Wed. roundup: Locke, Brust pace B-Sens

Wednesday’s AHL Boxscores

BINGHAMTON 4, SYRACUSE 0
AHL leading scorer Corey Locke added to his total with a goal and two assists, and Barry Brust bounced back with a 33-save shutout as Binghamton captured a 4-0 road win over Syracuse on Wednesday at the Onondaga County War Memorial.

The Senators halted a two-game losing skid during which Brust had surrendered 12 goals on 62 shots. Brust moved to 6-6-1 on the season and earned his second shutout.

Locke extended his scoring streak to 11 games (6-14-20) with his third three-plus point performance of the year, and the first-year Senator now leads the AHL with 19 assists and 26 points in 17 games overall.

Rookie Bobby Butler nabbed his league-leading 13th goal of the season, and Roman Wick also scored in the victory. Defenseman Derek Smith chipped in a pair of assists on the night.

The Crunch, who entered the night ranked 28th in the AHL in offense (2.21 goals per game), suffered their second consecutive shutout and third in their last four games.

CHARLOTTE 2, ADIRONDACK 1
Charlotte rallied from a 1-0 deficit to claim a 1-0 win over visiting Adirondack on Wednesday in the opener of a two-game set between the teams at Time Warner Cable Arena.

All three goals in the game were scored in the second period. Adirondack scored first for just the sixth time in 17 games this season when Andrew Rowe netted his fifth goal of the season at 9:23.

Checkers defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti notched his first goal of the year to tie it up just 1:30 later, though, and Drayson Bowman potted the eventual game-winner at 14:59.

Charlotte goaltender Justin Pogge earned the win with 23 saves in net, helping the Checkers earn their season-high third consecutive victory.

Rookie Nic Riopel finished with 24 stops in his AHL season debut for the Phantoms, who fell to 3-13-1-0 on the campaign.

LAKE ERIE 3, GRAND RAPIDS 0
A three-goal first period cushion was more than enough for Lake Erie goaltender Jason Bacashihua to claim his second shutout of the season in a 3-0 win over visiting Grand Rapids at Quicken Loans Arena.

Bacashihua (5-4-2) stopped all 29 shots he faced for the Monsters, including 12 in the opening frame and 11 more in the third period.

Defenseman Ray Macias provided all the offense Lake Erie would need with a power play goal 3:19 into the contest, and rookie Mark Olver followed with his fourth and fifth goals of the season before first period was over.

Grand Rapids fell to 1-2-0-1 in its last four games and has totaled only three goals in that span, including a pair of shutouts.

MANCHESTER 4, HARTFORD 3
Manchester used a 3-for-6 showing on the power play to edge visiting Hartford by a 4-3 count in a Wednesday matinee affair at the Verizon Wireless Arena.

Defensemen Alec Martinez and Viatcheslav Voynov along with forward Justin Azevedo all notched power play goals for the Monarchs, and rookie Jordan Nolan added an even-strength marker for his first career AHL goal.

Martinez, Voynov, and Azevedo all finished with a goal and a helper for the Monarchs, Bud Holloway chipped in two assists, and goaltender Jeff Zatkoff (6-5-1) stopped 22 of 25 shots in net.

Manchester jumped back into second place in the Atlantic Division, one point better than Springfield, and improved to 3-0-0-0 against Hartford this season.

Wolf Pack defenseman Pavel Valentenko scored his first AHL goal since Apr. 11, 2008 in the losing effort. Jeremy Williams registered a pair of goals for Hartford, which slid to 1-9-2-1 in its last 13 contests.

SAN ANTONIO 3, PEORIA 1
Defenseman Maxim Goncharov and forward Brett MacLean netted third period goals to help San Antonio snap a 1-1 tie and earn a 3-1 road win over Peoria on Wednesday at Carver Arena.

The Rampage, who extended their winning streak to five games and won for the 12th time in the last 14 games (12-2-0-0), increased their lead atop the West Division to six points over Milwaukee and Oklahoma City.

Ryan Hollweg gave San Antonio a 1-0 lead at 7:37 of the first period, but Rivermen rookie Phil McRae tied it at 18:44. The game remained 1-1 until Goncharov’s game-wining goal 5:31 into the third, and MacLean added a late empty-netter for his eighth goal of the season.

Rampage goaltender Al Montoya (5-2-0) earned the win with 34 saves on 35 shots, and Ben Bishop (19 saves) took the loss for Peoria.

The struggling Rivermen dropped to 2-6-0-1 since beginning the season 7-1-0-0.

HOUSTON 3, CHICAGO 2
Houston built a 3-0 lead in the first period and then had to hold on for a 3-2 win over visiting Chicago on Wednesday at the Toyota Center.

Warren Peters, Petr Kalus, and Brock McBride scored first-period goals to stake Houston to its 2-0 advantage, and the Aeros maintained that lead through the second period and into the third.

Chicago finally got on the board 6:27 into the third frame when Akim Aliu netted a shorthanded goal, and Darren Haydar potted his eighth of the year with 1:21 left in regulation to make it 3-2.

But the Wolves could not get the equalizer and dropped their seventh game in a row, falling to 6-11-1-0. Chicago concluded its eight-game road trip at 1-7-0-0 and will return home to host these same Aeros on Saturday night at Allstate Arena.

Houston goaltender Matt Hackett earned the victory with 30 saves in net.