📝 With files from Patrick Williams
Here is a look at Friday night around the AHL:
TEXAS 6, MANITOBA 5 (OT)
The Stars (7-5-2-1) scored three times in the final 2:11 of regulation with the goalie pulled for an extra attacker, and Jacob Peterson’s power-play goal with 3:49 gone in overtime gave the Stars a 6-5 win over the visiting Moose. Will Butcher had two goals and an assist during the comeback to cap a four-point night, and Peterson, Mavrik Bourque and Riley Barber all finished with a goal and an assist for Texas. Jeff Malott (2g, 1a), Leon Gawanke(1g, 2a) and Kevin Stenlund (1g, 2a) all had three points for the Moose, each had one-goal, two-assist nights. The Moose (7-3-2-0), who remain in Cedar Park for a rematch tonight.
CLEVELAND 7, LAVAL 3
Trey Fix-Wolansky notched two goals and three assists — his third consecutive game with at least four points — and David Jiricek, the sixth overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, scored his first two North American goals as the Monsters (8-5-0-1) surged past the Rocket at Place Bell. Cleveland scored five times in the third period and finished 5-for-6 on the power play. Samuel Knazko set a franchise record with five assists for the Monsters and Carson Meyer added a goal and three assists. The teams meet again this afternoon in Laval.
COLORADO 2, COACHELLA VALLEY 1 (OT)
Alex Galchenyuk struck with 51 seconds remaining in overtime to help the Eagles (8-5-1-0) maintain their hold on the Western Conference lead. Joey Daccord had 41 saves for the Firebirds (7-3-1-0), while Justus Annunen had 36 stops in net for Colorado in the first of back-to-back games between the teams. The Firebirds’ Jesper Froden and the Eagles’ Mikhail Maltsev exchanged first-period goals.
GRAND RAPIDS 6, SAN DIEGO 5
Taro Hirose’s hat trick and assist helped the Griffins (7-7-1-0) open their West Coast trip by fending off the Gulls. Hirose capped a four-point night with the winning goal at 18:31 of the third period after San Diego had come back from a 4-1 deficit to tie the game. Grand Rapids went 4-for-7 on the power play. Jacob Perreault notched two goals and an assist and Brayden Tracey had a goal and two assists to pace San Diego (5-10-0-0).
LEHIGH VALLEY 4, PROVIDENCE 2
The Phantoms (6-5-1-0) won their fourth consecutive game and ended the league-leading P-Bruins’ eight-game point streak (7-0-0-1) behind a pair of goals from Isaac Ratcliffe and 25 saves from Samuel Ersson. Ratcliffe’s second goal of the game broke a 2-2 tie 8:12 into the third period. The teams meet again tonight in Providence.
WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 4, HERSHEY 0
Dustin Tokarski’s 26-save shutout allowed the Penguins (7-4-1-0) to end a four-game losing streak. Tokarski, a two-time Calder Cup winner, recorded his 28th career AHL shutout to tie Brad Thiessen for ninth all-time. He is 5-2-1 and leads the AHL in both goals-against average (1.38) and save percentage (.948). Drake Caggiula’s first AHL goal put the Penguins in the lead to stay. Hershey (8-3-2-0) saw its seven-game point streak (6-0-1-0) ended in the loss.
BELLEVILLE 6, TORONTO 1
The Senators (7-6-1-0) broke open a scoreless tie with four goals in the second period en route to a 6-1 win over the division-leading Marlies (9-3-1-0). Cole Cassels and Egor Sokolov each scored twice on the night; Ridly Greig and Rourke Chartier supplied a goal and an assist apiece; and former Marlie Antoine Bibeau stopped 32 shots. Toronto’s eight-game point streak (7-0-1-0) ended.
CHARLOTTE 4, BRIDGEPORT 1
Despite a 39-18 advantage in shots, the Islanders (7-3-3-0) dropped their fourth consecutive game as Alex Lyon made 38 saves for the Checkers (8-4-1-0). Anton Levtchi led the Charlotte offense with two goals and an assist. The Checkers conclude a six-game road trip tonight at Springfield.
UTICA 3, ROCHESTER 2
Tyce Thompson scored with 2:13 remaining to give the Comets (3-5-1-1) their first road win of the season. Back from the New Jersey Devils, Nico Daws made 24 saves for Utica. Reilly Walsh chipped in two assists from the Utica blue line while Jack Dugan and Nikita Okhotiuk delivered Utica’s other goals. Malcolm Subban had 22 saves for Rochester (7-5-1-1) in his season debut following a preseason injury, and forwards Michael Mersch and Sean Malone both scored in their returns from injury as well.
MILWAUKEE 6, IOWA 1
The Admirals (9-4-0-0) won for the seventh time in eight road games, getting two goals from Kiefer Sherwood and three points from Jimmy Huntington (1g, 2a) to defeat the Wild (5-4-1-2). In a goaltending match-up between first-round picks, Milwaukee’s Yaroslav Askarov had 32 saves while Jesper Wallstedt finished with 28 stops. Iowa’s five-game point streak (4-0-1-0) ended.
CHICAGO 4, ROCKFORD 3
Nathan Sucese scored shorthanded with 8:40 to play in regulation, snapping a 3-3 tie and sending the Wolves to victory in Rockford. Chicago (5-6-1-0) also received goals from Griffin Mendel, Vasily Ponomarev and Malte Stromwall, and Zachary Sawchenko made 32 saves. Luke Philp scored twice for the IceHogs, who visit Chicago tonight.
CALGARY 5, BAKERSFIELD 1
The Wranglers (7-5-1-0) struck four times on the power play and outshot the Condors 46-23 to extend their point streak to six games (5-0-1-0). Nick DeSimone notched two goals and an assist and Dustin Wolf stopped 22 shots for Calgary. The Condors (7-5-1-0) got a late goal from Seth Griffith to avoid the shutout.
Patrick Williams has been on the American Hockey League beat for nearly two decades for outlets including NHL.com, Sportsnet, TSN, The Hockey News, SiriusXM NHL Network Radio and SLAM! Sports, and is currently the co-host of The Hockey News On The ‘A’ podcast. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.
