Norfolk trio provides win in front of record crowd

All-Stars Martin St. Pierre and Troy Brouwer provided the offensive spark for the Admirals, each recording two goals and two assists as Norfolk extended its lead atop the East Division and overall league lead with a 5-2 win over rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in front of a record crowd of 7,209 at Norfolk Scope Arena.

Norfolk became the first team to earn its 30th win of the year, improving its record to 30-9-4-1 and 65 points.

Brandon Bochenski, who was also selected to the 2007 All-Star Classic, recorded three assists on the night for the Admirals, who won their 10th straight game at home.

Patrick Lalime earned his second win in his third start by stopping 34 of 36 shots on the night.

Jean-Francois Jacques scored a goal and an assist in the loss for the Penguins.


WORCESTER 3, LOWELL 1
Graham Mink tallied a pair of goals in the second period as Worcester defeated Lowell at home by a score of 3-1.

Mink extended his scoring streak to four games, which includes a three-game goal scoring streak, while also recording points in seven of his last eight games.

Thomas Greiss stopped 24 of 25 shots for the Sharks, who have won their last three home games.

Chris Minard scored the lone goal for Lowell in the loss.


BRIDGEPORT 3, PHILADELPHIA 2 (SO)
Jeff Tambellini had one goal in regulation and tallied the decisive goal in the shootout as the Sound Tigers downed the visiting Phantoms by a score of 3-2.

Wade Dubielewicz stopped 36 of 38 shots and all five Philadelphia players in the shootout to earn his 10th win of the year and improve his record to 10-3-4.

Peter Ferraro provided the other goal for Bridgeport, who participated in its third shootout in the last six contests.

Tony Voce and Eric Meloche scored in a losing effort for the Phantoms.


HARTFORD 5, PORTLAND 4
Scoring four consecutive goals, including two on the power play, helped the Wolf Pack win their seventh consecutive road game, 5-4 over Portland at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

Five players provided tallies for Hartford as Nigel Dawes recorded a goal and two assists to lead the Wolf Pack in the win.

Dwight Helminen and Brandon Dubinsky added two assists each while netminder Al Montoya made 21 saves on the night to earn his 10th win of the year.

Colby Genoway led the Pirates with a pair of goals as Portland dropped its second straight game at home.


SPRINGFIELD 3, PROVIDENCE 2 (SO)
Eric Healey scored the game-tying goal in regulation and the winning goal in the shootout as the Falcons ended their five-game losing streak with a 3-2 road win in front of a crowd of 10,170 fans at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.

All-Star goaltender Karri Ramo stopped 29 of 31 shots for Springfield for his 13th win of the year.

Defenseman Doug O’Brien tallied the other goal for the Falcons on the night.

Kris Versteeg led the P-Bruins with a goal and an assists in the loss.


HAMILTON 2, GRAND RAPIDS 1
Duncan Milroy had a goal and an assist as netminder Yann Danis stopped 23 of 24 shots to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 win at home over North Division rival Grand Rapids.

Corey Locke provided the other goal for Hamilton, who opened up a two game set against the Griffins.

Josh Langfeld tallied the lone goal for the Griffins, who lost their first game on the road in 2007.


SYRACUSE 6, ALBANY 2
Mark Hartigan netted his first hat trick of the year helping the Crunch rout the Albany River Rats at home by a score of 6-2.

Joakim Lindstrom and Geoff Platt each had a goal and an assist as Tomas Popperle stopped all 25 shots from the River Rats before being replaced by fellow netminder Dan LaCosta.

Alexandre Picard, Adam Pineault and defenseman Marc Methot each recorded a pair of assists on the night for Syracuse, who recorded the first five goals of the contest.

Ryan Bayda and Matt Murley tallied for Albany in a losing effort.


ROCHESTER 4, MILWAUKEE 1
Four first-period goals by four different Amerks proved to be the difference as Rochester came flying out of the gates to down the Milwaukee Admirals by a score of 4-1 at the Bradley Center.

Marek Zagrapan, Mark Mancari, Brandon Smith and David Brine all tallied for the Amerks while Michael Ryan added three assists on the night helping Rochester win its sixth consecutive game.

Craig Anderson backstopped the Americans to their fourth win on their current five-game road trip by making 23 saves.

Ramzi Abid scored the only goal for Milwaukee in the loss.


OMAHA 3, IOWA 1
Brandon Prust tallied a goal and an assist and recorded a plus-3 rating as the Ak-Sar-Ben Knights defeated division rival Iowa 3-1 at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.

Carsen Germyn and Andrei Taratukhin provided the other goals for Omaha, which has won five straight and three consecutive games to open an eight-game homestand.

Curtis McElhinney made 21 saves on 22 Iowa shots to improve his record to 17-8-0.

Junior Lessard tallied the lone goal for Iowa, which dropped its fourth straight game.


CHICAGO 6, PEORIA 1
Kevin Doell and Cory Larose broke Chicago free of its five game losing streak by recording two goals and an assist each to help the Wolves defeat Peoria on the road by a score of 6-1.

Darren Haydar and defenseman Brian Sipotz each provided a goal and an assist as netminder Michael Garnett stopped 42 of 43 shots for Chicago, who remained in the top spot in the West Division.

Chicago improved its record to 27-14-1-2 and 57 points with the win, remaining two points ahead of Omaha.

Ryan Ramsay provided the only goal of the night in the loss for the Rivermen.


MANCHESTER 3, HOUSTON 2
In his first game with the Monarchs, Marty Murray scored what proved to be the game-winning goal as Manchester defeated the Houston Aeros at the Toyota Center by a score of 3-2.

Matt Ryan and Noah Clarke also tallied for the Monarchs, who won its third straight road game its current four game road trip.

Jason LaBarbera won his 22nd game of the year, stopping 22 of 24 shots for Manchester.

Roman Voloshenko and Josh Olson scored for Houston in the loss.


SAN ANTONIO 5, MANITOBA 2
The Rampage tallied four goals in the second period in a 5-2 win at Manitoba, ending the Moose’s six-game winning streak.

Jeff Taffe scored a pair of goals while teammates Pascal Rheaume and Yanick Lehoux each had a goal and an assist for San Antonio, which avenged a 4-1 loss to the Moose on Wednesday.

David LeNeveu made 32 saves for San Antonio, which has won three of its last four contests.

Mike Keane recorded a goal and an assist in the loss for Manitoba.