CEDERQVIST HAT TRICK NOT ENOUGH IN 4-3 LOSS TO MONSTERS
Rookie forward scored a natural hat trick in a span of 4:47, including two goals in nine seconds
Apr 15, 2023Rookie forward Filip Cederqvist scored his first career hat trick, and did so in impressive fashion, but the Rochester Americans (35-27-5-3) came up short in a 4-3 loss to the Cleveland Monsters (33-21-5-2) Saturday at The Blue Cross Arena.
GAME SUMMARY GAME SUMMARY POST-GAME REPORT
Despite the defeat, the Amerks have earned 20 out of a possible 30 points over their last 15 games and remain in third place in the North Division entering their regular season finale Sunday in Cleveland.
Cederqvist recorded a natural hat trick in a span of 4:47, including a pair of goals in nine seconds in the first minute of the second period. He has eight goals on the season and four in his last four games after going a season-long 16 straight games without a marker.
Linus Weissbach (0+2), who reached the 20-goal last night, earned the primary assist on two of Cederqvist’s three goals, giving him 18 points (7+11) over his last 24 games. Lawrence Pilut (0+2) also assisted on two goals and now has 15 assists in his last 22 games, never going more than three games without a point over that span. Ethan Prow and Sean Malone both notched one assist each.
Goaltender Michael Houser (9-8-2) turned aside 30 shots in his 21st appearance of the campaign. The veteran netminder has made 20 or more saves in each of his last five outings, three of which he had exactly 30.
Jake Christiansen (2+0), Cole Fonstad (0+2) and Stanislav Svozil (0+2) all recorded two points for Cleveland while Cole Clayton and Roman Ahcan each scored a goal. Goaltender Pavel Cajan improved to 8-10-2 on the season as he finished with 24 saves.
Facing a 3-2 deficit 50 seconds into the second period, Cleveland’s Justin Richards forced a turnover behind Houser before Ahcan tied the game in the final minute of the frame.
During the final stanza, Cleveland reclaimed a 4-3 lead as Svozil and Trey Fix- Wolansky exchanged a series along the top of the left point. Fix-Wolansky held the puck before whipping a cross-ice feed for Clayton to rip over the right shoulder of Houser to break the tie at the 9:32 mark.
Over the final 10 minutes, Rochester attempted to find the equalizer and force overtime as they were unable to capitalize on a delay of game infraction before pulling Houser for the extra attacker.
Moments after the Monsters were unable to capitalize on their first power-play of the first period, Svozil fired the puck from atop the right point inside the Amerks zone. As Houser made the initial save, Fondstad swept the rebound to his left for Christiansen, who glanced a shot off the post and in-behind Houser.
Six minutes later, Cleveland gained its second power-play of the frame, and this time, utilized the extra skater to up its lead at the 10:51 mark.
Prior to redirecting his second of the period from Sillinger and Fonstad while on a three-on-one, odd-man rush, Rochester was caught deep inside the offensive zone.
The Amerks trimmed the deficit in half with just under four minutes left in the period with Cederqvist’s sixth tally of the season from Weissbach and Malone.
To help set-up the goal, Malone scooped up Jeremy Davies’ dump-in near the left corner and tucked back to avoid a hit from behind. As the Buffalo native turned, he flung the puck to Weissbach inside the face-off circle. While Weissbach did not have a lane to shoot, he provided a one-time feed across the goal mouth for Cederqvist to fire into the cage.
Rochester used the late-goal momentum into the middle stanza as Cederqvist scored a pair of goals nine seconds apart to give the Amerks a 3-2 lead at the 19:01 mark.
On his first of the period and second of the night, Malone began the play by winning a face-off to the right of Cajan. Pilut was the recipient of the draw, then slid the puck to his right for Prow. The veteran defenseman patiently waited for Cederqvist to get in-front of the net before wiring a shot for the Swedish forward to redirect into the back of the net.
After the goal, Cleveland won the ensuing face-off, but Pilut intercepted an attempted outlet pass while Cederqvist crunched a defenseman along the boards. Weissbach, who was given the puck by Pilut, and Cederqvist sprinted on a two-on-zero rush towards Cajan. As the duo reached the goal crease, Cederqvist completed the hat trick on a slick offering from Weissbach.
Cleveland trailed 3-2 in the opening minute of the second before scoring twice to cap the 4-3 come-from-behind win.
The playoff bound Amerks close out the regular season against the Monsters at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Game time is slated for a 3:00 p.m. start and will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
Storyline Stripes:
With two goals in nine seconds to begin the second period by Filip Cederqvist, it marked the fastest two goals by one player in the AHL this season, beating out Bakersfield’s Filip Engras, who scored twice in 10 seconds on Nov. 12. ... Cederqvist becomes the fourth different Amerk to score a hat trick this season, joining Sean Malone, Brandon Biro, and Mason Jobst, with three of the four coming on home ice ... Five of Cederqvist’s eight goals this season have come against Cleveland, which also includes a two-goal effort back on March 11, and both of his three-point outings in 2022-23 have come opposite the Monsters.
Goal Scorers
CLE: J. Christiansen (10, 11), R. Ahcan (8), C. Clayton (4)
ROC: F. Cederqvist (6, 7, 8,)
Goaltenders
CLE: P. Cajan – 24/27 (W)
ROC: M. Houser – 30/34 (L)
Shots
CLE: 34
ROC: 27
Special Teams
CLE: PP (1/6) | PK (4/4)
ROC: PP (0/4) | PK (5/6)
Three Stars
1. ROC - F. Cederqvist
2. CLE - J. Christiansen
3. CLE - S. Svozil