Sergei Kostitsyn tallied a goal and three assists, and a trio of his teammates also contributed multiple points as Hamilton defeated Rockford by a 5-1 score on Sunday at Copps Coliseum. Kostitsyn, the Bulldogs leading scorer with 12 points (3-9-12), netted a goal 7:47 into the opening period, and Hamilton never looked back in improving to 4-4-0-1.
Corey Locke posted a goal and two helpers in the win, and Marvin Degon and Jonathan Ferland each added a goal and an assist..
The Bulldogs also received a goal from Ryan O’Byrne, and goaltender Jaroslav Halak made 35 saves in the win.
Troy Brouwer scored the lone marker for Rockford, which has now dropped two in a row.
HOUSTON 3, SAN ANTONIO 1
Houston scored a pair of goals in the second period, and goaltender Barry Brust stopped 37 of 38 shots sent his way, as the Aeros defeated San Antonio by a 3-1 count on Sunday at the Toyota Center. The victory gave Houston a split of the intra-state rivals’ weekend home-and-home set, as the Rampage took a 4-1 decision on Saturday.
Aaron Voros lit the lamp twice, and Erik Reitz also scored for the Aeros, who have now won two of their last three games, all against San Antonio.
Brust stopped 19 of 20 shots in the third period alone, and he combined with the Houston penalty-kill unit to deny San Antonio on 14 of its 15 power play opportunities in the contest.
The victory was Brust’s first of the campaign, as he improved to 1-3-0.
Keith Yandle scored San Antonio’s lone goal of the evening, which made it a 2-1 score midway through the final period.
PEORIA 7, GRAND RAPIDS 1
Peoria scored three goals apiece in the second and third periods on their way to a 7-1 win over Grand Rapids at Van Andel Arena. The win allowed the Rivermen to gain a split of their weekend home-and-home with the Griffins.
Seven different players scored for Peoria on the night. Trent Whitfield paced the team with a three-point showing (1-2-3), while Nicholas Drazenovic, Chris Porter, Julian Talbot, and Nikolay Lemtyugov each tallied a goal and an assist.
Micki DuPont and Hans Benson also lit the lamp for the Rivermen.
Randall Gelech scored Grand Rapids’ lone goal, which came 2:16 into the second period and, at the time, made it a 1-1 game.
The Rivermen, who held a 41-14 advantage in shots, received 13 saves from Marek Schwarz in the winning effort.
TORONTO 5, SYRACUSE 2
Leading point-scorer David Ling posted two goals and added an assist to lead Toronto to a 5-2 win over Syracuse at Ricoh Coliseum.
The Marlies, who increased their first-place record to 6-0-0-1 on the campaign, also had a three-point performance by John Mitchell (1-2-3), including the eventual game-winning goal on the power play at 15:59 of the third period.
Darryl Boyce and Kris Newbury tallied the other Toronto goals.
The Crunch, who fell to 3-7-0-0, received markers from Zenon Konopka and Philippe Dupuis.
Justin Pogge secured the win for the Marlies by making 24 saves on 26 shots, increasing his season record to 2-0-1.
ALBANY 2, HERSHEY 0
Michael Leighton turned in his second shutout in as many games, and Albany scored single goals in the first and second periods to defeat Hershey, 2-0, at the Giant Center.
Nicolas Blanchard factored into both of Albany’s goals, scoring the first and assisting on the second.
That second goal was scored by Mike Angelidis, his second of the season.
Leighton made 30 saves on Sunday to earn the shutout, just two nights after blanking Wilkes-Barre Scranton with 24 saves in a 1-0 game.
The seventh-year pro increased his overall season record to 4-2-1.
PHILADELPHIA 3, NORFOLK 2
Stefan Ruzicka’s fourth goal of the season at 6:38 of the third period propelled Philadelphia to a 3-2 victory over Norfolk at the Wachovia Spectrum.
The Phantoms, with an AHL-best record of 8-1-0-0, swept their home-and-home set against the Admirals.
The teams alternated the first four goals of the game. Jonathan Matsumoto and Denis Tolpeko scored for Philadelphia, but the Admirals responded both times, on goals by Justin Fletcher and Jay Leach.
Pete Zingoni picked up the lone assist on Ruzicka’s game-winner in the third. It marked the first decisive goal of the campaign for Ruzicka, who has spent some time with the parent Philadelphia Flyers.
BINGHAMTON 5, ROCHESTER 4
Binghamton jumped out to a 4-1 lead and held on for a 5-4 victory over Rochester at the Blue Cross Arena.
Five different Senators found the back of the net in the win, including the eventual game-winner by Greg Mauldin in the third period.
Brian Lee, Danny Bois, Josh Hennessy, and Justin Mapletoft also tallied goals for the Senators.
The Rochester offense was paced by Clarke MacArthur, who scored a goal and added two assists.
Four other Amerks skaters lit the lamp in the losing effort.
Rookie Binghamton goaltender Brian Elliott, who already has a win at the NHL level this season, stopped 32 of 36 shots to earn his first AHL victory of the campaign (1-1-0).
