Sat. roundup: Jaffray keeps Abbotsford hot

Saturday’s AHL Boxscores

ABBOTSFORD 5, LAKE ERIE 3
2010 AHL All-Star Jason Jaffray tallied his first hat trick of the season, scoring all three goals in the second period, as red-hot Abbotsford rolled to a 5-3 win over visiting Lake Erie on Friday at the Entertainment & Sports Centre.

The Heat improved to 13-2-0-3 in their last 18 games and remained tied with Rochester for second place in the North Division.

Jaffray netted his 23rd, 24th, and 25th goals of the season, scoring at 7:18, 17:04, and 18:58 of the second period. He continues to lead the Heat in both goals (25) and points (54) while playing 68 of Abbotsford’s 69 games this season.

Garth Murray and defenseman Staffan Kronwall also notched goals for Abbotsford, while Oliver Latendresse and David Van der Gulik each registered a pair of assists.

Heat goaltender Leland Irving secured the victory with 21 saves on 24 shots between the pipes.

Defenseman Tom Preissing had a hand in all three Lake Erie scores with two goals and an assist, but the Monsters fell to 0-3-0-2 in their last five contests.

ALBANY 5, WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 4 (SO)
Defenseman Bryan Rodney’s fifth-round conversion lifted Albany to a 5-4 shootout win over visiting Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in a Saturday afternoon tilt at the Times Union Center.

Rookie Drayson Bowman also potted a shootout goal for the River Rats, who extended their points streak to six games (4-0-0-2).

Albany appeared headed for a regulation win when Nick Dodge broke a 3-3 deadlock with an unassisted goal at 7:22 of the third period. But the Penguins’ Tim Wallace netted his 22nd goal of the season – and third in the last two days – with just 55 seconds left to play.

Jacob Micflikier netted a pair of goals for the River Rats, and Steven Goertzen also found the back of the net. Bowman chipped in two assists prior to scoring in the shootout.

Albany goaltender Mike Morrison earned the win with 29 saves in net prior to stopping four of the Penguins’ five shootout tries.

Dustin Jeffrey scored in both regulation and the shootout for Wilkes-Barre, which also got regulation tallies from Konstantin Pushkarev and Nick Johnson.

With the shootout loss, the Penguins moved one point back of Bridgeport for the East Division’s final playoff spot, pending the result of the Sound Tigers’ game Saturday evening at Norfolk.

ADIRONDACK 4, PROVIDENCE 0
Adirondack goaltender Jeremy Duchesne turned aside 28 shots for his first career AHL shutout, and the Phantoms rolled to a 4-0 win over visiting Providence on Saturday at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

David Laliberte provided all the offense the Phantoms would need when he scored on the power play 14:06 into the second period.

Jared Ross, who assisted on Laliberte’s goal, joined Stefan Legein and Mika Pyorala in netting third-period markers for the Phantoms, and defenseman Logan Stephenson finished with two assists on the night.

Duchesne only had to make 11 saves over the first two periods combined, but the 23-year-old then stopped 17 shots during the final 20 minutes.

The Bruins are now winless in five straight games (0-4-0-1) and fell seven points back of Bridgeport for the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot.

HAMILTON 4, GRAND RAPIDS 3 (SO)
Hamilton scored on three of its four shootout tries to pull out a 4-3 win over visiting Grand Rapids on Saturday at Copps Coliseum.

Brock Trotter, Ben Maxwell, and Ryan Russell notched shootout goals for the Bulldogs, who bounced back from a 3-2 loss to the Griffins on Friday night.

Hamilton goaltender Curtis Sanford made 19 saves through the first 65 minutes before turning aside three of the Griffins’ four attempts in the shootout.

Rookie defenseman P.K. Subban posted a goal and an assist in regulation for the Bulldogs, while David Desharnais and Dany Masse also found the back of the net.

Justin Abdelkader earned a point for the Griffins when he tied the contest at 3-3 with just 35 seconds left to play in regulation. Patrick Rissmiller and Mattias Ritola added goals for Grand Rapids.

HARTFORD 6, LOWELL 2
Corey Locke tallied two goals and added an assist as Hartford cruised to a 6-2 win over visiting Hartford on Saturday before 7,654 fans at the XL Center.

The Wolf Pack reached the six-goal plateau for the first time since collecting a 6-1 win over Toronto on Dec. 18, and the Wolf Pack are now on a two-game winning streak for the first time since Jan. 10-16.

Kris Newbury (1-2-3) and Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau (0-3-3) also had three points for the Wolf Pack, while Brodie Dupont and Dane Byers each posted a goal and an assist in the victory.

Defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti rounded out the offense, and Wolf Pack goaltender Chad Johnson earned the victory with 27 saves between the pipes.

Hartford remained six points back of Bridgeport for the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot.

Ben Walter and defenseman Cory Murphy netted goals for the Devils, who are still tied with Manchester for third place in the Atlantic Division.

SPRINGFIELD 5, HERSHEY 4 (SO)
Rob Hisey converted in the sixth round of a shootout to push Springfield to a 5-4 win over visiting Hershey at the MassMutual Center on Saturday.

The AHL-leading Bears, who are now 50-12-0-3 on the season, have suffered two of their three shootout losses to the last-place Falcons (22-34-9-3). Springfield captured a 3-2 shootout win in Chocolatetown back on Nov. 21.

Hisey’s sixth-round conversion proved to be the lone shootout goal for either side. Falcons goaltender Jean-Philippe Levasseur turned aside all six of Hershey’s attempts after making 21 saves through the first 65 minutes.

Chad Wiseman (2-1-3) and Charles Linglet (1-2-3) each posted three points in regulation for the Falcons, and ex-Bear Dean Arsene tallied his first goal of the season.

BINGHAMTON 6, PORTLAND 2
Trailing 2-1 midway through the second period, Binghamton scored five unanswered goals to take a 6-2 road win over Portland before 6,570 fans at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

Six different Senators tallied goals, led by defenseman Craig Schira, who registered a goal and an assist to go along with a plus-3 rating.

Kaspars Daguavins netted a goal and had a game-high seven shots on net for Binghamton, and the Senators also got markers from Zack Smith, Ryan Keller, Jason Bailey, and defenseman Geoff Kinrade.

Josh Hennessy and Jonathan Cheechoo each posted two assists for the Senators, and goaltender Mike Brodeur turned aside 22 of 24 shots between the pipes.

Nathan Gerbe and Travis Turnbull scored for the Pirates, who remained five points back of idle Worcester for first place in the Atlantic Division.

The Bears received regulation markers from Alexandre Giroux (1-1-2), Andrew Gordon, Keith Aucoin, and Steve Pinizzotto. Hershey’s six-game winning streak came to an end.

BRIDGEPORT 3, NORFOLK 2 (SO)
Trevor Smith’s first-round conversion proved to be the lone shootout goal for either side as Bridgeport earned a 3-2 shootout win over Norfolk on Saturday at the Scope.

The Sound Tigers collected their second shootout win in as many nights and maintained their three-point lead on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the East Division’s final playoff spot.

Bridgeport goaltender Nathan Lawson turned aside all five of Norfolk’s shootout tries after making 29 saves on 31 shots through regulation and overtime.

Tyler Haskins and Jeremy Reich notched regulation goals for the Sound Tigers, with Haskins registering his third goal in the past two days against Norfolk.

The Admirals received regulation markers from Juraj Simek and Matt Fornataro, but the Admirals are now winless in three straight games (0-1-0-2) for the first time since a five-game slide (0-4-1-0) from Dec. 19 to Jan. 2.

ROCHESTER 5, SYRACUSE 3
Rochester raced out to a 3-0 lead after the first period and rolled to a 5-3 road win over Syracuse on Saturday before nearly 6,000 fans at the Onondaga County War Memorial.

Jimmy Bonneau put the Americans on the board 6:23 into the contest, and Evgeny Dadonov made it 2-0 just 1:05 later. Defenseman Clay Wilson’s power play strike at 19:27 gave Rochester its 3-0 advantage after 20 minutes.

Bonneau and defenseman Scott Hotham then scored 1:01 apart early in the second period to extend Rochester’s lead to 5-0.

The Americans then survived a three-goal Syracuse rally over the second half of the game. Chad Kolarik, Brendan Bell, and Evan McGrath scored for the Crunch, with Jordan LaVallee-Smotherman and Nick Holden each picking up a pair of assists.

Rochester improved to 7-2-0-0 in its last nine games and stayed in a second-place tie with Abbotsford in the North Division race.

TEXAS 5, SAN ANTONIO 4
Francis Wathier tallied two goals and added an assist as Texas eked out a 5-4 win over visiting San Antonio before a sellout crowd of 6,862 fans at the Cedar Park Center.

The Stars entered the third period trailing 3-2 but tallied a trio of goals en route to the victory. Rookie Travis Morin began the rally at the 12:08 mark, and Wathier followed with an unassisted goal at 14:57.

Aaron Gagnon’s 20th goal of the season at 17:03 proved to be the game-winner when San Antonio’s Alexandre Picard scored just 34 seconds later.

Gagnon finished with three points (1-2-3) on the night, and Raymond Sawada also scored in the winning effort. Greg Rallo chipped in a pair of assists.

Texas goaltender Brent Krahn earned the win with 30 saves between the pipes, helping the Stars move four points up on Milwaukee for third place in the West Division race.

Shaun Heshka, Joel Perrault, and Gavin Morgan joined Picard in tallying goals for the Rampage, while Brett MacLean and defenseman Stu Bickel each posted two assists. San Antonio’s three-game winning streak came to an end.

CHICAGO 2, HOUSTON 1 (SO)
Tim Stapleton tallied the third-period tying goal and then netted the game-winning shootout marker as Chicago rallied for a 2-1 win over visiting Houston before 10,418 fans at Allstate Arena.

The Aeros grabbed a 1-0 lead when Duncan Milroy scored 18:08 into the first period, and that slim edge held for all of the second period and half of the third.

Stapleton tied it for the Wolves 11:54 into the third frame with his 26th of the season, and Jason Krog and Joey Crabb earned assists on the play.

After a scoreless overtime, Jon DiSalvatore put the Aeros on top with a first-round shootout conversion. But Wolves rookie Andrew Kozek evened it in the third round, Stapleton scored in the fourth round, and Matt Anderson’s fifth-round conversion clinched the victory.

Chicago goaltender Peter Mannino made 23 saves through the first 65 minutes before stopping three of Houston’s four shootout tries. Mannino earned his 14th consecutive victory and improved to 22-3-0 on the season.

With the shootout loss, the Aeros fell to 0-2-0-1 in their last three contests.

ROCKFORD 6, MANITOBA 3
Jack Skille netted the eventual game-winning goal and added an assist as Rockford doubled up host Manitoba by a 6-3 count on Saturday before 10,177 fans at the MTS Centre.

Skille’s 21st goal of the season came on the power play 4:08 into the third period and gave the IceHogs a 4-2 lead at the time. Michael Grabner brought Manitoba within 4-3 with only 1:42 to play, but Rockford’s Kyle Greentree and Danny Bois added last-minute empty-netters.

Greentree finished with a pair of goals for the IceHogs, who also received markers from Evan Brophey and defenseman Richard Petiot.

Bryan Bickell (0-3-3) and Matt Keith (0-2-2) each finished with multiple assists, and Rockford goaltender Corey Crawford finished with 23 saves in the winning effort.

Guillaume Desbiens tallied two goals for the Moose, who remained five points up on Lake Erie for the North Division’s fourth and final playoff spot.

TORONTO 3, MILWAUKEE 2
Alex Foster’s power play goal midway through the third period stood up to be the game-winner as Toronto earned a 3-2 road win over Milwaukee before 15,253 fans at the Bradley Center on Saturday.

That goal proved to be decisive when Milwaukee’s Ben Guite brought his club within one at the 19:26 mark. But the Admirals could not tie it and fell to 1-3-0-1 in their last five games.

Ryan Hamilton and Kyle Calder also netted goals for the Marlies, while Andre Deveaux and defenseman Brendan Mikkelson each chipped in two assists.

Toronto goaltender James Reimer made 27 saves on 29 shots, helping his club extend its points streak to four games (3-0-1-0).

Dave Scatchard netted the Admirals’ other goal.