NORFOLK 3, BRIDGEPORT 1
The Norfolk Admirals halted Bridgeport’s points streak at 11 games (8-0-0-3) with a 3-1 road victory over the Sound Tigers on Tuesday.
Juraj Simek snapped a 29-game goal-scoring drought with the game-winner for the Admirals, who finished 5-2-1-0 against the Sound Tigers this season, including 3-0-1-0 at the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport.
The Sound Tigers initially grabbed a 1-0 lead when Trevor Smith tallied his team-leading 25th goal of the season just 1:19 after the opening face-off. Bridgeport entered the night with a 23-7-2-2 mark when scoring the game’s first goal.
Jay Rosehill tied it for Norfolk at 7:41 of the first, with Simek and Pete Zingoni picking up the helpers.
Simek then gave the Admirals the lead for good with an unassisted goal 10:13 into the middle frame, scoring his fifth goal of the season but first since Nov. 16 at Providence.
Brandon Bochenski added an empty-netter in the closing seconds for Norfolk, and rookie goaltender Riku Helenius earned the victory with 27 saves. Helenius now has five wins on the season (5-6-0), three of them against the Sound Tigers.
Bridgeport suffered its first regulation loss since Feb. 8 and remains four points back of Hershey for first place in the East Division.
Norfolk, for its part, snapped a three-game losing skid.
HAMILTON 3, SYRACUSE 2 (OT)
Ryan Russell scored 2:25 into overtime to push Hamilton past host Syracuse by a 3-2 count on Tuesday at the Onondaga County War Memorial.
Rookie Ben Maxwell and Sergei Kostitsyn netted power play goals in regulation for the Bulldogs, and AHL All-Star defenseman Yannick Weber assisted on both.
Hamilton rookie goaltender Cedrick Desjardins stopped 31 of 33 shots to improve to 10-10-0 on the season.
Syracuse’s Michael Blunden opened the game’s scoring at 6:02 of the first period. After Hamilton potted its two goals, Crunch forward Trevor Frischmon sent the game to overtime by lighting the lamp with just 3:43 left in regulation.
With the point gained in the overtime loss, the Crunch moved within three points of Toronto for fourth place and a potential playoff spot in the North Division.
