Jeff Taffe netted a hat trick and Jonathan Filewich tallied his first two goals of the campaign to lead Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to a 6-1 victory over Bridgeport on Saturday at the Arena at Harbor Yard. Taffe now has a team-high nine points (7-2-9), and his seven goals lead the league.
Taffe, a former first-round draft pick who had 40 points (20-20-40) last season as a member of the San Antonio Rampage, put the Penguins on top by a 2-0 count after the first period with a pair of power play goals.
Filewich and Connor James scored for the Penguins in the second period as the visitors jumped out to a 4-1 lead. Taffe extended the lead and garnered the hat trick at 16:08 of the middle stanza.
Chris Minard assisted on two of Taffe’s three goals.
Tim Jackman scored the lone goal for Bridgeport in the defeat, it coming 1:19 into the second period. The Sound Tigers now embark on a four-game road stretch.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton goaltender Ty Conklin made 32 saves to earn the win.
TORONTO 5, MANITOBA 3
Jeremy Williams scored once and added two assists as the Toronto Marlies kept their perfect start alive with a 5-3 win over Manitoba at Ricoh Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.
David Ling, Colin Murphy and John Mitchell each had a goal and an assist as the Marlies broke out to a 4-0 lead and held on to improve to 4-0-0-0 on the season. Toronto entertains Hartford on Sunday.
Darryl Boyce also scored for Toronto, and Scott Clemmensen made 23 saves en route to the victory.
Rookie Pierre-Cedric Labrie led the Moose with a goal and an assist, the first two points of his professional career.
Colby Genoway and Mike Brown pulled Manitoba to within 4-3 in the third period, but Toronto held on to snap the Moose’s four-game points streak (3-0-1-0).
SPRINGFIELD 5, ALBANY 2
Reigning Rbk/AHL Player of the Week Patrick Thoresen scored two goals as Springfield defeated host Albany by a 5-2 count at the Times Union Center.
Ladislav Smid, the ninth overall pick by Anaheim in the 2004 draft, added a goal and two assists for the Falcons, who improved to 5-2-0-0 on the campaign.
Springfield also received multiple-point performances from Liam Reddox (1-2-3), Rob Schremp (1-1-2), and Tyler Spurgeon (0-2-2).
Jeff Deslauriers picked up the win in net for the Falcons, making 34 saves on 36 shots.
The River Rats received goals from Keith Aucoin and Jamie Johnson in the losing effort.
ROCKFORD 5, GRAND RAPIDS 1
Rockford received goals from five different players and moved to 4-0-1-0 in their last five games with a 5-1 victory over Grand Rapids at Van Andel Arena.
Adam Berti, Troy Brouwer, Michael Blunden, David Bolland, and Prestin Ryan all scored for the visiting IceHogs, and Petri Kontiola added a pair of assists.
Brett Engelhardt scored the Griffins’ only goal of the contest.
Rockford goaltender Wade Flaherty earned the win with 38 saves on 39 shots. The victory moved the veteran netminder to 3-0-0 on the season and 12-0-0 in his last 12 regular-season games dating back to last season with Manitoba.
Attendance was 10,834 for Grand Rapids’ home opener.
HAMILTON 2, HARTFORD 1
Corey Locke scored at 8:57 of the third period to lift Hamilton to a 2-1 victory over Hartford in the first regular-season meeting between the teams since Jan. 23, 2000.
Hartford struck first when Lauri Korpikoski scored at 12:35 of the opening period, with assists going to Hugh Jessiman and Greg Moore.
Duncan Milroy tied it up for Hamilton at 11:48 of the second period, with former Wolf Pack defenseman Marvin Degon garnering the lone assist.
Locke’s game-winner was assisted by Jonathan Ferland.
Hamilton’s Jaroslav Halak backstopped the home team to the victory with 26 saves in net.
HERSHEY 3, ROCHESTER 1
Ben Clymer tallied a pair of goals and defenseman Jame Pollock added a goal and an assist to lead Hershey to its first win of the season, a 3-1 final over Rochester at the Giant Center.
In a game featuring the AHL’s two oldest franchises, the first period was scoreless before Clymer gave Hershey a 1-0 lead at 1:25 of the second.
Rochester’s Kamil Kreps tied the score on the power play at 18:17 of that period, with Stefan Meyer and Clarke MacArthur receiving assists.
The Bears regained the lead on the power play at 4:41 of the third on Pollock’s first of the season, and Clymer gave Hershey insurance with another man-advantage marker at 14:39.
Frederic Cassivi made 30 saves in net to secure the win, improving the Bears to 1-3-0-0.
PROVIDENCE 6, PHILADELPHIA 3
Rookie Vladimir Sobotka netted two goals and Providence received goals from four others on their way to a 6-3 win over Philadelphia at Wachovia Spectrum.
The win kept the Bruins perfect at 4-0-0-0, all on the road, and it marked the Phantoms’ first loss of the campaign (5-1-0-0).
Martins Karsums, Petteri Nokelainen, Chris Collins, and Nate DiCasmirro bolstered Sobotka’s performance for Providence, which took a 5-2 lead into the second intermission.
Kyle Greentree paced the Phantoms’ offense with a goal and two assists on the evening. Darren Reid and Denis Gauthier also scored for Philadelphia.
The Bruins’ Jordan Sigalet made 27 saves on 30 shots to earn the victory in goal.
PORTLAND 4, MANCHESTER 3 (SO)
Brian Salcido scored a goal and added two assists, and Andrew Ebbett contributed two points (1-1-2) as Portland defeated Manchester, 3-2, in a shootout.
The Pirates’ Matt Keith scored the only goal for either side on the shootout, as Portland goaltender Mike McKenna stopped all five Manchester attempts.
All three Pirates goals in regulation came on the power play, as Ebbett and Salcido gave the Pirates a 2-0 lead on a pair in the first period and Jason King lit the lamp in the third stanza.
The Monarchs’ Matt Moulson led the team with a pair of goals, including the game-tying goal with the man-advantage at 5:40 of the third period.
Brian Boyle also scored for the Monarchs, who dropped to 2-2-1-1 on the campaign.
The 2-4-0-0 Pirates received 34 regulation saves in net from McKenna, who picked up his first victory of the season.
WORCESTER 2, LOWELL 1
Dennis Packard and Nate Raduns scored first-period goals, and rookie goaltender Taylor Dakers made it stand up as Worcester secured a 2-1 win over Lowell at the DCU Center.
The win kept the Sharks perfect on the season at 3-0-0-0, and they will host the only other perfect Eastern Conference team, 4-0-0-0 Providence, on Sunday afternoon.
Lowell’s only goal of the game was scored by Ivan Khomutov, and it gave the Devils a 1-0 lead at 6:15 of the first period.
Packard tied it for Worcester less than two minutes later at 8:00, with Raduns picking up the primary assist.
Raduns made it a multiple-point night with a goal at 14:44 of the first. That goal turned out to be the game-winner, as both teams were kept off the scoresheet in the second and third periods.
Dakers made 25 saves on 26 shots for the Sharks to earn his first professional victory.
BINGHAMTON 5, NORFOLK 1
Binghamton received two goals from Denis Hamel and two points (1-1-2) from Danny Bois in a 5-1 win over Norfolk a night after losing to the Admirals by the same score.
Greg Mauldin and Cody Bass also scored for Binghamton, and Ilya Zubov added a pair of assists.
Norfolk received its only goal from Justin Taylor, a power play goal which at the time gave the Admirals a 1-0 lead just 3:59 into the game.
The Senators doubled up Norfolk in shots, 36-18, and goaltender Jeff Glass earned the win with 17 saves.
LAKE ERIE 3, SYRACUSE 2
Cody McLeod scored a pair of goals, including the game-winner with 4:43 remaining, as Lake Erie earned its first win in franchise history by a 3-2 final at Syracuse.
The Monsters, who had gone 0-6-0-0 in their first six games, also received a goal from David Jones in the winning effort. His goal gave Lake Erie a 2-0 lead in the second period, after McLeod had scored in the opening stanza.
However, the Crunch’s Derek MacKenzie and Kris Beech tallied goals to tie game, with Beech’s coming on the power play at 14:13 of the third.
Lake Erie would quickly regain the lead, as McLeod scored just 1:04 later, and the goal proved to be decisive.
Tyler Weiman secured the win with 40 saves in net for the Monsters, including 16 in a third period where his team was outshot by a margin of 17-4.
