Last season Curt Styres had promised two 10 game winning streaks during the 2008/2009 season, at the time it was an absurd statement.  I wasn’t present for the comment but I think the part left off was him saying, “next season.”

Saturday nights game was another great team performance.  It’s really hard to believe at this point that they played this weekend without four key players.

The 10 game winning streak is now one game shy of tying the franchise record of 11 wins set during the 1984-1985 season.  It’s probably no coincidence that was the same season that Jody Gage and Ted Nolan played together, two guys responsible for the success of putting this current team together.

Rochester now improves to 11-1-1-0 with 23 points to stay in first place in the American Hockey League.  One game at a time.

“It’s hard to stay on top,” Chris Taylor said  “It’s hard to keep winning and winning and everyone wants to beat us.  It’s good for us, puts us into a little bit of a challenge.”

The Amerks are playing the right amount of players but it didn’t look good that Brady Calla cut his forehead wide open on his first shift of the game and left the ice bleeding.  I didn’t catch the play but it sounded like a hard hit by the boards and his helmet is what cut him.  He eventually returned to the game and on his first shift blocked a hard shot at the blue line, it was one Calla’s better games.  Maybe he should bleed some more?

Todd Perry put the Marlies at an early 1-0 lead only 1:58 into the game.  Jiri Tlusty fired a wide shot off the back boards and as Perry took control of the puck he fired a shot and was layed out by Mike Duco.  Unfortunately the puck found its way past Salak.

Ernie Hartlieb, newcomer to the Amerks but not to hockey, tied the game 1-1 at 7:20 of the first assisted by Clay Wilson and Shawn Matthias.  Matthias started the play by hitting two and knocking two Marlies players to the ice in the Amerks zone.  He was then able to get the pass up to Hartlieb who passed it to Wilson but Wilson quickly gave it back to Hartlieb to take the shot and score.

“When I gave it back to him I was  just going to go to the net hard for a back door or maybe a rebound,” Hartilieb said describing the goal.  “When he gave it back to me I was like ya know what I’m just going to shoot it and when i looked up I saw the little corner up top and it went post post and in.”

It only took Mike Duco just over five minutes into the second period to score what would become the game winning goal.  Marlies goaltender Joey MacDonald made the initial save on Garrisons shot and as MacDonald looked over his left shoulder for the puck Mike Duco took the rebound and scored on MacDonalds right side.

I was critical recently of Duco for his play but he seems to finally be back.  He’s playing hard, hitting, finishing his checks, chirping the opponent, and finally scored a goal.

A mere 16 seconds later David Brine entered the Marlies zone in the middle, skated to the left and around the face off circle before his wrist shot scored high past MacDonald to make it a 3-1 game.

“Everyones chipping in and that’s what we’ve got to do to keep winning,” Mike Duco said.

As the third period rolled along there was the sense of wanting to get excited but also the memories of Friday nights game and blowing a lead in the third period.  That would not be the case against the Marlies.

“Yesterday I said we had to learn from the game last night,” Benoit Groulx said.  “I thought we played a strong third period.  Very focused.  For 60 minutes we didnt give them much.  The work was well done today.”

Brine also scored an empty net goal with 37 seconds left in the game off a back hand from center ice.

David Brine has been through a lot.  He’s played on the previous two horrible teams.  He’s been given different line mates every week, yet he continues to play hard every night.

“I’m being put in a position where i’m getting the chance to excel.  I’m playing with great players and the pucks are going in,” David Brine said.  “Everyone loves scoring  goals.  It’s fun, a great feeling.  Especially when you’re winning.”

Last year at this time I wrote on November 5th wondering if the team had “hit rock bottom.”  On November 8th I wrote about “throwing in the towel” following a loss to the Manitoba Moose.  Amazing the difference a year makes.

“It’s a little different from 10 losses,” Mike Duco said.  “A big change from last year.  Everyone is.  The dressing room is a completely different mindset.  Everyone is excited to come to the rink, excited to come play games, we’ve just got to keep going.”

The next game is Tuesday evening against the Hamilton Bulldogs who just lost their first game in regulation on Friday night.  The Bulldogs have been playing well and could be the first real challenge for the Amerks.

When asked about the Bulldogs, Chris Taylor said, “I have no idea what they’re doing, I only worry about this team”  Taylor went on to say, “Every game we play, especially at home we have got to be at our best, try not to lose any points at home.”

———————-

Toronto Marlies 1 At Rochester Americans 4 – Status: Final
Nov 7, 2009 – Blue Cross Arena

Toronto 1 0 0 – 1
Rochester 1 2 1 – 4

1st Period-1, Toronto, Perry 1 (Tlusty, Deveaux), 1:58. 2, Rochester, Hartlieb 1 (Wilson, Matthias), 7:20. Penalties-Taylor Rch (interference), 12:11.

2nd Period-3, Rochester, Duco 2 (Garrison, Johnson), 5:07 (pp). 4, Rochester, Brine 6 (Wilson, Ellerby), 5:23. Penalties-Deveaux Tor (goaltender interference), 4:02.

3rd Period-5, Rochester, Brine 7   19:23 (en). Penalties-Taylor Rch (cross-checking), 6:13; Mikus Tor (hooking), 13:14; Oreskovic Tor (cross-checking), 14:32.

Shots on Goal-Toronto 8-9-8-25. Rochester 11-10-10-31.
Power Play Opportunities-Toronto 0 of 2; Rochester 1 of 3.
Goalies-Toronto, MacDonald 2-1-0 (30 shots-27 saves). Rochester, Salak 8-0-0 (25 shots-24 saves).
A-4,069
Referees-Chris Brown (86).
Linesmen-Jeff Walker (28), Justin Prusak (70).

Amerks 10 Game Winning Streak, One of Two Styres Promised is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

The Amerks went into Friday nights game ranked 9th in the league for it’s power play.  With two more power play goals they’ll continue to move up in the ranks.

Benoit Groulx talked about special teams saying, “As i said many times last year, special teams are key in this league.”

The Amerks set the tone within the first five minutes of the game.  They got the puck into the Marlies end and kept it there.  They were moving the puck around so easily and for so long they made a line change.  I looked to the person sitting behind me to ask if I was really seeing what I was seeing.

David Brine opened the scoring at 14:33 of the first period scoring a short handed goal assisted by Michal Repik.  It was Brines second goal of the season.  Repik took a loose puck from in front of the Amerks end and took off down towards the other end.  As he neared the faceoff circle he fed a perfect pass over a Marlies stick and across the ice to a streaking David Brine who made it look easy.

On that same Marlies power play the Amerks had another great scoring chance and came close to scoring two short handed goals.

The Amerks had two power play opportunities but they were not able to get anything going.  Benoit Groulx thought that had a big impact on the team at that point saying, “I thought we had a good first period, created many chances unfortunately i thought our power play in the first took some momentum away from our game.”

They came back around early in the second period.

Jeff Taffe opened the scoring at 3:33 of the first period for his third goal of the season.  A Marlies player was trying to go along the back boards to get the puck out when Mike York made it look easy just waiting for him to skate by, poked the puck away, and then passed it to Jeff Taffe who had no problems scoring against an out of position goalie.

Michal Repik followed up with a power play goal (his third of the season) less than three minutes later.

Jason Garrison scored his first goal of the season 36 seconds later on the power play as well to give the Amerks a commanding 4-0 lead.  Garrison received a pass from Chris Taylor and unleased his leathal slap shot to score the goal.

The Amerks fifth goal of the game at 16:18 of the second put the game away.  Jeffe Taffe and Mike York were skating into the Marlies end.  Taffe passed the puck to York who I thought would take the pass and score but he missed the pass.  In the past few years we would have expected a giveaway at that point and seen the opposing team take the puck out.  The opposite happened though.  York was able to regain control of the puck, went behind the Marlies net, turned around, back the other way and with a simple back hand pass to Taffe we saw Taffe score his fourth goal of the season.

In the midst of all of that Alexander Salak was making a number of beautiful saves.  At one point his left leg came out of nowhere to lay flat on the ice and stop a puck.  He also looked like a hawk at times.  The puck would go up in the air and his head scans the ice in a split second to find where it was.

To us watching in the stands it was an exciting game.  We won and we won big.  Are there still challenges ahead?  Sure, but compared to previous years this was an awesome game.

Upon hearing the score of the game one our friends left a wedding early to get to the game to see the third period.

The real test for the team will be the Saturday afternoon rematch at 3pm in Toronto.  A week ago we saw the Amerks win on Friday night but traveled to Albany the next day and looked horrible.

Tyler Plante will get the start in goal on Saturday in Toronto.

A few more thoughts:

** Kenndal McArdle continued his agressive play.  He’s getting into the mix and was just about to get into a fight late in the third before the linesmen pulled him away.  Benoit Groulx speaks highly of McArdle with his role on the third line.  Talking about McArdles role on the team Groulx said, “you’ve got to provoke some things, be a momentum changer, so far he understands his role very well.  He’s a tough guy to play against with the speed he has and the intesntiy that he shows.”

** Shawan Matthias is noticeably thinner and looks to be in much better shape.  Last year he seemed to have one speed.  He was not a game changer on Friday but he showed some hustle and was able to accelerate quickly and get in to try and break up a play.  In the first period he even took a roughing penalty.

** Anyone else notice the people that were at the same seemed to be having more fun than usual?  Amazing what a great win can do.

** Andrew Sweetland had a better game tonight playing with Jeff Taffe and Mike York.  Maybe that’s all he needs is a couple of skilled players that will bring his game out.

** Rory Fitzpatrick seemed to have an extra step tonight.  He was covering his man well and even through a couple of good hits.

** The lack of player quotes recently has been due to a change in work schedules which has not allowed me to hang around longer after the games.

** THANK YOU AMERKS for working with me to accomidate my needs to be able to at least get into the post game press conference with the coach.

Amerks Special Teams Dominates the Marlies is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

The Amerks scored first when Drew Larman shot the puck from the side boards, was redirected by David Brine, and then Mike Duco was able to put it in the net at the goal mouth.  Larman did a great job getting the puck at the net which allowed Brine and Duco to finish the play.  Unfortunately the Marlies answered back 11 seconds later with a goal to tie the game.

When you’re playing a team working hard to finish out the season for the playoffs you can’t afford to make any bad plays.  That’s exactly what happened and the Marlies got a goal out of it.

The Marlies ended the first period with a 2-1 lead off a power play goal by Bates Battaglia.  Jiri Tlusty took the puck down low beating Gelech and passed the puck perfectly across the ice to Battaglia who was left all alone to easily put the puck past Brodeur.  The Marlies have one of the best power plays in the league and it showed against one of the worst penalty killing teams.

The other highlight of the first period was Riley Emmerson and Jay Rosehill dropping the gloves earlier in the period.

The Marlies scored again in the second period to take a 3-1 lead.  That’s all I have to say about that.

Karl Stewart scored his 16th goal of the season off a sweet behind the back pass by Michal Repik.  The play started with Keaton Ellerby clearing the puck up the ice to Repik.  Repik took the puck along the boards, did a spin-o-rama (his words), saw Stewart heading to the net and dropped the puck perfectly on the stick of Stewart who beat Justin Poge to get the Amerks within a goal.

The Amerks continued hard in the third but the Marlies were just too good at their own blue line.

Alex Foster put the icing on the cake with an empty net goal with 46 seconds left in the game.

Will try and follow up Saturday afternoon with some quotes from after the game.

The Amerks head to Syracuse on Saturday night to play the Crunch, they’ll and return back at home on Sunday to face off against the Hamilton Bulldogs.

Duco Scores First but Marlies Go on to Win is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.