Teddy Purcell and Matt Moulson each scored two goals in regulation and added a successful shootout attempt to propel the Manchester Monarchs to a 5-4 win over division rival Hartford on Friday at Verizon Wireless Arena. The win marked Manchester’s first triumph of the young season.
Moulson also added an assist to finish with three points, and Purcell turned in a four-point night by contributing two helpers of his own.
The Monarchs started strong out of the gate, with Moulson and Purcell tallying power play markers just 1:54 apart early in the 1st period.
Moulson then extended the advantage to 3-0 at 14:32, assists going to Purcell and Gabe Gauthier, who contributed a total of three helpers on the evening.
Greg Moore scored a pair of goals for the Wolf Pack. One came only 14 seconds into the second period, and the other was a power play marker in the third.
Hartford rookie Artem Anisimov also tallied two goals, including the game-tying marker with just two seconds left in regulation.
Alex Bourret, who received the primary assist on the tying goal, finished with three assists on the night, while Nigel Dawes added two helpers for the Wolf Pack.
After a scoreless overtime, the Monarchs prevailed in the shootout, as Moulson, Purcell, and Vladimir Dravecky beat Hartford goaltender Al Montoya.
Dan Cloutier made 24 saves for Manchester to earn his first AHL victory since May 13, 1998, a Game 7 playoff triumph as a member of the Wolf Pack vs. the Worcester IceCats.
SYRACUSE 4, BINGHAMTON 1
Syracuse used a 2-for-4 performance on the power play, a 6-for-6 night on the penalty kill and a shorthanded goal to defeat Binghamton by a 4-1 count at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.
The game marked a return to the league for 2002-03 All-Rookie goaltender Ray Emery, sent down to Binghamton from the parent Ottawa Senators on a conditioning assignment.
The Crunch received man-advantage tallies from Joakim Lindstrom and Derick Brassard, a shorthanded marker by Andrew Murray, and an even-strength tally by Geoff Platt to secure the victory.
The win was Syracuse’s first of the season, improving their record to 1-2-0-0.
Alexander Nikulin scored Binghamton’s lone goal, which at the time gave the Senators a 1-0 lead after the first period.
Syracuse goaltender Tomas Popperle was perfect the rest of the way, though, making a total of 38 saves on the night.
PHILADELPHIA 3, ALBANY 0
Jonathan Matsumoto, Ryan Potulny, and Jared Ross potted goals, and goaltender Brian Boucher made 37 saves as the host Phantoms blanked Albany by a 3-0 final on Friday.
Matsumoto, who has a goal in all three games for Philadelphia thus far, provided all the offense the Phantoms would need with an unassisted goal at 9:01 of the 1st period.
Potulny added an insurance marker at 3:52 of the second period, with assists going to Pete Zingoni and Denis Tolpeko. Ross closed the game’s scoring on the power play at 12:37 of the third.
Michael Leighton took the loss in the Albany net, dropping his record to 1-1-0.
The victory kept Philadelphia unbeaten on the season as they moved to 3-0-0-0, all at the Wachovia Spectrum.
SPRINGFIELD 6, PORTLAND 4
Rob Schremp scored a goal and added a pair of assists as Springfield defeated Portland, 6-4, in a back-and-forth game at the MassMutual Center.
Clay Wilson, Brian Salcido, Jason King and Brendan Mikkelson scored for the Pirates, with King’s power play goal giving the visitors a 3-2 lead at 11:31 of the second period.
Schremp tallied the equalizer at 18:07, and Zack Stortini gave Springfield the lead for good at 2:03 of the 3rd off a pass from Schremp. Both Schremp and Stortini were recalled by the parent Edmonton Oilers after the game.
The Falcons, who moved to 3-1-0-0 on the campaign with the win, also received goals from Viacheslav Trukhno, Troy Bodie, and Liam Reddox before Ben Simon added an empty-netter in the final minute.
Andrew Ebbett contributed three assists in the losing effort for Portland.
BRIDGEPORT 2, NORFOLK 0
Bridgeport received power-play goals from Steve Regier and Jeff Tambellini to lead them to a 2-0 shutout of Norfolk in their home opener at Arena at Harbor Yard. The Sound Tigers improved to 2-0-0-0 on the season.
After a scoreless first period, Regier broke the deadlock with Bridgeport up a man at 11:34 of the middle stanza.
Tambellini increased the lead to 2-0 at 4:26 of the 3rd period. Frans Nielsen picked up an assist on both Bridgeport goals.
Joey MacDonald earned the shutout in the Sound Tigers’ net, making 23 saves.
TORONTO 6, LAKE ERIE 2
The Marlies used a second-period outburst of five goals to skate off with a 6-2 win over Lake Erie at Ricoh Coliseum.
Five different Toronto players lit the lamp in the second period, while Derrick Walser (1-3-4) and David Ling (0-2-2) turned in multiple-point efforts in the period.
Brent Aubin, Robbie Earl, and Tony Salmelainen record Toronto’s other goals in the second. All five goals came within the first 13:03 of the period.
Salmelainen added his second goal of the game in the third period for the Marlies, who have won their first two games of the season.
Matt Hussey and Cody McLeod found the scoresheet for the Monsters, who at 0-2-0-0 are still looking for their first win in franchise history.
ROCHESTER 5, HAMILTON 4 (SO)
Clarke MacArthur scored in the sixth round of a shootout to give Rochester a 5-4 win over Hamilton at Copps Coliseum, spoiling the Bulldogs’ home opener and celebration of their 2007 Calder Cup title.
The Americans scored two goals each in the first and second periods to establish a lead that they would hold until the late stages of the game.
Rochester went ahead just 1:50 into the game on a goal by Marek Zagrapan and took a 2-1 advantage into intermission when Anthony Stewart scored his team-leading third goal of the season at 14:15.
Tanner Glass and Stefan Meyer potted second-period goals for the Americans, extending their lead.
Matt D’Agostini netted a pair of goals for Hamilton in the third period to tie the contest, which remained knotted at 4-4 through the rest of regulation and overtime.
Both goaltenders stood tall for the first five shootout attempts, until MacArthur beat Yann Danis on Rochester’s sixth try. Danis had stopped all 18 shots he faced in relief of Jaroslav Halak.
In addition to D’Agostini, the Bulldogs received goals from Sergei Kostitsyn and Maxim Lapierre.
MILWAUKEE 4, QUAD CITY 2
Janne Niskala scored two goals, including the eventual game-winner, to lead Milwaukee to a 4-2 win over Quad City in their home-opener at the Bradley Center.
John Vigilante and Matt Ellison also lit the lamp for the Admirals, who evened their record at 1-1-0-0 for the season.
Tim Hambly netted both goals for the Flames, one each in the first and second periods.
Milwaukee was also aided by a two-assist night from Rich Peverley and 24 saves in net by Pekka Rinne.
SAN ANTONIO 2, PEORIA 1
The Rampage improved to 2-0-0-0 on the season by posting a 2-1 win over Peoria in a tight affair at the AT&T Center.
Cam Paddock gave San Antonio the 1-0 lead at 12:26 of the second period, with assists going to David Spina and Travis Roche.
The Rivermen got the equalizer on the power play at 3:52 of the third as Chris Porter beat Rampage goaltender Josh Tordjman.
Enver Lisin scored the game-winner for the Rampage a little more than four minutes later, at 8:03.
Tordjman finished with 32 saves in the victory.
IOWA 4, HOUSTON 3 (OT)
Marty Sertich scored the game-winner on the power play 3:44 into overtime as the Iowa Stars opened their home slate at Wells Fargo Arena with a 4-3 win over Houston.
Chris Conner, Vadim Khomitski, and Toby Petersen also scored for the Stars.
The Aeros sent the game to overtime when Aaron Voros tied the score at 3-3 with 1:20 remaining in the third period.
Adrian Foster and Petr Kalus also scored goals for Houston, whose record dropped to 0-2-0-0 for the season.