JOBST’S HAT TRICK LEAD AMERKS TO 7-4 WIN OVER ROCKET
Five different Amerks record multi-point nights, Savoie scores first pro goal
Oct 27, 2023Forward Mason Jobst (3+0) recorded his second career hat trick while the Rochester Americans (4-1-1-0) erupted for a season-high seven goals to defeat the Laval Rocket (1-4-1-0) Friday at The Blue Cross Arena.
GAME SUMMARY PHOTO GALLERY POST-GAME REPORT
With the win, Rochester improves to a near-perfect 12-3-0-0 at The Blue Cross Arena versus Laval since the start of the 2017-18 campaign. The Amerks’ nine points in the standings this season are the most in the Eastern Conference while their four wins are tops amongst North Division teams.
Along with Jobst’s three-point night, Kale Clague (0+3) also tallied three points as he matched a career-high with three assists. Brandon Biro (1+1) and Lukas Rousek (1+1) both totaled a pair of points while Isak Rosen (1+0) and Matt Savoie (1+0) scored a goal apiece. Jeremy Davies (0+2), Zach Metsa (0+1), Michael Mersch (0+1) and Nikita Novikov (0+1) all had at least one assist, respectively.
Goaltender Devin Cooley (3-0-1) made 36 saves in his fourth contest of the season while also earning his third straight win. After tonight, he’s tied for the league-lead in wins and is fourth in saves (130). Since Dec. 31, 2022, Cooley has gone 10-2-3 in the crease.
Lias Andersson (2+0) and Olivier Galipeau (0+2) both turned in a multi-point effort for Laval while Logan Mailloux and Mattias Norlinder wrapped up the scoring in the defeat.
Rookie netminder Jakub Dobeš (1-2-0) stopped 34 of the 40 shots he faced in his third professional appearance.
Following a first period which featured five goals, four penalties and almost 30 shots, the teams emerged from the intermission break with a 3-2 score in favor of the Amerks.
Laval evened the score just 30 seconds into the middle frame, however, Rochester countered back with a pair of tallies to take a two-goal advantage into the final 20 minutes of regulation.
The Amerks drew an interference penalty with 10:51 left in the period and used quick work as Rousek tracked down his own pass in the right corner of the Laval zone. The speedy forward corralled the puck and dished it to the right point for Clague. Shortly after retrieving the pass, Clague spotted Biro across the ice and the latter took a few strides to the left face-off dot. As Brett Murray was providing a screen out in-front of Dobeš, Biro wired a shot to restore the lead with his second of the campaign.
To close out the scoring in the period, Jiri Kulich scooped up a loose puck along the right half wall before sliding it back to Clague. The defenseman then moved it to Davies, As the Regina, Saskatchewan native had his head up, he gave the puck to Davies, who flung a shot for Rosen to redirect in the middle of the circles at the 15:05 mark.
Rochester took a 5-3 lead into the third period before Savoie was sprung into the offensive zone by Davies. The 19-year-old rookie, who earned his first professional point Wednesday night, skate towards the Rocket net on an odd-man rush with Biro and wristed his first pro goal past the goaltender with 16:30 left in the contest.
While Laval trimmed the deficit to 6-4 at the 13:51 mark, Jobst capped his hat trick and the 7-4 victory two minutes later as Dobeš was pulled for an extra attacker.
Rousek opened the scoring with his first career shorthanded goal, but the Rocket scored twice in five minutes to take a 2-1 lead.
Jobst restored Rochester’s advantage with a pair of tallies 50 seconds apart to finish the first-period scoring.
Rochester outscored Laval 4-2 over the final two periods of regulation to earn the 7-4 win.
The Amerks close their first month of the 2023-24 campaign as they travel to Adirondack Bank Center to face the Utica Comets on Saturday, Oct. 28 for a 7:00 p.m. contest. The North Division showdown will be carried on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
Stars and Stripes:
Zach Metsa, who made his professional regular season debut, earned an assist while nine other Amerks recorded at least one point … Mason Jobst’s hat trick is Rochester’s second this season against the Rocket (Jiri Kulich) and third dating back to last season (Brandon Biro) … Isak Rosen and Jiri Kulich each have two game-winning goals, tied for most in the AHL this season ... Rochester is also the only team in the league to have two different players with multiple game-winners … Rochester’s power-play unit has gone 7-for-20 (35.0%) in the last five games.
Goal Scorers
LAV: M. Norlinder (1), L. Mailloux (2), L. Andersson (6, 7)
ROC: L. Rousek (1), M. Jobst (1, 2, 3), B. Biro (2), I. Rosen (4), M. Savoie (1)
Goaltenders
LAV: Jakub Dobeš – 34/40 (L)
ROC: D. Cooley – 36/40 (W)
Shots
LAV: 40
ROC: 41
Special Teams
LAV: PP (1/6) | PK (2/4)
ROC: PP (2/4) | PK (5/6)
Three Stars:
1. ROC - M. Jobst
2. ROC - K. Clague
3. LAV - L. Andersson