Sestito scores twice as Falcons down Monarchs, 4-1

Sunday’s Boxscores

SPRINGFIELD 4, MANCHESTER 1
Springfield jumped out to a 3-0 lead by the 30-second mark of the second period and cruised to a 4-1 road win over Manchester on Sunday at the Verizon Wireless Arena.

Team captain Tim Sestito netted a pair of goals for the Falcons, while Viacheslav Trukhno and Stephane Goulet scored once apiece. Second-year goaltender Devan Dubnyk stopped 32 of 33 shots in the victory.

Trukhno and Sestito scored in the first period to make it a 2-0 Falcons lead entering intermission, and Sestito’s second marker of the afternoon came just 30 seconds into the middle stanza.

Monarchs winger Teddy Purcell tallied his team-leading third goal of the season at 8:08 to cut the home team’s deficit to 3-1, but Goulet restored the three-goal advantage at 10:17 of the third period.

The teams went a combined 0-for-11 on the power play, and Monarchs goaltender Jonathan Bernier made 24 saves in a losing effort.


BRIDGEPORT 5, PHILADELPHIA 1
Bridgeport allowed the game’s first tally but then scored five unanswered goals en route to a 5-1 win over visiting Philadelphia at the Arena at Harbor Yard.

Nate Raduns gave the Phantoms the early 1-0 lead with a shorthanded goal just 2:37 into the contest.

Bridgeport’s Trevor Smith tied it on the power play at 9:48 of the opening period, and the Sound Tigers took a 3-1 lead into the first intermission on goals by Sean Bentivoglio at 16:08 and Jesse Joensuu at 18:27.

Blake Comeau and Kurtis McLean added third-period markers for the Sound Tigers, and goaltender Peter Mannino secured the victory with 30 saves on 31 shots.


PROVIDENCE 4, PORTLAND 1
Providence used a pair of power play goals on its way to a 4-1 road win over Portland at the Cumberland County Civic Center.

Portland defenseman Paul Baier put the Pirates on top 1-0 at 4:03 of the first period, but Providence’s Mark Bomersback scored to tie it at 9:11.

The Bruins then took the lead for good on Brad Marchand’s power play goal at 14:47 of the first, and Matt Marquardt made it 3-1 at 3:50 of the middle stanza on another man-advantage goal.

Martins Karsums’ empty-net goal in the game’s closing minute sealed the victory, making a winner of goaltender Tuukka Rask, who stopped 26 of 27 shots in net.


GRAND RAPIDS 7, TORONTO 3
Grand Rapids received goals from seven different skaters on its way to a 7-3 road win over Toronto at Ricoh Coliseum.

Ville Leino, Francis Pare, Darren Haydar, and Mattias Ritola all tallied a goal and an assist for the Griffins. Jakub Kindl, Jamie Tardif, and Landon Wilson each tallied single goals in the win, and Logan Pyett chipped in a pair of assists.

Griffins goaltender Daniel Larsson earned the victory in net with 35 saves on 38 shots.

Brent Aubin scored twice for the Marlies and Ben Ondrus once. Stefano Giliati and Alex Foster added two helpers apiece.


WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 5, HERSHEY 4
Chris Minard netted two goals and added an assist as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton held off Hershey by a 5-4 count in front of 9,907 fans at the Giant Center.

It marked the Bears’ first loss of the 2008-09 campaign (5-1-0-0).

Minard’s second goal of the game, at 16:47 of the third period, proved to be the game-winner. Conner James and Ryan Stone each had a goal and an assist for the Penguins, while Jean-Philippe Cote also scored.

Keith Aucoin led the Bears with three points (1-2-3), and Chris Bourque added a goal and an assist in the losing effort. 


HOUSTON 4, SAN ANTONIO 3
Ryan Hamilton broke a 3-3 tie at 17:03 of the third period to give Houston a 4-3 road win over San Antonio at the AT&T Center and a sweep of the teams’ home-and-home weekend set. Houston remained perfect on the season at 4-0-0-0.

The Rampage took a 2-0 first-period lead on goals by Steven Goertzen and Brett MacLean.

But the Aeros rebounded, receiving tallies from Jesse Schultz, Morten Madsen, and Corey Locke to move ahead 3-2 by the 12:49 mark of the second period.

San Antonio’s Chad Kolarik tied it back up at 19:58 of the second, tallying his first regular-season professional goal. That set the stage for Hamilton’s game-winner.

Aeros goaltender Barry Brust earned the victory in net with 32 saves on 35 shots.