Pelletier leads P-Bruins past River Rats, 3-1


Thursday’s AHL Boxscores

PROVIDENCE 3, ALBANY 1
Pascal Pelletier netted his team-leading 18th and 19th goals of the season and Matt Hendricks added a late empty-netter as Providence defeated host Albany by a 3-1 score on Thursday at the Times Union Center.

Pelletier finished with four goals in two games against the River Rats, helping the Bruins sweep their two-game season series.

The River Rats initially took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Jakub Petruzalek at 5:46 of the opening period.

It marked Petruzalek’s second goal in his last three games after not scoring in any of his first 31 games this season.

Pelletier tallied a power play goal with just two seconds left in the first period, evening the score at 1-1.

After a scoreless second period, Pelletier scored the eventual game-winner at 4:16 of the third period. David Krejci assisted on both of Pelletier’s goals.

Providence goaltender Tuukka Rask stopped 23 of 24 shots and improved to 10-3-0 on the campaign. The league-leading Bruins (25-5-2-0) avoided losing consecutive games for the first time this season.


CHICAGO 4, ROCKFORD 3 (OT)
Brett Sterling scored his league-leading third overtime goal of the season to give host Chicago a 4-3 win over Rockford before 8,131 fans at the Allstate Arena, in a game that featured the West Division’s top two teams.

The game-winner came on the power play 4:06 into the extra session. Reigning Rbk/AHL player of the week Jason Krog picked up the primary assist to cap a three-point night (1-2-3).

Krog now has a seven-game scoring streak (4-13-17) and leads the league with 43 points through 30 games this season (13-30-43).

Defenseman Nathan Oystrick posted a goal and an assist for Chicago, and Steve Martins also scored.

Rockford defenseman Danny Richmond scored his first goal of the season at 16:10 of the third period, which tied the game at 3-3 and sent it to overtime.

The IceHogs had also battled back from a 2-0 deficit on goals by Jack Skille and Derek Nesbitt, who notched the first tally of his AHL career.

Despite the overtime loss, the IceHogs extended their unbeaten-in-regulation streak to 15 games (10-0-1-4). They have not lost in regulation since dropping an 8-3 decision at Chicago on Nov. 24.


PORTLAND 3, MANCHESTER 2 (OT)
Geoff Platt scored his second goal of the night at 3:51 of overtime, and the power play goal lifted Portland to a 3-2 road win over Manchester before 6,769 fans at the Verizon Wireless Arena.

Platt also opened the scoring with a man-advantage marker in the second period. He now leads the Pirates with 14 goals on the season (14-15-29).

Jason King had a game-high three points (1-2-3) for Portland, and leading scorer Andrew Ebbett chipped in with a pair of assists.

Matt Moulson and Richard Petiot scored in the losing effort for Manchester.


LOWELL 4, WORCESTER 3 (OT)
Nicklas Bergfors scored 20 seconds into overtime to propel Lowell past Worcester, 4-3, at the Tsongas Arena.

The goal was Bergfors’ third of the season and allowed Lowell to claim its first two-game winning streak since Oct. 24-26.

Jason Ryznar led the Devils with two goals in regulation, and Stephen Gionta also scored.

Tomas Plihal, Dennis Packard, and Josh Prudden scored for the Sharks, who picked up a standings point for the sixth time in their last seven games (5-1-1-0).


WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 3, SYRACUSE 1
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton scored one in each period on its way to a 3-1 win over host Syracuse at the War Memorial at Oncenter.

Kurtis McLean and Nathan Smith each scored their third goals in the last two games for the Penguins, both of which were victories over the Crunch.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Tim Wallace added an unassisted goal in the third period, and rookie goaltender David Brown stopped 38 of 39 shots in the win.

The Crunch took a 1-0 first-period lead on Alexandre Picard’s second goal of the season.


PHILADELPHIA 6, NORFOLK 3
Steve Downie netted a pair of goals and two other skaters notched multiple points as Philadelphia downed host Norfolk by a 6-3 final at the Scope.

Phantoms forwards Triston Grant and Jesse Boulerice tallied a goal and an assist each as part of Philadelphia’s four-goal second period.

Darroll Powe and Pete Zingoni also scored for the Phantoms, who are 5-1-0-0 in their last six games.

Norfolk, which lost its sixth straight game, received a goal and an assist each from Justin Keller and Norm Milley.


HAMILTON 3, MANITOBA 1
Three players scored their first goal of the season to help host Hamilton to a 3-1 win over Manitoba at the Copps Coliseum.

Ryan Russell, Mathieu Aubin, and Mathieu Biron all lit the lamp for the Bulldogs. Russell’s goal was the first of the rookie’s AHL career.

Bulldogs goaltender Jaroslav Halak stopped 32 of 33 shots in net as his club finished 2-0-1-0 in a stretch of three straight games against the Moose.

Mike Keane scored the lone goal for Manitoba just 56 seconds into the second period.


TORONTO 2, GRAND RAPIDS 0
Toronto goaltender Justin Pogge made 31 saves for his first shutout of the season as the Marlies blanked visiting Grand Rapids, 2-0, at Ricoh Coliseum.

Jay Harrison and David Ling netted goals for Toronto in the first and second periods, respectively.

The Marlies won their fifth straight game, setting a new season high, and improved to 2-1-0-0 on the season against Grand Rapids.


SAN ANTONIO 5, MILWAUKEE 3
Five different players scored goals and San Antonio held on for a 5-3 road win over Milwaukee at the Bradley Center.

Jon DiSalvatore and Matt Murley tallied a goal and an assist each for the Rampage, who also received goals from Nate DiCasmirro, David Spina, and Bill Thomas.

San Antonio goaltender David LeNeveu made 27 saves and improved to 4-1-0 in his last five starts.

Andreas Thuresson, Janne Niskala, and Alexander Sulzer scored for the Admirals, whose four-game winning streak came to an end. Two of their three goals came in the game’s final two minutes.