AMERKS COME UP SHORT TO ISLANDERS IN OVERTIME
Jan 20, 2023A goaltending duel between veteran goaltenders Malcolm Subban and Corey Schneider carried over into overtime, where the Rochester Americans (19-13-2-1) ultimately came up short in a 1-0 loss to the Bridgeport Islanders (17-15-6-1) Friday at Total Mortgage Arena.
Despite the overtime loss, the Amerks have earned points in 11 of the last 12 meetings between the two teams dating back to the 2017-18 campaign. Additionally, nine of the previous 16 games between the two clubs have been decided beyond regulation, which includes five of the last six dating back to the 2018-19 season. Overall, Rochester remains in third place of the North Division with 41 points, three points behind Utica, whom the Amerks have two games in hand on.
All but two Amerks registered at least one shot led by defenseman Jeremy Davies, who had a team-high six shots and came within one of matching a career-high. Forwards Lukas Rousek and Anders Bjork, who entered the matchup riding a five-game point streak, both had four shots each.
Subban (9-4-1) made his fifth straight start and 10th appearance over the last 13 games. The netminder, who is 9-3-1 over his last 13 games, made 26 saves.
Bridgeport forward William Dufour, who made his NHL debut earlier this week, scored his 14th goal of the season in overtime to give the Islanders their first home victory since Nov. 30. Schneider improved to 13-3-2 as he stopped all 40 shots he faced. It marks his first shutout since Mar. 13, 2022.
With the game scoreless after 60 minutes of regulation, the overtime period was needed as the clubs combined for 66 shots.
Just 90 second into the extra frame, Rochester carried the puck deep inside the offensive zone but was unable to get a shot through.
Dufour gathered a loose puck inside the Islanders zone and spirited through the neutral zone towards Subban. As the forward reached the top of the circles with teammate Ruslan Iskhakov, he snapped a shot past the blocker at the 1:35 mark to give the home team a 1-0 victory.
Rochester came out in the contest, outshooting the Islanders 10-4 and 21-8 in the first and second periods, respectively, but could not solve Schneider.
During the third period, Bridgeport tried to break the scoreless deadlock as they tested Subban 14 times, but still the overtime period was required.
The home club finally broke through as Dufour netted the game’s lone score 95 seconds into the extra frame.
The Amerks close out their New England trek on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 6:00 p.m. against the Hartford Wolf Pack. All of the action from the XL Center will be carried on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
Storyline Stripes:
Tonight’s 1-0 defeat marked the first time since May 14, 2021, the Amerks fell 1-0. Additionally, it was the first 1-0 overtime loss since Feb. 17, 2018. Defenseman Peter Tischke returned to the lineup after missing the last seven games.
Goal Scorers
ROC: None
BRI: W. Dufour (14)
Goaltenders
ROC: M. Subban – 26/27 (OTL)
BRI: C. Schneider – 40/40 (W)
Shots
ROC: 40
BRI: 27
Special Teams
ROC: PP (0/2) | PK (3/3)
BRI: PP (0/3) | PK (2/2)
Three Stars
1. BRI - W. Dufour
2. BRI - C. Schneider
3. ROC - M. Subban