Tue. roundup: Kubalik’s 4 points lead Falcons

Tuesday’s AHL Boxscores

SPRINGFIELD 4, BRIDGEPORT 3
Springfield rookie Tomas Kubalik entered the night with six points (2-4-6) in 15 games this year, but the 20-year-old racked up two goals and two assists to lead Springfield to a 4-3, come-from-behind win over visiting Bridgeport on Tuesday at the MassMutual Center.

Kubalik assisted on goals by rookie Matt Calvert and veteran Ben Guite in the opening period as Springfield erased a 2-0 lead before intermission.

Tony Romano put the Sound Tigers back on top 3-2 early in the second frame, but Kubalik notched a power play goal midway through the frame to make it 2-2. He then completed his four-point night by nabbing the game-winning goal at 2:43 of the third stanza, with Michael Ryan earning the lone assist.

Guite finished with a goal and two helpers for the Falcons, and goaltender David LeNeveu had to make only 12 saves to collect his sixth victory in 10 appearances this season (6-3-1).

Dating back to Oct. 29, each of Springfield’s last five victories have come by a one-goal margin.

Brett Motherwell and Robin Figren also scored for the Sound Tigers, who dipped to 6-10-0-0 overall in Pat Bingham’s debut as head coach following the Monday promotion of Jack Capuano to the parent New York Islanders.

WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 4, ALBANY 1
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton continued its winning ways on the road and kept Albany skidding at home with a 4-1 win over the Devils at the Times Union Center on Tuesday.

Dustin Jeffrey led the way with a goal and two assists for the Penguins, defenseman Andrew Hutchinson registered a goal and a helper, and Ryan Craig and Eric Tangradi also scored in the winning effort.

Chris Collins chipped in a pair of helpers, and Penguins goaltender Brad Thiessen moved to 8-0-0 on the season with 18 saves on 19 shots.

The Penguins improved to an East Division-best 12-2-0-0 (24 points) and moved to 8-0-0-0 on the road to open the season. The Devils, meanwhile, lost their sixth straight game overall and fell for the seventh time in nine home games thus far (2-7-0-0).

Defenseman Tyler Eckford gave Albany a 1-0 lead with an early first-period power play goal, but Wilkes-Barre/Scranton then scored the next four. Jeff Frazee took the loss with 28 saves for the Devils.

HAMILTON 2, TORONTO 1 (SO)
Hamilton outshot Toronto by a 45-24 count, but it wasn’t until the shootout that the Bulldogs were able to outlast the Marlies for a 2-1 win on Tuesday at Copps Coliseum.

Despite the shootout loss, Toronto earned improved to 6-0-0-3 on a nine-game road swing which will conclude on Friday at Lake Erie. The Marlies will then host Hamilton on both Saturday and Sunday.

This contest was scoreless until the teams traded goals in a 23-second span midway through the third period. Ryan White’s power play goal put Hamilton on top 1-0 at the 8:33 mark, but Marlies defenseman Danny Richmond potted his first goal of the season at 8:33 to tie it up.

The Bulldogs got shootout goals from Alexander Avtsin and David Desharnais, while Greg Scott scored for Toronto’s lone conversion.

Hamilton goaltender Curtis Sanford (4-1-0) earned the victory with 23 saves through regulation and overtime. Jussi Rynnas, the reigning Reebok/AHL player of the week, took the hard-luck shootout loss for the Marlies after making 43 saves.

TEXAS 8, CHICAGO 2
Texas parlayed a six-goal outburst in the second period into an 8-2 win over visiting Chicago on Tuesday at the Cedar Park Center.

The six goals in a period and eight goals in a game both tied AHL season highs, with the latter previously having been accomplished by Oklahoma City on Oct. 17 and by Hershey this past Sunday.

Rookie Tomas Vincour registered two goals for the Stars, and six other players scored once apiece. Travis Morin notched a goal and an assist, while Aaron Gagnon, Greg Rallo, Luke Gazdic, Francis Wathier, and Mathieu Tousignant all found the back of the net as well.

Fabian Brunnstrom (0-3-3), Dan Spang (0-3-3), and Raymond Sawada (0-2-2) all chipped in multiple assists, and Texas goaltender Richard Bachman earned the victory with 26 saves between the pipes.

Akim Aliu and Fredrik Pettersson scored for the Wolves (6-10-1-0), who have now lost six straight games, their longest skid since a seven-game slide (0-6-1-0) from Dec. 31, 2008 to Jan. 11, 2009.