AMERKS COME UP SHORT TO MARLIES
Feb 5, 2022The Rochester Americans (22-15-2-1) held a 2-1 lead midway through the second period Saturday against the Toronto Marlies (21-12-2-1), but surrendered the next four goals in what became a 5-2 setback at Coca-Cola Coliseum.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | SO | FINAL |
| Rochester | 1 | 1 | 0 | -- | -- | 2 |
| Toronto | 1 | 2 | 2 | -- | -- | 5 |
Despite the loss, Rochester’s second in as many games, the Amerks have earned points in 17 of their last 27 games dating back to Nov. 19. The regulation loss was just the second time all season the club has lost in back-to-back games.
Forward Brett Murray opened the scoring in the first period as he redirected in his eighth of the campaign while defenseman Peter Tischke scored his first goal as an Amerk in the middle stanza. Peyton Krebs, Arttu Ruotsalainen, Linus Weissbach and Ethan Prow all were credited with an assist for Rochester.
Goaltender Mat Robson (5-3-2) made his 10th appearance of the season but dropped his second consecutive game despite stopping 26 of the 30 shots he faced.
WATCH: GAME HIGHLIGHTS
Toronto’s Semyon Der-Arguchintsev extended his point streak to three games as he turned in a season-high three-assist performance while Nick Robertson also recorded a multi-point game with a pair of goals. Former Amerk Alex Biega logged his first of the campaign before Mac Hollowell and Joey Anderson each booked their third and 14th, respectively, to round out the scoring the Marlies.
Veteran goaltender Michael Hutchinson made his ninth appearance of the season and made 30 saves in a winning effort. The 31-year-old netminder evened his record to 3-3-3 as he earned his first AHL victory since Nov. 20.
Six minutes into the opening period, the Marlies, who were unable to score on the first power-play of the afternoon, opened the scoring on the ensuing shift following the man-advantage at the 6:36 mark.
Rochester killed of the last few seconds of the penalty, but Biega carried the puck through the neutral zone before wiring a shot across the grain as he came down the right wall. The blueliner leaned away from an Amerks defender before going bar down to notch his first of the slate.
The Amerks, who outshot the Marlies 16-5 in the first period, evened the score at one goal apiece on their own power-play midway through the frame on Murray’s eighth of the campaign.
Following a Brandon Biro face-off win to the right of Hutchinson, Weissbach pushed the puck back to Prow at the left point. With his head up and traffic towards the front of crease, Prow fired a shot towards the net-front, where Murray was able to steer into the back of the net at the halfway point of the opening frame.
With his assist, Prow has six points (0+6) over his last six outings, while Weissbach has produced seven points (2+5) over his last seven, which includes a pair of multi-point efforts.
The score remained a 1-1 tie until Tischke gave Rochester its first lead of the contest at the 9:47 mark of the middle stanza. Scooping up the puck in the defensive zone, Krebs hit Ruotsalainen with an outlet pass in the center of the ice to jumpstart the play. After crossing the blueline, the Finnish forward attempted to slide a pass to Tischke as he drove towards the net, but the pass glanced off the skate of Tisckhe and in for his first as an Amerk.
The lead was short-lived, however, as Toronto countered back with a pair of markers six minutes apart from Hollowell and Robertson’s first of the game to take a 3-2 advantage into the intermission break.
In the final period, Rochester generated its best chance to even the score as Biro, Weissbach and Krebs all had an attempt at a loose puck, however Biro’s reach for the puck unfortunately tripped a Marlies skater.
It appeared the Amerks were going to successfully kill off their fourth infraction of the contest, but just as the penalty was expiring, Anderson gathered a loose rebound and snapped it past the right arm of Robson. The goal at 13:23 pushed the score to 4-2.
The Amerks attempted one last effort to cut into the deficit as they pulled their netminder for the final 2:30 of regulation, but Robertson sealed the 5-2 victory.
The Amerks return home on Wednesday, Feb. 9 to close out their season series with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at The Blue Cross Arena. The 7:05 p.m. contest will be the second and final meeting between the two clubs this season and will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
|
TORONTO |
GAMECENTER |
ROCHESTER |
|
GOAL-SCORERS |
|
|
M. Hutchinson – 30/32 (W) |
GOALTENDERS |
M. Robson – 26/30 (L) |
|
1-4 |
POWER-PLAY |
1-3 |
|
2-3 |
PENALTY KILL |
3-4 |
|
31 |
SHOTS ON GOAL |
32 |