ADIRONDACK 5, BINGHAMTON 3
Patrick Maroon notched two goals and an assist as Adirondack collected a 5-3 road win over Binghamton on Wednesday at the Broome County Arena. The Phantoms halted a three-game winless skid (0-2-0-1) and moved back over .500 on the season at 21-20-2-1.
Adirondack fell behind 1-0 just 1:49 into the contest when Senators forward Erik Condra tallied his eighth goal of the season.
But the Phantoms responded two scores of their own before the first period was out. Joey Mormina lit the lamp at 14:47, and Stefen Legein’s team-leading 19th goal of the season at 19:26 gave Adirondack the lead for good.
Maroon notched his pair of goals in the second period, including the eventual game-winner at the 7:54 mark.
Craig Schira and Brandon Svendsen scored in the third period to pull the Senators back within a goal, but David Laliberte sealed the Phantoms’ victory with a late empty-net marker.
2010 AHL All-Star Jon Matsumoto chipped in three assists for the Phamtoms, and goaltender Johan Backlund earned the victory with 31 saves in net.
HAMILTON 5, ROCKFORD 0
Hamilton goaltender Curtis Sanford made 25 saves for his second shutout in as many clashes with Rockford this season, and the Bulldogs rolled to a 5-0 road win over the IceHogs at the MetroCentre on Wednesday.
Sanford, who registered a 38-save shutout in a 3-0 win over Rockford in Hamilton back on Oct. 9, stopped seven shots in the first period and nine apiece in the second and third frames.
Sanford improved to 10-9-2 on the season and collected his first victory since a 4-1 win at Hartford on Dec. 19.
Bulldogs leading scorer Brock Trotter paced the offense with a pair of goals on the night. Andrew Conboy and Greg Stewart also scored, and Hamilton received multiple assists from defensemen Shawn Belle (0-2-2) and P.K. Subban (0-2-2).
Rockford’s seven-game points streak (6-0-0-1) came to an end.
NORFOLK 5, HARTFORD 4
Norfolk continued to impress on its post-All-Star break road trip through the northeast with a 5-4 win over Hartford at the XL Center on Wednesday.
The Admirals are now 4-0-0-0 on the trip, which concludes this weekend with games at Springfield, Adirondack, and Bridgeport.
Defensemen Matt Lashoff and David Hale each posted a goal and an assist for the Admirals, who also received tallies from Mark Parrish, Matt Fornataro, and Dana Tyrell.
Rearguard Ty Wishart contributed a pair of assists, and rookie Norfolk goaltender picked up the victory with 24 saves in net.
Corey Locke posted a game-high three points (1-2-3) for the Wolf Pack, Kenny Roche had a goal and an assist, and Paul Crowder and Dane Byers also scored in the loss.
WORCESTER 3, MANITOBA 1
Worcester continued surging and kept Manitoba skidding with a 3-1 win over the Moose on Wednesday in the first of a two-game set at the DCU Center.
Rookies Brandon Mashinter and Benn Ferriero staked the Sharks to a 2-0 lead entering the third period. After Nikita Kashirsky brought the Moose within 2-1, Steven Zalewski’s empty-net goal in the closing seconds sealed Worcester’s victory.
First-year goaltender Alex Stalock earned his league-leading 25th victory (25-10-1) with 29 saves for the Sharks, who extended their winning streak to four games. Worcester moved to 20-4-1-1 in its last 26 outings and now sits two points of Manchester for the Atlantic Division lead.
The Moose, meanwhile, matched a season high with their fifth straight regulation loss. Manitoba has been outscored 32-10 over that span.
The teams will meet again on Friday in Worcester.
SAN ANTONIO 4, TORONTO 3 (SO)
Ex-Marlie goaltender Justin Pogge denied all four shootout tries in his first return to Ricoh Coliseum as a visitor, helping San Antonio to a 4-3 win over Toronto before a matinee crowd of 6,339 fans on Wednesday afternoon.
The Rampage became the last AHL team to capture a shootout win this season, having dropped their previous four trips to the tiebreaker.
Pogge, who won 71 games for the Marlies over his first three pro seasons prior to moving to the Anaheim Ducks organization this year, stopped Toronto’s Greg Scott, Tim Brent, Justin Hodgman, and Andre Deveaux in the shootout.
He made 32 saves on 35 shots through regulation and overtime for the Rampage and improved to 6-5-2 on the campaign.
Rampage forward Joel Perrault made it a 3-3 game with just 15 seconds left in regulation, and Mikkel Boedker and Chad Kolarik scored on San Antonio’s first two shootout attempts.
Perrault chipped in an assist for a multiple-point afternoon, and San Antonio also got regulation tallies from Brett MacLean and Gavin Morgan.
Hodgman and Kyle Rogers each posted a goal and an assist in regulation for the Marlies, who suffered their second consecutive shootout loss.
CHICAGO 5, HOUSTON 2
Chicago continued its resurgence on Wednesday with a 5-2 win over visiting Houston at Allstate Arena.
2010 AHL All-Star Brett Sterling scored twice and former AHL MVP Jason Krog racked up a game-high three points (1-2-3) for the Wolves, who collected their eighth straight home victory and moved to 12-2-0-0 in their last 14 contests overall.
Tim Stapleton (1-1-2) and Joey Crabb also scored in the win, while Johnny Pohl and defenseman Paul Postma each contributed a pair of assists.
On a rehab assignment from parent-club Atlanta, Wolves goaltender Kari Lehtonen made 25 saves on 27 shots to pick up the win.
Colton Gillies and Jean-Michel Daoust found the back of the net for Houston, which saw its three-game winning streak come to an end.
