LAKE ERIE 6, ROCHESTER 2
Lake Erie jumped to a 3-0 lead after the first period and cruised to a 6-2 win over Rochester on Saturday afternoon at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.
Matt Hendricks tallied two goals and an assist, and Per Ledin also had three points (1-2-3) for the Monsters, who moved to 7-2-0-0 in their last nine games.
Rookie defenseman Derek Peltier gave Lake Erie a 1-0 lead just 17 seconds after the opening face-off, scoring his second goal of the campaign. Darcy Campbell and rookie T.J. Galiardi followed with power play tallies in the first period, making it a 3-0 game at intermission.
Hendricks scored his first of the afternoon 12:26 into the second to extend the Monsters’ advantage to 4-0. Rookie Michal Repik then put the Amerks on the board with a power play score at 19:06.
Ledin lit the lamp 4:45 into the third for Lake Erie, and Hendricks potted a shorthanded goal at 7:13 to close the Monsters’ scoring. Keaton Ellerby netted his first of the season for Rochester in the final minutes.
Peltier (1-1-2), Galiardi (1-1-2), and defenseman Ray Macias (0-2-2) joined Hendricks and Ledin in recording multiple points in the winning effort. Monsters goaltender Tyler Weiman stopped 21 of 23 shots to pick up his first win since Feb. 7, snapping a personal four-game slide.
The Monsters improved to 29-30-1-5 (64 points) for the campaign and are now just five points back of Toronto for a playoff spot in the North Division.
HERSHEY 6, TORONTO 1
Hershey parlayed a four-goal second period into a 6-1 road win over Toronto on Saturday afternoon at Ricoh Coliseum. The Bears have now captured three straight victories and are 4-0-1-1 in their last six contests.
Alexandre Giroux netted his league-leading 44th and 45th goals of the season for the Bears, registering his second consecutive two-goal effort. Giroux has lit the lamp in seven of his last nine games overall (9-6-15).
Hershey rookie Francois Bouchard also scored twice, while Keith Aucoin (1-2-3), Graham Mink (1-1-2), Andrew Gordon (0-2-2), and defenseman Karl Alzner (0-2-2) all added multiple points.
Bears goaltender Simeon Varlamov returned from injury to earn the win with 20 saves in his first appearance for Hershey since Jan. 14.
Tim Stapleton netted the lone goal for the Marlies, which is the only one they have scored in dropping their last two contests.
BRIDGEPORT 3, PHILADELPHIA 2 (SO)
Bridgeport rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third period and prevailed in a shootout over Philadelphia, 3-2, at the Arena at Harbor Yard.
Jon Sim netted his second goal in as many games with the Sound Tigers 7:29 into the third period, and Tyler Haskins tallied the equalizer at the 12-minute mark.
Haskins, Kurtis McLean, and Junior Lessard all tallied shootout goals for the Sound Tigers, and goaltender Kris Mayotte stopped three of Philadelphia’s four tries after making 21 saves through regulation and overtime.
The Phantoms took a 2-0 second-period lead on a shorthanded goal by Jonathan Matsumoto and a power play tally from Jared Ross.
HAMILTON 3, SYRACUSE 0
Rookie goaltender Cedrick Desjardins made 25 saves for his second shutout in as many nights as Hamilton dropped visiting Syracuse by a 3-0 count at Copps Coliseum.
Mike Glumac, Steve Gainey, and Ryan Russell netted goals for the Bulldogs, and AHL All-Star defenseman Yannick Weber chipped in with two assists.
Desjardins picked up his fourth shutout of the season and Hamilton’s 11th as a team, which is tops in the AHL.
The Bulldogs upped their winning streak to four games and improved to 11-4-0-0 since a 2-1 loss to the Crunch on Feb. 4.
MANCHESTER 2, PORTLAND 1
Manchester surged right into third place in the Atlantic Division on Saturday, taking a 2-1 win over visiting Portland at the Verizon Wireless Arena for its fifth straight victory.
Monarchs captain Marty Murray’s power play goal snapped a 1-1 deadlock with 6:19 to play in regulation, and Manchester held on. Brian Boyle also scored in the win, with Murray picking up the lone assist on that tally.
Manchester goaltender Jonathan Bernier earned the victory with 25 saves, improving to 18-17-3 on the season. His only blemish was a Marek Zagrapan marker in the second period.
The Monarchs, who are 12-3-0-1 since Feb. 4, pulled one point ahead of the Pirates for third place in the Atlantic Division race.
WORCESTER 4, ALBANY 1
Ex-River Rat Dan DaSilva netted his first AHL goal of the season and added two assists against his former team as Worcester took a 4-1 win over Albany before 6,395 fans at the DCU Center.
DaSilva, who scored a career-high 11 goals for Albany in 2006-07, registered the eventual game-winner for Worcester at 13:31 of the second period.
Frazer McLaren tacked on a pair of insurance goals, and Mike Fornataro netted his third goal in the last two games in the opening period for the Sharks.
Sharks goaltender Taylor Dakers earned the victory with 31 saves, helping Worcester win consecutive games for the first time since Jan. 30-31.
Yannick Tifu tallied his first AHL goal of the season for the River Rats.
HARTFORD 4, SPRINGFIELD 2
Hartford returned to its winning ways on Saturday with a 4-2 road victory over struggling Springfield at the MassMutual Center.
Mark Bell tallied an empty-net goal and an assist for the Wolf Pack, who also received markers from Dale Weise, Greg Moore, and Artem Anisimov in the winning effort. Anisimov’s goal at 14:03 of the second period held up as the game-winner.
Wolf Pack goaltender Matt Zaba earned the victory with 19 saves and improved to 19-9-0 in his rookie campaign. Hartford extended its points streak to nine games (8-0-1-0).
Geoff Paukovich and defenseman Taylor Chorney netted goals for the Falcons, whose losing streak extended to six games.
BINGHAMTON 2, WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 1
Bignhamton halted a three-game losing skid on Saturday with a 2-1 road win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton before 8,292 fans at the Arena at Harbor Yard.
Jeremy Yablonski netted his first goal since Dec. 1, 2007 for the Senators, and rookie Zack Smith’s 18th of the season 4:19 into the third period held up as the game-winner.
Trailing 2-0, the Penguins cut their deficit in half when Janne Pesonen scored at 15:24, his third goal in the last two nights. But they could not get the equalizer and fell to 2-5-1-0 in their last eight games.
Senators goaltender Jeff Glass 42 saves in the victory, which brought the Sens within six points of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for third place in the East Division race.
NORFOLK 3, LOWELL 1
Norfolk further damaged Lowell’s standing in the Atlantic Division with a 3-1 win over the visiting Devils to sweep the teams’ two-game set at the Scope.
Blair Jones and Justin Keller netted power play goals for the Admirals, both scores coming in the third period. Jones assisted on Keller’s tally, which came at 17:06 and turned out to be the game-winner.
Admirals rookie goaltender Riku Helenius earned the victory with 26 saves on 27 shots, improving to .500 for the season at 7-7-0.
Nicklas Bergfors netted the lone goal for the Devils, who are winless in four straight games (0-3-0-1) and fell five points out of a playoff spot in the Atlantic.
PEORIA 4, ROCKFORD 3 (SO)
Peoria inched closer to a playoff position in the West Division on Saturday with a 4-3 shootout win over visiting Rockford at Carver Arena.
The Rivermen went 3-for-3 in the shootout, as Nicholas Drazenovic, Carl Corazzini, and Steve Regier scored in succession. Goaltender Chris Holt stopped all three Rockford tries and improved to 9-5-0 for the season. Holt finished with 24 saves in the first 65 minutes.
Ryan Reaves, Jonathan Filewich, and defenseman Ivan Vishnevskiy netted regulation goals for the Rivermen, Vishnevskiy tying the game at 3-3 with 7:50 to play in regulation. Peoria has now won three straight games for the first time since Dec. 20-26.
The IceHogs received regulation markers from Bryan Bickell, Adam Hobson, and Logan Stephenson, who scored his first in a Rockford uniform.
GRAND RAPIDS 5, SAN ANTONIO 1
Evan McGrath netted a pair of goals as Grand Rapids salvaged its trip to Texas with a 5-1 win over San Antonio before 8,164 fans at the AT&T Center.
McGrath broke a 1-1 tie in the second period and then closed the game’s scoring late in the third. Captain Darren Haydar and rookie Justin Abdelkader each posted a goal and an assist for the Griffins, and Darren McCarty notched his first AHL marker of the season.
Rookies Cory Emmerton and Francis Pare each chipped in two assists for the Griffins, and AHL All-Star goaltender Daniel Larsson earned the victory with 35 saves in net.
Grand Rapids, which suffered a 2-1 loss in Houston on Thursday, moved to 3-1-0-0 in its last four games.
Steven Goertzen lit the lamp for the Rampage, who fell to 1-3-0-2 in their last six contests.
QUAD CITY 3, IOWA 2 (OT)
Kyle Greentree scored his team-leading 31st goal of the season on the power play 2:03 into overtime to give Quad City a 3-2 win over visiting Iowa before 5,102 fans at the I Wireless Center.
Greentree finished with three points on the night (1-2-3) and is pacing Quad City with 60 for the campaign (31-29-60).
Kris Chucko – reassigned by parent-club Calgary earlier in the day – sent the game to overtime with the tying goal at 13:50 of the third period. Carsen Germyn also scored for the Flames, and goaltender Leland Irving picked up the win with 28 saves in net.
Chad Painchaud netted his first AHL goal of the season for the Chops, and captain Ajay Baines also scored in the loss.
HOUSTON 3, CHICAGO 1
Houston claimed sole possession of second place in the West Division with a 3-1 win over visiting Chicago on Saturday before 8,653 fans at the Toyota Center.
John Lammers, Krys Kolanos, and Marco Rosa all netted goals for the Aeros. Rosa’s came shorthanded in the closing seconds of the game.
Houston goaltender Nolan Schaefer earned the victory with 30 saves and improved to 22-15-5 for the campaign. The Aeros (31-23-1-8, 71 points) are now one point up on Rockford and two ahead of Chicago for second place in the West.
Justin Taylor notched his second of the season for the Wolves, who have dropped back-to-back contests following a four-game winning streak.
MANITOBA 2, PROVIDENCE 0
Manitoba goaltender Cory Schneider pitched a 29-save shutout as the Moose completed a two-game weekend sweep of Providence with a 2-0 win over the Bruins before 11,542 fans at the MTS Centre.
Jason Krog notched a goal and an assist for the Moose, and Michael Grabner netted his third goal in the two games against the Bruins.
Manitoba captured its fifth straight win and improved its league-best record to 43-17-0-5 (91 points). Schneider is now 23-5-1 for the campaign and secured his second shutout against the Bruins, having posted a 23-save effort on Feb. 15 in Providence.
Providence is now winless in five straight games (0-3-0-2) and fell into second place in the Atlantic Division. The Bruins conclude their eight-game road swing on Sunday in Rochester.