📝 With files from Patrick Williams
Here is a look at Friday’s action around the AHL:
MILWAUKEE 8, ROCKFORD 4
Kiefer Sherwood led the way with four points, including his third career hat trick, as the Admirals defeated the IceHogs on the strength of their highest offensive output in nearly four years. Jimmy Huntington added a goal and a pair of helpers, Marc Del Gaizo tallied four assists and Milwaukee went 3-for-3 on the power play, scoring eight goals in a game for the first time since an 8-2 win at Rockford on Mar. 23, 2019. David Gust had three points (1g, 2a) for the IceHogs, who have lost six in a row (0-5-1-0).
CLEVELAND 3, LAVAL 2 (OT)
Josh Dunne scored with 57.7 seconds to go in overtime as the Monsters edged the Rocket in the first of two meetings in Cleveland this weekend. Trey Fix-Wolansky and Joona Luoto also scored for the Monsters and Jet Greaves turned aside 36 shots as Cleveland snapped a seven-game home losing streak and closed to within three points of Laval for the fifth and final playoff spot in the North Division. Joël Teasdale and Mattias Norlinder scored for the Rocket, who have a six-game point streak (3-0-2-1).
UTICA 1, SYRACUSE 0
Akira Schmid made 23 saves and Graeme Clarke provided the game’s only goal 7:21 into the second period as the Comets shut out the Crunch in the teams’ fourth meeting in 12 days. It was Utica’s first shutout of the season, and Syracuse’s first shutout loss since May 10, 2021 (also against the Comets). Hugo Alnefelt stopped 29 of 30 shots for Syracuse and now has a .968 save percentage in three appearances vs. Utica this season.
LEHIGH VALLEY 4, WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON 2
Tyson Foerster scored twice and Samuel Ersson turned aside 34 shots as the Phantoms doubled up the Penguins in Allentown. Foerster, who will represent Lehigh Valley at next week’s AHL All-Star Classic, has four goals in his last three outings. Olle Lycksell chipped in three assists for Lehigh Valley, which improved to 6-2-1-1 in its last 10 contests. Tyler Sikura and Corey Andonovski had third-period goals for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
HARTFORD 2, PROVIDENCE 1 (OT)
Hours after being added to the Atlantic Division roster for the AHL All-Star Classic, Zac Jones scored 20 seconds into overtime to give the Wolf Pack a victory in Providence. Lauri Pajuniemi netted his 10th goal of the season and Dylan Garand made 27 saves for Hartford; Justin Brazeau scored for the Bruins. It was the fifth consecutive game for Providence in which they faced the Wolf Pack; they went 2-1-2-0 during the 14-day stretch.
SPRINGFIELD 5, BELLEVILLE 1
The Thunderbirds scored three times on seven shots in the first 12:46 of the game and rolled past the Senators in the opener of a two-game set between the teams at MassMutual Center. Martin Frk, Anthony Angello and Will Bitten staked Springfield to the early 3-0 lead, and Keean Washkurak scored twice in the third period — once on the power play and once shorthanded. Joel Hofer finished with 27 stops for the Thunderbirds.
CHARLOTTE 4, ROCHESTER 2
J.F. Berube made 13 of his 25 saves in the third period as the Checkers held on to defeat the host Amerks. Riley Bezeau and Gerry Mayhew scored in the opening frame for Charlotte and Connor Bunnaman extended the lead to 3-0 early in the second before Rochester started chipping away, closing to within one on goals from Isak Rosen and Aleksandr Kisakov. Lucas Carlsson’s empty-net goal sealed the Checkers’ fourth consecutive road victory.
TEXAS 4, COLORADO 1
Mavrik Bourque tallied a goal and an assist and Matt Murray turned aside 24 shots as the Stars clipped the Eagles. Ben Gleason, Oskari Laaksonen and Riley Tufte also scored for Texas, which is 9-0-1-1 in its last 11 home games and 14-1-4-0 in its last 19 overall. Spencer Smallman had the lone goal for Colorado while Justus Annunen handled 31 of 34 shots in net.
TORONTO 2, MANITOBA 1
Joseph Woll (12-1-0) made 30 saves to give the Marlies their 10th win in the last 11 games. Goals from Adam Gaudette and Semyon Der-Arguchintsev gave Toronto a 2-0 lead heading into the third period; Leon Gawanke broke up Woll’s shutout bid with just 1:04 left in the game. The Marlies are 6-1-0-0 on their season-high eight-game road trip and have a league-best 29 wins overall.
SAN JOSE 4, HENDERSON 1
Martin Kaut notched a goal and an assist in his Barracuda debut and San Jose scored four unanswered goals to knock off the Silver Knights. Kyle Criscuolo scored his third goal in three games since joining the Barracuda, Andrew Agozzino added three points (1g, 2a) and Aaron Dell made 27 stops to help San Jose extend its point streak to four games (3-0-1-0). Jiri Patera made 26 saves for Henderson.
BAKERSFIELD 4, SAN DIEGO 3
Tyler Benson’s first goal of the season gave the Condors a come-from-behind win over the Gulls at Pechanga Arena. Bakersfield trailed 3-1 before Yanni Kaldis scored late in the second period and Greg McKegg tied the game in the opening minute of the third. Raphael Lavoie finished with a goal and two assists for the Condors, and Olivier Rodrigue posted 25 saves. David Cotton, Benoit-Olivier Groulx and Bryce Kindopp scored for San Diego.
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.