Wolf Pack defeat Sound Tigers, keep pace in Atlantic

Nigel Dawes tallied a hat trick, scoring the Wolf Pack’s first three goals, and added an assist as Hartford defeated the Bridgeport Sound Tigers by a score of 5-2 at the Arena at Harbor Yard on Friday night.

Alex Bourret also recorded a four-point night, adding four assists as the Wolf Pack earned their fourth straight win overall and eighth straight over Bridgeport.

Chris Holt earned his second win in a Wolf Pack sweater this season by stopping 28 of 30 shots on the night.

Jarkko Immonen and Dane Byers rounded out the scoring for Hartford, which remains four points behind Manchester in a battle for first place in the Atlantic Division.

Drew Fata and Kyle Rank each scored in a losing effort for the Sound Tigers.


MANCHESTER 5, ALBANY 1
Matt Moulson netted a hat trick and the Monarchs tallied the game’s first five goals as Manchester defeated the Albany River Rats by a score of 5-1 at the Times Union Center.

Jason LaBarbera stopped 35 of 36 shots in the contest to record his 35th win of the year, a new career high.

Gabe Gauthier registered assists on all three tallies by Moulson in the win for Manchester.

Shay Stephenson and Lauri Tukonen rounded out the scoring with a goal each for the Monarchs, who have now won their last four games on the road.

Cody McLeod scored the lone goal for the River Rats in the loss.


PORTLAND 3, LOWELL 1
The Pirates jumped out to a 3-0 lead and held on to defeat the Lowell Devils by a score of 3-1 at Paul E. Tsongas Arena.

David McKee stopped 36 of 37 shots to remain undefeated, improving his AHL record to 3-0-0 with Portland.

Mark Hartigan, Mike Hoffman and Ryan Carter each potted goals for the Pirates and teammate Joe Motzko recorded two assists to give Portland its third straight victory.

Mike Pandolfo scored the only goal in the loss for Lowell.


NORFOLK 5, PHILADELPHIA 1
Five different players scored for Norfolk, which tallied four goals in the second period to down the Philadelphia Phantoms 5-1 at the Wachovia Spectrum.

David Bolland scored a goal and an assist, and Jonas Nordqvist had two assists for the Admirals, who are winners of three straight and unbeaten in regulation (4-0-1-0) in their last five outings.

Corey Crawford earned his league-leading 36th win of the season by stopping 29 of 30 shots.

Pierre Parenteau added a second period goal to extend his scoring streak to 11 games with 18 points (5g, 13a) in that span.

Jack Skille, Carl Corazzini and Adam Burish also provided goals in the win for the Admirals, who defeated the Phantoms for the second time in three nights.

Phantoms defenseman and captain John Slaney scored in the loss for Philadelphia.


PROVIDENCE 5, SPRINGFIELD 2
Ben Walter scored two goals and added an assist as the Providence Bruins defeated the visiting Springfield Falcons 5-2 at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center.

T.J. Trevelyan recorded a four-point night with a goal and three assists and teammates David Krejci and Sean Bentivoglio each recorded a goal and an assist.

Bentivoglio has six points (2g, 4a) and has scored in five of his first eight games as a pro.

Hannu Toivonen needed just 15 saves on the night to earn the win and snap a three-game losing skid for the P-Bruins.

Eric Healey and Jacob Micflikier, who appeared in just his second professional game, each scored in the loss for the Falcons.


HERSHEY 3, WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 0
Quintin Laing netted a goal and an assist as the Hershey Bears blanked the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins by a score of 3-0 at the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza.

Frederic Cassivi stopped all 32 shots from the Pens to earn his fourth-straight win and third shutout of the season with Hershey.

Scott Barney and Kip Brennan also tallied for the Bears, who extended their winning streak to six games.

Hershey remains one point behind Norfolk atop the East Division. The Penguins are now five points off the lead.


HAMILTON 4, GRAND RAPIDS 1
Ajay Baines tallied a goal and an assist as the Hamilton Bulldogs rolled to a 4-1 win over the visiting Grand Rapids Griffins.

Yann Danis made 25 saves on 26 shots from the Griffins to earn his 20th win of the year, improving his mark to 20-12-4.

Kyle Chipchura, Michael Lambert and defenseman Dan Jancevski all scored for the Bulldogs, who are unbeaten in regulation (2-0-0-1) in their last three contests.

Darryl Bootland scored the lone goal in the loss for Grand Rapids.


SYRACUSE 8, BINGHAMTON 4
Zenon Konopka netted a hat trick and Tomas Popperle made 34 saves as the Syracuse Crunch doubled up the visiting Binghamton Senators by the score of 8-4.

Popperle turned away 34 of 38 shots to earn his 24th victory of the year and sixth win in his last seven starts.

Curtis Glencross tallied a goal and two assists and teammates Darcy Verot, Ryan Keller and Philippe Dupuis each had a goal and an assist for the Crunch, who have scored a total of 14 goals in the last two games.

Jeff Heerema played a part in all four goals, recording a goal and three assists, in the loss for the B-Sens.


ROCHESTER 5, TORONTO 2
Michael Ryan scored two goals and two assists to help the Rochester Americans end a two-game skid and defeat the visiting Toronto Marlies 5-2 at Blue Cross Arena.

Making his first career AHL start, netminder David Shantz stopped 35 of 37 shots to earn the win for Rochester.

Kamil Kreps recorded a goal and two assists as teammates Marek Zagrapan and defenseman Noah Welch each had a goal for the Amerks, who tallied three unanswered in the third period.

Robbie Earl and John Mitchell each had a goal in the loss for Toronto.


OMAHA 3, IOWA 1
The Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights used the first three goals of the game to down the Iowa Stars at Wells Fargo Arena by the score of 3-1.

Chris Neiszner potted a goal and an assist while netminder Brent Krahn stopped 32 of 33 shots to earn his third win in his last four starts.

Carsen Germyn and Warren Peters also tallied for Omaha, which wrapped up its four-game road trip with a 3-1-0-0 record.

Paul Szczechura tallied in the loss for the Stars.


MILWAUKEE 5, CHICAGO 1
Five different players tallied as the Milwaukee Admirals scored four unanswered goals to upend the Chicago Wolves by the score of 5-1 at Allstate Arena.

Pekka Rinne earned his fourth win in his last five starts by making 35 saves on 36 shots from the Wolves.

Cal O’Reilly led the Admirals with a goal and an assist, and Brandon Segal, Chris Durno, Bracken Kearns and Nolan Yonkman all recorded goals for Milwaukee, which went 2-for-3 on the power play in the victory.

With the win, Milwaukee remains unbeaten in regulation in their last five games, going 5-0-0-1, and is just three points behind the first-place Wolves in the West Division.

Brett Sterling added to his goal-scoring lead by registering his 52nd mark of the year in a losing effort for Chicago.


HOUSTON 6, PEORIA 3
Dieter Kochan made a season-high 47 saves and Matt Foy tallied a pair of goals as the Houston Aeros doubled up the visiting Rivermen by a score of 6-3 at the Toyota Center.

Danny Irmen, Mattias Weinhandl and Jason Morgan each scored a goal and an assist for Houston.

Defenseman John Scott had three helpers as the Aeros snapped a two-game skid with the win.

Michal Birner led Peoria with a goal and an assist in the loss.