WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 6, HERSHEY 2
After losing 10 of 12 meetings with Hershey last season, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has had the Bears’ number early in 2010-11.
Chris Conner had two goals and an assist on Saturday night to lead the Penguins to a 6-2 win at Giant Center, their third victory in 22 days over the two-time defending Calder Cup champions. Wilkes-Barre remains the only unbeaten team in the AHL at 8-0-0-0.
It was Hershey’s first home loss by more than one goal since a 4-1 setback to Providence on Nov. 25, 2009, and their most lopsided home defeat since dropping a 7-2 decision to Albany on Jan. 14, 2009.
Keith Aucoin put the Bears in front just 49 seconds into the game with his fourth goal and league-leading 16th point of the season. But the lead lasted just 19 seconds and Conner pulled the Penguins even, and goals by Andrew Hutchinson and Joe Vitale chased starter Dany Sabourin (4 saves) from the Hershey cage after 9:51 of play.
Eric Tangradi made it 4-1 Wilkes-Barre in the final minute of the first period, Conner potted his second of the night midway through the second and Zach Sill finished the scoring with 5:30 left in regulation.
Nick Johnson had two assists for the Penguins and John Curry made 30 saves to end a personal five-game losing streak to the Bears.
OKLAHOMA CITY 3, PEORIA 1
Linus Omark’s fourth goal of the season proved to be his second game-winner as Oklahoma City held off Peoria, 3-1, in an early West Division showdown.
The Barons won their fourth in a row to close out a five-game road trip. They return to the Cox Convention Center to open an eight-game homestand next weekend.
Omark snapped a 1-1 tie with 91 seconds gone in the third period and Martin Gerber (6-4-0) made the lead hold up with eight saves in the final frame, finishing with 17 stops on the night.
Matt Marquardt and Brad Moran (empty net) also scored for Oklahoma City.
Chris Porter scored the only goal for the Rivermen, opening the game’s scoring 2:45 into the contest.
The loss was the third in a row for Peoria on the heels of a seven-game winning streak. The Rivermen have scored five goals in their last five games after scoring 26 in their first six.
PORTLAND 7, NORFOLK 6 (OT)
Marc-Andre Gragnani scored 65 seconds into overtime to give the Portland Pirates a wild 7-6 victory over the Norfolk Admirals at Scope Arena on Saturday.
Derek Whitmore paced the Pirates offensively with two goals and an assist while Travis Turnbull supplied a goal and three assists. Single scorers included Mark Mancari, Colin Stuart and Drew Schiestel, and Brian Roloff collected two assists.
The 7-6 final came one night after the Pirates posted a 6-5 shootout decision over the Admirals.
Paul Szczechura led Norfolk with a goal and three assists. Juraj Simek, Matt Fornataro, James Wright and Johan Harju all had a goal and an assist for the Admirals.
Portland rallied from deficits of 2-1, 4-2, 5-3 and 6-4, getting goals from Turnbull (12:59) and Schiestel (14:05) late in regulation to tie the score at 6-6 and cap a stretch of 5:18 in which the two teams combined for six goals.
The Atlantic-leading Pirates improved to 8-2-0-0 on the year.
ROCHESTER 5, ADIRONDACK 3
Rochester overcame three Adirondack power-play goals and pulled out a 5-3 win over the Phantoms in Glens Falls on Saturday.
It was the fourth consecutive game with a point for the Americans (3-0-1-0), and the seventh straight loss for Adirondack (0-6-1-0).
Rookie Colby Robak, a second-round draft pick by Florida in 2008, scored his first two professional goals for Rochester, including the equalizer late in the second period and the game-winner with 12:02 remaining in the third period.
Bill Thomas had two goals and an assist for the Amerks and Jacob Markstrom (4-5-0) made 31 saves.
Andrew Rowe (2g, 1a) and Jonathon Kalinski (1g, 2a) recorded three points each for the Phantoms.
HOUSTON 3, TEXAS 1
Houston ended a six-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over Texas in Cedar Park on Saturday.
Marco Scandella, Carson McMillan and Nate Prosser all scored their first goals of the season for the Aeros, while Jarod Palmer added two assists and Anton Khudobin made 29 saves.
Fabian Brunnstrom provided the Stars’ only offense with his second goal of the year. Richard Bachman stopped 14 of 17 shots in the loss.
The defeat snapped Texas’s winning streak at three.
GRAND RAPIDS 4, MANITOBA 2
Brendan Smith and Jamie Tardif scored 45 seconds apart midway through the third period, turning a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead and sending Grand Rapids on its way to a 4-2 victory over Manitoba at Van Andel Arena.
Thomas McCollum (3-1-1) made 28 saves and Cory Emmerton added two assists for the Griffins, who are 3-0-0-1 in their last four games.
Smith’s game-tying goal was a blast from the point that beat Manitoba goaltender Eddie Lack, and Tardif deflected home a Sebastien Piche shot for the game-winner.
Brothers Lee Sweatt and Bill Sweatt scored for the Moose, who saw their three-game overall and road winning streaks come to an end.
SPRINGFIELD 3, HARTFORD 2
Two quick goals by Tomas Kubalik and Tom Sestito in the second period helped Springfield to a 3-2 victory and a home-and-home sweep of its weekend series against Hartford.
John Moore, a first-round draft pick (21st overall) by Columbus in 2009, scored his first professional goal 7:47 into the game, and Kubalik and Sestito scored 1:40 apart in the second period to give the Falcons a 3-0 lead and end the night for Chad Johnson (11 saves).
Tomas Kundratek and Devin DiDiomete answered for the Wolf Pack, but David LeNeveu made nine of his 22 saves in the third period to seal the victory.
Hartford, which was coming off a five-game homestand in which it was outscored 13-4, have scored just 20 goals in 11 games this season.
CHARLOTTE 3, BINGHAMTON 2 (OT)
Casey Borer’s overtime goal 1:23 into the extra session gave Charlotte a 3-2 win over Binghamton and a split of their two-game set at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.
Jerome Samson scored twice in regulation and Justin Pogge stopped 36 of 38 shots to move the Checkers to 3-6-1-0 on the season.
Charlotte rookie Riley Nash tallied two assists, the first two professional points for the 2007 first-round draft pick.
The Senators, outshot 46-38 for the game, got 43 saves from Barry Brust and goals from Ryan Keller and Bobby Butler. Binghamton has earned points in five straight games (3-0-1-1).
SYRACUSE 3, ALBANY 2
The first two AHL goals of Nick Bonino’s career helped Syracuse to a 3-2 win over Albany at the War Memorial at Oncenter on Saturday.
Kyle Palmieri also scored and Timo Pielmeier made 28 saves as the Crunch improved to 3-0-1-1 on home ice this season.
The Devils, who had been a perfect 3-0-0-0 on the road, got goals from Vladimir Zharkov and Mattias Tedenby.
Mike McKenna made 28 saves in the loss.
CHICAGO 3, ROCKFORD 2
Mike Siklenka capped Chicago’s three-goal rally with 9:12 to play in regulation and the Wolves edged Rockford, 3-2, at Allstate Arena on Saturday night.
Rookies Brandon Pirri and Nick Leddy staked the IceHogs to a 2-0 lead with goals in the first period. For Leddy, the 2009 first-round draft pick who began the season with the NHL Blackhawks, it was his first career AHL goal.
Nigel Dawes and Jaime Sifers tied the game with goals late in the second period, setting up Siklenka’s winner on a power play in the third.
Peter Mannino stopped 22 of 24 shots for the win in his first AHL appearance of the season.
WORCESTER 2, PROVIDENCE 1 (OT)
Defenseman Nick Petrecki scored at 3:17 of overtime to give Worcester a 2-1 matinee victory over visiting Providence on Saturday afternoon at the DCU Center.
A first-round draft pick (28th overall) by San Jose in 2007, Petrecki tallied his second goal of the season to already match the two he scored in 65 games (2-12-14) as a rookie for Worcester in 2009-10. Jonathan Cheechoo picked up the lone assist on the play, his second helper of the afternoon.
After a scoreless opening frame, second-year pro Benn Ferriero put the Sharks on top 5:02 into the second with his team-leading sixth goal of the season. It remained 1-0 until Bruins rookie defenseman Steven Kampfer nabbed a shorthanded goal with only 3:01 left in regulation.
The overtime victory avenged the Sharks’ 4-3 overtime loss to Providence a week earlier in their home opener, and lifted Worcester back to .500 on the season at 3-3-1-1.
Sharks goaltender Alex Stalock only had to make 15 saves in the winning effort, as his club outshot the B’s by a 43-16 margin.
Michael Hutchinson stopped 41 of 43 shots in defeat for the Bruins, who fell to 2-4-1-1 on the campaign.
LAKE ERIE 4, TORONTO 1
Lake Erie tallied four unanswered goals to erase a 1-0 deficit and beat host Toronto by a 4-1 count at Ricoh Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.
Justin Mercier, Ben Walter, Zach Cohen, and Julian Talbot (1-1-2) all scored for the Monsters, with Talbot’s marker going into an empty net late in the third period.
The Monsters held a 33-18 advantage in shots, and goaltender Jason Bacashihua (2-3-1) earned the victory with 17 saves in net.
Bacashihua’s only blemish was a goal by Marlies rookie Nazem Kadri early in the second period, the 20-year-old rookie’s team-leading fourth goal and eighth point in the early going.
But Toronto suffered its third consecutive defeat and dropped to 2-6-0-0 overall. The Marlies now embark on a 10-game road swing and will not play on home ice again until welcoming Hamilton on Nov. 20 and 21.
Conversely, the Monsters (4-5-0-1) wrapped up a stretch of playing eight of their first 10 games on the road and will open up an eight-game homestand on Sunday vs. Manitoba.
ABBOTSFORD 4, MILWAUKEE 2
Carter Bancks and Gaelan Patterson scored 49 seconds apart on the same shorthanded situation and Abbotsford went on to a 4-2 win over Milwaukee on Saturday night to split the teams’ two-game weekend set at the Abbotsford Entertainment & Sports Centre.
They were the fourth and fifth shorthanded goals scored by the Heat this season, most in the AHL. All five have been scored by rookies, including two each by Patterson and Greg Nemisz.
Cam Cunning and Matt Keith also scored for Abbotsford, and Jean-Philippe Lamoureux made 22 saves in his Heat debut.
Matt Halischuk and Steve Begin scored late for the Admirals, while Mark Dekanich stopped 30 shots.
