NORFOLK 4, LAKE ERIE 2
Paul Szczechura continued his hot start to the 2008-09 season, scoring twice and adding an assist as Norfolk doubled up host Lake Erie by a 4-2 count on Friday night before 7,169 fans at the Quicken Loans Arena.
Szczechura, who now has five points (3-2-5) in Norfolk’s first three games, tallied the eventual game-winning goal at 5:16 of the third period, breaking a 2-2 deadlock. He also scored in the second period of the contest.
Brandon Bochenski finished with a goal and an assist for the Admirals, and Radek Smolenak also found the back of the net. Brandon Segal chipped in a pair of assists.
It marked Norfolk’s first victory of the young campaign (1-1-0-1), and it was secured by former AHL All-Star goaltender Karri Ramo, who stopped 39 of 41 shots on the night.
Brian Willsie and Philippe Dupuis netted goals for the Monsters in a losing effort.
MANCHESTER 6, LOWELL 4
Teddy Purcell, last year’s AHL rookie of the year, tallied his first two goals of the season as Manchester downed Lowell by a 6-4 count at Tsongas Arena.
Bud Holloway, Trevor Lewis, Vladimir Dravecky, and Paul Crosty netted single goals apiece for the Monarchs. Gabe Gauthier chipped in three assists, and Davis Drewiske had two helpers.
Manchester goaltender Jonathan Bernier earned the victory with 29 saves on 33 shots.
Patrick Davis, Pascal Rheaume, and Tyler Eckford lit the lamp for the Devils, who will travel to Manchester for a rematch on Saturday.
SYRACUSE 3, BINGHAMTON 2 (SO)
Syracuse scored on four of its five shootout tries en route to a 3-2 road win over Binghamton at the Broome County Arena.
The Crunch set a new AHL record with their 18th consecutive regular-season win, and moved to 3-0-0-0 on the current campaign in the process.
Trailing 2-0 entering the final 20 minutes, the Crunch received goals from Clay Wilson and Craig MacDonald to tie the score.
MacDonald was one of four Syracuse skaters to score in the shootout, and goaltender Dan LaCosta stopped two of four Binghamton tries.
Ilya Zubov and Zack Smith netted goals in regulation for the Senators.
HERSHEY 5, PHILADELPHIA 4
Dean Arsene broke a 4-4 tie with 2:24 left in regulation, propelling Hershey to a 5-4 road win over Philadelphia in a back-and-forth game at the Wachovia Spectrum.
Jonathan Matsumoto scored twice to lead the Phantoms, who enjoyed three separate one-goal leads only to see all three slip away.
Andrew Gordon, Quintin Laing, Alexandre Giroux, and Oskar Osala netted goals for the Bears prior to Arsene’s game-winner.
Bears goaltender Simeon Varlamov picked up the victory with 21 saves in net, helping Hershey improve its AHL-best record to 4-0-0-0.
PROVIDENCE 6, SPRINGFIELD 3
Providence erupted for four goals in the first 17:40 of the game and doubled up visiting Springfield by a 6-3 count at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.
Martins Karsums’ led the Bruins’ offense with a goal and two assists, Martin St. Pierre and Jeff Penner posted a goal and a helper apiece, and the B’s received single goals from Jordan Knackstedt, Matt Lashoff, and Wacey Rabbit.
Three of Providence’s goals came on the power play, as the Bruins finished 3-for-6 with the man-advantage.
Providence rookie goaltender Kevin Regan picked up the win in his first start of the season, stopping 24 of 27 shots to help his team improve to 3-0-0-0.
Jake Taylor, Ryan Potulny, and Derek Bekar scored for the Falcons.
BRIDGEPORT 4, WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 3
Kurtis McLean scored the winning shootout goal against his former team in the sixth round to give Bridgeport a 4-3 road win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton before 6,845 fans at the Wachovia Arena.
Bridgeport’s Trevor Smith also scored in the shootout, and goaltender Yann Danis denied five straight to close it out after allowing a goal to Janne Pesonen in the opening round.
The Sound Tigers took a 3-1 lead after two periods on goals by Tomas Marcinko, Tim Jackman, and Jesse Joensuu.
But the Penguins responded in the third, receiving markers from Jeff Taffe and Pesonen to tie it up.
ALBANY 5, WORCESTER 4
Jakub Petruzalek scored twice and Pat Dwyer netted the game-winner shorthanded at 15:19 of the third period as Albany edged Worcester by a 5-4 final at the Glens Falls Civic Center in Glens Falls, N.Y.
The win upped the River Rats’ record to 2-5-0-0 in the seven games they have played in Glens Falls dating back to the 2007 postseason.
Dwight Helminen and Casey Borer also found the back of the net for Albany, and goaltender Daniel Manzato picked up his first career AHL win with 34 saves in net.
P.J. Fenton had a goal and an assist for the Sharks, while Matt Jones, Matt Kinch, and Jamie McGinn also scored.
Worcester has allowed a combined 11 goals in two losses to open the campaign.
HAMILTON 2, HARTFORD 0
Marc Denis turned in a 27-save shutout as Hamilton dropped Hartford by a 2-0 score in its home opener at Copps Coliseum.
Ben Maxwell provided all the offense the Bulldogs would need at 15:05 of the opening period, and Yanick Lehoux added insurance on the power play at 12:10 of the third.
Denis and the Bulldogs improved to 3-0-0-0 on the campaign, while the Wolf Pack fell to 1-2-0-0.
PEORIA 3, MILWAUKEE 1
Steve Regier netted his second winning goal in as many games as Peoria posted a 3-1 home-ice win over Milwaukee at Carver Arena.
Regier’s goal came 8:57 into the second period and gave Peoria a 2-0 lead at the time.
The Admirals’ Antti Pihlstrom cut it to 2-1 with 2:18 left in regulation, but Chris Conner iced the Rivermen win with an empty-net tally in the closing minute.
Nikolay Lemtyugov also scored for Peoria, and rookie goaltender Ben Bishop stopped 23 of 24 shots in the winning effort.
ROCKFORD 6, IOWA 3
Rockford received goals from six different players en route to a 6-3 road win over Iowa at the Wells Fargo Arena.
Troy Brouwer led the IceHogs’ attack with a goal and three helpers, and Rob Klinkhammer posted a goal and two assists.
Petri Kontiola (1-1-2) and Danny Groulx (0-2-2) also posted multiple points for the IceHogs, who tallied four goals in the second period alone.
Rockford goaltender Corey Crawford earned the victory with 28 saves on 31 shots.
Josh Green scored twice for the Chops, and Drew Miller added a goal.
CHICAGO 1, QUAD CITY 0
Grant Stevenson’s goal at 1:07 of the second period burned his former team as Chicago eked out a 1-0 road victory over Quad City for their first win of the young season.
Stevenson, who led the Flames with a career-high 30 goals and 73 points last season, tallied his first goal in a Wolves uniform off a feed from Grant Lewis.
Chicago goaltender Ondrej Pavelec made it stand up, as he stopped all 25 shots sent his way in the shutout effort.
The Wolves (1-1-1-0) return to Allstate Arena for their home opener on Saturday against Peoria.
MANITOBA 3, ROCHESTER 1
Mark Cullen’s first goal in a Manitoba uniform broke a 1-1 tie at 13:18 of the third period, and the Moose went on to a 3-1 win over the struggling Rochester Americans at the MTS Centre.
Matt Pettinger scored in the first period and Guillaume Desbiens added a late empty-net goal for the Moose, who picked up their first victory of the young season (1-2-0-0).
Manitoba goaltender Cory Schneider stopped 26 of 27 shots in the winning effort.
David Brine scored the Amerks’ lone goal as Rochester fell to 0-4-0-0 on the campaign. The two teams will square off again in Winnipeg on Saturday night.
