BINGHAMTON 6, SYRACUSE 3
Martin St. Pierre registered a goal and three assists as Binghamton continued its recent home-ice dominance with a 6-3 win over Syracuse at the Broome County Arena on Saturday. The Senators have outscored opponents 27-4 in winning their last five home tilts.
St. Pierre put up his third four-point night of the season – including his second in his last five games – and now shows a team-high 31 points (12-19-31) in 27 games overall.
Senators captain Denis Hamel scored twice and added an assist in the victory, and Binghamton also got goals from Josh Hennessy, Erik Condra, and defenseman Craig Schira.
Defenseman Derek Smith chipped in two assists for the Senators, and goaltender Chris Holt (3-1-0) earned the victory with 43 saves on 46 shots.
Bates Battaglia notched a pair of goals for the Crunch, and Jared Aulin also found the back of the net. Syracuse dropped to a league-worst 2-11-1-1 on the road this season and has been outscored 17-5 in losing all three of its visits to Binghamton thus far.
ADIRONDACK 7, WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 4
Three played each scored twice, and Adirondack notched a season-high seven goals in total en route to a 7-4 win over visiting Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday at the Glens Falls Civic Center.
Jon Matsumoto and Jason Ward each registered two goals and an assist for the Phantoms, and Stefan Legein also tallied a pair of goals for an Adirondack club which had not even scored as many as five regulation goals since a 5-0 win over Syracuse on Nov. 1.
Krys Kolanos also found the back of the net for Adirondack, and defenseman Danny Syvret chipped in a pair of assists. The Phantoms’ power play, which entered ranked 28th in the league, went 2-for-3 on the evening.
Phantoms goaltender Michael-Lee Teslak earned the victory with 28 saves between the pipes.
Tim Wallace, Nick Johnson, Chris Lee, and Mark Letestu all scored for the Penguins, and defenseman Ben Lovejoy added two assists.
The teams will square off for a rematch in Glens Falls on Sunday afternoon.
ALBANY 3, PROVIDENCE 1
Albany scored once in each period and cooled off Providence with a 3-1 win over the visiting Bruins on Saturday at the Times Union Center.
Albany’s Stefan Chaput and Providence’s Mikko Lehtonen traded power play goals in the opening period, and Bruins goaltender Dany Sabourin picked up an assist on Lehtonen’s marker.
River Rats rookie Zach Boychuk, who assisted on Chaput’s goal, tallied the eventual game-winner unassisted at 14:09 of the second period, his seventh goal of the season.
Nicholas Blanchard added an empty-net marker in the closing seconds, and Albany goaltender Mike Murphy secured the victory with 33 saves between the pipes. The River Rats earned their sixth straight win and improved their points streak to eight games (7-0-1-0).
Providence’s five-game winning streak overall and six-game road winning streak both came to an end.
HARTFORD 2, BRIDGEPORT 1 (OT)
Second-year pro Dale Weise scored 1:15 into overtime as Hartford got back into the win column with a 2-1 triumph over visiting Bridgeport on Saturday before 5,752 fans at the XL Center.
Weise, who totaled 11 goals in 74 games for the Wolf Pack as a rookie in 2008-09, registered his ninth goal of this season and his third game-winner. Brodie Dupont and defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti earned the assists.
Hartford originally grabbed a 1-0 lead when rookie Evgeny Grachev scored on the power play 13:33 into the contest. That lead stood until Bridgeport’s Matt Martin lit the lamp unassisted at 9:03 of the third frame.
Dupont finished with two assists on the night, and Hartford goaltender Steve Valiquette earned the victory with 25 saves on 26 shots.
The Wolf Pack snapped their season-high winless skid at six games (0-4-1-1).
HERSHEY 6, ROCHESTER 2
Hershey pounced for four goals in the opening period and cruised to a 6-2 win over struggling Rochester on Saturday before 8,347 fans at the Giant Center.
Coming off a 3-0 shutout loss at Albany on Friday, the Bears surrendered the game’s first goal again on Friday when Rochester’s Andrew Sweetland lit the lamp just 1:20 into the contest.
But Hershey responded in a big way, receiving a pair of first-period tallies from Keith Aucoin and one apiece from Andrew Gordon and Jay Beagle to enter intermission holding a 4-1 lead.
Boyd Kane and Sweetland exchanged second-period goals, and Aucoin completed his hat trick with a tally midway through the third period. Aucoin, who also added an assist, now shows 12 goals and 28 points in just 21 games for the Bears this season.
Alexandre Giroux and defensemen Bryan Helmer and John Carlson each chipped in two assists in the victory, and Hershey goaltender Braden Holtby denied 34 of 36 shots in net.
The Americans are now 1-4-0-0 in their last five outings after winning 18 of their first 22 games this season (18-3-1-0).
LOWELL 3, MANCHESTER 2
Lowell tallied a trio of first-period goals and then held on for a 3-2 road win over Manchester on Saturday before 5,304 fans at the Verizon Wireless Arena.
Defenseman Olivier Magnan and Rob Davison joined forward Matt Halischuk (1-1-2) in netting goals for the Devils, and Ben Walter earned an assist on all three markers. Brad Snetsinger picked up two helpers and was plus-3 for Lowell.
The Monarchs, in search of their fifth straight win, climbed back into the game as David Meckler scored early in the second period and Gabe Gauthier registered a power play goal late in the third. But Manchester was unable to find the equalizer and fell to 1-2-0-0 against Lowell this season.
Goaltender Mike McKenna earned the win with 24 saves for the Devils, whose two-game losing skid came to an end.
PORTLAND 7, SPRINGFIELD 1
Kyle Rank notched a hat trick and added an assist as Portland rolled past host Springfield by a 7-1 count on Saturday at the MassMutual Center.
Rank and Derek Whitmore staked the Pirates to a 2-0 lead after the opening period, and Portland then opened the floodgates with four goals in the second frame.
Whitmore, Rank, Jeff Cowan, and Kyle Wanvig all registered second-period goals for the visitors, and Rank completed his hat trick with an unassisted tally at 19:28 of the third stanza.
Defenseman Mike Kostka contributed two assists in the winning effort, and Pirates goaltender Jhonas Enroth earned the victory with 31 saves between the pipes.
Bill Thomas scored for the Falcons, who are now winless in nine straight games (0-7-1-1) and were outscored 13-3 in losing two home games this weekend.
NORFOLK 5, MANITOBA 4
Brandon Bochenski netted a pair of goals – including the game-winner – and added an assist as Norfolk edged Manitoba by a 5-4 count on Saturday at the Scope.
The Admirals earned a split of the teams’ two-game weekend set in Virginia and won for just the third time in their last 10 games overall (3-7-0-0).
Mark Parrish registered a goal and two assists for the Admirals, who also got goals from Matt Syroczynski and Martins Karsums. Defenseman Mike Lundin chipped in a pair of assists in the victory.
Norfolk goaltender Riku Helenius earned the win with 24 saves in net.
Dusty Collins and Alexandre Bolduc scored their first AHL goals of the season for the Moose, Sergei Shirokov notched his AHL rookie-leading 11th marker of the campaign, and Marty Murray also found the back of the net in the losing effort.
CHICAGO 6, LAKE ERIE 2
Chicago scored six straight goals after falling into an early 1-0 hole and cruised past host Lake Erie by a 6-2 final on Saturday at Quicken Loans Arena.
Kevin Doell, who entered the game with two goals and six points in 25 games, led the way for the Wolves with a pair of goals – including the game-winner – and an assist on the night. Defenseman Nathan Oystrick also finished with multiple points, registering a goal and a helper.
Brett Sterling and defensemen Chris Chelios and Paul Postma rounded out the Wolves’ offense, and Johnny Pohl posted a pair of assists.
Chicago goaltender Drew MacIntyre earned the win with 30 saves in net, as the Wolves won for just the second time in their last seven contests (2-4-0-1).
T.J. Hensick and Patrick Bordeleau lit the lamp for the Monsters, who are winless in four straight games (0-3-0-1) and 1-7-0-2 in their last 10 outings.
MILWAUKEE 3, GRAND RAPIDS 1
Milwaukee opened a four-game road swing on Saturday with a 3-1 win over Grand Rapids before 5,639 fans at Van Andel Arena.
Nick Spaling, Wacey Rabbit, and Andreas Thuresson scored for the Admirals, who matched a season high with their third straight victory. Milwaukee also won three in a row from Nov. 20-24.
Rabbit, whose goal came unassisted at 7:03 of the second period, earned the game-winner for the second straight night after entering the weekend with just two goals overall in 24 games this season.
Cal O’Reilly posted two assists for Milwaukee, and rookie goaltender Chet Pickard earned the victory with 21 saves in net.
Rookie Tomas Tatar notched the Griffins’ lone goal of the night.
PEORIA 3, SAN ANTONIO 1
Peoria netted a pair of second-period goals and held on for a 3-1 win over visiting San Antonio on Saturday at Carver Arena.
Rivermen forward Barry Tallackson notched his team-leading ninth goal of the season at 13:26 of the middle frame, and rookie Brett Sonne made it a 2-0 game just 2:11 later.
After Rampage veteran defensemen Anders Eriksson scored his first goal of the season on the power play 12:22 into the third period, Yan Stastny sealed Peoria’s win with an empty-netter in the game’s closing minute.
Rivermen goaltender Hannu Toivonen was solid between the pipes, stopping 34 of 35 shots to earn his sixth win of the season (6-7-1).
San Antonio has totaled just six goals in losing its last four games.
ROCKFORD 3, TEXAS 2
Rockford earned a split of its two-game visit to suburban Austin on Saturday with a 3-2 win over Texas before 5,192 fans at the Cedar Park Center.
The IceHogs grabbed a 2-0 lead after the first period on goals by Bracken Kearns and defenseman Richard Petiot, his first of the season.
Texas’s Garrett Stafford and Rockford’s Pete MacArthur traded goals in the second period, making it a 3-1 IceHogs lead heading into the final 20 minutes.
Mathieu Beaudoin brought the Stars within 3-2 just 1:53 into the finale frame, but Texas could not get the equalizer.
Goaltender Dan Cloutier made 19 saves on 21 shots to pick up his first win in an IceHogs uniform.
