The Norfolk Admirals moved a step closer to the East Division and overall league lead by defeating the defending Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears by a score of 3-1 at Norfolk Scope on Friday night.
Craig MacDonald scored twice and defensemen Cam Barker and Dustin Byfuglien each had a pair of assists for Norfolk, which has won three of its last four games against the division rival Bears.
Admirals netminder Corey Crawford stopped 25 of 26 shots for his league-leading 21st win of the year and improving his record to 21-8-1.
Joey Tenute extended his goal-scoring streak to six games, scoring the lone goal in the Hershey loss.
Norfolk, now 18-1-2-0 on home ice this season, trails Hershey by two points in both the East Division and overall AHL standings.
BRIDGEPORT 7, ALBANY 4
Peter Ferraro and Eric Boguniecki each registered a pair of goals and an assist as the Sound Tigers defeated the River Rats 7-4 at the Times Union Center.
Brandon Nolan and defenseman Jamie Fraser, who is in just his third game with Bridgeport, each recorded a goal and an assist for the Sound Tigers, who ended a four-game winless skid.
Billy Thompson had 30 saves in the win and defenseman Kevin Mitchell recorded a plus-minus rating of plus-5 for Bridgeport.
Dave Gove and Jakub Petruzalek each had a goal and an assist in the loss for Albany.
MANCHESTER 3, HARTFORD 2 (OT)
Jason LaBarbera made a season-high 59 saves and Lauri Tukonen scored the game-winning goal in overtime to give the Monarchs a 3-2 win at Hartford.
Gabe Gauthier recorded a goal and an assist for Manchester, which has won five straight games and sits six points ahead of the rest of the Atlantic Division.
Dane Byers scored a goal and tallied an assist for the second straight night in the Wolf Pack loss. Al Montoya made 20 saves but saw his personal five-game winning streak end.
LaBarbera made 29 of his 59 saves in the third period, when Hartford owned a 30-3 edge in shots.
TORONTO 4, BINGHAMTON 3 (SO)
Colin Murphy tallied a goal and two assists for Toronto as the Marlies defeated Binghamton in a shootout by a score of 4-3. The win avenged Toronto’s shootout loss to the B-Sens on New Year’s Eve.
Murphy scored the game-tying goal with 9.5 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime. It was the second game in a row at the Broome County Arena in which Murphy scored in the final minute to force OT.
Kelly Guard kept it a close game for the Senators, stopping 54 of 57 shots on the night.
Brett Engelhardt and Erik Westrum, who has four goals and six points in his last five games, each recorded a goal and an assist for the Marlies, who improve their record to 2-3 in shootouts.
Justin Pogge made 24 saves and stopped four of five players in the shootout for Toronto.
PHILADELPHIA 5, LOWELL 3
Darren Reid netted a hat trick and Martin Houle made 31 saves as the Phantoms defeated the Lowell Devils by a score of 5-3 at the Wachovia Spectrum.
Reid has five goals and eight points in 15 games since joining the Phantoms on Nov. 10.
Boyd Kane, Matt Ellison and defenseman John Slaney all registered two helpers on the night for Philadelphia, which ended a three-game winless skid.
Chris Minard had a goal and an assist and defenseman Andy Greene recorded two assists for the Devils in the loss.
WORCESTER 2, PROVIDENCE 1
Mathieu Darche recorded the eventual game-winner and had an assist on the night as the Sharks downed the Providence Bruins 2-1 at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.
The game was scoreless until Graham Mink scored for Worcester with 5:47 left in regulation. Defenseman Matt Carle added two assists for the Sharks, who scored both goals on the power play.
Thomas Greiss made 25 saves on 26 shots from the P-Bruins for his fifth straight win and improved his record to 7-4-0.
GRAND RAPIDS 6, WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 5
In a back-and-forth contest, Jeff Campbell netted a pair of goals and an assist and Matt Ellis recorded a season-high four assists as the Griffins out dueled the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 6-5 at the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza.
Matt Hussey tallied a goal and an assist and Darryl Bootland had two assists for Grand Rapids, which has won three straight games.
The Penguins went 3-for-5 on the power play and Patrick Thoresen registered a goal and two assists in his first game for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, which has dropped two of its last three games at home.
The Griffins scored five times on 12 shots against Pens goalie Andrew Penner, who was coming off a 6-0-0 December.
CHICAGO 5, OMAHA 1
Defenseman Nathan Oystrick recorded a pair of goals and an assist for Chicago, which won its sixth straight game on the road by defeating the Ak-Sar-Ben Knights 5-1 at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.
Darren Haydar extending his scoring lead and record scoring streak to 38 games, registering a pair of assists. Teammate Jordan LaVallee had a goal and an assist in the win for Chicago.
Fred Brathwaite stopped 18 of 19 shots on the night to improve his record to 12-3-2 on the year.
Rookie Aki Seitsonen scored his first AHL goal in the loss for Omaha.
IOWA 2, HAMILTON 0
Iowa goaltender Steve Silverthorn made his AHL debut a good one, shutting out the Hamilton Bulldogs by a score of 2-0 at Copps Coliseum.
Silverthorn stopped all 32 shots he faced and Marius Holtet and Vojtech Polak scored for the Stars, who avenged a shootout loss to the Bulldogs on Jan. 3.
Jaroslav Halak stopped 28 of 30 shots in the loss for Hamilton.
MANITOBA 3, ROCHESTER 2
Mike Keane, Jason Jaffray and Jannik Hansen all scored as the Moose won their third straight game and second in a row against Rochester, 3-2.
With the win, Manitoba ties the Americans for first place in the North Division.
Drew MacIntyre stopped 40 of 42 shots for the Moose, who have earned points in nine straight games (5-0-2-2).
Kamil Kreps and Anthony Stewart both tallied goals in the Rochester loss.
SPRINGFIELD 4, PORTLAND 3
Springfield moved into sole possession of second place in the Atlantic Division with a 4-3 win at home over the Pirates.
Daniel Corso registered a pair of goals, including one on a penalty shot in the second period, and Eric Healey added three assists for the Falcons, who have won their last three games at home.
Karri Ramo made 27 saves as David Spina tallied a goal and an assist for Springfield.
Petteri Wirtanen netted two goals in the loss for the Pirates.
