TEXAS 2, MILWAUKEE 0
Rookie goaltender Richard Bachman made 26 saves for his third straight win and second shutout of the season as Texas downed Milwaukee by a 2-0 count on Saturday at the Cedar Park Center.
The Stars have now won four straight overall on the heels of a four-game losing skid and moved to 10-6-0-0 on the season.
Bachman, who moved to 5-2-0 on the campaign, turned aside 22 shots in the second and third periods alone. The rookie goaltender shows a 0.97 goals-against average and a .967 save percentage during his personal three-game winning streak.
Greg Rallo provided all the offense Bachman would need when he scored his fourth goal of the season at 19:26 of the opening period, with Travis Morin and Scott McCulloch earning helpers.
Stars forward Raymond Sawada added insurance early in the second frame, nabbing his first of the campaign.
The Admirals’ seven-game points streak (5-0-0-2) came to an end as they head north for games in Oklahoma City on Sunday and Tuesday.
WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 4, HERSHEY 3
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton continued its dominance against arch-rival Hershey this season with a 4-3 road win over the Bears in front of 10,166 fans at the Giant Center.
The Penguins are now a perfect 4-0-0-0 in the season series against their Pennsylvania neighbors after finishing a dismal 2-9-0-1 vs. the Bears in 2009-10.
Brett Sterling and Dustin Jeffrey each recorded a goal and an assist for the Penguins, while Kevin Veilleux and defenseman Brian Strait also found the back of the net. Jeffrey’s unassisted tally at 14:15 of the third period, which made it a 4-2 game at the time, turned out to be the game-winner.
Penguins goaltender John Curry snapped a brief two-game personal losing skid with 24 saves in net, as first-place Wilkes-Barre (13-3-0-0) also halted a stretch of three straight losses on home ice.
Andrew Gordon scored twice and defenseman Lawrence Nycholat once for the Bears, who will look to avoid a winless weekend when they host Hartford on Sunday afternoon.
TORONTO 4, HAMILTON 3 (SO)
Toronto defenseman Josh Engel tied the game with just 1:04 left in regulation, and rookie forward Jerry D’Amigo won it with a seventh-round shootout goal as the Marlies claimed a dramatic 4-3 victory over Hamilton on Saturday at Ricoh Coliseum.
Playing their first home game in three weeks, the Marlies improved to 9-7-0-3 (21 points), good for a three-way tie for third place in the North Division race.
Toronto grabbed a 2-0 lead on the strength of goals from Greg Scott and Jay Rosehill, but Hamilton forward Max Pacioretty – celebrating his 22nd birthday – scored the game’s next three goals in succession to record a hat trick and put the Bulldogs on top 3-2.
But Engel spoiled Pacioretty’s perfect birthday party with his fourth of the year late in the third period, and Joey Crabb joined D’Amigo in recording a shootout goal for the Marlies.
Making his AHL debut, Toronto rookie goaltender Ben Scrivens denied six of Hamilton’s seven shootout tries – Pacioretty the lone exception – after making 33 saves through the first 65 minutes.
The teams will meet again on Sunday at 1:00 ET in a game televised nationally on CBC (Canada) and NHL Network (United States).
MANCHESTER 1, BRIDGEPORT 0
Marc-Andre Cliche scored 11:20 into the first period, and it stood up as the game’s only goal as Manchester edged host Bridgeport by that 1-0 final on Saturday at the Arena at Harbor Yard.
Cliche now has a goal in each of his past two games after failing to score in any of his first nine appearances this season. He was assisted on this one by Oscar Moller and Andrei Loktionov.
Monarchs rookie goaltender Martin Jones (3-1-0) earned his first professional shutout with 27 saves between the pipes, as Manchester collected its season-high fourth straight win overall.
Bridgeport dropped to 2-5-0-0 in its last seven outings.
PORTLAND 2, WORCESTER 1 (SO)
Rookies Luke Adam and Corey Tropp scored in the shootout as Portland eked out a 2-1 win over visiting Worcester at the Cumberland County Civic Center.
The Pirates extended their home-ice points streak to 10 games (9-0-1-0), matching a franchise record originally achieved during the first 10 games of the 1993-94 season. Portland is now 13-3-1-0 overall and maintained a three-point lead over Manchester atop the Atlantic Division.
The game was scoreless until Pirates rookie defenseman Alex Biega scored his first professional goal on the power play at 5:49 of the second period.
Sharks defenseman Sean Sullivan answered with 6:34 to play in regulation to force overtime, but Worcester failed to score on any of its four shootout attempts.
Pirates goaltender David Leggio (8-1-0) made 29 saves before his perfect 4-for-4 shootout showing.
LAKE ERIE 3, GRAND RAPIDS 1
Luke Walker, Ben Walter, and Ryan Stoa all scored as Lake Erie took a 3-1 road win from Grand Rapids on Saturday at Van Andel Arena.
Defenseman Derek Meech notched the lone goal for the Griffins, who have lost three straight games and have totaled only four goals in their past six contests (1-4-0-1).
Rearguard Kevin Montgomery picked up two assists for the Monsters, and goaltender Trevor Cann stopped 32 of 33 shots to earn his first victory of the season (1-2-0).
Lake Erie has now won a season-high three consecutive games, surrendering only two goals in that span.
HARTFORD 3, BINGHAMTON 2 (OT)
Jeremy Williams scored Hartford’s third power play goal of the night 1:03 into overtime as the Wolf Pack earned a 3-2 road win over Binghamton on Friday at the Broome County Arena.
Dale Weise and Tim Kennedy also netted goals for Hartford, which finished 3-for-7 on the power play for the night.
Defenseman Wade Redden chipped in two assists in the victory, and Wolf Pack goaltender Chad Johnson turned aside 28 of 30 shots in net.
Following its 5-2 win in Springfield on Friday, Hartford (6-10-2-2) has now earned consecutive victories for the first time since Oct. 16 and 17. The Wolf Pack will attempt for a weekend sweep when they visit Hershey on Sunday.
Erik Condra and Ryan Keller netted goals for the Senators, who extended their points streak to three games (2-0-1-0).
NORFOLK 3, ADIRONDACK 1
Norfolk overcame an early 1-0 deficit to score once in each period and claim a 3-1 victory over visiting Adirondack on Saturday at the Scope in the Admirals’ return from a five-game road trip.
After David Laliberte gave the Phantoms a 1-0 lead with a power play goal 8:05 into the contest, Admirals forward Alex Berry scored at 19:16 of the first period and 18:19 of the second to put the home team on top to stay.
Mike Angelidis added an insurance marker early in the third period, and Admirals goaltender Dustin Tokarski preserved the win with 21 saves on 22 shots. It marked Tokarski’s first victory since a 3-2 triumph at Albany on Oct. 23.
As a team, the Admirals have now won back-to-back games for the first time since beginning the season on a four-game winning streak.
The Phantoms are now winless in four straight outings (0-3-1-0) and dropped to 3-14-2-0 on the year.
CHICAGO 5, HOUSTON 2
Chicago, which had not scored more than two goals in any contest during its seven-game losing skid, broke out with four in the second period en route to a 5-2 win over visiting Houston on Saturday before 11,718 fans at Allstate Arena.
The Wolves, playing their first home game in three weeks, halted that losing skid and won for the first time since collecting a 6-5 overtime win at Lake Erie on Nov. 5.
Former AHL All-Star Jared Ross led the way with a goal and two assists for the Wolves, while Spencer Machacek and Jason Krog finished with a goal and an assist apiece.
Nigel Dawes and Ryan Garbutt rounded out Chicago’s offense, and goaltender Peter Mannino made 25 saves to earn just his second win of the season (2-3-0).
After falling into a 5-0 deficit, Colton Gillies and Petr Kalus notched third-period unassisted goals for the Aeros, whose three-game winning streak came to an end.
SPRINGFIELD 5, SYRACUSE 4
In a return to old stomping grounds for much of the Springfield roster, the Falcons took a 5-4 road victory over Syracuse in a back-and-forth game at the Onondaga County War Memorial.
The Falcons coughed up leads of 3-0 and 4-3 but finally prevailed in the end.
The Columbus Blue Jackets housed their prospects in Syracuse prior before shifting to Springfield this season, and ex-Crunch forward Trevor Frischmon wound up tallying the game-winning goal for the Falcons with just 7:19 left in regulation.
Dane Byers notched a pair of power play goals for Springfield, while Chris D’Alvise (1-2-3) and ex-Crunch Maksim Mayorov (1-2-3) each racked up a team-high three points in the victory.
Former Syracuse defenseman Nick Holden chipped in two assists for the Falcons, and rookie goaltender Gustaf Wesslau stopped 28 of 32 shots to earn the win in net.
Defenseman Mark Mitera paced the Crunch with two goals and an assist, while MacGregor Sharp and Matt Beleskey also scored.
ALBANY 4, ROCHESTER 0
Albany goaltender Jeff Frazee made 34 saves for his first shutout of the season, and the Devils rolled to a 4-0 road win over Rochester on Saturday at the Blue Cross Arena.
Frazee improved to 6-5-0 this season for the Devils, who have now won back-to-back road games on the heels of a six-game regulation losing skid. Albany is now off until a visit to Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday.
Rookie defenseman Mark Fayne provided the game-winning goal when he scored his first as a professional at 12:17 of the opening period. Nick Palmieri added insurance in the frame’s closing minute, and Michael Swift then scored both shorthanded and on the power play to account for the final margin.
Patrick Davis and defenseman Rob Davison each contributed a pair of helpers in the victory.
The Americans have now lost four straight games and are 2-6-0-0 in their last eight contests since beginning the year 6-4-1-0.
PEORIA 3, ABBOTSFORD 1
Peoria scored twice in a 22-second span in the opening period and then held on for a 3-1 win over Abbotsford at Carver Arena and a sweep of the teams’ two-game weekend set.
Rivermen second-year pro Brett Sonne, who recorded 11 goals last season but had gone his first 18 games this year without so much as a point, snapped the drought with a power play goal 4:28 into the contest.
Just 22 seconds later, Graham Mink potted his fourth goal of the season – but first since Oct. 16 – to make it a 2-0 game.
Peoria nursed the 2-0 lead until the 4:58 mark of the third period, when Logan MacMillan finally beat Ben Bishop to put the Heat on the board.
But Mink ended Abbotsford’s hopes when he potted an empty-netter in the closing minutes for his second goal of the night.
Bishop finished with 23 saves on 24 shots as the Rivermen earned two straight victories for the first time since their seven-game winning streak from Oct. 10-23.
