PORTLAND 5, WORCESTER 3
Portland racked up four unanswered goals – including three in the third period – to rally past Worcester by a 5-3 count at the DCU Center on Wednesday.
Two-time AHL All-Star Mark Mancari scored twice for the Pirates, including the game-winner on the power play with 5:30 left in regulation.
The Sharks built a 3-1 lead by the 1:41 mark of the second period on goals from Ryan Vesce, Dan DaSilva and Benn Ferriero, his first career AHL goal.
Mancari began the Pirates’ rally at 6:24 of the second frame, and Derek Whitmore netted the equalizer 9:23 into the third period. That set the stage for Mancari’s game-winning marker, and Jeff Cowan added an empty-netter in the closing seconds.
Rookie Tyler Ennis put up a game-high three points (1-2-3) for the Pirates, Nathan Gerbe contributed two assists, and goaltender Jean-Philippe Lamoureux earned the victory with 29 saves in net.
Worcester has now dropped six straight games since an 8-3-0-1 start to the season.
SPRINGFIELD 4, LOWELL 3
Springfield rallied for two goals in a 33-second span with less than two minutes left in regulation to stun Lowell, 4-3, at the MassMutual Center.
The Devils had taken a 3-2 lead on a power play goal by defenseman Matt Taormina at 9:44 of the third frame. But Springfield’s Chad Wiseman tied it at the 18:06 mark, and Ryan MacMurchy registered the game-winner at 18:39.
MacMurchy, who spent the previous two seasons in the ECHL, had not tallied an AHL goal since Apr. 3, 2007, with Peoria.
Wiseman, Ryan O’Marra, and Colton Fretter all posted a goal and an assist for the Falcons, who extended their points streak to five games (4-0-1-0) and remained unbeaten-in-regulation at home this season (6-0-2-1).
Charles Linglet posted two assists for Springfield, and goaltender Devan Dubnyk earned the win with 39 saves in net.
Alexander Vasyunov and Louis Robitaille also scored for the Devils, whose five-game winning streak came to an end.
BINGHAMTON 2, HARTFORD 1 (SO)
Ryan Keller scored in both regulation and the shootout as Binghamton skated away with a 2-1 road win over Hartford at the XL Center.
Keller opened the game’s scoring with his team-leading 10th tally of the season – a power-play marker – at 17:26 of the opening period, with Denis Hamel and Martin St. Pierre earning assists.
It remained a 1-0 Senators lead until Wolf Pack forward Paul Crowder knotted it with a power-play goal of his own at 16:38 of the third frame. Dane Byers and Corey Locke picked up helpers on Crowder’s third goal of the year.
Keller converted on Binghamton’s initial shootout attempt, and Hamel followed with a second-round strike against Pack goaltender Chad Johnson. Sens netminder Andy Chiodo denied all four of Hartford’s tries after making 30 saves through the first 65 minutes.
The Senators extended their points streak to a season-high three games (2-0-0-1) and halted Hartford’s modest winning streak at two games.
ADIRONDACK 2, TORONTO 0
Adirondack goaltender Johan Backlund pitched a 25-save shutout as the Phantoms dropped visiting Toronto, 2-0, at the Glens Falls Civic Center.
Backlund (6-4-0) picked up his second shutout of the season, stopping six shots in the first period, nine in the second, and 10 in the third frame.
Jon Matsumoto provided all the offense Adirondack would need with a power play goal just 2:28 into the contest, and Matt Clackson provided insurance with his first tally of the campaign late in the second period.
The Phantoms avenged a 3-0 shutout loss in the teams’ first meeting of the season in Toronto on Oct. 30 and improved to 4-2-0-0 in their last six contests overall.
ALBANY 5, SYRACUSE 2
Rookie Drayson Bowman tallied two goals as Albany built a 4-0 lead en route to a 5-2 win over visiting Syracuse at the Times Union Center on Wednesday.
Nick Dodge, Jerome Samson, and ex-Crunch Steven Goertzen also scored for the River Rats, and rookie Zach Boychuk contributed a pair of assists in the victory.
River Rats goaltender Mike Murphy earned the win with 29 saves on 31 shots, helping his club move back above .500 for the season at 9-8-0-2.
Alexandre Picard and Brock McBride found the back of the net for the Crunch, who are winless in their last three outings (0-2-0-1).
NORFOLK 2, MANCHESTER 1 (SO)
Norfolk continued its strong play of late with a 2-1 shootout win over host Manchester at the Verizon Wireless Arena on Wednesday.
Juraj Simek and Blair Jones netted shootout goals for the Admirals in the third and fourth rounds, respectively, and Norfolk goaltender Riku Helenius stuffed Manchester on four consecutive attempts.
The Admirals’ Justin Keller and the Monarchs’ Brandon Segal – who spent the last season and a half in Norfolk – traded second-period goals.
Helenius (4-2-0) finished with 21 saves through regulation and overtime for Norfolk, which was coming off a 2-1 overtime win at Portland on Tuesday. The Admirals moved to 7-2-1-0 in November after posting a 3-6-0-0 mark in the month of October.
HOUSTON 1, PEORIA 0
Houston scored just one goal for a third consecutive game, but came away with a 1-0 win over visiting Peoria at the Toyota Center on Wednesday.
Jean-Michel Daoust broke a scoreless deadlock with a power play strike at 11:05 of the third period, with assists going to Jon DiSalvatore and Nathan Smith.
It proved to be the only goal of the game, as Aeros goaltender Anton Khudobin (8-3-0) picked up his third shutout of the season with 16 saves in net.
The Rivermen were blanked for the second time in their last three outings and fell to 1-3-0-2 on the road this season.
TEXAS 3, ROCKFORD 1
Warren Peters netted a pair of goals as Texas rallied from a 1-0 deficit to post a 3-1 road win over Rockford on Wednesday at the MetroCentre.
The IceHogs grabbed their 1-0 advantage on a Bracken Kearns goal at 11:45 of the opening period, but Peters tied it for the Stars just 32 seconds later.
Peters put Texas on top to stay at 19:11 of the first period, and Luke Gazdic provided insurance for the Stars by scoring his first career AHL goal three minutes into the middle frame.
Stars goaltender Brent Krahn picked up his ninth consecutive victory in net with 31 saves on 32 shots.
Texas extended its points streak to 12 games (9-0-2-1) and has not suffered a regulation loss since a 4-0 setback to Lake Erie on Oct. 20.
HAMILTON 2, ABBOTSFORD 1
David Desharnais’s goal at 2:35 of the second period proved to be the game-winner as Hamilton edged Abbotsford by a 2-1 score at the Entertainment & Sports Centre, earning a split of the teams’ two-game midweek set.
Desharnais, who has netted a goal in three straight games (3-1-4), was assisted on the play by Mike Glumac and Brock Trotter.
Trotter also picked up a helper on the Bulldogs’ first goal of the night, scored by J.T. Wyman on the power play at 16:46 of the opening period.
The Heat got on the board midway through the second frame on a power play marker by defenseman Keith Seabrook, and neither team scored the rest of the way.
Hamilton goaltender Curtis Sanford earned the win with 32 saves on 33 shots in net.
