GRAND RAPIDS 6, MILWAUKEE 3
Francis Lemieux, who entered the night with just one point in 13 games this season for Grand Rapids, netted his first three goals of the campaign to help the Griffins cool off Milwaukee with a 6-3 win over the Admirals on Friday at Van Andel Arena. Mattias Ritola added a goal and a helper for the Griffins, who ended Milwaukee’s six-game winning streak.
Cory Emmerton and Darren Helm also lit the lamp in the victory, and Francis Pare chipped in a pair of assists. All told, 12 members of the Griffins contributed at least one point on the night.
Grand Rapids entered the game having dropped all four previous meetings with the Admirals this season in regulation.
Goaltender Daniel Larsson picked up the victory with 31 saves in net for the Griffins, who moved to 7-2-1-1 in their last 11 games.
Ryan Jones had a hand in all three Admirals goals (2-1-3), while Mike Santorelli extended his scoring streak to 14 games with Milwaukee’s other tally. The Admirals will seek revenge when the teams square off for a rematch on Saturday.
HAMILTON 2, MANCHESTER 0
Rookie goaltender Cedrick Desjardins made 35 saves for his second shutout of the season as Hamilton took a 2-0 road win over Manchester on Friday at the Verizon Wireless Arena. Desjardins also evened his overall record at 5-5-0.
Mike Glumac and Yanick Lehoux netted goals in the victory for the Bulldogs, who moved to 2-0-0-0 on their five-game road swing. Hamilton visits Hartford on Saturday.
Glumac got the scoring started with a power play goal at 18:45 of the opening stanza. After a scoreless second, Lehoux lit the lamp at 5:31 of the third, with Glumac picking up one of the assists.
The Monarchs lost their season-high third straight game in regulation and fell under .500 at 12-13-0-4.
PROVIDENCE 4, TORONTO 3 (SO)
Martin St. Pierre registered a goal and an assist in regulation and scored twice in the shootout as Providence snapped a three-game winless skid (0-2-0-1) with a 4-3 triumph over Toronto on Friday afternoon at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. It marked the first-ever meeting between the Bruins and Marlies.
Jordan Knackstedt also had a goal and a helper in regulation for the Bruins, and goaltender Tuukka Rask (pictured) made 36 saves in the win.
The teams traded goals throughout regulation, with Providence scoring one in each period. Zach Hamill netted a goal in the first, St. Pierre in the second, and Knackstedt in the third. St. Pierre’s tally was his 10th of the season.
Max Taylor potted his first goal of the campaign for the Marlies at 7:11 of the second period. Mark Bell also scored in the second, and Tim Stapleton sent the game to overtime with a power play marker at 16:57 of the third.
St. Pierre converted in the first and sixth shootout rounds for the Bruins, and Martins Karsums scored in the third round. Stapleton and Staffan Kronwall scored for Toronto.
Rask improved his season record to 12-9-0 with the victory.
PHILADELPHIA 5, LOWELL 2
Five different players netted goals as Philadelphia cruised past Lowell by a 5-2 count for its seventh consecutive victory.
Jared Ross, Claude Giroux, and Jonathon Kalinski all posted a goal and an assist for the Phantoms, while Andreas Nodl and Nate Raduns added scores in the victory. Defenseman Danny Syvret chipped in an assist and was a plus-4 for the night.
Philadelphia goaltender Scott Munroe made 25 saves to improve his season record to 14-5-0.
Patrick Davis and Pascal Rheaume lit the lamp for the Devils, who fell to 1-5-1-2 against the East Division this season.
BRIDGEPORT 4, SPRINGFIELD 1
Bridgeport scored three times in the third period to pull away from Springfield and secure a 4-1 win over the visiting Falcons at the Arena at Harbor Yard.
Kurtis McLean gave the Sound Tigers a 1-0 lead at 16:08 of the first period, an advantage that would hold through the entire second period and the early part of the third.
Mike Iggulden made it 2-0 on the power play at 8:17 of the final frame, but Springfield’s Rob Schremp cut the Falcons’ deficit in half just 40 seconds later.
Jeff Tambellini and McLean would then add goals for the Sound Tigers, the latter going into an empty net.
Bridgeport goaltender Peter Mannino earned the win with 23 saves. With the victory, the Sound Tigers (19-7-1-2, 41 points) pulled into a first-place tie with Hershey in the East Division.
BINGHAMTON 3, SYRACUSE 2 (SO)
Josh Hennessy and captain Denis Hamel scored in the shootout to lift Binghamton over visiting Syracuse by a 3-2 count at the Broome County Arena.
Kaspars Daugavins and Danny Bois netted regulation goals for the Senators, who took 1-0 and 2-1 leads only to see Syracuse rally each time.
Mike Sgroi scored one of the Crunch’s regulation goals, his first AHL marker since lighting the lamp as a member of the Senators on Feb. 23, 2007. Adam Pineault netted both a regulation and shootout goal for Syracuse, which is now winless in eight straight (0-7-0-1).
Senators goaltender Brian Elliott (13-7-0-0) made 30 saves through the first 65 minutes before stopping four of five in the shootout.
NORFOLK 5, ALBANY 0
Norfolk put 45 shots on goal en route to a 5-0 shutout victory over Albany at the Scope, giving the Admirals a sweep of the teams’ two-game set this week.
It marks the first time the Admirals have won consecutive games since a season-high three-game run from Nov. 7-11.
Radek Smolenak scored twice for Norfolk, while Steve Downie (1-1-2) and Chris Gratton (0-2-2) also had multiple points. Ty Wishart and Vladimir Mihalik added goals in the victory, and goaltender Mike McKenna made 24 saves for his first shutout of the campaign.
Albany was blanked for the seventh time this season.
ROCHESTER 2, LAKE ERIE 1 (SO)
Rochester’s Michal Repik netted the lone shootout goal for either side to give the Americans a 2-1 win over visiting Lake Erie at the Blue Cross Arena.
The Amerks are now on a season-high three-game winning streak, their first such run since March 28-30, 2008.
Michael Duco gave the Amerks a 1-0 lead at 16:59 of the first period, a lead the stood up until Tom Fritsche scored the Monsters’ lone regulation goal at 16:06 of the third.
Americans goaltender Mike Brodeur stopped 31 of 32 through the first 65 minutes and all five of Lake Erie’s shootout attempts. Brodeur is now 5-2-0 since joining the Amerks.
IOWA 2, PEORIA 1
Iowa ended its three-game winless skid (0-2-0-1) with a 2-1 road win over Peoria at Carver Arena in the opener of the teams’ home-and-home set.
Josh Green and Francis Wathier netted goals for the Chops, the latter score giving Iowa a 2-0 lead at 7:58 of the third period.
Peoria defenseman Steve Wagner put his team on the board at 14:39, but the Rivermen were unable to find the equalizer.
Chops goaltender Jean-Philippe Levasseur held on to pick up the victory, finishing with 23 saves on 24 shots.
SAN ANTONIO 5, CHICAGO 3
Alexander Nikulin scored twice and David Spina racked up a game-high four points (1-3-4) as San Antonio outlasted Chicago by a 5-3 count at the AT&T Center.
The win allowed the Rampage a split of the teams’ two-game set in Texas and ended San Antonio’s brief two-game losing skid.
Joel Perrault had a goal and an assist for the Rampage, and defenseman Sean Sullivan also lit the lamp. Goaltender Josh Tordjman earned the win with 21 saves on 24 shots.
Joe Motzko and Brett Sterling each posted a goal and an assist for the Wolves, and Jeff Hamilton also scored.
MANITOBA 3, QUAD CITY 1
Manitoba scored once in each period en route to a 3-1 win over Quad City in the opener of the teams’ two-game set at the MTS Centre.
Michel Ouellet, Mark Cullen, and Mario Bliznak all netted goals for the Moose, who captured their fourth straight victory.
Moose goaltender Karl Goehring stopped 32 shots in the winning effort, improving his season record to 11-5-0.
David Van der Gulik scored the lone goal of the night for the Flames, who are now winless in seven straight games (0-4-2-1).
HOUSTON 4, ROCKFORD 3 (SO)
Houston rallied from a pair of deficits in regulation and eventually took a 4-3 shootout decision from host Rockford at the MetroCentre.
Marco Rosa tallied the game-tying goal with 4:29 left in regulation for the Aeros and then scored the winning shootout marker in the fifth round. Morten Madsen added a shootout marker for Houston.
The IceHogs, who had leads of 2-0 and 3-2, received regulation goals from Evan Brophey, Mike Radja, and Petri Kontiola. Tim Brent scored Rockford’s lone shootout goal.
Houston goaltender Nolan Schaefer made 27 saves through regulation and overtime before denying four straight Rockford shootout tries after Brent scored in the opening round.
The teams will be back at it for a rematch on Saturday.