Matt Ellis recorded a hat trick, including one of Grand Rapids’ three shorthanded goals on the night, leading the Griffins to a 5-2 win over San Antonio at Van Andel Arena on Friday night.
Ellis, Derek Meech and Eric Himelfarb all scored with the hosts skating a man down, staking Grand Rapids to a 3-0 lead and sending Rampage goaltender David LeNeveu to the bench at the 7:36 mark of the second period.
Ellis, the Griffins’ captain, added an assist for a four-point night as Grand Rapids ran its winning streak to five games.
The AHL record for shorthanded goals in a game by one team is four, set by the Fredericton Canadiens (vs. Newmarket) on Feb. 9, 1988, and matched by the Halifax Citadels (vs. Cape Breton) on Oct. 16, 1988.
The last AHL team to score three shorthanded goals in a game was the Peoria Rivermen, in a 4-3 overtime win vs. Chicago on Feb. 26, 2006.
Donald MacLean, who scored 56 goals with the Griffins last season, netted his 20th goal of the year for San Antonio.
WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 7, BINGHAMTON 0
Jean-Francois Jacques tied a franchise record with four goals as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton rolled to a 7-0 win over Binghamton on Friday.
Jacques extended his scoring streak to six games (5g, 6a) with the performance, the fifth four-goal game in the AHL this season.
Rob Schremp, Daniel Carcillo and Jonathan Filewich also scored for the Penguins, Tom Gilbert recorded three assists and Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers made 17 saves for his third shutout of the year.
Erik Christensen scored four goals for the Penguins on Oct. 5, 2005.
ROCHESTER 3, MANCHESTER 2
Rob Globke scored the go-ahead goal 7:39 into the third period, helping Rochester to a 3-2 win over Manchester and snapping the Monarchs’ 12-game winning streak.
Janis Sprukts and Mark Mancari also scored for the Americans, who rebounded from last Sunday’s 9-5 loss to Hamilton.
Lauri Tukonen and Peter Harrold scored for Manchester, which continues its road trip in Toronto on Saturday afternoon.
HARTFORD 3, WORCESTER 0
Al Montoya made 15 saves for his third shutout of the season, backstopping Hartford to a 3-0 win over Worcester.
For Montoya, who turned 22 earlier this week, it was his 10th win in his last 12 decisions after starting the season at 2-9-0.
Brad Isbister, Dwight Helminen and Lauri Korpikoski scored for the Wolf Pack.
PHILADELPHIA 2, PORTLAND 1 (SO)
Ryan Potulny scored on both of his shootout attempts to give Philadelphia a 2-1 win over visiting Portland.
Scott Munroe made 33 saves for the Phantoms in his first appearance since Jan. 19.
Philadelphia’s Niko Dimitrakos and Portland’s Joe Motzko traded power-play goals in regulation.
PROVIDENCE 3, SPRINGFIELD 2
Julian Talbot scored the game-winning goal in his AHL debut, helping Providence to a 3-2 win over Springfield at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.
Jay Leach and Jeff Hoggan also scored for the Bruins and David Krejci extended his scoring streak to 14 games with a pair of assists.
Talbot, an 21-year-old forward who played four junior years with Ottawa (OHL), has 40 points in 50 games with Alaska (ECHL) this season.
It was the fourth win in a row for the Bruins, who are 14-2-0-1 in their last 17 games. The Falcons are 1-10-0-1 in their last 12.
ALBANY 7, NORFOLK 3
Dan DaSilva, Antti Laaksonen and Cody McCormick all scored twice to lead Albany to a 7-3 win over visiting Norfolk on Friday.
DaSilva and Laaksonen also added an assist apiece and Matt Murley recorded three assists on the night as the River Rats beat the Admirals for the second time in eight days.
Tyler Weiman made 24 saves to improve to 14-10-2 on the year.
The Admirals played without several players, including leading scorer Martin St. Pierre, captain Craig MacDonald and forward Pierre Parenteau (on NHL recall to Chicago), defensemen Steve Munn and Bruno St. Jacques (injured) and goaltender Mike Brodeur and center Jonas Nordqvist (ill).
MANITOBA 3, SYRACUSE 2 (OT)
Mike Keane scored 1:49 into overtime to give Manitoba a 3-2 win in Syracuse, the sixth win in a row for the Moose.
Brad Moran, the Crunch’s all-time leading scorer, had a goal and an assist for Manitoba while Drew MacIntyre made 41 saves to improve to 13-2-0 in his last 15 decisions. Jesse Schultz forced overtime with a 6-on-4 power-play goal with 46 seconds left in regulation.
Adam Pineault and Curtis Glencross scored for Syracuse.
BRIDGEPORT 4, LOWELL 1
Jeremy Colliton and Steve Regier scored early in the second period and Wade Dubielewicz (18-6-4) made 30 saves as host Bridgeport defeated Lowell, 4-1.
Brandon Nolan and Jamie Johnson had a goal and an assist each for the Sound Tigers, who have won six in a row.
Chris Minard scored his team-high 20th goal of the season for the Devils.
MILWAUKEE 4, PEORIA 3
Chris Durno recorded a natural hat trick and assisted on Sheldon Brookbank’s game-winning goal with 6:28 left in regulation as Milwaukee downed Peoria, 4-3.
Durno has five goals and one assist in seven games since rejoining the Admirals on Feb. 1.
Cal O’Reilly, John Laliberte and Mikko Lehtonen tallied two assists each for Milwaukee. Kevin Croxton led the Rivermen with a goal and an assist.
Attendance at the Bradley Center was 10,205.
HAMILTON 5, TORONTO 4 (SO)
Rookie Kyle Chipchura scored with 36 seconds left in regulation and added two assists to help Hamilton to a 5-4 shootout win over Toronto at Copps Coliseum.
Chipchura extended his scoring streak to six games (3g, 5a), and Corey Locke picked up a goal and an assist, giving him six points in his last two contests.
Colin Murphy had a goal and two assists for the Marlies and Jeremy Williams scored twice, but Williams’ major penalty for kneeing with 5:07 left in regulation set the stage for Hamilton to tie the game late.
OMAHA 2, IOWA 1 (OT)
Carsen Germyn scored 1:26 into overtime to give Omaha a 2-1 win over Iowa at Wells Fargo Arena.
Germyn’s goal came on a power play after Stars defenseman Mario Scalzo took a high-sticking major at the end of regulation.
Dustin Boyd also scored for the Ak-Sar-Ben Knights, who ended a three-game losing streak with the victory.
Brent Krahn returned from the injured list and made 25 saves in his first appearance since Dec. 30.
