HOUSTON 4, PEORIA 3 (SO)
Houston rallied from three goals down in the final 2:36 of regulation and went on to post a 4-3 shootout win over host Peoria at Carver Arena on Sunday night.
Trailing 3-0, the Aeros got on the board when defenseman Paul Albers ended a 61-game drought with his first goal of the season at 17:24 of the third period.
Then, with Barry Brust off for an extra attacker, Peter Olvecky closed the gap to 3-2 at 19:00 and Corey Locke netted the equalizer with two-tenths of a second remaining.
Following a scoreless overtime period, Ryan Hamilton and Jesse Schultz tallied shootout goals while Nolan Schaefer stopped all four Rivermen attempts as the Aeros snapped a three-game winless slide. It was the second time this season that Schaefer has come off the bench cold to relieve Brust in a shootout.
Chris Conner, Ryan Reaves and Nicholas Drazenovic lit the lamp for the Rivermen, who missed out on a chance to pull into a tie for first place in the West Division. Reaves’ goal came shorthanded, while Drazenovic, who also had an assist, scored his on the power play.
TORONTO 4, MANITOBA 1
Toronto goaltender Justin Pogge returned from an NHL stint and stopped 28 of 29 shots he faced as Toronto took a 4-1 win over Manitoba on Sunday to secure a sweep of the teams’ two-game set at Ricoh Coliseum.
Staffan Kronwall and Max Taylor each posted a goal and an assist to lead the Marlies, who captured their third straight win.
Brent Aubin and Alex Foster also scored in the victory, and Bates Battaglia chipped in a pair of assists.
Michel Ouellet lit the lamp for the Moose, who are now winless in three straight games (0-2-0-1) for just the second time all season.
Pogge, who won his NHL debut for the Maple Leafs last week, is now 11-9-3 with the Marlies this season.
The Marlies (17-13-0-3) moved to 5-1-0-1 in their last seven outings.
LOWELL 5, HARTFORD 4
Matthew Corrente and Barry Tallackson scored power play goals just 1:23 apart in the third period to give Lowell a 5-4 win over Hartford at Tsongas Arena.
Michael Swift posted three points (1-2-3) for the Devils, Jon DiSalvatore had a goal and an assist, while Rod Pelley also lit the lamp.
Devils goaltender Jeff Frazee earned the victory with 30 saves on 34 shots, helping Lowell to its second straight win.
The Wolf Pack held leads of 2-0, 3-1, and 4-3, but could not hold any of them. Artem Anisimov had a goal and a helper for Hartford, which also received goals from Tommy Pyatt, Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau, and Mike Ouellette.
MANCHESTER 4, SPRINGFIELD 2
Manchester jumped out to a 3-0 lead and went on to post a 4-2 win over struggling Springfield at the Verizon Wireless Arena.
Brian Boyle, Tyler Mosienko, Jon Rheault, and Dusty Collins all scored for the Monarchs, while Vladimir Dravecky chipped in a pair of assists.
Monarchs goaltender Jonathan Bernier made 19 saves in the victory, which was Manchester’s third in as many days.
Gilbert Brule netted both goals for the Falcons, who are now winless in six straight contests (0-5-1-0).
PORTLAND 7, WORCESTER 1
Portland’s offense erupted for a 7-1 win over visiting Worcester at the Cumberland County Civic Center in the opener of the teams’ home-and-home set.
Dylan Hunter had three points (1-2-3) and was a plus-4 on the afternoon, and Colton Fretter netted a pair of goals for the Pirates.
Paul Baier, Zach Tarkir, Chase Trull, and Mathieu Darche all posted a goal and an assist in the winning effort, while Trent Campbell and Derek Whitmore each had a pair of assists.
Pirates goaltender Jhonas Enroth earned the win with 32 saves on 33 shots.
Andrew Desjardins netted the Sharks’ lone goal of the afternoon.
HERSHEY 5, ALBANY 3
Keith Aucoin had a game-high three points (1-2-3) to push his league-leading total to 41 as Hershey took a 5-3 win over visiting Albany before 10,347 fans at the Giant Center.
Andrew Gordon, Chris Bourque, and Oskar Osala all posted a goal and an assist for the Bears, while Kyle Wilson also lit the lamp.
Hershey goaltender Michal Neuvirth earned the victory with 24 saves on 27 shots.
Michael Ryan, Pat Dwyer, and Nick Dodge all scored for the River Rats.
WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 6, BINGHAMTON 3
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton captured its fourth straight win and ended Binghamton’s four-game run with a 6-3 win over the visiting Senators at the Wachovia Arena.
Mark Letestu had a game-high four points (1-3-4) for the Penguins, Bill Thomas and Ryan Stone each had a goal and a helper, while Chris Minard, Luca Caputi, and Janne Pesonen also lit the lamp.
Minard has now scored a goal in six straight games (9-1-10) and shows a league-leading 25 tallies on the season.
Penguins goaltender Adam Berkhoel only had to make 11 saves to earn the win, as his club held a 39-14 advantage in shots.
Ryan Shannon, Jim McKenzie, and Denis Hamel scored for the Senators, who coughed up leads of 2-0 and 3-1 en route to the loss.
HAMILTON 4, ROCHESTER 3 (SO)
Hamilton rallied from a 3-0 deficit and eventually posted a 4-3 win over visiting Rochester at Copps Coliseum.
The Amerks scored three times in the opening period, receiving a pair of goals from Karl Stewart and one from Kenndal McArdle.
But the Bulldogs closed the game to 3-2 by the second intermission, as rookies David Desharnais and Max Pacioretty found the back of the net. Yannick Weber then tallied the equalizer on the power play with 5:24 left in regulation.
Yanick Lehoux, Mike Glumac, and Desharnais scored in the shootout for Hamilton, while goaltender Marc Denis stopped three of Rochester’s four tries after making 24 saves through regulation and overtime.
