HARTFORD 7, BRIDGEPORT 0
Second-year forward Artem Anisimov struck for a hat trick and Martin Houle made 24 saves for a shutout in his first Hartford Wolf Pack appearance as the Wolf Pack downed the Bridgeport Sound Tigers by a score of 7-0 on Friday in American Hockey League preseason action at the Northford Ice Pavilion in Northford, Conn. Mike Taylor added a goal and two assists in the win.
Dale Weise and Tommy Pyatt had a goal and an assist each, and Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau and defensemen Ethan Graham and Jared Nightingale each chipped in a pair of helpouts. Justin Soryal also scored for the Wolf Pack.
The Wolf Pack were 2/8 on the man-advantage for the game and successfully killed eight Bridgeport power plays, making the Hartford penalty-kill a perfect 17 for 17 in the two preseason games thus far.
In the Bridgeport net, A.J. Bucchino allowed five goals on 20 shots in the first two periods. Michael Mole took over for the third period and surrendered two goals on 12 shots.
The Wolf Pack are now 2-0-0-0 on the preseason, while Bridgeport fell to 0-2-0-0.
ROCHESTER 3, LAKE ERIE 0
Tyler Plante stopped all 23 shots he faced to lead Rochester over Lake Erie by a 3-0 count at Hoover Arena in Strongsville, Ohio.
Doug O’Brien, Drew Larman, and Andrew Sweetland netted goals for the Americans, who moved to 1-1-0-0 in preseason play.
BINGHAMTON 2, SYRACUSE 1
Rookie forward Zack Smith tallied both goals as Binghamton defeated Syracuse by a 2-1 count in Oswego, N.Y.
After the Crunch took a 1-0 lead in the second period on a Blair Yaworski goal, the 20-year-old Smith netted a pair of power play goals in the third period to lift the Senators to the victory.
He scored at 5:15 to even the contest, and his goal at 7:36 proved to be the game-winner. Second-year pro Ilya Zubov assisted on both scores.
B-Sens goaltender Mitch O’Keefe stopped 18 of 19 shots in the winning effort.
PROVIDENCE 6, LOWELL 4
The Providence Bruins topped the Lowell Devils, 6-4, at the new Dunkin’ Donuts Center, helped by five goals in the second period. Zach Hamill and Brad Marchand each had two goals, while Joe Rooney and Martins Karsums added single tallies.
Rosario Ruggeri, Patrick Davis, Stephen Gionta and Benoit Mondou lit the lamp for Lowell.
Kevin Regan earned the win for the P-Bruins while Kevin Nastiuk stopped 13 of 17 shots in relief in 29:27. For the Devils, Dave Caruso took the loss and Jason Smith blocked all 10 shots he faced in his 29:27.
HERSHEY 3, WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 2
Kyle Wilson’s goal at 17:21 of the third period propelled Hershey to a 3-2 road win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at the Wachovia Arena.
The Bears jumped out to a 2-0 lead by the 22-second mark of the second period on goals by Oskar Osala and Darren Reid.
Adam Henrich brought the Penguins within a goal at 5:42 of the third period, and Jonathan Filewich made it a tie game with a power play marker at 8:22.
That set the stage for Wilson’s game-winner. Michal Neuvirth started in net for the Bears and denied all 14 shots he faced, while Bobby Goepfert stopped 11 of 13 shots in relief.
NORFOLK 4, PHILADELPHIA 3
The newest additions to the Norfolk Admirals’ lineup came through when Norfolk needed it the most on Friday Night at Norfolk Scope Arena. Zenon Konopka recorded two assists and Brandon Bochenski netted a goal in his first game back with the Admirals since February 2007 as the Norfolk Admirals defeated the Philadelphia Phantoms 4-3 in preseason action.
Luciano Aquino, Justin Fletcher, and Brandon Segal also scored for the Admirals in the winning effort.
Riku Helenius denied 29 of 32 shots sent his way in the Norfolk net.
Michael Ratchuk and Boyd Kane tallied goals for the Phantoms, who initially took a 2-0 lead.
SPRINGFIELD 2, WORCESTER 1
The Springfield Falcons beat the Worcester Sharks 2-1 on Friday night at the MassMutual Center in the Falcons’ second preseason game. Bryan Lerg scored a pair of goals and now has all three goals for Springfield in the exhibition season.
After Worcester’s Matt Fornataro evened the score at 1-1 early in the third period, Lerg scored his second marker of the contest with 4:47 remaining in the final frame helping even the Falcons’ preseason record at 1-1-0-0.
Lerg opened the scoring when he converted on the power play midway through the first period giving Springfield a 1-0 advantage through 20 minutes of play.
The teams played a scoreless second period with Colin McDonald ringing a snap shot off the crossbar coming within inches of expanding Springfield’s lead. Springfield goaltender Bryan Pitton was very solid in goal stopping all 12 shots he faced in 31 minutes of action.
MILWAUKEE 4, CHICAGO 3
Milwaukee rallied for three third-period goals to take a 4-3 win over Chicago at the Hoffman Estates District Park Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill.
With the Admirals trailing 3-1, Ian MacKenzie, Mark Van Guilder, and Stephen Werner all scored in the final stanza, with Werner’s game-winner coming at the 19:48 mark.
That goal made a winner of Milwaukee netminder Mark Dekanich, who stopped 17 of 20 shots on the evening.
Tomas Pospisil, Myles Stoesz, and Spencer Machacek lit the lamp for the Wolves.
HOUSTON 5, SAN ANTONIO 4 (SO)
The San Antonio Rampage fell 5-4 in a shootout to the Houston Aeros at the Sugarland Ice and Entertainment Center in Sugar Land, Texas.
Forward John Lammers had a pair of goals in regulation and the game winner in the eighth round of a shootout as the Aeros rallied for the win.
Chad Kolarik, Brad Schell, Drew Fata, and Derek Nesbitt all scored in regulation for the Rampage.
