📝 With files from Patrick Williams
Here is a look at Saturday night around the AHL:
HARTFORD 4, GRAND RAPIDS 0
Rookie Dylan Garand stopped 21 shots for his second shutout of the season to carry the Wolf Pack (7-10-1-4) past the Griffins in the teams’ first meeting since Jan. 2, 2009. Garand joins Calgary’s Dustin Wolf (three) as the only AHL goaltenders with multiple shutouts this season. Tanner Fritz recorded three assists, and Will Cuylle, Ty Emberson, Matt Rempe and former Griffin Turner Elson provided the goals for Hartford. Former Wolf Pack goaltender Magnus Hellberg stopped 41 shots for Grand Rapids (10-12-1-0), his second 40-save outing this week.
IOWA 3, ROCKFORD 2 (OT)
Ty Ronning scored 1:47 into overtime to give the Wild (11-8-2-2) their second win of the weekend in Rockford. Iowa is 3-0-0-0 against the IceHogs this season, battling back from third-period deficits in all three victories. Last night, Steven Fogarty scored 31 seconds into the third to make it 1-1, and Kevin Conley’s power-play marker with 6:03 remaining evened things at 2-2. Michal Teply and Cole Guttman netted the goals for the IceHogs (12-7-1-2), who have points in eight of their last nine outings (6-1-1-1).
LAVAL 7, BELLEVILLE 4
The Rocket (8-13-3-1) exploded for five first-period goals and earned a split of the Senators’ two-game visit to Place Bell. Anthony Richard scored his league-leading 16th and 17th goals of the season — one on the power play and one shorthanded — and Alex Belzile, Jesse Ylönen and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard all added a goal and an assist. Joseph Vrbetic made 30 saves to pick up the win in his first career AHL start. Scott Sabourin potted two goals for Belleville (11-12-1-0).
ONTARIO 3, TUCSON 2 (OT)
Rasmus Kupari scored off an end-to-end rush 1:36 into overtime, giving the Reign (14-7-0-1) their second OT win at Tucson in as many nights. Quinton Byfield’s first-period goal was his ninth in 13 contests for Ontario, and T.J. Tynan recorded two assists for the fourth time in his past six games. Ivan Prosvetov turned aside 38 shots for the Roadrunners (10-7-4-0).
PROVIDENCE 3, BRIDGEPORT 2
Fabian Lysell scored his second goal of the game with 3:47 remaining to give the Bruins (15-3-3-2) their fifth win in six contests. Down a goal late in the third, Providence got the equalizer from Connor Carrick with 4:51 to play before Lysell capped the comeback. Brandon Bussi made 28 stops for Providence, which is 3-1-2-0 against the Islanders (13-6-4-0) this season. Jakub Skarek made 24 saves for Bridgeport.
BAKERSFIELD 5, COACHELLA VALLEY 4 (OT)
Justin Bailey and Carter Savoie scored third-period goals and Seth Griffith netted his second of the night at 2:34 of overtime to send the Condors (9-12-1-0) past the visiting Firebirds in the teams’ first-ever meeting. The result snapped Bakersfield’s six-game losing skid, and ended Coachella Valley’s five-game winning streak. Tyler Benson recorded three assists in his return from Edmonton, and Xavier Bourgault added a goal and an assist for the Condors. Max McCormick led the Firebirds (12-4-3-0) with a goal and an assist
HERSHEY 3, CLEVELAND 2
Sam Anas tallied at 8:47 of the third period to break a 2-2 tie and send the league-leading Bears (17-5-2-0) to their eighth win in nine games. Clay Stevenson made 25 saves to win his AHL debut, and Mike Sgarbossa chipped in a goal and an assist, giving him nine points during a five-game scoring streak. Trey Fix-Wolansky scored for the Monsters (10-8-1-2), his eighth goal in his last six AHL outings.
LEHIGH VALLEY 6, CHARLOTTE 1
Signed to an AHL contract earlier in the day, Artem Anisimov responded with four points (2g, 2a) to help the Phantoms (11-9-1-1) past the Checkers in the franchise’s 2,000th regular-season game. Olle Lycksell delivered a goal and two assists and Linus Hogberg added a goal and an assist as Lehigh Valley won for the fifth time in its last six home dates. The Checkers (12-9-2-1) dropped all three games of a Pennsylvania road trip this week.
ELSEWHERE
Jake Neighbours scored shorthanded for his first career AHL tally and Joel Hofer made 25 saves as Springfield blanked Milwaukee, 2-0, in the Admirals’ first-ever visit to the MassMutual Center… Defenseman Darren Raddysh (32 points) took over the AHL scoring lead with a goal and an assist and helped Syracuse to a 5-1 win over Utica… Sean Malone scored with 1:45 left in regulation and Lukas Rousek notched a regulation goal plus the shootout winner as Rochester defeated Toronto, 4-3… Texas got goals from six different skaters in a 6-1 win over Chicago; the Stars have defeated the Wolves four times in the last 16 days, by a combined score of 22-5… Connor Ford broke a tie midway through the third period and Laurent Brossoit stopped 30 shots to give Henderson a 3-2 win in Colorado… Alex Limoges scored 7:15 into the third period as Manitoba earned a 2-1 win at Abbotsford, stopping the Canucks’ five-game home winning streak.
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.
