Hannu Toivonen and the Providence Bruins handed the Springfield Falcons their second-straight shutout loss with a 2-0 victory at the MassMutual Center.
The win secures a playoff berth for the P-Bruins, who will be making their ninth straight Calder Cup Playoff appearance dating back to the 1999 playoffs, when they won the Calder Cup.
Toivonen stopped all 22 shots he saw from the Falcons to earn the victory and even his record to 13-13-1 on the year.
Defensemen Matt Lashoff and Jay Leach provided the tallies for the P-Bruins, both scoring on the man advantage, while Ben Walter assisted on both goals.
MANCHESTER 4, WORCESTER 1
The Monarchs extended their winning streak to eight games by scoring four unanswered goals against Worcester and defeating the Sharks by a score of 4-1 at Verizon Wireless Arena.
Despite the loss, Worcester backs into the Calder Cup Playoffs, with a loss from Lowell.
Barry Brust earned his third straight win with just 17 saves on the night.
Marty Murray extended his scoring streak to eight games with a goal and an assist in the contest. Murray now has 11 assists and 14 points in that stretch.
Defensemen Joey Mormina, Oleg Tverdovsky and T.J. Kemp also produced goals for the Monarchs, who close out their regular season at Providence on Sunday.
PHILADELPHIA 3, BRIDGEPORT 1
Martin Houle stopped 26 of 27 shots as the Phantoms snapped a three-game skid with a 3-1 win at Bridgeport.
Kyle Greentree, Pete Zingoni and Stefan Ruzicka all tallied for Philadelphia, who won its third straight meeting against the Sound Tigers.
Steve Regier scored the lone goal for Bridgeport in the loss.
BINGHAMTON 2, HERSHEY 1
Jeff Heerema’s shorthanded goal with 2:30 left in the second period proved to be the game winner as the B-Sens handed Hershey a 2-1 loss at Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.
Kelly Guard started the game for Binghamton, stopping 23 of 24 shots, and teammate Jeff Glass came in relief of Guard in the final period to stop all 14 attempts from the Bears.
Josh Hennessy provided the other goal for the Senators, who ended their season with the win, improving their mark to 23-48-4-5 and 55 points.
Defenseman Troy Milam scored the only goal of the night for Hershey, who had its four game winning streak snapped with the loss.
HAMILTON 4, GRAND RAPIDS 2
The Bulldogs tallied three unanswered goals, including two in the third period, to double up Grand Rapids with a 4-2 win at Van Andel Arena.
Defenseman Dan Jancevski scored twice and Kyle Chipchura recorded three assists for Hamilton who won its second straight game over the Griffins.
Eric Manlow and Duncan Milroy also chipped in goals for the Bulldogs.
Netminder Yann Danis had 23 saves on the night to defeat Grand Rapids and get revenge on a 4-3 shootout loss at the hands of the Griffins on Wednesday.
Kyle Quincey and Jonas Johansson each scored in the loss for Grand Rapids.
PORTLAND 5, LOWELL 2
Garett Bembridge and Tim Brent each tallied a goal and an assist to lead the Pirates to a 5-2 victory over Lowell, eliminating them from playoff contention.
David McKee had a 29-save effort to earn the win and improve his record to 5-2-0 with Portland.
Drew Miller tallied in the win for the Pirates, as did rookies Bobby Bolt and Matt Christie, who recorded their first professional goals.
Rod Pelley and Chris Minard both scored in a losing effort from the Devils.
ROCHESTER 5, SYRACUSE 2
The Amerks defeated the Crunch for the second straight night with a 5-2 victory on the road against the Syracuse Crunch.
Adam Dennis made 44 saves on 46 shots to improve his record to 18-17-0 with Rochester.
David Booth tallied a pair of goals and was a plus-3 in the contest for the Amerks.
Michael Ryan, Rob Globke and Anthony Stewart all provided goals for Rochester.
Andrew Murray and Curtis Glencross each tallied as the Crunch ended their regular season at home with the loss.
Glencross extended his scoring streak to eight games with the goal. He has eight goals and 13 points in that span.
OMAHA 3, PEORIA 2 (SO)
Curtis McElhinney made 23 saves in regulation and overtime and stopped six of seven Rivermen in the shootout to defeat Peoria 3-2 at Carver Arena.
McElhinney earned his 34th win of the year and improved his shootout record to 7-1 on the season, leading all goaltenders in that category.
Carsen Germyn and Andrei Taratukhin both provided tallies in the shootout, with Taratukhin’s coming in the seventh round to give the Ak-Sar-Ben Knights the win.
Cam Cunning had a goal and an assist in regulation and defenseman Adam Pardy also scored for Omaha, who won the back end of a home-and-home series against Peoria, after suffering a 4-0 loss on Friday.
Peter Ferraro and Yan Stastny scored for the Rivermen, who move to within one point of Grand Rapids for the final playoff berth in the Western Conference. Each team has one game remaining in the regular season.
CHICAGO 5, IOWA 0
The Wolves kept pace with Omaha and their hopes for a division title alive with a 5-0 win over the Iowa Stars at Allstate Arena.
With a 46-24-3-6 record and 101 points, Chicago remains one point behind Omaha with one game left in the West Division as the two will square off against each other for the division crown on Sunday at 5 p.m. local time in Chicago.
Darren Haydar recorded a goal and three assists to bring his scoring total to 122 points (41g, 81a), while Brett Sterling tallied his 54th and 55th goals of the season in the win.
Fred Brathwaite stopped all 20 shots he faced from the Stars to earn his 22nd win of the year.
Niko Dimitrakos and Brian Fahey rounded out the scoring for Chicago, while Jason Krog registered three helpers on the night.
HOUSTON 4, SAN ANTONIO 2
Bryan Lundbohm tallied twice and Mattias Weinhandl recorded four assists as the Houston Aeros doubled up the San Antonio Rampage 4-2 at the AT&T Center.
Miroslav Kopriva stopped 31 of 33 shots to earn his first win since Feb. 6 with the Aeros.
Jason Morgan and Ryan Hamilton, who scored the game winner, both provided goals for Houston, who will end the regular season against the Rampage at home on Sunday.
Daniel Winnik led the Rampage with a goal and an assist in the loss.
NORFOLK 6, ALBANY 5
Six different players tallied for Norfolk as they defeated the Albany River Rats by a score of 6-5 in an offensive shootout at the Times Union Center on Saturday.
Adam Burish and defenseman Dustin Byfuglien each had a goal and an assist for the Admirals, who end their four-game road trip and regular season with a matinee on Sunday at Bridgeport.
Jake Dowell had two assists and recorded a plus-4 for the Admirals as Pierre Parenteau followed up his four-point night on Friday with a goal.
Corey Crawford made 34 saves to earn his 38th win of the year for Norfolk, who will face off against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday at the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza in the East Division semifinals of the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Cody McCormick had a pair of goals for the River Rats, who wrapped up their regular season by scoring a total of nine goals in its last two games.
Despite losses in both contests, Albany will visit the Hershey Bears on Wednesday in their first trip to the Calder Cup playoffs since 2000.
TORONTO 4, MANITOBA 2
Aleksander Suglobov had a goal and recorded a plus-3 as the Marlies tallied the game’s first three goals and defeated the Manitoba Moose 4-2 at the MTS Center.
Making his first start since Dec. 29, Todd Ford stopped 29 of 31 shots to help the Marlies avenge a 3-2 loss to Manitoba last night.
Brett Engelhardt, John Mitchell both scored for Toronto, as did rookie Michel Leveille, who played in just his second professional game.
Michael Grabner tallied his first professional goal, and added an assist, in just his second game for the Moose.
