OKLAHOMA CITY 3, HAMILTON 2 (OT)
Two-time defending AHL goal-scoring champion Alexandre Giroux struck at 3:58 of overtime to give Oklahoma City a 3-2 road win over Hamilton on Sunday afternoon in a game nationally televised live on CBC and the NHL Network.
Giroux, with the Barons this season after winning consecutive Calder Cups in Hershey, nabbed his fourth goal of the campaign but his first game-winner. Brad Moran chipped in the lone assist on the play, and Moran (3-5-8) and Giroux (4-4-8) remain tied for the team scoring lead in the early going.
Defenseman Jeff Petry (1-1-2) and forward Colin McDonald also scored for the Barons, who brought a 2-1 lead into the third period before Bulldogs rookie defenseman Brendan Nash tied it up on the power play at 4:02.
Hamilton’s David Desharnais finished with a goal and an assist on the day, but the Bulldogs suffered their third consecutive post-regulation loss (0-0-1-2).
Goaltender Martin Gerber earned the victory with 29 saves on 31 shots for the Barons, who won despite an 0-for-10 showing on the power play. Oklahoma City, currently in the midst of a five-game road swing, snapped a brief two-game losing skid.
MANCHESTER 2, CHARLOTTE 1
Manchester built a 2-0 lead by early in the third period and then held off Charlotte for a 2-1 win over the visiting Checkers at Verizon Wireless Arena on Sunday.
David Meckler and Corey Elkins scored for the Monarchs, and Zach Boychuk had the Checkers’ lone score.
Meckler made it 1-0 midway through the opening period, and that score stood until Corey Elkins provided insurance with a power play goal at 6:03 of the third. It proved decisive when Boychuk scored a man-advantage marker of his own just 1:38 later.
Charlotte could not get the equalizer, though, and dipped to 2-6-0-0 on the season.
Twenty-year-old Monarchs goaltender Martin Jones stopped 36 of 37 shots in net to earn his first career AHL victory. Manchester went 3-0-0-0 on the weekend, outscoring opponents 11-5.
WORCESTER 4, NORFOLK 3
Rookie Tommy Wingels notched his first professional goal at 14:24 of the third period, snapping a 3-3 tie and sending Worcester to its first home win of the season, a 4-3 decision over Norfolk at the DCU Center on Sunday.
Wingels’ goal came unassisted and sent the Sharks home happy despite blowing a 3-1 lead earlier in the third frame.
Johan Harju put the Admirals on top late in the first, but the Sharks then scored three straight goals. Benn Ferriero nabbed his team-leading fifth of the year in the period’s closing seconds, and Andrew Desjardins scored shorthanded 50 seconds into the second period. James Marcou added a power play score at 12:10.
Norfolk battled back in the third by scoring twice in a 36-second span. Harju buried his second of the afternoon at 3:54, and former Shark Matt Fornataro followed with the tying strike at 4:30, setting the stage for Wingels.
Goaltender Alex Stalock made 30 saves on 33 shots as he and the Sharks halted a three-game winless skid (0-2-1-0), which included back-to-back losses in Norfolk last weekend.
CHICAGO 4, MILWAUKEE 3
Chicago held off a furious Milwaukee rally in the third period and captured a 4-3 win over the visiting Admirals on Sunday at Allstate Arena.
Fredrik Pattersson tallied his first career AHL goal for the Wolves, who built a 4-0 lead by the end of two periods. Jared Ross recorded a goal and an assist, and Darren Haydar and Andre Deveaux also scored.
Milwaukee would not go quietly in the third. Linus Klasen scored in the period’s opening minute on the power play for his league-leading seventh goal of the year; rookie Gabriel Bourque notched his first pro goal; and Andreas Thuresson brought the Admirals within 4-3 with 3:58 to play.
The Admirals could not tie it up, though, and saw its brief two-game winning streak come to an end.
Wolves rookie goaltender Edward Pasquale (3-1-0) held on for the win, finishing with 28 saves on 31 shots.
SAN ANTONIO 4, PEORIA 1
Brett MacLean tallied a goal and added two assists to lead San Antonio past division-leading Peoria on Sunday at the AT&T Center.
MacLean registered a power play goal late in the first period and then picked up a helper on goals by defenseman Garrett Stafford and forward Tim Stapleton. He now has a point in three of his last four contests (2-4-6).
Mathieu Beaudoin added a late empty-netter for the 6-2-1-0 Rampage, who collected their fifth consecutive victory and pulled to within one point of the front-running Rivermen in the West Division.
Rampage goaltender Al Montoya turned aside 29 saves on 30 shots and earned his second win of the weekend after allowing six goals in his only prior appearance this season, a 6-2 loss to the Rivermen on Oct. 15.
Defenseman Mark Cundari scored for the Rivermen, whose seven-game winning streak came to an end.
HERSHEY 4, ADIRONDACK 2
Andrew Gordon potted a pair of power play goals as Hershey rebounded from an early 2-0 deficit to double up Adirondack by a 4-2 count on Sunday at the Giant Center, giving the Bears a sweep of their two-game weekend set with the Phantoms.
Gordon recorded his team-best fifth and sixth goals of the season, and Keith Aucoin earned a helper on both.
Captain Andrew Joudrey notched his first goal of 2010-11, and Ashton Rome (1-1-2) rounded out the Bears’ offense late in the third period. Rookie goaltender Braden Holtby improved to 4-0-1 by stopping 27 of 29 shots between the pipes.
The Phantoms jumped to a quick 2-0 lead on first-period goals by Patrick Maroon and Jonathon Kalinski, but they couldn’t put another puck past Holtby the rest of the way. Adirondack is now winless in five straight outings (0-4-1-0).
GRAND RAPIDS 6, TORONTO 3
Grand Rapids raced out to a 4-0 lead before the game was 15 minutes old and cruised to a 6-3 road win over Toronto on Sunday at Ricoh Coliseum.
The Griffins, who have played five of their first seven games on the road, improved to 4-2-0-1 out of the gate this season.
Ilari Filppula led the way with two goals and an assist for Grand Rapids, which also received a pair of markers apiece from Jan Mursak and Brent Raedeke. Defensemen Derek Meech and Brendan Smith each chipped in two assists on the day.
Griffins goaltender Thomas McCollum earned the win in net with 25 saves on 28 shots.
Justin Hodgman scored twice and Darryl Boyce once for the Marlies, who went 1-for-11 on the power play. Boyce’s late third-period goal came shorthanded.
LAKE ERIE 3, HOUSTON 2
In the finale of a seven-game road swing, Lake Erie scored twice in the third period and rallied past Houston by a 3-2 count on Sunday at the Toyota Center.
Trailing 2-1, the Monsters got early third-period strikes from Greg Mauldin – unassisted at 47 seconds – and Matthew Ford at 2:34. Goaltender John Grahame made it stand up, finishing with 32 saves to improve to 2-2-0 on the campaign.
Ben Walter notched his first goal in a Lake Erie uniform in the opening period, but Joel Broda and Casey Wellman then scored to put Houston on top.
The Aeros, who had been shut out in their previous two games, snapped a 157:15 streak of scoreless hockey when Broda beat Grahame at 18:20 of the first period. Houston is now 0-4-1-0 since beginning the season with back-to-back wins in Oklahoma City.
Lake Erie finished 2-4-0-1 on its road swing and will return to Quicken Loans Arena to take on Manitoba next Friday.
