Knights inch closer to Wolves for first in West

Carsen Germyn continued his hot hand in recent games for the Ak-Sar-Ben Knights, tallying a goal and three assists as Omaha defeated the Chicago Wolves by a score of 4-2 at Allstate Arena on Sunday.

Dustin Boyd scored a pair of goals in the contest to give Omaha its second straight win over Chicago and extend its winning streak to four games.

Brent Krahn stopped 27 of 29 shots to earn his 11th win of the year and pull the Ak-Sar-Ben Knights to within three points of Chicago for the West Division lead.

Chicago currently stands in first place in the West with a record of 35-18-2-5 and 77 points, while Omaha improved its record to 35-19-3-1 with 74 points and has three games in hand, having only played 58 games to Chicago’s 61.

Brandon Prust tallied the other goal for Omaha and defenseman Brett Skinner added two assists in the contest.

Jared Ross and Darren Haydar each scored in the loss for Chicago.


HARTFORD 5, BRIDGEPORT 1
The Hartford Wolf Pack used four first-period goals to earn their sixth consecutive victory, a 5-1 win over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers before 7,241 fans at the Arena at Harbor Yard.

Nigel Dawes and Ryan Callahan each tallied a goal and two assists for Hartford, which maintains its one-point lead in the standings over Providence for second place in the Atlantic Division.

Al Montoya won his fifth consecutive start by stopping 22 of 23 shots for the Wolf Pack.

During Hartford’s winning streak, the Pack have outscored opponents 26-6 and have not allowed more than a goal in the last four contests.

Brad Isbister, Hugh Jessiman and Dane Byers also scored in the win for Hartford, while defenseman Martin Richter had two assists and a plus-3 rating.

Steve Regier scored the lone goal for the Sound Tigers, who have lost four straight.


MANITOBA 3, TORONTO 1
The Manitoba Moose moved into sole possession of first place in the North Division on Sunday, downing their Canadian rival, the Toronto Marlies, by a score of 3-1 at Ricoh Coliseum.

Brandon Reid led the way for Manitoba with a goal and an assist as the Moose got back on the winning track after their nine-game winning streak was snapped on Saturday.

Drew MacIntyre stopped 32 of 33 shots for his 17th win of the season.

Yannick Tremblay and Nathan Smith provided the other tallies for Manitoba, which wrapped up a six-game road trip (5-1-0-0).

Colin Murphy scored in a losing effort for the Marlies.


HAMILTON 3, GRAND RAPIDS 2
After falling into a 2-0 hole early in the second period, the Hamilton Bulldogs scored three unanswered goals against Grand Rapids for a 3-2 win at Van Andel Arena.

The victory avenged Hamilton’s 1-0 shootout loss to the Griffins on Saturday.

Matt D’Agostini scored the winning goal with 5:00 left in regulation and Dov Grumet-Morris stopped 25 of 27 shots in his second start for the Bulldogs, who moved into a tie for second place in the North Division with the win.

Defenseman Dan Jancevski kicked off the comeback for Hamilton by scoring at 10:59 in the second period on the power play. He also added an assist in the win.

Cory Urquhart also tallied a goal and an assist and Corey Locke had two helpers on the evening as the Bulldogs snapped a three-game losing streak.

Matt Hussey and Jamie Tardif each scored in a losing effort for Grand Rapids.


LOWELL 3, PORTLAND 2 (OT)
Tuomas Pihlman scored twice in the third period and Chris Minard tallied his team-leading 23rd goal at 2:39 of overtime to give Lowell a 3-2 win over Portland at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

The Devils trailed 2-0 heading into the third, but rallied to win for the fifth time in their last six games.

Frank Doyle stopped 19 of 21 shots to earn his first road victory since Dec. 30.

Garett Bembridge and Mike Hoffman each scored for Portland, which fell two points behind Lowell for fourth place in the Atlantic Division.


PROVIDENCE 4, SPRINGFIELD 0
Philippe Sauve stopped all 24 shots he faced from the Falcons to earn his first shutout of year as the Providence Bruins defeated Springfield by a score of 4-0 at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.

Providence took both games of the home-and-home series against Springfield, outscoring them 10-2 over the weekend.

Former Falcon Dennis Packard led the way with a goal and an assist, while Nate Thompson, Pascal Pelletier and Nate DiCasmirro also provided goals for the P-Bruins.

Providence remains one point behind second-place Hartford in the Atlantic.


HERSHEY 5, BINGHAMTON 2
With the score knotted at two heading into the third period, the Hershey Bears tallied three unanswered goals to upend the Binghamton Senators by the score of 5-2.

Kyle Wilson scored the go-ahead goal with 10:33 remaining and added an assist, and Jakub Klepis had a pair of helpers as Hershey won for the third time in four outings.

Maxime Daigneault made 23 saves on the evening to improve his record to 15-4-0.

Alexandre Giroux, Matt Hendricks, Quintin Laing and Mike Green all recorded goals in the win for Hershey, which moved to within three points of first-place Norfolk in the East Division.

Defenseman Charlie Cook led the B-Sens with a goal and an assist in the loss.


IOWA 2, SAN ANTONIO 0
Janos Vas scored both goals in the contest as the Iowa Stars shut out the San Antonio Rampage by a score of 2-0 at the AT&T Center.

Dan Ellis secured his second shutout of the year and his fourth straight win by stopping all 17 shots from the Rampage.

Vas scored shorthanded late in the second period before adding an empty-net goal in the final minute of the third.

With the win the Stars earned their 30th victory of the year and remain in fourth place in the West Division with a 30-24-3-1 record and 64 points, two ahead of Peoria.


MILWAUKEE 3, HOUSTON 1
Rich Peverley led the way with a goal and an assist as Milwaukee defeated the Houston Aeros at the Toyota Center by the score of 3-1.

Pekka Rinne stopped 31 of 32 shots to help Milwaukee end its four-game road losing streak.

Jason Guerriero had a pair of assists and Bracken Kearns and Ville Koistinen provided the other goals for the Admirals, who improved their record to 4-2-0-1 over Houston on the year.

Jason Morgan scored the lone goal for Houston, which is winless in its last four games (0-3-0-1).


WORCESTER 4, NORFOLK 3
Mike Iggulden scored a goal and added an assist to give Worcester a 4-3 win over the visiting Norfolk Admirals.

Thomas Greiss stopped 33 of 36 shots to earn his second win in a row and improve his record to 13-10-0.

Ashton Rome, Grant Stevenson and Graham Mink rounded out the scoring for Worcester, which is 7-2-0-0 in its last nine games at the DCU Center.

David Bolland led the Admirals, who have now dropped six of nine, with a goal and an assist.