MANCHESTER 3, WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 1
Manchester goaltender Jeff Zatkoff stopped 37 of 38 shots and newly signed forward Tom Cavanagh scored in his season debut as the Monarchs collected a 3-1 road win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday before 6,403 fans at the Wachovia Arena.
Zatkoff, who improved to 8-3-0 in 11 appearances this season behind All-Star counterpart Jonathan Bernier,
Cavanagh, who spent his first four professional seasons in the San Jose Sharks organization, lit the lamp 9:43 into the contest. He was followed by John Zeiler and rookie Corey Elkins as the Monarchs built a 3-0 lead by the second intermission.
The Penguins finally broke through when Konstantin Pushkarev scored 47 seconds into the third period, but they could get no closer.
Atlantic Division-leading Manchester has earned a point in four straight games (2-0-0-2).
HERSHEY 3, MANITOBA 2
Hershey rallied for a pair of third-period goals and set a new franchise record with its 12th straight victory, a 3-2 decision over Manitoba before 7,784 fans at the MTS Centre.
The Bears trailed 2-1 entering the final 20 minutes, but Chris Bourque’s ninth goal of the season tied it at 1:20 and Kyle Wilson notched the game-winner with 3:20 left in regulation.
Andrew Gordon also scored for the Bears in the victory. Hershey, currently in its 72nd season in the AHL, has set a new franchise-record winning streak for the second straight season after winning 11 straight contests from Nov. 14 to Dec. 7, 2008.
Hershey rookie goaltender Braden Holtby earned the victory with 33 saves, improving to 11-1-1 on the season. The Bears swept their two-game visit to Winnipeg, which featured a rematch of last year’s Calder Cup Finals. The teams will clash again in Hershey later this month.
2010 AHL All-Star Sergei Shirokov notched a shorthanded goal for the Moose, and Marco Rosa also found the back of the net.
LAKE ERIE 3, ROCHESTER 1
Lake Erie continued its six-game road trip with a 3-1 win over struggling Rochester on Saturday afternoon at the Blue Cross Arena.
Monsters forward Marty Sertich broke a 1-1 deadlock at 9:53 of the third period, and reigning Reebok/AHL player of the month T.J. Hensick sealed the win with a late empty-netter.
Lake Erie’s Philippe Dupuis and Rochester’s Evgeny Dadonov traded goals in the opening period, and neither side scored in the second frame.
Billy Sauer stopped 32 of 33 shots in net for the Monsters, who halted a brief two-game winless skid (0-1-0-1) overall and won their third in a row over Rochester.
The Americans, who now sit third in the North Division, have lost five straight games and are just 5-12-1-0 in their last 18 outings.
ABBOTSFORD 4, TEXAS 2
Abbotsford registered a pair of goals in the third period and doubled up Texas by a 4-2 count, earning the Heat a sweep of the teams’ two-game series at the Entertainment & Sports Centre.
Heat forward Riley Armstrong snapped a 2-2 tie just 1:14 into the third stanza, and Jason Jaffray’s team-leading 14th goal of the season gave Abbotsford insurance at 16:23.
Jaffray finished with a goal and an assist on the night, and Abbotsford also got goals from Brett Sutter and Mikael Backlund. Colin Stuart chipped in two helpers in the victory.
Matt Keetley earned the victory with 32 saves for the Heat, who have matched a season high with a four-game winning streak. Abbotsford also won four straight from Oct. 28 to Nov. 6.
The reeling Stars, who fell to 1-4-0-2 in their last seven contests, received their goals from Travis Morin and Mathieu Tousignant.
PORTLAND 2, ADIRONDACK 1
Portland bounced back from a 4-3 loss in Binghamton on Friday with a 2-1 road win over Adirondack on Saturday at the Glens Falls Civic Center.
Mark Mancari notched his team-leading 16th goal of the season on a Portland power play 17:25 into the first period. After a scoreless second frame, Cody McCormick extended the Pirates’ lead to 2-0 with an unassisted tally early in the third.
McCormick’s goal proved to be the game-winner when Andreas Nodl finally put the Phantoms on the board with 2:59 to play in regulation.
Goaltender Jhonas Enroth earned the win with 26 saves for Portland, which has not dropped consecutive games in regulation since Nov. 8-11.
ALBANY 3, HARTFORD 1
Albany scored once in each period and knocked off visiting Hartford, 3-1, at the Times Union Center on Saturday.
Drayson Bowman, Nicolas Blanchard, and Jacob Micflikier all netted goals for the River Rats. Bowman registered a first-period power play goal, Blanchard scored shorthanded in the second, and Micflikier’s goal went into an empty net in the closing seconds.
The River Rats swept their two-game season series with Hartford after entering the campaign on a 13-game losing streak to the Wolf Pack.
Albany goaltender Justin Peters, who was named to the Canadian AHL All-Star team earlier in the day, earned the victory with 19 saves in net.
Dale Weise scored for the Wolf Pack, who will complete a stretch of three road tilts in three days with a visit to Providence on Sunday.
BRIDGEPORT 3, SPRINGFIELD 2 (OT)
Defenseman Mark Flood scored with just five seconds left in overtime as Bridgeport rallied for a 3-2 win over visiting Springfield before 5,347 fans at the Arena at Harbor Yard.
Flood’s fourth goal of the season was assisted by Dustin Kohn and Sean Bentivoglio. Flood had earlier picked up an assist on Trevor Smith’s game-tying score early in the third period.
Greg Moore also notched a goal for the Sound Tigers, and goaltender Scott Munroe picked up the win with 18 saves.
Defenseman Alex Plante put up a goal and an assist for the Falcons, and Colton Fretter added his team-leading 16th goal of the year. Springfield lost its fourth straight game.
HAMILTON 5, GRAND RAPIDS 2
A three-goal second period propelled the surging Hamilton Bulldogs to a 5-2 triumph over visiting Grand Rapids on Saturday at Copps Coliseum.
Bulldogs leading scorer Brock Trotter led the way with three goals – two of which came in the second frame – and an assist on the night, and Mike Glumac registered two goals and two helpers for a four-point night as well.
David Desharnais chipped in two assists for Hamilton, and 2010 AHL All-Star goaltender Cedrick Desjardins stopped 25 of 27 shots in the winning effort.
The North Division-leading Bulldogs captured their fourth straight win and moved to 25-9-2-3 (55 points) on the season.
Mattias Ritola and Jamie Tardif both scored their 10th goals of the season for the Griffins, who have surrendered at least five tallies in seven of their last 10 games.
WORCESTER 4, PROVIDENCE 3
Worcester rallied for a pair of third-period goals and took a 4-3 win over visiting Providence on Saturday before 6,334 fans at the DCU Center.
Sharks defenseman Michael Wilson tallied the game’s first goal 11:32 into the contest, but the Bruins then scored three straight to take a 3-1 lead midway through the second period.
Levi Nelson registered two goals for Providence – his second and third strikes of the season – and assisted on the third, which came off the stick of Zach Hamill.
But Derek Joslin cut Worcester’s deficit in half before the second period was out, and Steven Zalewski and Andrew Desjardins scored in the third to complete the comeback.
Dan DaSilva picked up two assists for the Sharks, who poured an AHL season-high 55 shots on Providence goaltender Dany Sabourin. Worcester goaltender Alex Stalock earned his league-leading 21st victory (21-9-1) with 19 saves in net.
Worcester improved to 15-3-0-1 in its last 19 contests.
LOWELL 3, BINGHAMTON 2
In a game where all the scoring occurred in the second period, Lowell edged Binghamton by a 3-2 count at the Broome County Arena on Saturday.
Rookies Michael Swift joined Nathan Perkovich and Patrick Davis in notching goals for the Devils, and Stephen Gionta contributed a pair of assists.
Lowell goaltender Mike McKenna stopped 47 of 49 shots between the pipes in the winning effort.
The Devils, who lost at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Friday, avoided dropping back-to-back games for the first time since Dec. 6-11.
Brandon Svendsen netted both goals for the Senators, and Kaspars Daugavins assisted on both.
SYRACUSE 2, NORFOLK 1
Syracuse notched two goals in the game’s first 12:01 and held on for a 2-1 road win over Norfolk at the Scope on Saturday. The Crunch earned a sweep of the teams’ two-game weekend series.
Jared Aulin struck 2:37 into the first period for his team-leading 11th goal of the season, and Tomas Kana made it a 2-0 lead less than 10 minutes later.
Crunch goaltender Kevin Lalande protected the advantage, only surrendering a goal to Norfolk defenseman Matt Lashoff 46 seconds into the third period.
Lalande finished with 38 saves for the Crunch, who have collected back-to-back wins for just the second time all season and first time since Nov. 27-28.
The Admirals fell to 1-6-1-0 since rattling off three straight victories from Dec. 12-18.
CHICAGO 3, PEORIA 1
Chicago poured 21 shots on goal in the third period and scored on two of them en route to a 3-1 win over visiting Peoria in front of 13,555 fans at Allstate Arena on Saturday.
Johnny Pohl notched both third-period goals for the Wolves, his 10th and 11th tallies of the campaign, and he now shows three goals in his last two games.
Kevin Doell also scored for Chicago, which held a shots advantage of 21-4 in the third period and 42-17 for the game. Jason Krog extended his scoring streak to five games (0-7-7) with a pair of assists.
Wolves goaltender Drew MacIntyre only had to make 16 saves on 17 shots to earn in the win in net.
Rivermen defenseman Justin Fletcher netted his club’s lone goal in the third period, and goaltender Ben Bishop made 39 saves in the losing effort.
SAN ANTONIO 2, ROCKFORD 1
Rookie MacGregor Sharp’s goal at 2:43 of the third period lifted San Antonio to a 2-1 win over visiting Rockford at the AT&T Center on Saturday.
Sharp, who registered his fourth goal of the season but first game-winner, was assisted on the play by Francis Lessard and Shaun Heshka. Lessard collected his first point in 29 games played this season.
Heshka also assisted on the Rampage’s other goal, scored on the power play by Ryan Weston in the opening period, and San Antonio goaltender Josh Tordjman stopped 27 of 28 shots in the winning effort.
San Antonio shook off a 3-2 loss in Milwaukee on Thursday and improved to 6-1-0-1 in its last eight contests. The Rampage are back above the .500 mark overall at 17-16-3-2.
Matt Keith recorded the IceHogs’ lone goal of the night.
MILWAUKEE 3, TORONTO 1
Mike Santorelli notched a goal and assisted on the game-winner as Milwaukee took a 3-1 win over visiting Toronto before 12,482 fans at the Bradley Center on Saturday.
The Admirals grabbed a 1-0 lead just 3:25 into the game when Dave Scatchard scored his team-leading 12th goal of the season and fourth in his last three contests.
Defenseman Jonathan Blum extended the Milwaukee advantage to 2-0 with a power play strike midway through the second period, a goal that would prove decisive when Kyle Rogers put the Marlies on the board late in the frame.
Santorelli’s 10th goal of the year went into an empty net to ice the victory. Admirals goaltender Mark Dekanich made 18 saves in the winning effort, and counterpart Joey MacDonald took the loss despite stopping 34 of 36 shots.
With its third straight victory, Milwaukee moved into a tie with Texas for first place in the West Division. Both clubs have 48 points, and the Admirals have played one fewer game than the Stars.
