📝 With files from Patrick Williams
Here is a look at Sunday’s action around the AHL:
COACHELLA VALLEY 4, TUCSON 3
The Firebirds opened Acrisure Arena with a win over the Roadrunners in front of 10,087 fans in the California desert. Coachella Valley (15-5-3-0) took a 3-0 lead and held on for its eighth win in its last 10 games. Cameron Hughes scored the first goal in the building 8:49 into the game, one of three power-play goals on the night for the Firebirds, and added two assists to earn first-star honors. Jesper Froden and Tye Kartye chipped in with a goal and an assist each. Jan Jenik scored twice for Tucson (12-9-4-0), which has dropped four of five meetings with the Firebirds.
HERSHEY 5, LEHIGH VALLEY 3
Down a goal with a little over six minutes to play, the league-leading Bears (19-6-2-1) rallied to score three times in a span of 1:50 to beat the Phantoms. Mike Sgarbossa (13:59), Connor McMichael (14:29) and Mike Vecchione (15:49) provided the tying, winning and insurance goals as Hershey won its AHL-best 12th home game and improved to 4-0-0-0 vs. Lehigh Valley this season. Aaron Ness and Hendrix Lapierre delivered the Bears’ other goals while Henrik Borgstrom and Ethen Frank contributed two assists apiece. Jordy Bellerive scored twice for the Phantoms (12-10-2-1).
LAVAL 4, CLEVELAND 1
Joël Teasdale scored twice as the Rocket (10-14-3-1) knocked off Cleveland to take a split of the teams’ two-game set at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Teasdale has three goals in his last three games after being held without a goal in his first 13 outings of the season. Nicolas Beaudin recorded a goal and two assists, Lucas Condotta added his eighth goal of the season, and Joseph Vrbetic made 26 saves for the win. Joona Luoto scored the lone goal for the Monsters (12-9-1-2).
MANITOBA 3, BELLEVILLE 2
Jeff Malott struck 2:06 into overtime to send the Moose (14-7-2-1) past Belleville for the second day in a row. Malott, who notched five goals and an assist in four games during the week, now has a team-high 13 goals on the season. Second-period goals by Egor Sokolov and Matthew Wedman had given the Senators (11-13-2-0) a 2-1 lead, but Simon Lundmark forced overtime with the equalizer in the third. Ashton Sautner had a goal and an assist for the Moose, who have earned at least a point in their past five home dates (4-0-0-1).
CHICAGO 5, MILWAUKEE 3
The Wolves got a goal and an assist from Jamieson Rees and two goals from Noel Gunler to knock off their Central Division rivals from Milwaukee. Chicago (8-13-2-0) built a 3-0 lead by the opening minute of the second period and held on to earn back-to-back wins for just the second time all season, as well as their second straight home victory after a 1-8-2-0 start at Allstate Arena. Vasily Ponomarev and Malte Stromwall had two assists apiece for the Wolves. Tim Schaller led the way with a goal and an assist for the Admirals (15-9-0-2), who have one win in their last seven outings (1-4-0-2)
