BIRO’S FIVE-POINT NIGHT LEADS AMERKS PAST WOLF PACK
Rochester goes 4-for-7 on the power-play in 8-4 rout of Hartford
Mar 10, 2023The Rochester Americans (27-22-4-1) erupted for four power-play goals and relied on a career-best five-point performance from Brandon Biro (1+4) to open the weekend with an 8-4 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack (24-23-3-7) Friday at The Blue Cross Arena.
GAME SUMMARY PHOTO GALLERY POST-GAME REPORT
With its second straight eight-goal outing on home ice, Rochester improved to 3-0-1-0 in its last four games inside the Flower City. Overall, the Amerks, who played their first of a three-game weekend, have earned a point in six of their last nine games, going 5-3-1-0 over that span.
Along with a five-point effort from Biro, Ethan Prow contributed four points (1+3), all of which came on the power-play, while Lukas Rousek (2+1) and Isak Rosen recorded three points each. Jeremy Davies (1+0), Jiri Kulich (1+0) and Mason Jobst (1+0) rounded out the scoring while Austin Strand, Sean Malone, Lawrence Pilut, Michael Mersch and Matt Bartkowski each collected an assist. Strand made his Amerks debut after being acquired by the Buffalo Sabres at the NHL Tradeline.
Goaltender Malcolm Subban (14-12-1), who earned his fifth start in the last six games, stopped 26 of the 30 shots he faced.
Anton Blidh (1+1) recorded a pair of points for Hartford while Karl Henriksson, Tim Gettinger and Lauri Pajuniemi each scored a goal. Goaltenders Dyland Garand (11-11-3) and Louis Domingue (13-12-2) combined to stop 33 saves while Garand suffered the defeat. Garand drew the starting nod before Domingue entered for the final 20 minutes of regulation.
While Hartford opened the scoring 6:18 into the contest, Rochester countered back with six straight unanswered goals to take a comfortable 6-1 lead at the 10:29 mark of the second period.
Seven minutes after Gettinger’s 11th of the year in the first period, the Amerks had the puck inside the Wolf Pack zone. After Brett Murray rimmed a pass around the back of the net, Prow helped push it to the top of the point for his partner, who was covering for the defenseman. Pilut gathered the puck and handed it to Rousek and the Czech native tucked around a defender before slipping it past the glove hand for his 12th of the season.
To close out the scoring in the opening frame, the Amerks added two more goals 2:11 apart to grab a 3-1 cushion and take into the intermission.
On the first of the two tallies, Davies blasted a one-time feed from Rosen and Strand before Rousek added a power-play marker from Biro and Prow in the final minute.
The Amerks carried the goal from Rousek’s second of the night into the middle frame as they piled on four more times.
After scoring a power-play goal late in the first period, the trio of Rousek, Biro and Prow teamed up again just 34 seconds into the second.
Just 3:08 following Prow’s sixth of the campaign, Jobst banged in his 11th from Mersch as Garand was trapped in-front of the crease.
Rochester took a 5-1 lead at the 10:29 mark as Kulich was sprung down the right wing following a chip pass by Rosen near the blueline. Kulich stretched to retrieve the pass and as he made his way towards the right side of the net, he tucked a backhanded shot inside the post for his 17th of the season, tying for the team lead.
Hartford ended the six-goal run as Blidh finished off a feed from Zac Jones and Cristiano DiGiacinto but Rochester responded again on the man-advantage as Rosen rifled in his ninth of the slate.
The Amerks carried a five-goal advantage into the final 20 minutes of regulation when Biro gathered a loose rebound 6:01 into the frame and stuffed into the net to cap his five-point night.
The power-play goal was Rochester’s fourth of the night, which was a season-best and seventh in the last four home contests.
Hartford scored twice in the remaining 14 minutes, but the Amerks cruised to the 8-4 victory.
The Amerks continue their three-game weekend as they travel to face the Syracuse Crunch on Saturday, Mar. 11 at 7:00 p.m. All the action from Upstate Medical University Arena will be carried on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
Storyline Stripes:
Following tonight’s eight-goal effort, the Amerks have outscored the opposition 28-10 over their last four wins dating back to Feb. 24. … It also marks back-to-back home games against Hartford where the Amerks have scored five goals or more, the last being Jan. 7, 2022 ... Brandon Biro notched his team-leading 15th multi-point effort of the season with one goal and four assists, representing the first five-point effort of his career.
Goal Scorers
HFD: T. Gettinger (11), A. Blidh (8), L. Pajuniemi (16), K. Henriksson (5)
ROC: L. Rousek (12, 13), J. Davies (10), E. Prow (6), M. Jobst (11), J. Kulich (17), I. Rosen (9), B. Biro (14)
Goaltenders
HFD: M. Subban – 26/30 (W)
ROC: D. Garand – 23/30 (L) | L. Domingue – 10/11 (ND)
Shots
HFD: 30
ROC: 41
Special Teams
HFD: PP (1/4) | PK (3/7)
ROC: PP (4/7) | PK (3/4)
Three Stars
1. ROC - B. Biro
2. ROC - E. Prow
3. ROC - L. Rousek