John Mitchell played the hero and capped a Marlies comeback scoring at 3:29 into overtime to give Toronto a 5-4 win over Iowa at Wells Fargo Arena on Saturday night.
Jay Harrison and Tyson Nash both scored with the goalie pulled for an extra attacker in the final 88 seconds of regulation to tie the score. Mitchell’s game-winner then improved the Marlies to 12-8-0-2 on the road this season.
Kevin Baker scored two goals for Toronto, his first two AHL goals since the 2001-02 season, to help end the Marlies’ three-game losing skid.
Junior Lessard tallied a pair of goals and Joel Lundqvist had three assists in the loss for Iowa.
BRIDGEPORT 5, HERSHEY 2
Frans Nielsen, Jeff Tambellini and Robert Nilsson each recorded a goal and two assists for the Sound Tigers in a 5-2 home win over the Hershey Bears.
Wade Dubielewicz stopped 38 of 40 shots on the night for Bridgeport, winners of three consecutive games. Hershey finished its five-game road swing at 1-4-0-0.
Alexandre Giroux tallied both goals for the Bears in the loss, his 28th and 29th of the year.
GRAND RAPIDS 4, WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 3 (SO)
A perfect shootout sent Grand Rapids to a 4-3 win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at Van Andel Arena on Saturday.
The Griffins scored on all three of their shootout attempts while Joey MacDonald denied all three Penguins shooters. MacDonald made 27 saves on the night in his second game down from the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings, earning his first win of the season in either league.
Eric Himelfarb had a pair of goals and Ryan Oulahen added a goal and an assist for the Griffins, who have won seven of eight.
Tyler Kennedy scored twice and Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers made 35 saves in the loss for the Penguins.
PROVIDENCE 8, BINGHAMTON 1
Providence kicked its offense in high gear, scoring eight unanswered goals in an 8-1 rout of the Binghamton Senators at the Broome County Arena.
Six different players registered at least two points for the P-Bruins, who were led by Kris Versteeg and David Krejci, each scoring a pair of goals and adding an assist on the night.
T.J. Trevelyan tallied a goal and two assists and defenseman Bobby Allen had three helpers for Providence, which has won three straight to move into fourth place in the Atlantic Division.
Philippe Sauve stopped 23 of 24 shots on the night to earn his fifth win on the year.
Jeff Heerema scored the only goal for the Senators, winless in their last four (0-2-0-2).
HARTFORD 2, PORTLAND 1 (SO)
Al Montoya made 30 saves and stopped four of five shooters in a shootout as the Hartford Wolf Pack defeated the Portland Pirates by a score of 2-1 at the Cumberland County Civic Center.
Dane Byers scored the lone goal in regulation, while Nigel Dawes and Jarkko Immonen tallied in the shootout for Hartford, winners of four straight games.
Tim Brent scored with 47.2 seconds left in regulation as the Pirates avoided their third straight shutout loss at the hands of the Wolf Pack. Dov Grumet-Morris made 37 saves in the shootout loss for Portland.
WORCESTER 4, SPRINGFIELD 2
Rookie Brady Leisenring scored two goals and added an assist in just his second game with the Sharks as Worcester doubled up the Springfield Falcons 4-2 at the MassMutual Center.
Mathieu Darche scored a goal and Josh Prudden added two assists for Worcester, which evened its record at 2-2-0-0 on its current six-game road swing.
Thomas Greiss made 20 saves for the Sharks, improving his record to 8-5-0.
Daniel Corso registered a goal and an assist in a losing effort for Springfield.
NORFOLK 5, ALBANY 2
Bryan Bickell recorded a pair of goals and added an assist as Norfolk defeated Albany by a score of 5-2 and moved into sole possession of first place in the East Division.
Gregg Johnson also registered three points on the night, scoring a goal and adding two assists, while Patrick Lalime made his first start on a rehab stint from the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks and stopped 32 shots on the night.
Matt Murley and Ryan Bayda, who extended his goal-scoring streak to five games, each scored for the River Rats in the loss.
ROCHESTER 5, SYRACUSE 2
Drew Stafford scored a pair of goals as Rochester broke a 2-2 tie in the second period and went on to defeat the Syracuse Crunch by a score of 5-2.
The Amerks pulled back ahead of idle Manitoba for first place in the North Division.
Marek Zagrapan, Anthony Stewart and Rob Globke all recorded goals for Rochester, which won its third straight game. Craig Anderson stopped 37 of 39 shots.
Jeffrey Szwez tallied a goal and an assist in the loss for the Crunch.
OMAHA 5, HOUSTON 4 (SO)
In a back-and-forth contest, Omaha came out on top against the Houston Aeros in a 5-4 shootout win as Tim Ramholt tallied the decisive goal in the fifth round.
Carsen Germyn tallied a pair of goals and Justin Taylor had a goal and an assist for the Knights, who are winners of three straight and 4-1-1-0 in their last six tilts.
Omaha’s Curtis McElhinney needed only 21 saves on the night to earn his 15th win on the year.
Mattias Weinhandl and Danny Irmen scored for the Aeros late in the third period to send the game to overtime.
HAMILTON 6, CHICAGO 3
Six different players registered goals for the Bulldogs, who defeated Chicago by a score of 6-3 at Allstate Arena and sent the Wolves to their fourth straight loss while ending their own four-game losing streak.
Defenseman Andre Benoit and 2007 AHL All-Star Mikhail Grabovski each recorded a goal and two assists for Hamilton, which earned the win despite giving up 14 power plays to the AHL’s top offense. Chicago finished 3-for-14 with the man advantage, but failed to score an even-strength goal for the third straight game.
Jaroslav Halak made 38 saves in the contest to improve his record to 12-9-0 on the year.
Defenseman Troy Milam registered a goal and two assists for Chicago, which is now just four points ahead of second-place Omaha in the West Division.
MILWAUKEE 3, PEORIA 2
Jason Guerriero scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in the second period and center Rich Peverley added a pair of helpers to give Milwaukee a 3-2 win in Peoria.
Arpad Mihaly and Bracken Kearns also tallied for the Admirals, who went 2-0-0-1 on its short three-game road trip. Karl Goehring stopped 34 of 36 shots on the night for Milwaukee.
Trent Whitfield and Charles Linglet scored for Peoria in the loss.
