AMERKS EDGE COMETS IN OVERTIME FOR FOURTH STRAIGHT WIN
Biro records fifth straight multi-point effort, Subban picks up 100th career win in 5-4 victory over
Dec 28, 2022Brandon Biro (1+1), Brett Murray (1+1) and Lukas Rousek (1+1) all recorded two points in regulation before Chase Priskie delivered the game-winner with 2:34 gone in overtime to cap a 5-4 win for the Rochester Americans (15-9-1-1) over the intrastate rival Utica Comets (12-9-4-1) Wednesday at The Blue Cross Arena.
GAME SUMMARY PHOTO GALLERY POST-GAME REPORT
The win extends Rochester’s win streak to four straight games and gives the Amerks at least one point in seven of the last 10 games against Utica.
With his fifth straight two-point effort, Biro has recorded a team-leading 13 points (5+8) in eight games in December while Murray and Rousek each become the second and third Amerks this season to reach 20-point mark. Michael Mersch and Priskie each scored their third goals of the campaign.
Jeremy Davies, Mitch Eliot, Filip Cederqvist and Anders Bjork all added an assist to round out the scoring. Goaltender Malcolm Subban (6-2-0) appeared in his fourth straight contest and eighth of the season, improving to 6-1-0 over his last seven appearances while also extending his personal win streak to four games. Tonight was also his 100th professional win.
Utica’s Graeme Clarke (1+1), the AHL’s reigning Player of the Week who entered the game with nine points over his last four games, added two more as he scored a goal and an assist. Brian Halonen, Nolan Foote and Ryan Schmelzer all notched one goal each while goaltender Akira Schmid (3-1-2) made 21 saves in his second AHL appearance since the beginning of November.
Following Foote’s goal late in the final minute to force overtime, the Amerks countered midway through the extra frame to take a 5-4 victory.
With the puck near center ice, Priskie exchanged a give-and-go with Bjork to enter the Comets zone before he received a one-time feed from Cederqvist. As the defensemen gathered the pass inside the right face-off dot, he hammered a shot inside the post for his third goal of the season to finish the win.
Including the goal at the 2:34 mark of overtime, four of Priskie’s (3+1) six points this season have come on home ice while Bjork earned his first point since Nov. 25.
The game started off well for Rochester as they built a 4-0 advantage midway through the second period.
Biro and Murray staked the Amerks to a 2-0 advantage with first-period goals assisting on each other’s to put Rochester up by a pair.
After taking a 2-0 lead into the intermission, the Amerks cushioned their lead to 4-0 as Mersch and Rousek scored 53 seconds apart.
On Mersch’s tally, it came on a redirection from Prow and Jobst with 10:56 left in the stanza whereas Rousek was setup at in-front of Schmid from Eliot.
Prior to the completion of the second frame, Utica cut the deficit in half as Schmelzer and Clarke both beat Subban 46 seconds apart.
The Comets completed the comeback with two third-period goals, including Foote’s in the final minute of regulation as Schmid was pulled for the extra attacker, before Priskie capped off the 5-4 win in overtime.
The Amerks strive for five straight wins as they host the Belleville Senators at The Blue Cross Arena on Friday, Dec. 30 for a 7:05 p.m. faceoff. All of the action will be carried on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
Storyline Stripes:
With tonight’s win, all eight wins on home ice this season have come by way of four or more goals ... Lukas Rousek’s second-period goal was his fourth in five games dating back to Dec. 9 against Utica ... He also added an assist, giving him six points (4+2) over that span ... Brett Murray remains well on pace of matching the career-high 15 goals he scored last season and is only three points away from 100 as an Amerk.
Goal Scorers
UTC: R. Schmelzer (2), G. Clarke (10), B. Halonen (5), N. Foote (10)
ROC: B. Biro (8), B. Murray (11), M. Mersch (3), L. Rousek (8), C. Priskie (3)
Goaltenders
UTC: A. Schmid– 21/26 (OTL)
ROC: M. Subban – 27/31 (W)
Shots
UTC: 31
ROC: 26
Special Teams
UTC: PP (1/2) | PK (2/2)
ROC: PP (0/2) | PK (1/2)
Three Stars
1. ROC - C. Priskie
2. ROC - B. Biro
3. UTC - G. Clarke