ABBOTSFORD 6, PROVIDENCE 2
Stefan Meyer scored two power-play goals in the first period en route to a hat trick, pacing Abbotsford to a 6-2 win over Providence on Saturday night.
Meyer added an assist for a four-point night, Quintin Laing chipped in with a goal and three assists and Ales Kotalik recorded four helpers as the Heat rebounded from a 5-0 loss to the Bruins on Friday.
Joe Piskula and Matt Keith also struck for Abbotsford, which scored six goals in a game for the first time since Jan. 16, 2010. The victory snapped a three-game losing skid for the Heat, who wrapped up a six-game homestand at 3-2-1-0.
J.P. Lamoureux made 23 saves in his first start since Feb. 5, earning his first win since Jan. 19.
Jordan LaVallee-Smotherman and Maxime Sauve had the goals for the Bruins. Michael Hutchinson, who had earned the shutout on Friday, allowed five goals on 21 shots in 25:16 of work before being relieved by Nolan Schaefer.
ROCHESTER 3, BINGHAMTON 2 (SO)
Kenndal McArdle scored the only goal of the shootout in the last half of the fifth round, giving Rochester a 3-2 victory over Binghamton at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena on Saturday.
The Senators saw their eight-game winning streak snapped, but extended their points streak to 11 games (9-0-1-1). Rochester moved to 7-1-0-1 in its last nine contests.
Seeing his first game action since Dec. 16 with Ottawa – and in his first AHL contest since the 2006 Calder Cup Playoffs – Pascal Leclaire stopped 30 of 32 shots for the Senators.
Binghamton rookie Corey Cowick scored his first career AHL goal to break a scoreless tie at 8:40 of the second period. Michael Duco tied it up just over six minutes later, and McArdle’s shorthanded goal early in the third gave Rochester a lead.
But former Amerk Andrew Sweetland scored with 1:21 remaining and Leclaire pulled for a sixth attacker.
Tyler Plante made his 11th consecutive start for Rochester and finished with 31 saves.
WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 3, NORFOLK 2 (SO)
Down two with less than five minutes remaining, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton scrambled for a 3-2 shootout victory over Norfolk in an East Division clash at Mohegan Sun Arena on Saturday night.
Joey Haddad’s goal in the 11th round was the difference in a shootout that featured nine goals scored on 22 attempts.
The Penguins won for the seventh time in nine games and preserved its eight-point lead atop the East standings.
Levi Nelson and Blair Jones gave the Admirals a 2-0 lead, and Brad Thiessen replaced starter John Curry in the Penguins cage. The cushion stood up until Robert Bortuzzo scored on a power play with 4:27 to go in the third period and Ben Street tied it with 2:48 to play with his ninth goal in the last 10 games.
After a scoreless overtime, the teams traded goals in the second, third, fifth and tenth rounds of the shootout before Haddad scored and Thiessen turned aside Troy Milam’s attempt.
Thiessen stopped all 17 shots he faced in regulation and overtime and was credited with the win. He has allowed one goal or fewer in eight of his nine appearances since returning from injury.
Dustin Tokarski made 29 saves for Norfolk, which is winless in its last five road games (0-3-1-1).
HERSHEY 4, ALBANY 3
Boyd Kane scored twice and Keith Aucoin dished out four assists as Hershey picked up a 4-3 win over Albany before 10,803 fans at Giant Center on Saturday night.
With Braden Holtby and Dany Sabourin injured and Todd Ford up with Washington, Jared DeMichiel got the call between the pipes for the Bears and made 27 saves for his second career AHL win.
Francois Bouchard and Steve Pinizzotto also scored for Hershey and defenseman Dmitri Orlov, the Capitals’ second-round pick in the 2009 NHL draft, picked up an assist in his AHL debut.
Aucoin’s four assists give him 486 for his AHL career, passing Bronco Horvath (484) and Bruce Boudreau (483) to move into 10th place on the all-time list.
Brad Mills, Olivier Magnan and Adam Henrique scored for the Devils, who have lost all five meetings with Hershey this season.
CHARLOTTE 1, CONNECTICUT 0
Matthew Pistilli scored on a power play and Mike Murphy made 28 saves as Charlotte edged Connecticut, 1-0, in front of a season-high crowd of 12,933 fans at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte.
Pistilli’s goal was his fifth of the year and fourth in the last six games, a span in which the Checkers are 4-0-0-2.
Murphy (19-9-3) stopped 14 shots in the first period, eight in the second and six in the third for his second shutout of the year.
The Whale were without head coach Ken Gernander for a second straight game after he was hospitalized as a precautionary measure on Thursday after experiencing pain and swelling in his lower extremities. Connecticut’s lineup was also missing three of its top four scorers, including Tim Kennedy, who was traded to the Florida Panthers earlier on Saturday.
SPRINGFIELD 4, PORTLAND 1
Tom Sestito and Nikita Filatov each netted a goal and an assist to lead Springfield to a 4-1 win over Portland on Saturday.
Ben Guite and Tomas Kubalik registered the other goals for the Falcons, who have won six of seven to pull into a tie with Connecticut for third place in the Atlantic Division.
Nick Crawford netted the lone Pirates goal. Portland dropped to 34-17-5-2 with the loss.
The Falcons got off to a quick start as Filatov and Guite scored in the opening 5:50 to put the home side up 2-0.
Crawford brought the Pirates back to within one with 5:31 left in the first, but after a scoreless second period Sestito and Kubalik scored in the third to provide the final margin.
David LeNeveu made 26 saves for his third consecutive win.
HAMILTON 3, SYRACUSE 2
Hamilton held on to a share of first place in the North Division with a 3-2 win in Syracuse on Saturday.
Nigel Dawes’ 29th goal of the season stood up as the game-winner and extended his goal-scoring streak to six games, one shy of the AHL season high seven-game streak authored by Bulldogs teammate Dustin Boyd earlier this year.
Brendon Nash and Kyle Klubertanz also scored for Hamilton, and Robert Mayer stopped 29 of 30 shots over the second and third periods to earn the win in relief of Curtis Sanford.
Kyle Palmieri and Patrick Maroon scored for the Crunch, who have lost six of eight.
MANCHESTER 5, BRIDGEPORT 0
Bud Holloway and Brandon Kozun each scored twice on the power play and Jeff Zatkoff made 26 saves for his first shutout of the season as Manchester blanked Bridgeport, 5-0, to sweep the teams’ home-and-home series.
The Monarchs improved to 8-1-1-0 against the Sound Tigers this season and 10-2-1-3 in their last 16 games overall.
Holloway and Kozun each had an assist as well for a three-point night, Justin Azevedo added a goal and two assists and Dwight King and Jake Muzzin recorded two assists apiece.
Bridgeport, which was shut out for the fourth time this season, fell to 3-17-2-2 in its last 24 games.
ADIRONDACK 2, WORCESTER 1 (SO)
Greg Moore scored the only Adirondack goal in regulation and recorded the game-winner in the sixth round of the shootout as the Phantoms earned a 2-1 decision over Worcester at the Glens Falls Civic Center.
Adirondack, which has now gone to the shootout in 10 of its last 25 games, had lost its previous six shootout games.
Michael Leighton stopped 38 of 39 shots for the Phantoms, allowing only a Jamie McGinn goal on a power play late in the second period.
Daren Machesney made 36 saves for the Sharks, who have just one win in their last seven games (1-3-1-2) but points in four of five (1-1-1-2).
LAKE ERIE 3, GRAND RAPIDS 2
A crowd of 13,022 fans at Quicken Loans Arena watched Lake Erie keep pace atop the North Division with a 3-2 win over Grand Rapids on Saturday night.
David Van der Gulik and Greg Mauldin each recorded a goal and an assist and Jason Bacashihua made 36 saves to help the Monsters remain tied with Hamilton for first place.
Patrick Bordeleau’s goal midway through the second period proved to be the game-winner for Lake Erie, which has seven victories in its last nine games.
Derek Meech and Francis Pare scored for the Griffins, who dropped back to one game over the .500 mark at 26-25-1-8. Before Friday’s win, Grand Rapids had been no better or worse than one game over or under .500 since the morning of Nov. 20.
ROCKFORD 4, MILWAUKEE 3 (OT)
Ben Smith’s power-play goal at 3:07 of overtime lifted Rockford to a 4-3 win over Milwaukee at the MetroCentre.
Rob Klinkhammer scored twice and Evan Brophey once in regulation for the IceHogs, who squandered three separate one-goal leads before finally notching their second straight win for the first time since mid-January.
Alec Richards made 33 saves for Rockford.
Mike Bartlett and Ryan Flynn had a goal and an assist each and Kelsey Wilson also scored for the Admirals.
Anders Lindback (2-2-0), making his fourth start in five nights after being assigned to Milwaukee by NHL Nashville, stopped 26 of 30 shots.
CHICAGO 5, PEORIA 2
Darren Haydar scored twice, including the tie-breaking goal early in the third period, as Chicago continued its march in the West Division with a 5-2 win over Peoria before 10,310 fans at Allstate Arena.
The Wolves, winners of three in a row and six of seven, is now six points behind first-place Milwaukee in the West.
Paul Postma, Fredrik Pettersson and Jason Krog also scored in Chicago’s four-goal third period and Jared Ross and Ryan Garbutt notched two assists each, while Peter Mannino made 26 saves for the win.
Adam Cracknell and Brett Sonne scored for the Rivermen, who have dropped five of their last seven.
This was the first of five meetings between Chicago and Peoria over the next 14 days.
SAN ANTONIO 3, TEXAS 2 (SO)
Randy Robitaille assisted on Ned Lukacevic’s tying goal with 4:27 left in regulation and then scored the winner in the seventh shootout round as San Antonio rallied past visiting Texas, 3-2, on Saturday night.
Attendance at the AT&T Center was 10,447.
Robitaille, the AHL’s MVP and a Calder Cup champion with Providence in 1999 and a veteran of 531 NHL games, has a goal and three assists in seven games since joining the Rampage.
Garrett Stafford also scored for San Antonio and Matt Climie made 24 saves in the win.
Luke Gazdic and Dan Spang scored for the Stars, who have earned points in five of their last six outings (3-1-1-1).
HOUSTON 5, OKLAHOMA CITY 0
Matt Hackett turned aside 31 shots for his second shutout of the season and Houston moved to within a point of first place in the West Division with a 5-0 win over Oklahoma City at the Cox Convention Center on Saturday.
Jed Ortmeyer scored twice, Casey Wellman and Patrick O’Sullivan added a goal and an assist each and Matt Kassian ended a 33-game drought with his third goal of the season.
The Aeros scored at least four goals in a game for the 10th time in their last 13 contests.
TORONTO 3, MANITOBA 1
Nazem Kadri and Aaron Voros each scored one goal and set up another to help Toronto to a 3-1 win over Manitoba in a Saturday matinee at Ricoh Coliseum.
The teams meet again Sunday at 1 ET in a game that will be televised live on CBC in Canada and NHL Network in the U.S.
Kadri opened the scoring three minutes into the game with his 14th goal of the season, and set up Voros on a power play at 14:06 of the first period to give the Marlies a 2-0 lead. Kadri (14-21-35) now has 35 points in 35 AHL games this season.
There would be no further scoring until Garth Murray potted a shorthanded goal for the Moose with 3:01 remaining in regulation.
Christian Hanson restored Toronto’s two-goal lead with an empty-net marker with 50.8 seconds left.
Jonas Gustavsson made 23 saves for the Marlies, improving to 3-0-1 (1.17, .950) in four AHL appearances. As a team, Toronto is now 5-1-0-1 in its last seven games.
Eddie Lack got the start after Tyler Weiman fell ill and stopped 14 of 16 shots for the Moose.
