AMERKS OUTLAST COMETS FOR THIRD STRAIGHT WIN
Mersch, Davies and Savoie extend point streaks in 5-4 win over Utica
Oct 28, 2023The Rochester Americans (5-1-1-0) built a 4-1 lead in the second period before holding off the Utica Comets (1-1-2-0) for a 5-4 victory Saturday at Adirondack Bank Center.
With the win, Rochester has won three straight and five of its last six to close out the month of October atop the AHL’s North Division standings. The Amerks have also won six straight games on the road against Utica dating back to last season, having outscored the Comets 27-16 over that span.
Brandon Biro (1+1), Mason Jobst (1+1), and Kale Clague (0+2) all turned in their second consecutive multi-point effort to lead the Amerks to their third straight win this week against three different opponents. Lukas Rousek (1+0), Michael Mersch (1+0), Jiri Kulich (1+0) and Ethan Prow (1+1) all scored one goal each. Jermey Davies (0+1), Filip Cederqvist (0+1), Brett Murray (0+1), Matt Savoie (0+1), and Nikita Novikov (0+1) recorded an assist.
Goaltender Michael Houser (2-1-0) made 14 saves in his third contest of the season while also earning his second win. Dating back to the start of last season, the Youngstown, Ohio, native shows a 5-2-0 record along with one shutout in seven appearances against the Comets.
Chase Stillman scored his first two career professional goals while Shane Bowers and Graeme Clarke both added a goal each. Xavier Parent collected his second straight two-assist for Utica in the defeat.
Erik Källgren (0-2-1) stopped 23 of the 28 shots he faced in his third appearance with the Comets.
Entering the third period, Rochester held a 22-11 shot-advantage as well as 5-3 lead on the scoreboard.
In the opening minute of the final frame, Utica tested Houser and company a few times before Bowers gathered Tyce Thompson’s pass to the right of the cage. While Rochester’s netminder hurried to be in position to make the save, Bowers tucked a shot in-between the post and arm to make it a one-goal game at the 1:32 mark.
The Amerks tightened down defensively despite drawing a penalty with just over three minutes left in the contest.
Utica successfully cleared the infraction and had a grade-a chance as Max Willman snuck behind the Rochester defense with 1:20 to play.
The former Buffalo Sabres draft pick skated in all alone towards Houser from the blueline but the netminder turned aside the forward to preserve the 5-4 score.
The Comets pulled their goaltender for the final minute with the hopes of sending the game beyond regulation, however, the Amerks did not allow a shot as they held on for the win.
During the first period, Prow opened the scoring just 78 seconds into the contest after connecting on a one-timer from the high slot before Stillman netted his first of the night nearly six minutes later.
The game remained tied for 1:08 before Mersch tucked in Jobst’s rebound at the 7:16 mark to extend his point streak to four games.
Along with a 2-1 cushion going into the first intermission, Rochester drew a late power-play to carry over into the middle frame.
On the man-advantage following the break, Jobst redirected Clague’s point shot to extend the Amerks lead to a pair just 50 seconds into the period.
The teams traded goals on two separate occasions to close out the scoring after 40 minutes, thus setting up a 5-3 score.
Utica trimmed its deficit in half early in the final period, but Rochester held on for the victory.
The Amerks open their second month of the 2023-24 campaign as they welcome the Syracuse Crunch to The Blue Cross Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 1 for a 7:05 p.m. contest. The North Division showdown will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
Stars and Stripes:
Jeremy Davies earned his fifth assist and seventh point of the season on Lukas Rousek’s second-period goal … The point extended Davies point streak to five games, his longest since Mar. 4-12, 2022, as a member of the Milwaukee Admirals … With his team-leading sixth goal of the campaign, Jiri Kulich is third in the AHL in goals while his nine points are tied for sixth … Matthew Savoie has a point in each of his first three games of his conditioning assignment ... The Amerks have scored four or more goals in six of their first seven games ... Rochester’s power-play unit has gone 8-for-23 (34.8%) in the last six games.
Goal Scorers
ROC: E. Prow (1), M. Mersch (2), M. Jobst (4), J. Kulich (6), L. Rousek (2)
UTC: C. Stillman (1, 2), G. Clarke (3), S. Bowers (2)
Goaltenders
ROC: M. Houser – 14/18 (W)
UTC: E. Källgren – 23/28 (L)
Shots
ROC: 28
UTC: 18
Special Teams
ROC: PP (1/3) | PK (0/1)
UTC: PP (1/1) | PK (2/3)
Three Stars:
1. ROC - L. Rousek
2. UTC - C. Stillman
3. UTC - S. Bower