On a night when they honored their most familiar face, the Grand Rapids Griffins snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 6-4 victory over the Chicago Wolves at Van Andel Arena.
Defenseman Jonathan Ericsson scored his first two career AHL goals and Josh Langfeld recorded three assists for Grand Rapids, which retired the number 24 of long-time Griffin Travis Richards during the second intermission.
Matt Hussey, Danny Syvret, Darryl Bootland and Scott Barney also scored for the Griffins, who ended the Wolves’ four-game winning streak and handed Chicago just its second road loss of the year (10-2-0-0).
Playing without league scoring leader Jason Krog, who was recalled by the parent Atlanta Thrashers earlier in the day, the Wolves fell behind 5-1 before getting back in the game with three third-period goals. Cory Larose, Colin Stuart, Kyle Wanvig and Kevin Doell scored for Chicago, and Darren Haydar recorded an assist to extend his scoring streak to 19 games.
SPRINGFIELD 4, WORCESTER 1
Defenseman John Adams had a goal and two assists to lead Springfield to a 4-1 win in Worcester on Friday night.
Karri Ramo made 31 saves for his fifth straight win and eighth in his last nine decisions (8-1-0).
Daniel Corso recorded a goal and an assist and Eric Healey and Marek Kvapil each added two assists for the Falcons. Adam Henrich and Stanislav Lascek also scored.
Tom Cavanagh scored for the Sharks, who are 1-4-0-1 in their last six games.
PHILADELPHIA 4, ALBANY 2
Ryan Potulny scored twice and Don Morrison had three assists as Philadelphia doubled up Albany, 4-2, at the Wachovia Spectrum.
Tony Voce and Niko Dimitrakos also scored for the Phantoms, who snapped a three-game losing streak and beat Albany for the first time in three tries this season.
David Gove and Keith Aucoin scored for the River Rats.
PORTLAND 2, LOWELL 1
Michael Leighton made 36 saves as Portland opened up a three-point lead atop the Atlantic Division with a 2-1 win in Lowell.
Petteri Wirtanen and Simon Ferguson scored for the Pirates, who are 3-0-0-1 in their last four road games.
Chris Minard had the goal for the Devils, his sixth in his last eight games.
HARTFORD 3, PROVIDENCE 2
Jarkko Immonen’s tie-breaking goal 1:13 into the third period lifted Hartford to a 3-2 win in Providence.
Immonen’s game-winner, his second goal of the night, gave him four goals in four games after going scoreless in his first 13 outings of the season.
The Wolf Pack, who have won three of their last four road contests, also got a goal from rookie Ryan Callahan, his 13th of the season, and 33 saves from Steve Valiquette.
Kris Versteeg scored both Bruins goals.
WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 4, NORFOLK 2
Marc-Antoine Pouliot scored the go-ahead goal with 4:42 left in regulation to propel Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to a 4-2 win over Norfolk on Friday night.
With the win, the Penguins tied the Admirals for first place in the East Division, two points ahead of idle Hershey.
Jean-Francois Jacques had a goal and an assist and Jonathan Filewich and Tyler Kennedy also scored for the Pens, who improved to 14-3-1-0 on the season.
Chris Durno and Brandon Bochenski scored for the Admirals. Bochenski’s goal, his 14th of the season, gives him 12 points in his last six games.
TORONTO 2, SYRACUSE 1
Brett Engelhardt scored twice as Toronto snapped a six-game winless skid with a 2-1 win in Syracuse.
The teams meet again at Ricoh Coliseum on Saturday.
Jean-Francois Racine made 31 saves for the Marlies, who won despite being held to fewer than three goals for the eighth time in nine games.
Geoff Platt scored and Ty Conklin made 41 saves for the Crunch, who lost their fifth straight at home.
ROCHESTER 5, IOWA 2
Rostislav Olesz notched a goal and two assists as Rochester got back in the win column with a 5-2 win over Iowa. The Americans improved their league-leading record to 15-1-1-0 with the victory.
Greg Jacina scored twice and Brandon Smith and Mark Mancari added single tallies for Rochester, which opened up a 5-0 lead early in the second period. Adam Dennis finished with 33 saves.
Chris Conner and Marty Sertich scored for the Stars, who have lost six of their last nine.
BINGHAMTON 1, BRIDGEPORT 0
Jeff Glass made 34 saves for his first career AHL shutout and his first win of the year, backstopping Binghamton to a 1-0 win over host Bridgeport.
Josh Hennessy’s shorthanded goal 5:08 into the game proved to be the game’s only offense.
Former Senator Billy Thompson made 31 saves in the loss for the Sound Tigers.
HOUSTON 5, SAN ANTONIO 3
Matt Foy scored three third-period goals to lead Houston past San Antonio, 5-3, at the Toyota Center.
The Aeros snapped a three-game losing streak with the victory, while the Rampage dropped to 1-8-0-0 on the road this season.
The Rampage led 3-2 before Foy’s natural hat trick, which came within the final 7:25 of regulation. Ben Thomson had a goal and an assist and Danny Irmen also scored for Houston.
Tyson Nash registered a goal and an assist and Travis Roche notched three assists for the Rampage.
MANITOBA 6, MILWAUKEE 4
Manitoba scored five unanswered goals to rally past Milwaukee, 6-4, at the MTS Centre.
Brad Moran had two goals and an assist, Jason Jaffray recorded three assists and Drew MacIntyre (10 saves) was perfect in relief as the Moose erased a 4-1 deficit at the first intermission and earned their third straight win.
Jesse Schultz tallied a goal and an assist and Tyler Bouck, Nathan Smith and Marc-Andre Bernier also scored.
Pat Leahy had a goal and an assist for the Admirals.
PEORIA 2, OMAHA 1
Trent Whitfield’s goal with 7:27 left in regulation gave Peoria a 2-1 win over Omaha on Friday night.
The Rivermen extended their points streak to five games (3-0-1-1) with the victory. D.J. King also scored for Peoria and Chris Beckford-Tseu made 29 saves to go to 2-0-1 in the AHL this season.
Adam Pardy scored his first career AHL goal for the Knights.
