CHICAGO 7, IOWA 5
Jason Krog scored a pair of goals, including one of Chicago’s four in the second period, as the visiting Wolves posted a 7-5 victory over Iowa on Friday at the Wells Fargo Arena. Chicago stormed out to a 5-2 lead after 40 minutes and held on for its sixth consecutive win. The first-place Wolves remain unbeaten in regulation this season at 12-0-1-0.
Brian Fahey, Jesse Schultz and Steve Martins both posted a goal and an assist for Chicago, and Joel Kwiatkowski contributed a pair of assists.
Goaltender Fred Brathwaite made 30 saves to pick up his league-leading ninth victory of the campaign (9-1-0).
Stars center Toby Petersen led the club with his league-leading 10th and 11th goals of the season, giving him seven goals and nine points over his last five games.
Marius Holtet, Joel Lundqvist and Junior Lessard also scored for Iowa. Three of the Stars’ five goals came on the power play.
Chicago finished its seven-game road swing at 6-0-1-0 and takes on Houston on Saturday at Allstate Arena, where the Wolves are 4-0-0-0 so far this season.
HARTFORD 3, HAMILTON 2
Francis Lessard scored the game-tying and game-winning goals in the third period as Hartford rallied past Hamilton, 3-2, at the Hartford Civic Center.
The goals were Lessard’s third and fourth of the season. The four goals match a career high, as he also tallied four in 1999-2000 with the Philadelphia Phantoms.
Hamilton defenseman Marvin Degon, who spent last season with the Wolf Pack, put the visitors on the board first at 9:19 of the opening period. Degon had a point in both games against his former club this season (1-1-2).
Hartford’s Andrew Hutchinson evened the score at 5:59 of the third period, with assists going to Thomas Pock and Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau.
The Bulldogs regained the lead just 1:20 later. Duncan Milroy one-armed a centering pass to Sergei Kostitsyn from the left corner, and Kostitsyn beat Hartford netminder Al Montoya from in close.
Lessard made it 2-2 at 12:33 and then scored the game-winner at 14:31 with a slap shot from the top of the left circle. Hugh Jessiman picked up assists on both tallies.
PORTLAND 5, MANCHESTER 3
Portland erupted for four goals in the third period on its way to a 5-3 road victory over Manchester at the Verizon Wireless Arena.
Jason King, Brett Festerling, Mike Hoffman and Andy Schneider all scored in the final 20 minutes for the Pirates, who received a first-period goal from new acquisition Geoff Platt.
Festerling added an assist for a multiple-point night. Andrew Ebbett had three assists on the night, while Tyler Bouck and Brian Salcido contributed two helpers each.
Goaltender Mike McKenna secured the win with 32 saves on 35 shots.
Manchester’s Gabe Gauthier scored twice, and rookie Teddy Purcell posted an assist on all three Monarchs goals to take sole possession of the AHL scoring lead with 23 points on the season.
PROVIDENCE 5, WORCESTER 2
Providence scored three times in the first period and never looked back on its way to a 5-2 win over Worcester at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. The Bruins moved to 10-1-1-0 on the season with the victory.
Pascal Pelletier tallied a goal and two assists for the P-Bruins, while Martins Karsums, Vladimir Sobotka, Matt Hendricks and Jeff Hoggan also lit the lamp.
Pelletier extended his scoring streak to seven consecutive games (4-8-12), and Sobotka now has a six-game streak (4-4-8).
Craig Valette and Dan Spang scored for the Sharks, and Riley Armstrong assisted on both goals.
HERSHEY 6, ALBANY 4
Jakub Klepis turned in a hat trick to lead Hershey past Albany by a 6-4 final before a crowd of 5,067 at the Times Union Center.
Klepis added an assist and finished with a plus-3 rating for the Bears, who scored two goals in each period.
Jay Beagle and Jason Morgan each tallied a goal and an assist for the Bears, and goaltender Frederic Cassivi improved to 3-6-0 on the season with 18 saves.
The River Rats were paced by Brandon Nolan’s three-point effort (2-1-3), and Bobby Hughes (1-1-2) and Keith Aucoin (0-2-2) also tallied multiple points for Albany.
PHILDELPHIA 6, BINGHAMTON 3
Pete Zingoni scored twice in the third period, including the game-winner, as Philadelphia defeated Binghamton by a 6-3 score at the Wachovia Spectrum.
Stefan Ruzicka had two points (1-1-2), and Ryan Potulny, Boyd Kane, and Jonathan Matsumoto also scored for the Phantoms. Darren Reid notched three helpers.
Potulny now has six goals and seven points in his last five games for Philadelphia, which avoided losing consecutive games for the first time this season.
Binghamton tallied its first goal in 192 minutes and 20 seconds worth of hockey when Alexander Nikulin scored at 5:57 of the opening period, giving the Senators a 1-0 lead. Nikulin added another goal in the third period.
SPRINGFIELD 5, NORFOLK 4 (SO)
Patrick Thoresen netted a pair of shorthanded goals in regulation and added two successful tries in the shootout as Springfield edged Norfolk by a 5-4 final.
A crowd of 6,092 saw the Falcons win their third consecutive game at the MassMutual Center and move to 3-0-0-1 in their last four games overall.
Tyler Spurgeon added three points (1-2-3) for the home team, and goaltender Jeff Deslauriers increased his record to 7-2-3 with 30 saves on 34 shots.
Norfolk’s Mathieu Darche had a four-point night (1-3-4) in the losing effort. He has factored into all seven goals the Admirals have scored (1-6-7) in the two games since he joined the team.
ROCHESTER 5, ROCKFORD 4
Stefan Meyer and Rob Globke netted two goals apiece as Rochester turned in a 5-4 win over Rockford before a crowd of 8,452 at the Blue Cross Arena.
The Amerks’ Anthony Stewart added a goal and an assist, and Mark Mancari contributed two helpers in the win.
Goaltender David Shantz picked up the victory with 31 saves.
Martin St. Pierre had a goal and two assists to lead the IceHogs, who lost in regulation for the first time in six games (3-1-1-1). St. Pierre now has 12 points in his last five games (3-9-12).
TORONTO 5, SYRACUSE 4
Former Crunch forward David Ling scored twice, added an assist and finished plus-3 as Toronto rallied for a 5-4 victory over Syracuse at the Onondaga County War Memorial.
John Mitchell had a goal and two helpers for the Marlies, and goaltender Scott Clemmensen made 35 saves to remain perfect on the season at 8-0-0.
Syracuse center Andrew Murray scored twice in the game’s first 4:31 to get his club out to a 2-0 lead. That was followed by five straight Toronto goals.
The Crunch’s Philippe Dupuis and Adam Pineault scored power-play goals just 27 seconds apart in the third period, but Syracuse could not get the equalizer.
MANITOBA 4, GRAND RAPIDS 2
Manitoba scored twice in the first period and added two more in the third to take a 4-2 win over Grand Rapids in front of 8,383 fans at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg.
Greg Classen, Danny Groulx, Jimmy Sharrow and Jason Jaffray all scored for the Moose, and former Griffins goaltender Drew MacIntyre made 34 saves to record the victory.
Sharrow and Groulx each added an assist in the contest.
The Griffins’ Mark Cullen and Kyle Quincey lit the lamp in the losing effort.
The loss extended Grand Rapids’ winless skid to eight games (0-7-0-1), their longest drought since a nine-game streak from Dec. 17, 2004 to Jan. 8, 2005.
MILWAUKEE 4, SAN ANTONIO 3 (SO)
Cal O’Reilly sent the game into overtime with a power-play goal at 17:37 of the third period, and Milwaukee prevailed in a shootout over San Antonio by a 4-3 final at the Bradley Center.
After a scoreless first period, the Rampage took a 2-0 lead in the second on goals by Enver Lisin and Joey Tenute.
Mike Santorelli and Jason Guerriero scored for the Admirals to tie the contest, with Santorelli’s goal coming via a penalty shot late in the second period.
San Antonio’s Cam Paddock scored the Rampage’s league-leading seventh shorthanded marker midway through the third, setting the stage for O’Reilly’s tying goal.
Janne Niskala and Santorelli netted goals in the shootout for Milwaukee, while goaltender Pekka Rinne (7-5-0) denied all four of San Antonio’s attempts.
HOUSTON 3, PEORIA 1
Defenseman Paul Albers factored into all three goals (1-2-3) as visiting Houston downed Peoria, 3-1, at Carver Arena.
Albers’ first goal of the season, a power-play marker, put the Aeros on top at 5:59 of the first period. Adrian Foster made it 2-0 at 16:12, and his would turn out to be the game-winning goal.
The Rivermen’s Martin Kariya brought the home team within a goal at 13:42 of the second period, but Troy Riddle regained Houston’s two-goal lead with his first of the season midway through the third stanza.
The Aeros were outshot 44-19 in the contest, and goaltender Barry Brust turned aside 43 of the 44 Peoria shots in improving to 4-4-0 on the season.
