AMERKS CLOSE OUT WEEKEND WITH 5-1 LOSS TO ROCKET
Feb 20, 2022The Rochester Americans (24-17-3-2) closed out their first three-in-three weekend of the season with a 5-1 loss to the Laval Rocket (21-14-3-0) Sunday afternoon The Blue Cross Arena.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | SO | FINAL |
| Laval | 3 | 1 | 1 | -- | -- | 5 |
| Rochester | 0 | 1 | 0 | -- | -- | 1 |
Despite the loss, Rochester’s fourth all-time against the Rocket, the Amerks show a 16-4-0-0 mark in the first 20 meetings between the two clubs. The Amerks entered the matchup with having won eight straight and 12 of the last 13 games against the Laval dating back to the 2017-18 campaign.
SCARFO SCORES HIS FOURTH OF THE SEASON
Forward Ryan Scarfo scored his fourth goal of the season and second in as many games in the second period from Ethan Prow for Rochester, which has at least one point in 22 of its last 35 contests dating back to Nov. 19. Scarfo has goals in back-to-back games for the first time since April 13 and April 14, 2018, while Prow, who has 12 points (2+10) over his last 13 games dating back to Jan. 22, captured his third straight 30-point season in the AHL.
WATCH: GAME HIGHLIGHTS
Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (7-8-1) made 23 saves in his second appearance in the last three days but suffered the loss. In 10 of his 16 appearances this season, he has allowed three or few goals-against while averaging nearly 26 saves per game.
Shawn St. Amant led the Rocket with a career-high three-assists while Cédric Desruisseaux, Sami Niku, Cameron Hillis and Peter Abbandonato all registered a multi-point effort with a goal and an assist apiece. Former Amerk Jean-Sébastien Dea finished off the scoring as he netted his 15th marker of the campaign in the first period.
WATCH: SETH APPERT POST-GAME
Third-year netminder Cayden Primeau stopped 29 of the 30 shots he faced to improve his record to 9-7-1 through his first 18 appearances. In nine of his 18 games this season, Primeau has allowed two or fewer goals-against.
In the first period, Laval jumped out to a 3-0 lead to take an advantage into the intermission break as Desruisseaux, Abbandonato and Dea all scored with an 11-minute span of one another.
WATCH: RYAN SCARFO POST-GAME
The Rocket added their fourth goal of the contest at the 7:36 mark before Rochester sliced into the deficit with Scarfo’s tally with 3:53 left in the middle period.
After a heavy-hit just inside the Amerks zone by Jimmy Schuldt, Prow sprung Scarfo into the offensive zone with an outlet pass. As Scarfo approached the top of the left circle, he snapped a shot past the glove hand of Primeau while Brendan Warren provided a net-front screen.
WATCH: ETHAN PROW POST-GAME
During the final period of regulation, the game remained a 4-1 score until Laval completed the scoring as Niku finished off an empty-net feed from Abbandonato and St. Amant with 3:02 to play.
WATCH: JIMMY SCHULDT POST-GAME
The Amerks kick off another three-in-three weekend beginning on Friday, Feb. 25 as they make their second trip to downtown Syracuse in less than a week to faceoff with intrastate rival Syracuse Crunch for a 7:00 p.m. faceoff. Following the contest, Rochester will host the Toronto Marlies on Saturday afternoon at 2:35 pm. in the front-end of home-and-home series. All of the action from both contests will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.