📝 With files from Patrick Williams
Here is a look at Saturday’s action around the AHL:
SYRACUSE 8, UTICA 5
Rookie Lucas Edmonds, who came into the night with three goals in 27 games this season, recorded his first career hat trick to help the Crunch end a five-game losing streak. Simon Ryfors scored twice, Trevor Carrick added a goal and two assists and Syracuse converted on all three of its power-play opportunities while outshooting the Comets 37-19 for the game. Utica got three points (2g, 1a) from Joe Gambardella in the loss.
TORONTO 5, ROCHESTER 1
Bobby McMann notched his first AHL hat trick to power the Marlies to a split in their home-and-home series with the Amerks. McMann has eight goals in seven games since returning from recall to the Maple Leafs, and 13 goals in his last 13 AHL contests overall. Marc Johnstone and Kyle Clifford also scored for Toronto, and Keith Petruzzelli made 26 saves, allowing only a Filip Cederqvist goal with 2:09 left in the game.
BRIDGEPORT 5, SPRINGFIELD 4 (OT)
Dennis Cholowski scored the tying goal with 55.7 seconds left in regulation and Otto Koivula won it 1:15 into overtime as the Islanders completed a comeback from three goals down to defeat the Thunderbirds. Arnaud Durandeau scored his sixth goal in the last six games for Bridgeport, and Samuel Bolduc added a goal and two assists. Martin Frk notched a first-period hat trick for Springfield, while Vadim Zherenko stopped 40 shots.
ONTARIO 4, SAN DIEGO 3 (OT)
Martin Chromiak’s second goal of the game came with 45.9 seconds left in overtime to give the Reign a win in San Diego. Lias Andersson also scored twice, including the tying goal with 3:28 remaining in regulation, and T.J. Tynan dished out three assists to extend his league-leading total to 54. Rocco Grimaldi scored all three goals for the Gulls, his third career AHL hat trick.
BELLEVILLE 5, LAVAL 4 (OT)
Jake Lucchini had four points, including the overtime game-winner, as the Senators defeated the Rocket for the second consecutive night. Laval built a 3-1 first-period lead on goals from Mattias Norlinder, Madison Bowey and Joël Teasdale, but Lucchini and Roby Jarventie each scored twice to bring Belleville back. Antoine Bibeau made 24 stops and earned an assist on the OT goal for Belleville, his third helper of the season.
BAKERSFIELD 3, COACHELLA VALLEY 2
The Condors got 34 saves from Calvin Pickard and withstood a third-period rally to defeat the Firebirds in Palm Desert. Dylan Holloway, making his Condors season debut after playing 51 games in Edmonton, scored for Bakersfield, which is 7-2-0-1 in its last 10 contests. Yanni Kaldis and Tyler Benson had the other Condors goals. Alexander True and Cameron Hughes tallied 1:15 apart early in the third period but Coachella Valley dropped back-to-back games in regulation for the first time all season.
SAN JOSE 4, ABBOTSFORD 3
C.J. Suess scored twice in the third period and Strauss Mann finished with 36 saves as the Barracuda slipped past the Canucks. Andrew Agozzino and William Eklund also scored for San Jose, which remains two points out of a playoff spot in the Pacific Division. Nils Höglander notched a goal and an assist for Abbotsford.
ELSEWHERE
Kiefer Sherwood netted the winning goal with 6:52 to play as Milwaukee edged Texas, 2-1, to overtake the Stars for first place in the Central Division… Mike Vecchione (2g, 1a), Connor McMichael (1g, 2a) and Mike Sgarbossa (1g, 2a) had three points apiece in Hershey’s 6-3 win at Charlotte… Jonny Brodzinski scored 17 seconds into overtime as Hartford rallied from 2-0 down in the third period to defeat Providence, 3-2… Alex Kile scored his first two AHL goals of the season and Bobby Brink netted the only tally of the shootout as Lehigh Valley defeated Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 4-3… Vasily Ponomarev scored twice, Pyotr Kochetkov made 24 saves and Chicago edged Cleveland, 4-3… Devante Stephens, Ben McCartney and Adam Cracknell all scored as Tucson snapped a five-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over Henderson.
TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams has been on the American Hockey League beat for nearly two decades for outlets including NHL.com, Sportsnet, TSN, The Hockey News, SiriusXM NHL Network Radio and SLAM! Sports, and was most recently the co-host of The Hockey News On The ‘A’ podcast. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.
