HERSHEY 5, WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 0
Michal Neuvirth continued his home-ice mastery of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins with 42 saves, earning his first shutout of the season in Hershey’s 5-0 victory before 7,875 fans at Giant Center on Sunday.
Neuvirth has allowed one goal in his last four home dates against Wilkes-Barre, turning aside 123 of 124 shots (4-0-0, 0.25 GAA, .992 save percentage).
The MVP of the 2009 Calder Cup Playoffs, Neuvirth went 7-1-0 during November after losing three of his first four decisions on the year.
Boyd Kane scored twice, Andrew Gordon and Kyle Wilson had a goal and an assist each and Keith Aucoin and Zach Miskovic recorded two assists apiece as the Bears improved to 11-2-0-2 over their last 15 games. Darren Reid also scored for Hershey, his sixth goal in 19 games after scoring twice in 38 contests last season.
The Penguins finished with a 42-21 advantage in shots on goal but still dropped their third in a row and fifth of seven. Going back to the teams’ 2009 playoff series, Wilkes-Barre has been shut out in four of its last six meetings with Hershey.
ROCHESTER 7, SYRACUSE 4
Rochester raced out to a 4-0 lead early in the second period and held on for a 7-4 victory over Syracuse at the Onondaga County War Memorial at Oncenter on Sunday.
The Americans defeated the Crunch for the sixth time in as many meetings this season.
Jamie Johnson recorded two goals and an assist and Chris Taylor added a goal and two assists to lead an offensive charge that saw 11 Rochester players record a point. Graham Mink, Michal Repik and Evgeny Dadonov each notched a goal and an assist.
Jonathan Sigalet and Bates Battaglia had a goal and an assist each for the Crunch, who closed the deficit to 5-4 before Johnson’s second goal of the night restored Rochester’s cushion with 4:59 remaining.
Alexander Salak made 26 saves to go to 14-1-0 on the season, including 6-0-0 against Syracuse.
BRIDGEPORT 3, HARTFORD 2 (SO)
Bridgeport improved on its impressive record beyond regulation, outlasting Hartford in a six-round shootout to earn a 3-2 victory at the Arena at Harbor Yard.
The Sound Tigers are now 13-12-0-1 on the season, including 8-0-0-1 in overtime and shootout games.
Trevor Smith and Andrew MacDonald scored as Bridgeport erased a 2-0 deficit, and former Wolf Pack captain Greg Moore and rookie Matt Martin converted on their shootout attempts as the Sound Tigers moved into a tie for third place in the Atlantic Division; just six points separate second place from eighth in the Atlantic.
Andres Ambuhl and Paul Crowder scored for Hartford, which finished with an 8-2-1-2 record during the month of November.
Matt Zaba finished with 39 saves for the Wolf Pack as Bridgeport wound up with a 42-31 edge in shots. Scott Munroe made 29 stops for the Sound Tigers.
PORTLAND 3, SPRINGFIELD 2
Felix Schutz scored twice, including the game-winner late in the second period, to lead Portland to a 3-2 win over Springfield at the MassMutual Center on Sunday afternoon.
Paul Byron netted the other Pirates goal and Matt Generous collected two assists as the Pirates extended their points streak to nine games (6-0-3-0). At 11-10-3-0, Portland is above .500 for the first time this season.
Colton Fretter and Liam Reddox scored for the Falcons, who are winless in their last four (0-3-0-1).
Schutz opened the scoring 38 seconds into the game, marking the second consecutive game in which Portland scored in the opening minute of the contest. His second goal of the game and fourth of the season broke a 2-2 tie with 5:02 left in the middle period.
Jhonas Enroth made 17 of his 27 saves in the third period for the Pirates.
