HOUSTON 5, SAN ANTONIO 2
Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush were among the 8,433 in attendance for Military Appreciation Night at the Toyota Center in Houston on Saturday, and the Aeros marked their sixth-annual event with a 5-2 win over the San Antonio Rampage.
Robbie Earl, Chad Rau and Jon DiSalvatore each recorded a goal and an assist to lead Houston (8-7-0-0) back above the .500 mark. It was the third straight home win for the Aeros.
Peter Zingoni opened the scoring with a first-period power-play goal, snapping Houston’s 0-for-46 drought with the man advantage. Petr Kalus had the other Houston goal on the night and Anton Khudobin made 24 saves for the win.
Jeff May and Brett MacLean scored for the Rampage, who saw their winless streak extend to seven games (0-5-1-1).
ROCKFORD 2, ABBOTSFORD 1
Joe Fallon made 31 saves to help Rockford earn a 2-1 win and a split of its two-game set with the Heat at the Abbotsford Entertainment & Sports Centre.
Fallon, who stopped all 27 shots he faced in relief on Friday, nearly posted his first career AHL shutout, allowing only a power-play goal to Mikael Backlund with 59.4 seconds remaining in the third period.
The game was scoreless until Nathan Davis scored his sixth goal of the season at the 12:12 mark of the second period. Evan Brophey converted on a 5-on-3 advantage in the final minute of the middle frame.
The win snapped a seven-game road winless streak (0-6-0-1) for the IceHogs, who now return home for six consecutive games.
Reigning Reebok/AHL Player of the Week Leland Irving finished with 29 saves for Abbotsford.
ROCHESTER 4, TORONTO 1
Rochester extended its winning streak to 10 games, one shy of the 54-year-old franchise’s club record, with a 4-1 victory over Toronto at the Blue Cross Arena on Saturday night.
Ernie Hartlieb scored a goal in his first AHL game since the 2004-05 season and Michael Duco and David Brine scored 17 seconds apart in the second period to break a 1-1 tie. Brine added an empty-netter in the final minute of regulation.
Alexander Salak improved to 8-0-0 to start his AHL career with a 24-save effort.
The Amerks improved to 11-1-1-0 with the victory. They did not win their 11th game of 2008-09 until Jan. 3.
TEXAS 3, MANITOBA 1
The Texas Stars kept on rolling Saturday night, with Brent Krahn’s 33-save performance backing the first-year club to a 3-1 win over Manitoba at the Cedar Park Center.
The Stars are 6-0-0-1 in their last seven games and 10-2-0-2 overall, with just 22 goals against in 14 games.
Perttu Lindgren notched a goal and an assist and Aaron Gagnon and Sergei Korostin scored for Texas, which has surrendered four regulation goals in its last six contests.
Krahn (6-1-0) entered the game ranked fifth in the AHL in goals-against average (1.67) and third in save percentage (.948) and improved both numbers en route to his sixth straight winning decision.
It was the 12th consecutive game in which the Moose were held to two goals or fewer. They have totaled four goals during their current five-game losing streak.
ALBANY 3, ADIRONDACK 1
Jay Harrison’s goal 1:03 into the third period snapped a 1-1 tie and propelled Albany to a 3-1 victory over Adirondack at the Times Union Center on Saturday.
Jerome Samson tallied a goal and an assist, Stefan Chaput registered three assists and Justin Peters made 28 saves for the River Rats, who have won each of the first three meetings with their new Northway rivals this season. Bryan Rodney also scored for Albany.
Jon Matsumoto scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season for the Phantoms.
NORFOLK 6, SYRACUSE 1
Brandon Bochenski and Blair Jones recorded a goal and two assists each as Norfolk rolled to a 6-1 win at Syracuse, the Admirals’ fourth consecutive victory.
Paul Szczechura tallied a goal and an assist and Mike Lundin, Juraj Simek and Adam Hall also scored for Norfolk, which outscored its hosts 14-4 while sweeping through its four-game road trip.
Riku Helenius stopped 20 of 21 shots for Norfolk, improving to 2-1-0 on the season with a 1.35 GAA and a .938 save percentage.
It was the Admirals’ first victory over Syracuse since Jan. 15, 2003, when Craig Anderson shut out the Crunch.
LOWELL 3, PROVIDENCE 0
Two late first-period goals and 28 saves from Jeff Frazee sent Lowell to a 3-0 win over Providence at the Tsongas Arena on Saturday night.
The shutout marked the first victory of the season for Frazee (1-3-0), while dropping the Bruins to 0-5-0-0 on the road.
Former Bruin Ben Walter broke a scoreless tie at 17:38 of the first period and Patrick Davis doubled the Devils’ lead 73 seconds later. Nathan Perkovich had a goal and an assist on the night, and Vladimir Zharkov finished with two helpers.
As a rookie with Lowell in 2008-09, Frazee went 28-22-6 with a .920 save percentage and four shutouts.
HERSHEY 4, MANCHESTER 1
Hershey brought an end to Manchester’s home-ice dominance with a 4-1 victory at the Verizon Wireless Arena.
The Monarchs had allowed a total of three goals in winning their previous six home games this season.
Oskar Osala recorded a goal and an assist and Michal Neuvirth made 28 saves as the Bears bounced back from a 5-0 loss in Portland on Friday night.
Zach Miskovic, Jay Beagle and Francois Bouchard also scored for Hershey. Oscar Moller picked up the lone goal for Manchester.
HARTFORD 4, BRIDGEPORT 1
Hartford opened up its season series against its in-state rivals from Bridgeport with a 4-1 victory at the Arena at Harbor Yard on Saturday.
Rookie forward Evgeny Grachev, AHL scoring leader Corey Locke and defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti each had a goal and an assist, and veteran blueliner Mathieu Dandenault scored a goal for his first career AHL point as the Wolf Pack ran their winning streak to four games.
Chad Johnson (28 saves) has been between the pipes for all four games, stopping a total of 107 of 113 shots (1.47, .947).
WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 2, WORCESTER 1
John Curry stopped 30 of 31 shots as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton held on for a 2-1 win in Worcester on Saturday.
Ben Lovejoy and Mark Letestu scored 1:39 apart late in the first period for the Penguins, who snapped a three-game winless skid.
Steven Zalewski picked up the only goal for the Sharks, who got 32 saves from Alex Stalock. Worcester lost for just the second time in seven outings at the DCU Center this season.
