MILWAUKEE 2, LAKE ERIE 1
Cal O’Reilly scored 4:39 into overtime to give Milwaukee a 2-1 road win over Lake Erie on Wednesday in the front end of a home-and-home. O’Reilly extended his scoring streak to eight games (3-10-13) for the Admirals, who moved to 6-0-0-2 in their last eight contests.
Lake Erie initially took a 1-0 lead when Philippe Dupuis scored on the power play for his team-leading 16th goal of the season.
The Admirals responded 8:15 into the middle frame, as Mike Santorelli reached the 20-goal plateau for the second time in as many pro seasons.
The game remained deadlocked at 1-1 through the rest of the second period and for the entire third stanza. O’Reilly’s overtime winner upped his team-best point total to 68 for the campaign (14-54-68).
Milwaukee rookie goaltender Mark Dekanich earned the victory with 22 saves, helping the Admirals snap a seven-game losing skid in games decided after regulation time.
Milwaukee (43-16-3-5, 94 points) now holds a commanding 19-point lead on Houston for first place in the North Division and remains one point back of Manitoba for the overall AHL lead.
PEORIA 1, SAN ANTONIO 0
Manny Legace made a season-high 45 saves for his second AHL shutout of the campaign to lift Peoria over San Antonio by a 1-0 count on Wednesday in the opener of a two-game set at the AT&T Center.
The Rivermen, who are 7-1-0-0 in their last eight games, vaulted into third place in the West Division race, one point ahead of Chicago and two up on Rockford.
Chris Porter scored the game’s lone goal, tallying his sixth of the season at 7:34 of the opening period. Trent Whitfield and defenseman Justin Fletcher picked up the assists.
Porter now has three goals – all game-winners – in eight games since the beginning of March, and shows five points (2-3-5) in his last three contests.
Legace stopped 11 shots in the first period before making 17 saves in both the second and third frames. The veteran goaltender improved to 7-6-0 with the Rivermen this season.
The Rampage fell to 1-3-0-1 on their six-game homestand and will conclude the stretch with a rematch against Peoria on Thursday night.
PORTLAND 5, MANCHESTER 2
Portland jumped over Manchester for third place in the Atlantic Division with a 5-2 road win over the Monarchs on Wednesday at Verizon Wireless Arena.
Colin Murphy, who entered with five goals on the season, scored twice to pace the Pirates. Felix Schutz posted a goal and an assist, and Mathieu Darche and Derek Whitmore added markers. Defenseman Kenny MacAuley chipped in two helpers on the night.
Pirates goaltender Jhonas Enroth stopped 39 of 41 shots to help Portland put together its first two-game winning streak since a three-game run from Jan. 23-30.
Tom Preissing and Richard Clune scored for the Monarchs, who dropped a point back of Portland for third place. The Monarchs are only one point up on Worcester for the division’s fourth and final playoff berth.
HARTFORD 1, LOWELL 0
Brodie Dupont deflected home Tommy Pyatt’s shot with 58 seconds left in the first period, and the goal held up as the only score of the night as Hartford edged Lowell by a 1-0 count at the XL Center.
Wolf Pack captain Greg Moore also assisted on Dupont’s 14th goal and fourth game-winner of the season.
Goaltender Miika Wiikman made 18 saves to earn his second shutout of the season and the Wolf Pack’s first as a team since Jan. 9.
Hartford, which is now 11-2-1-0 in its last 14 games, moved back into a tie with Providence atop the Atlantic Division. Both clubs have 82 points on the campaign.
WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 3, PHILADELPHIA 2
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton moved into a second-place tie in the East Division with a 3-2 win over visiting Philadelphia on Wednesday before 7,036 fans at the Wachovia Arena.
The Penguins (43-22-2-2) are knotted with Bridgeport at 90 points apiece, one back of first-place Hershey. Both the Sound Tigers and Bears were idle on Wednesday.
Red-hot Janne Pesonen scored both regulation goals for the Pens before tallying the winning shootout marker. Pesonen now has 21 points (10-11-21) in his last 12 games.
Miroslav Satan also netted a shootout marker for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and goaltender John Curry stopped four of fives Philadelphia tries after making 29 saves through the first 65 minutes.
Rob Sirianni and Jeffrey Szwez notched regulation goals for the Phantoms, and Jared Ross had the club’s lone shootout score. Philadelphia fell nine points back of Binghamton for the East’s final playoff spot.
BINGHAMTON 5, NORFOLK 3
The AHL’s best power play came through in the third period, and Binghamton emerged with a 5-3 win over Norfolk in the opener of the teams’ two-game set at the Scope.
Tied 2-2 entering the final 20 minuets, the Sens received power play scores just 39 seconds apart from Derek Smith and Greg Mauldin before Peter Regin tacked on an even-strength marker only 2:12 after Mauldin’s goal.
The Senators, whose power play entered at 23.6 percent for the season, got even-strength goals in the second period from Mattias Karlsson and Shawn Weller.
Regin finished with a game-high three points (1-2-3), and Binghamton goaltender Jeff Glass stopped 28 shots in the winning effort.
Juraj Simek, Radek Smolenak, and Chris Lawrence netted goals for the Admirals in the loss.
MANITOBA 4, ROCHESTER 3 (SO)
Manitoba captain Mike Keane scored in the seventh round of a shootout to push the Moose to a 4-3 road win over Rochester at the Blue Cross Arena.
Trailing 3-2, the Moose got a power play goal from Guillaume Desbiens with 2:21 to go in regulation, sending the game to overtime. Jason Krog posted a goal and an assist in regulation for Manitoba, and Dusty Collins also scored.
Moose goaltender Cory Schneider made 29 saves through regulation and overtime going 7-for-7 in the shootout. Schneider improved to 25-6-1 for the campaign.
Stefan Meyer, defenseman Michael Caruso (first as a professional), and Dan Collins netted regulation goals for the Americans, who are now winless in seven straight games (0-5-0-2).
