Western Conference wins AHL All-Star game 7-6
Ryan Hamilton's goal with 11.2 seconds left in regulation capped a hat trick and gave the Western Conference All-Stars a 7-6 victory over the East in the AHL All-Star Classic on Monday.
''I think for Providence and the players they got a taste of what Ryan Hamilton does for our organization all the time,'' said West coach Dallas Eakins who is also the head coach of the Toronto Marlies. ''He takes things seriously.
''The way he scored his goals tonight was by going to the net. That's what he does for our team. He's a leader by example and a guy that we cherish in our organization.''
Providence's Trent Whitfield tied the game at 6-6 at 17:30 by beating Robin Lehner on a breakaway.
''You don't think about it too much,'' Hamilton said of the time remaining. ''You know that time's running down and if you get an opportunity you have to take advantage of it.
''(Mark) Arcobello did all the work. I pretty much just went to the net. He made a great pass and I was able to put it in. I didn't know there were 11 seconds left. But it was nice to know there was going to be a short amount of time left.''
Houston's Justin Zucker opened the scoring for the West at 7:39 of the first for a 1-0 lead.
The East tied it at 11:14 when Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's Chad Kolarik snapped home a wrist shot.
That deadlock lasted only until 13:25 when Texas' Matt Fraser scored on a breakaway.
Chicago's Brad Hunt increased the West's lead to 3-1 when he scored at 14:35.
The West finished off the opening period with a 4-1 lead on Drew Shore's goal at 15:11.
The East chipped two goals off its deficit in the second period on goals by Springfield's Jonathan Audy-Marchessault and Kolarik, who scored his second goal.
Worcester's Bracken Kearns pulled the East within 4-3 on a shot from the slot at 6:31. But the West countered at 16:43 when East goalie Curtis McElhinney was caught out of position and Hamilton slid the puck into an open net.
Hamilton notched his second goal at 5:41 of the third.
The East also scored at 7:33 to make it 6-5.
