MANITOBA 6, IOWA 1
Manitoba erupted for five goals in the third period to turn a 1-1 deadlock into a 6-1 road win over Iowa on Friday in the opener of the teams’ two-game weekend set at Wells Fargo Arena.
Second-year pro Michael Grabner recorded his first career hat trick for the Moose, including the tying goal and eventual game-winner.
The teams played a scoreless first period, but Chops forward Troy Bodie put his team on top with a power play goal exactly three minutes into the middle frame.
Grabner tied it for the Moose at 19:44 of the second and kicked off the third-period onslaught with an unassisted tally at 6:20.
Manitoba then received goals from Alexandre Bolduc, Mike Keane, Mark Cullen, and Grabner to run away with the victory. Michel Ouellet (0-3-3) and Travis Ramsey (0-2-2) each contributed multiple assists in the game.
AHL All-Star goaltender Cory Schneider made 32 saves for the Moose and won his 12th straight AHL decision since dropping Manitoba’s season opener.
The Moose and Chops will square off again on Saturday night.
NORFOLK 4, MANCHESTER 3
Norfolk jumped out to a 3-0 lead a little more than 20 minutes into the game and held on for a 4-3 win over visiting Manchester on Friday in the opener of the teams’ two-game set at the Scope. Admirals captain Zenon Konopka scored twice in the victory – his first goals since Nov. 29 – and Grant Potulny posted a goal and an assist for Norfolk.
The Admirals started quick out of the gate when Konopka beat Monarchs goaltender Jonathan Bernier just eight seconds after the opening face-off. Potulny made it 2-0 on the power play at 17:06 of the first, and Konopka added another power play marker 50 seconds into the second stanza.
The Monarchs attempted a comeback, as Matt Moulson scored a power play goal of his own at 15:09 of the second and Ryan Murphy lit the lamp 1:42 into the third, making it a 3-2 game.
The teams then traded goals, with Norfolk’s Bracken Kearns scoring unassisted at 4:10 and Manchester’s Trevor Lewis answering with yet another power play score at 13:57.
Admirals goaltender Mike McKenna made 26 saves in the winning effort.
The teams will square off for a rematch on Saturday night.
PHILADELPHIA 4, GRAND RAPIDS 3 (OT)
David Laliberte scored 2:22 into overtime to lift Philadelphia over host Grand Rapids by a 4-3 count before 7,331 fans at Van Andel Arena.
Jeffrey Szwez scored twice and Jonathan Matsumoto once in regulation for the Phantoms, who snapped a seven-game winless skid (0-5-1-1).
Phantoms goaltender Michael Teslak made 38 saves on 41 shots to pick up the victory.
Francis Pare, Garrett Stafford, and Mattias Ritola netted goals for the Griffins.
HAMILTON 3, LAKE ERIE 0
Hamilton goaltender Loic Lacasse made 22 saves for his first career AHL shutout as the Bulldogs took a 3-0 win over visiting Lake Erie at Copps Coliseum.
T.J. Kemp scored in the first period for the Bulldogs, and after a scoreless middle frame, Mathieu Carle and Mike Glumac followed with third-period markers.
David Desharnais and Olivier Latendresse each had two assists in the victory, which improved Hamilton to 5-1-0-0 in its last six outings.
HERSHEY 5, HOUSTON 1
Hershey took a 2-0 lead after the first period and cruised to its fourth straight win, a 5-1 decision over visiting Houston before 8,308 fans at the Giant Center.
Andrew Joudrey and rookie Oskar Osala each had a goal and an assist for the Bears. Andrew Gordon and Francois Bouchard added goals in the victory, and Alexandre Giroux lit the lamp for a ninth consecutive game (13-6-19).
Bears goaltender Simeon Varlamov (16-3-0) stopped 23 of 24 shots in the winning effort.
Jesse Schultz had the lone goal for the Aeros, who now travel to Quad City and Chicago to conclude their eight-game road trip.
LOWELL 7, PORTLAND 3
Seven different players scored as Lowell took a 7-3 road win over Portland on Friday at the Cumberland County Civic Center.
Brad Mills and Michael Swift each posted a goal and an assist for the Devils, while Matthew Spiller, Petr Vrana, Rod Pelley, Vladimir Zharkov, and Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond all added scores in the victory.
Patrick Davis chipped in a pair of assists, and AHL All-Star goaltender Jeff Frazee made 39 saves for Lowell, which captured its third straight win.
Nathan Gerbe (2-0-2), Derek Whitmore (1-0-1), and Mathieu Darche (0-2-2) pace the Pirates’ offense on the night.
WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 4, BINGHAMTON 2
Jean-Michel Daoust broke a 2-2 tie with a power play goal at 17:44 of the third period, and Connor James added a late empty-netter to give Wilkes-Barre/Scranton a 4-2 road win over Binghamton at the Broome County Arena.
Janne Pesonen tallied a game-high three points (1-2-3) for the Penguins, Mark Letestu added a goal, and Luca Caputi chipped in a pair of assists.
Penguins goaltender John Curry made 30 saves to earn his 10th victory of the season (10-6-0).
Greg Mauldin and Denis Hamel lit the lamp for the Senators.
PROVIDENCE 4, BRIDGEPORT 1
Providence scored four unanswered goals to take a 4-1 win over visiting Bridgeport before 7,061 fans at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.
Joe Callahan initially gave the Sound Tigers a 1-0 lead at 7:52 of the first period, but the Bruins received goals from Jeremy Reich and Jordan Knackstedt just 2:52 apart to take a 2-1 advantage into intermission.
Vladimir Sobotka and rookie Brad Marchand added goals for the Bruins, while AHL All-Star Martin St. Pierre chipped in two assists.
Providence goaltender Tuukka Rask earned the win with 26 saves between the pipes.
WORCESTER 4, ALBANY 1
Worcester scored three times in the third period to snap a 1-1 deadlock and take a 4-1 win over visiting Albany at the DCU Center.
Lukas Kaspar tallied the eventual game-winner for the Sharks at 4:41 of the third. Matt Fornataro and Riley Armstrong added insurance markers, the latter going into an empty net.
Andrew Desjardins netted a first-period goal for Worcester, and goaltender Thomas Greiss stopped 36 of 37 shots in the winning effort.
Jerome Samson tallied a power play goal for the River Rats, whose three-game winning streak came to an end.
HARTFORD 1, SPRINGFIELD 0
Artem Anisimov scored the game’s only goal 3:05 into overtime to give Hartford a 1-0 road win over Springfield on Friday at the MassMutual Center.
Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau and Brian Fahey assisted on the goal, which was Anisimov’s team-leading 17th of the season.
Wolf Pack goaltender Matt Zaba stopped all 40 shots he faced to secure his first career AHL shutout.
The Falcons are now winless in three straight outings (0-2-1-0) and show a 1-8-2-0 in their last 11 contests.
ROCHESTER 3, SYRACUSE 1
Rochester netted a pair of third-period goals to take a 3-1 win over arch-rival Syracuse on Friday before 6,310 fans at the Blue Cross Arena.
Amerks captain and AHL All-Star defenseman Rory Fitzpatrick broke a 1-1 tie at 1:46 of the third frame, and Michal Repik added an insurance marker at 10:20.
Stefan Meyer also scored for the Americans, and AHL All-Star goaltender Mike Brodeur stopped 29 of 30 shots to improve to 9-3-1 on the campaign.
Defenseman Andrey Plekhanov netted his first goal of the season for the Crunch.
SAN ANTONIO 2, MILWAUKEE 1 (OT)
Joel Perrault lit the lamp just 16 seconds into overtime, propelling eighth-place San Antonio over first-place Milwaukee by a 2-1 count before 6,561 fans at the AT&T Center.
The Rampage forced overtime when Derek Nesbitt tied the contest at 1-1 at 13:10 of the third period, with Perrault picking up an assist.
San Antonio goaltender Josh Tordjman stopped 22 of 23 shots in the victory, which was the Rampage’s third in a row and 13th in their last 17 games (13-4-0-0).
Patric Hornqvist netted a first-period goal on the power play for the Admirals, who have earned a standings point in 10 straight games (7-0-2-1).
QUAD CITY 3, TORONTO 2 (OT)
Quad City rallied from a 2-0 first-period deficit and eventually posted a 3-2 overtime win over visiting Toronto at the I Wireless Center.
Jamie Lundmark netted a power play goal just 32 seconds into the extra session to win it for the Flames. Carsen Germyn picked up his second assist of the night on the goal, and Anders Eriksson also earned a helper.
The Marlies took an early 2-0 lead on a shorthanded goal from Bates Battaglia and a power play marker off the stick of Anton Stralman, his first of the season.
But Quad City’s Kyle Greentree scored in the second period and David Van der Gulik tied it a little less than two minutes into the third.
Flames goaltender Matt Keetley earned the victory with 36 saves on 38 shots.
ROCKFORD 3, CHICAGO 1
Rockford extended its points streak to five games (4-0-0-1) and kept Chicago struggling with a 3-1 win over the visiting Wolves on Friday at the MetroCentre.
Rob Klinkhammer, Jimmy Sharrow, and Jack Skille lit the lamp for the IceHogs, who scored once in each period. Skille posted an assist and scored his goal into an empty net in the game’s closing seconds.
IceHogs goaltender Corey Crawford made 34 saves and improved to 11-5-2 on the campaign.
Spencer Machacek netted a power play goal for the Wolves, who have lost four straight in regulation and are 0-4-1-0 in their last five contests.
