Rookie Al Montoya made a franchise-record 51 saves to lead Hartford to a 3-2 victory over Bridgeport in AHL action on Saturday night.
Montoya, the sixth overall pick in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, stopped 12 shots in the first period, 20 in the second and 19 in the third. He was headed for his first professional shutout before the Sound Tigers scored twice in the final 3:10 of regulation.
Petr Prucha had a goal and an assist for the Wolf Pack (4-2-1-0) in his AHL debut. The 23-year-old had two goals in seven NHL games with the New York Rangers to begin the season.
Wade Dubielewicz made 25 saves for the Sound Tigers, who fell to 2-4-1-0 on the year.
Montoya, 20, starred for three seasons at the University of Michigan before turning pro in 2005-06. He backstopped the United States to a gold medal at the 2004 World Junior Championships.
Elsewhere on Saturday:
Erik Christensen, Matt Hussey and Colby Armstrong each had a goal and an assist as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton ran its record to 9-0-0-0 with a 5-1 win over Syracuse… Wade Flaherty made 27 saves to lead Manitoba to a 4-0 win over Cleveland… Blake Evans led the offense with two goals and Jason Bacashihua made 19 saves as Peoria blanked San Antonio, 6-0… Rochester’s Jiri Novotny scored twice and Michael Leighton needed just 17 saves for his 19th career AHL shutout, a 4-0 Americans win over Hamilton… Shea Weber recorded a goal and two assists and Pekka Rinne made 16 saves as Milwaukee blanked Omaha, 4-0… Chad Larose picked up two goals and Vitali Kolesnik stopped 35 shots for Lowell in a 4-1 victory over Providence… Dustin Penner scored early in the third period as Portland kept Binghamton winless on the season (0-5-1-0) with a 3-2 decision… Ryan Murphy scored with 1:32 left in regulation to give Albany a 3-2 win in Norfolk… J.F. Racine made 20 of his 30 saves in the third period and overtime, then stopped three of five attempts as Toronto posted a 4-3 shootout win over visiting Hershey… Brendan Bernakevitch scored his first two professional goals for Manchester in a 5-1 win over Philadelphia… Roman Voloshenko scored twice and Erik Westrum and Kirby Law added three points each as Houston beat Grand Rapids, 6-5, in a shootout… Mathias Tjarnqvist scored two goals for Iowa in a 4-2 win over Chicago.
