MILWAUKEE 5, HOUSTON 4
Milwaukee rallied from a 4-2 deficit in the third period to post a 5-4 road win over Houston at the Toyota Center on Tuesday, moving two points up on the Aeros for sole possession of first place in the West Division race.
After Houston had scored twice the first four minutes of the third period to take a 4-2 advantage, the Admirals got goals from Brett Palin at 4:19 and Matt Halischuk at both 7:50 and 9:43 to take the lead. It snapped a 10-game goal-scoring drought for Halischuk, who last scored on Jan. 6 vs. Grand Rapids.
Andreas Thuresson and Chris Mueller initially gave Milwaukee a 2-0 first-period lead, but Houston then registered the game’s next four goals. Patrick O’Sullivan scored twice for the Aeros, while Brandon Buck and Warren Peters also found the back of the net.
Making his AHL debut, goaltender Anders Lindback preserved Milwaukee’s victory by stopping 31 of 35 shots in net. Lindback has made 21 NHL appearances for parent-club Nashville this season, posting a 10-5-2 record (2.58, .910).
SYRACUSE 4, CHARLOTTE 3 (SO)
Rookie forward Kyle Palmieri recorded a goal and an assist in regulation before adding a tally in the shootout as Syracuse edged visiting Charlotte by a 4-3 count on Tuesday night at the Onondaga County War Memorial.
It marked the teams’ first meeting since Charlotte rolled to a 10-3 victory in North Carolina on Dec. 6.
Palmieri, a first-round draft pick by the Anaheim Ducks in 2009 who turned 20 years old on Feb. 1, assisted on a first-period strike by Josh Green before ultimately sending the contest to overtime with the game-tying goal on the power play with 5:49 left in regulation.
Palmieri then joined Green and Nick Bonino in notching shootout goals for the Crunch, with Green’s fifth-round conversion providing the winning margin.
Syracuse forward Patrick Maroon also netted a power play goal in regulation, his team-leading 17th marker of the season.
Goaltender Ray Emery improved to 2-1-0 with the Crunch after making 34 saves through the first 65 minutes and stopping three of Charlotte’s four bids in the shootout.
Chris Terry netted his 23rd goal of the season for the Checkers, who also got markers from Matthew Pistilli and Drayson Bowman. Rookie Zac Dalpe recorded Charlotte’s lone shootout goal.
MANCHESTER 5, SPRINGFIELD 0
Rookie Ray Kaunisto tallied a pair of goals and first-year goaltender Martin Jones made 16 saves for his fourth shutout of the season to lead Manchester to a 5-0 road victory over Springfield on Tuesday at the MassMutual Center.
Kaunisto, who scored once apiece in the second and third periods, now has three goals in his last two contests and seven for the season. Richard Clune assisted on both markers by Kaunisto.
Oscar Moller, David Kolomatis and rookie Brandon Kozun added scores for the Monarchs, and John Zeiler also posted two assists on the night.
Jones improved to 21-7-1 in 32 games for Manchester, which increased its lead over Portland to four points for first place in the Atlantic Division race and moved to 6-2-1-0 against Springfield this season.
The Falcons’ three-game winning streak came to an end.
