AMERKS ROUT SENATORS TO CLOSE OUT ROAD SWING
Murray, Rosen, and Neuchev each score twice in 8-2 blowout win over Belleville
Dec 14, 2024For the second straight night, more than a dozen different skaters recorded at least one point and eight produced a multi-point outing as the Rochester Americans (15-8-3-0) sailed to an 8-2 victory over the Belleville Senators (12-6-0-4) to close out their season-long five-game road swing Saturday at CAA Arena.
With the win, Rochester finished its season-long five-game road swing with a 4-1-0-0 record, winning each of the last four after being shutout in the first game while outscoring the opposition 21-7 over that span. The club has earned at least one point in 17 of its last 22 games dating back to Oct. 23. Additionally, the Amerks, whose 11 road wins are tied for the most in the AHL this season, have a 5-1-1-0 mark outside the Flower City in their last seven road contests punctuated by a weekend sweep over Belleville during which they totaled 15 goals in back-to-back games.
Forward Isak Rosén (2+1) topped all Amerks with three points while Brett Murray (2+0) and Viktor Neuchev (2+0) both netted a pair of goals for the Amerks. For Murray, it was his second straight game with multiple goals. Lukas Rousek (0+2), Zachary Metsa (0+2), Nikita Novikov (0+2), Konsta Helenius (0+2), and Kale Clague (1+1) also turned in a multi-point outing. Colton Poolman, Ethan Prow, Tyson Kozak, Josh Dunne, and Ty Tullio all chipped in an assist while Riley Fiddler-Schultz closed out the victory with his third goal of the season, giving him points in three straight games.
Goaltender Felix Sandström (4-4-1) snapped a 0-2-1 skid as he earned his fourth win of the season, stopping 29 of the 31 shots he faced in his ninth appearance. The Swedish netminder faced double digits shots in the first and second periods, respectively, while recording his first victory since Nov. 8.
FIRST PERIOD
In the opening five minutes of the matchup, Rochester drew consecutive tripping and high-sticking infractions to gain a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:13.
The Amerks, who tallied a power-play goal in each of the first two games in the Canadian portion of the road swing, wasted little time to make it three-for-three as they opened the scoring with 14:26 left in the stanza.
As the Amerks patiently cycled the puck around the outside of the zone, Murray, who tallied a pair of tallies in Friday’s 7-4 win, stood atop the goal crease of Belleville netminder Leevi Merilainen. Mason Jobst gave a pass to Helenius at the near circle. The rookie waited before moving the puck to Rousek, who then skated towards the net and set up Rosén for a one-time blast.
Six minutes after becoming the first Amerk this season to reach double digits in goals, Rosén was in-between the face-off dots as Poolman unloaded a one-timer that the 2024 AHL All-Star was able to deflect to extend the visitors’ lead at the 11:15 mark.
Helenius earned his second point of the night on Rosén’s 11th goal of the season while Poolman logged his first since April 6, 2024 as a member of the Calgary Wranglers.
On the ensuing shift, Belleville cut the deficit in half as Stephen Halliday, who turned in a career-high three assists last night, earned another as Cole Reinhardt netted his sixth of the season.
SECOND PERIOD
In the opening minutes of the second period, the Senators had a chance to knot the score at two, however, Sandström made a split save on Reinhardt as the latter was to the left of the Amerks net.
Rochester gained another power-play, and in the second half of the man-advantage, Rosén gathered Prow’s pass from the right face-off dot and fired a shot towards the Belleville net. While Merilainen made the initial save, Murray located the rebound within the net-front traffic and flipped it past the diving netminder to push the lead to 3-1 near the halfway mark of the contest.
Less than 30 seconds after Murray’s marker, Fiddler-Schultz poked the puck ahead to Kozak from the defensive zone. Kozak raced up the ice along with Tullio, and as they reached the face-off circles, the latter attempted a one-timer. While Merilainen made the save yet again, Fiddler-Schultz crashed the rebound and finished off the play for his third of the slate.
As the period was dwindling down, Clague bumped a Senator of the puck just inside the Amerks zone. The veteran defenseman pushed it to his right for Dunne, who provided an outlet pass to Murray as he was streaking through the center of the ice. The Bolton, Ontario, native was all alone near the Belleville net and banged in his own rebound off the left post to make it a 5-1 score.
THIRD PERIOD
Nearly seven minutes into the final period, the Amerks forced the Senators into an extended shift as they kept the puck inside the offensive zone before Neuchev steered in a back-door feed from Metsa and Novikov.
Much like earlier in the contest, Belleville responded on the ensuing shift as former Amerk defenseman and current leading point-getter Jeremy Davies snapped in his fourth goal of the season and 18th overall at the 9:51 mark.
With the game in hand and holding a 7-2 advantage in the final minute of play, Novikov and Metsa provided Neuchev with another goal atop the doorstep to seal the victory.
STARS AND STRIPES
Brett Murray turned in a multi-goal game for the second straight night while Isak Rosén scored for the third consecutive contest … It marked the first time in their careers both players have completed the feat … Rochester went 3-for-6 on the man-advantage and completed the road trip with at least one tally on the power-play in three straight games … With three goals in the middle period, it marked the third straight game Rochester has scored three in the second period.
UP NEXT
The Amerks look to carry the momentum from the road-swing as they return home to The Blue Cross Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 18 for the first of a two-game set against the Syracuse Crunch. The 7:05 p.m. matchup will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV on FloHockey.
Goal Scorers
ROC: I. Rosén (10, 11), B. Murray (10 – GWG, 11), R. Fiddler-Schultz (3), V. Neuchev (3, 4), K. Clague (6)
BEL: C. Reinhardt (6), J. Davies (4)
Goaltenders
ROC: F. Sandström – 29/31 (W)
BEL: L. Merilainen – 17/22 (L) | M. Sogaard – 9/12 (ND)
Shots
ROC: 34
BEL: 31
Special Teams
ROC: PP (3/6) | PK (2/2)
BEL: PP (0/2) | PK (3/6)
Three Stars:
1. ROC - I. Rosén
2. ROC - B. Murray
3. ROC - F. Sandström