Just like old times

In his first game with the Wolf Pack in nearly four years, Brad Smyth scored two goals and added three assists to lead Hartford to an 8-2 win over Philadelphia at the Wachovia Spectrum on Wednesday night.

The five points tied a team record for a regular-season game, gave Smyth 650 points for his AHL career, and moved him back into Hartford’s all-time lead with 348 points in a Pack uniform.

Ivan Baranka added a goal and three assists for Hartford, which snapped a three-game losing streak and moved to within four points of the top spot in the Atlantic Division.

Colby Genoway, Chad Wiseman and Martin Grenier each had a goal and an assist on the night. Dwight Helminen (25th) and rookie Nigel Dawes (29th) also scored.

The Wolf Pack scored five times in the third period to break the game open. Hartford finished 4-for-5 on the power play.

Matt Ellison and Marc Cavosie had the goals for the Phantoms.

Elsewhere on Wednesday:

Eric Manlow ended the longest AHL shootout this season, scoring in the 14th round to give Grand Rapids a 3-2 win over Manitoba

Patrick O’Sullivan recorded a goal and two assists as Houston sprinted to a 5-0 lead and held on for a 6-5 victory at Chicago

Mathias Tjarnqvist scored twice to help Iowa to a 5-2 win at Manchester

Ryan Ramsay and Reed Low scored for Peoria in a 2-1 victory at Rochester

Jeff Heerema scored the equalizer in the third period before converting in the shootout to help Binghamton to a 3-2 win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

Todd Ford made 25 saves for his first career AHL win, guiding Toronto to a 5-2 win over Hamilton

Tomi Maki picked up a goal and an assist in Omaha’s 2-1 win over San Antonio