TORONTO 8, SYRACUSE 5
Toronto second-year forward Jiri Tlusty set an AHL season high by scoring five goals on Wednesday as the Marlies ran away with a key 8-5 win over visiting Syracuse at Ricoh Coliseum.
Toronto extended its winning streak to a season-best five straight games and has netted 32 goals over that span.
Tlusty scored the first two goals of the game, added a marker early in the second, and potted a pair of insurance goals in the third frame. He became the first AHL player to record five goals in a game since Hartford’s Jarkko Immonen accomplished the feat in a 6-0 win at Portland on Feb. 4, 2006.
A first-round draft pick in 2006, Tlusty shows 15 points (8-7-15) and a plus-11 rating during Toronto’s current five-game winning streak.
Marlies defenseman Josh Engel broke a 5-5 tie at 6:14 of the third period with his first career AHL goal, with Bates Battaglia picking up one of his three assists on the night.
Engel (1-2-3) and Ryan Hamilton (1-2-3) also had three points for Toronto, Alex Foster added a goal and an assist, and Tim Stapleton chipped in three helpers to extend his scoring streak to eight games (10-6-16).
Toronto goaltender Adam Munro earned the victory with 33 saves, improving above .500 at 8-7-1 for the campaign.
Crunch leading scorer Mike York posted a goal and an assist, while Kevin Harvey, Craig MacDonald, Dan Smith, and Kyle Wharton also lit the lamp.
Syracuse has been outscored 14-8 in dropping a pair of games to Toronto in the last eight days, and Wednesday’s loss left the Crunch six points back of the Marlies for fourth place in the North Division.
BRIDGEPORT 1, HARTFORD 0
Kurtis McLean’s goal at 17:42 of the first period stood up as the only score of the night as Bridgeport took a 1-0 road win over Hartford at the XL Center.
Joe Callahan and Ben Walter picked up the assists on McLean’s 14th goal of the campaign.
Sound Tigers rookie goaltender Nathan Lawson stopped all 23 shots he faced to earn his second shutout of the campaign.
Bridgeport extended its points streak to five games (4-0-0-1), while the Wolf Pack fell to 1-4-0-0 in their last five contests.
LOWELL 3, ALBANY 2 (SO)
Lowell scored on three of its four shootout attempts to emerge with a 3-2 win over visiting Albany on Wednesday at Tsongas Arena.
With the win, the Devils (26-21-1-5, 58 points) moved two points up on idle Worcester for the Atlantic Division’s fourth and final playoff spot. Lowell is just one point back of Hartford for third place.
Tyler Eckford, Pascal Rheaume, and Rod Pelley netted shootout goals for the Devils. Goaltender Jeff Frazee stopped three of Albany’s four attempts after making 40 saves through the first 65 minutes.
Lowell received regulation markers from Vladimir Zharkov and Nicklas Bergfors. Dwight Helminen and Nicolas Blanchard scored for the River Rats, who are winless in three straight tilts (0-2-0-1).
BINGHAMTON 6, NORFOLK 3
Binghamton’s Danny Bois scored twice as part of a three-goal third period that turned a 3-3 tie into a 6-3 win over Norfolk at the Broome County Arena in the division rivals’ first meeting of the season.
The Admirals took leads of 2-0 and 3-2 over the first half of the game, receiving markers from Brandon Segal, Bracken Kearns, and Pete Zingoni. Rookie Zack Smith scored twice for the Senators in the opening frame.
Binghamton captain Denis Hamel tied it at 3-3 midway through the second frame. After Bois potted a pair in the third, Hamel sealed the win with an empty-netter in the closing minute.
B-Sens goaltender Martin Gerber stopped 40 of 43 shots in the winning effort. The teams will square off twice more this weekend in Norfolk.
GRAND RAPIDS 2, ROCHESTER 1 (SO)
Grand Rapids snapped out of a season-high five-game winless skid (0-4-0-1) with a 2-1 shootout win over host Rochester at the Blue Cross Arena.
The game’s only two regulation goals both occurred in the third period, and both came on the power play. Amerks defenseman Jordan Henry lit the lamp 5:23 in, and Griffins rookie Francis Pare responded at the 11-minute mark.
Garrett Stafford scored the lone shootout tally for either side in the fourth round, and Griffins goaltender Jimmy Howard stopped all five of Rochester’s tries. Howard made 37 saves through regulation and overtime.
QUAD CITY 3, LAKE ERIE 2
Quad City took a 3-0 lead into the third period and held on for a 3-2 win over visiting Lake Erie on Wednesday at the I Wireless Center.
Kyle Greentree and Jamie Lundmark each posted a goal and an assist for the red-hot Flames, who set a franchise record with their fifth straight victory. Brett Sutter also scored in the winning effort.
Flames goaltender Kevin Lalande earned the victory in net with 27 saves on 29 shots.
The Monsters attempted a third-period comeback, receiving tallies from Matt Hendricks and Codey Burki, but fell to 1-5-0-0 in their last six outings.
PEORIA 5, SAN ANTONIO 0
Veteran goaltender Manny Legace registered a 26-save shutout as Peoria took a 5-0 win over visiting San Antonio at Carver Arena.
Yan Stastny netted a pair of shorthanded goals for the Rivermen, who now have a league-leading 13 shorthanders for the season.
Nicholas Drazenovic (1-2-3) and defenseman Andy Wozniewski (1-2-3) each posted three points in the victory, and Tomas Kana added his first career AHL goal.
The Rampage fell to 3-4-2-1 on its 13-game road trip and missed a chance to move into a tie with Peoria for sixth place in the West Division.
CHICAGO 3, IOWA 2 (OT)
Rookie Matt Anderson scored 1:52 into overtime to lift Chicago to a 3-2 win over visiting Iowa on Wednesday at Allstate Arena.
The win allowed the Wolves (29-26-2-1, 61 points) to move into a tie with Houston for third place in the West Division race, one point back of second-place Rockford and three up on the fifth-place Chops.
Chicago built a 2-0 lead on the strength of power play goals from Spencer Machacek in the first period and Clay Wilson in the middle frame.
But Iowa’s Troy Bodie cut the deficit in half with a shorthanded goal 4:41 into the third, and Matt Caruana tallied the equalizer at 7:46.
Wolves goaltender Ondrej Pavelec stopped 27 of 29 shots in the winning effort.
