner for the Penguins at 15:58 of the third period.
Jean-Michel Daoust and Tim Wallace also scored in the winning effort, while Ryan Stone and Alex Goligoski chipped in a pair of assists apiece.
Rookie goaltender John Curry (24-11-3) finished with 34 saves for the Penguins, who moved three points up on Philadelphia for the East Division lead with two days left in the regular season.
Nicolas Blanchard, Bryan Rodney, and Mike Angelidis notched goals for the River Rats, who are assured of finishing third in the division.
HERSHEY 4, PHILADELPHIA 2
Hershey rallied for three goals in the third period to take a 4-2 road win over Philadelphia at the Wachovia Spectrum. The win moved the Bears a point away from clinching a playoff spot with two games to play.
Chris Bourque, Kyle Wilson, and Alexandre Giroux all lit the lamp in the final stanza, turning a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 Bears led.
Bourque also netted a first-period marker for Hershey. He now has multiple points in six straight games (8-6-14).
Danny Syvret and Jonathan Paiement chipped in a pair of assists apiece for the Bears, and goaltender Frederic Cassivi picked up the win with 31 saves on 33 shots.
Triston Grant and Ryan Potulny scored for the Phantoms in the losing effort.
BRIDGEPORT 6, LOWELL 1
Rookie Trevor Smith tallied his first career hat trick as Bridgeport kept its faint playoff hopes alive with a 6-1 win over Lowell at the Arena at Harbor Yard.
Tim Jackman had two goals and an assist, and Jeff Tambellini posted a goal and a helper for the Sound Tigers, who built a 6-0 lead by the 12:29 mark of the third period.
Bridgeport goaltender Mike Morrison totaled 27 saves, as the Devils’ Ryan Murphy broke up his shutout bid with 2:10 left in the third period.
To qualify for the playoffs, the Sound Tigers need to win their remaining two games and have Hershey lose their last two in regulation.
NORFOLK 3, BINGHAMTON 2
Kyle Wanvig netted a pair of goals, including the game-winner early in the third period, as Norfolk took a 3-2 road win over Binghamton at the Broome County Arena.
2008 AHL All-Star Justin Keller also scored for the Admirals, and Dana Tyrell chipped in a pair of helpers.
Norfolk goaltender Jonathan Boutin picked up the win with 30 saves on 32 shots.
Niko Dimitrakos and Josh Hennessy lit the lamp for the Senators, who had been eliminated from playoff contention earlier in the night when Hershey defeated Philadelphia.
MILWAUKEE 3, HOUSTON 2
Janne Niskala’s power play goal at 8:36 of the third period proved big as Milwaukee eked out a 3-2 win over visiting Houston in front of 10,303 fans at the Bradley Center.
That goal gave the Admirals a 3-1 lead, but Houston’s Maxim Noreau scored with 58 seconds left in regulation to account for the final score.
Antti Pihlstrom and Mike Santorelli netted goals in the first and second period, respectively, for the Admirals, and goaltender Pekka Rinne earned the win with 21 saves.
Peter Olvecky netted a second-period goal for the Aeros. The teams will fly to Houston to conclude the regular season with a pair of tilts at the Toyota Center.
SAN ANTONIO 5, PEORIA 2
San Antonio scored five unanswered goals, including four in the third period alone, on its way to a 5-2 road win over Peoria at Carver Arena.
The Rivermen took a 2-0 lead as Mike Glumac scored in the first period and defenseman Tyson Strachan followed with his first career AHL goal at 6:21 of the second. San Antonio’s Chris Durno made it 2-1 at 13:57 of the middle stanza.
Matt Murley, Jon DiSalvatore, Mike Zigomanis, and Cam Paddock all netted third-period goals for the Rampage, with Paddock’s going into an empty net.
Defenseman Brendan Bell had a pair of assists in the win, and goaltender Al Montoya (24-13-3) stopped 29 of 31 shots.
The Rampage are now tied with Milwaukee for third place in the West Division. The teams are two points back of second-place Rockford and two up on fifth-place Houston.
ROCKFORD 3, CHICAGO 2
In a game where all the goals were scored in the third period, Troy Brouwer tallied the game-winner on the power play with 3:19 left in regulation to give Rockford a 3-2 win over visiting Chicago at the MetroCentre.
Martin St. Pierre and Derek Nesbitt also scored for the IceHogs, who maintained a two-point lead on San Antonio and Milwaukee for second place in the West Division.
IceHogs goaltender Corey Crawford made 22 saves and upped his season record to 28-18-5.
Jesse Schultz and Joey Crabb lit the lamp for the Wolves, who are dropped into a tie with Toronto in the race for home-ice advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs.
SYRACUSE 4, ROCHESTER 0
David Cullen and Derek MacKenzie each had a goal and an assist, and Karl Goehring posted a 21-save shutout as Syracuse won its 13th straight contest, a 4-0 decision over Rochester at the Blue Cross Arena.
The 13-game winning streak is the longest in the AHL since Manchester racked up a 13-game run from Nov. 6 to Dec. 5, 2004. The league record is 17 games, set by Philadelphia earlier in that 2004-05 season.
2008 AHL All-Star Clay Wilson scored, and rookie Derick Brassard lit the lamp to extend his scoring streak to nine games (8-14-22).
Joakim Lindstrom had a pair of assists for the Crunch, who also extended their points streak to 21 games (18-0-0-3) and moved into a tie with Manitoba for second place in the North Division.
GRAND RAPIDS 6, MANITOBA 3
Hours after being reassigned from parent-club Detroit, rookie Darren Helm netted a pair of goals as Grand Rapids doubled up visiting Manitoba by a 6-3 count before 7,234 fans at the Van Andel Arena.
Evan McGrath had a game-high three points (1-2-3) for the Griffins, while Francis Lemieux, Tyler Redenbach, and Randall Gelech rounded out the offense.
Grand Rapids goaltender Adam Berkhoel made 20 saves and improved to 10-14-4 on the season.
Manitoba’s Colby Genoway had a goal and an assist, and Alexandre Bolduc and Greg Rallo also scored.
The Moose fell into a tie with Syracuse for second place in the North Division. The second-place finisher will earn home-ice advantage in the teams’ upcoming first-round playoff series.
WORCESTER 3, PORTLAND 2 (OT)
Steven Zalewski netted his first professional goal late in the third to tie the game, and his second goal came with 21 seconds left in overtime to give Worcester a 3-2 win over Portland at the Cumberland County Civic Center.
Zalewski, playing his fifth pro game out of Clarkson University, scored the game-tying goal shorthanded at 13:14 of the third period.
The Pirates jumped to a 2-0 lead by the 8:53 mark of the first period on goals by Stephen Dixon and Brendan Mikkelson. The Sharks’ Riley Armstrong made it 2-1 with eight seconds left in the stanza, and that score held until Zalewski’s late heroics.
Sharks rookie goaltender Taylor Dakers made 30 saves in the winning effort.
MANCHESTER 2, PROVIDENCE 0
Jonathan Quick made 26 saves for his third shutout of the season as Manchester blanked Providence, 2-0, at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.
Marc-Andre Cliche and John Zeiler notched goals for the Monarchs, scoring in the first and second period, respectively.
Quick captured his fourth straight win and upped his season record to 11-8-0. All three of his whitewashes have been on the road.
The Monarchs and Bruins meet again in Manchester on Saturday and will square off in the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs, beginning next week in Providence.
TORONTO 3, HAMILTON 2
Jiri Tlusty broke a 2-2 tie with 3:17 left in regulation to propel Toronto to a 3-2 win over division-rival Hamilton at Copps Coliseum.
Ben Ondrus and Brent Aubin also scored for Marlies, and Colin Murphy posted a pair of assists. Marlies goaltender Scott Clemmensen (23-13-2) made 21 saves in the winning effort.
The Bulldogs received their goals from Matt D’Agostini and defenseman Pavel Valentenko, who notched his first career AHL marker.
Toronto finished 9-3-0-0 against the Bulldogs this season and moved into a tie with Chicago for the overall Western Conference lead.
HARTFORD 4, SPRINGFIELD 1
Four different players lit the lamp as Hartford posted a 4-1 road win over Springfield at the MassMutual Center.
The Wolf Pack received goals from Artem Anisimov, Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau, Josh Gratton, and Alex Bourret in the winning effort.
David LeNeveu picked up the win between the pipes, making 25 saves on 26 shots. He allowed only a second-period goal to Springfield’s T.J. Kemp.
The Wolf Pack finished 9-1-0-0 in their season series with the Falcons and wound up a combined 23-2-0-1 against Springfield, Worcester, and Lowell, all non-playoff teams.
IOWA 5, QUAD CITY 4 (OT)
Marty Sertich capped his second straight two-goal game with the game-winner 1:56 into overtime, propelling Iowa to a 5-4 road win over Quad City at the I Wireless Center.
Sertich netted his other goal in the second period, and the Stars also received markers from Tyler Shelast, Chris Conner, and Tom Wandell in the victory.
Defenseman Dan Jancevski chipped in a pair of helpers, and goaltender Matt Climie earned the win with 31 saves.
The Flames’ Kris Chucko netted a pair of goals, and Cam Cunning and Tomi Maki posted one apiece.
