Based on how the team continues to play with a few key players out of the lineup it continues to bring up the thought, what’s possible when players return to the lineup?  See yesterday’s post Playing the What if Game.

(Photo by Lauren Long / The Post Standard)

I’ll take this way of thinking at this time of the season compared to a “grumbling fan base” that seems to be going on in Syracuse.

From Crunch reporter Lindsay Kramer:

The uninspired programming that is the Syracuse Crunch’s season has apparently gone into winter re-runs.

To a growingly grumbling fan base, it looks like a sure ratings loser.

Rochester’s Paul Szczechura put the topper on his hat trick with the game-winner with 1 minute, 17 seconds left in overtime to demoralize teetering Syracuse and lift the Amerks to an improbable 5-4 win at the Onondaga County War Memorial.

It was the second time in a week, spanning three games, that Syracuse had coughed up a two-goal lead in the third. Bridgeport exploited the Crunch in much the same manner on Jan. 28 to win in a shootout.

To read more about the game from him.

Drew MacIntyre got his first win since December 27th.  It was his second consecutive four goal game, both against the Crunch.  It was also the fourth time in five games that MacIntyre has allowed at least four goals against this time picking up a win.

Marcus Foligno has now had at least one assist in the past four games, this time with two assists.  He has six assists in the past four games.

Phil Varone and Travis Turnbull also scored for Rochester, both players with two goals in the past three games.

The Toronto Marlies won as well yesterday keeping their four point lead over the Amerks for the division lead.  The Amerks did move up to a tie for seventh place in the conference with 51 points.  The Amerks are only three points out of sixth and four away from fifth in the conference.  These numbers will continue to jump all over the place but picking up five out of six points on the weekend is a great way to start the month of February.

Toronto and Rochester play next on Wednesday morning at 11am in Toronto.. big game on the line!

Below is the game report from the Amerks:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 4, 2012

SZCZECHURA’S FOUR-POINT NIGHT LIFTS AMERKS OVER CRUNCH, 5-4

(Syracuse, NY)… A hat-trick and a four-point performance from Paul Szczechura helped the Rochester Americans complete a two-goal third period rally to defeat the Syracuse Crunch 5-4 in overtime at the War Memorial at Oncenter on Saturday night. Szczechura tied the game late in regulation time and capped off his spectacular night with the game-winning goal with 1:07 to go in the extra session, extending his point streak to four games along the way.

The win represented the 100th win in franchise history for the Amerks over the cross-state rival Crunch.

Brayden McNabb and Marcus Foligno, who has also picked up points in four straight games, each contributed two assists, while Phil Varone and Travis Turnbull both chipped in a goal apiece. Goaltender Drew MacIntyre turned away 33 shots to earn his first win since December 27.

Syracuse was led offensively by Patrick Maroon (1+1) and Kyle Palmieri (0+2), each of whom chipped in a pair of points in the loss. Luca Caputi, Josh Brittain, and Peter Holland also lit the lamp for the Crunch and Marco Cousineau finished with 36 saves between the pipes.

The Amerks struck first in the contest for a 1-0 lead, as Szczechura finished off a perfect feed from Foligno. Off a fast break for Rochester, Foligno took the puck wide around the defense and found Szczechura driving to the net for an easy tap in.

The Crunch came back with a pair of goals just 20 seconds apart within the first five minutes of the middle frame. First, Maroon beat MacIntyre on the power-play with a no-look shot from the middle of the slot, followed by Caputi burying a point-blank wrister behind the Rochester netminder.

Syracuse found the back of the net for the third consecutive time at 13:08 of the second period to build a 3-1 lead, as Brittain deposited a rebound for his first of the season.

After Varone blasted a one-timer from the high slot past Cousineau to bring the Amerks back to within a single goal at 13:49, Peter Holland responded for the Crunch to restore their two-goal cushion and make the score 4-2.

Rochester pulled back to within a single goal with a power-play goal at 7:49 of the final period. Turnbull deflected a left-point slapper from Drew Schiestel for his eighth goal of the season and second of the weekend.

Szczechura scored his second of the game with just 4:07 remaining in regulation, beating Cousineau off the rush with a slapper from just inside the Syracuse blueline.

Szczechura then completed the hat-trick 3:53 into overtime, sending a wrister from the left circle to the top corner of the net on a three-on-one rush for his ninth goal of the season.

The Amerks travel north of the border on Wednesday, February 8 for an 11:00 a.m. meeting with the Toronto Marlies at Ricoh Coliseum.

Szczechura Hat Trick Leads Amerks to Comeback Win Over the Crunch is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

The Amerks gained three out of four possible points in the standings so far this week which is acceptable looking at it that way.  The Amerks started the night three points behind the Marlies but the Marlies beat the Crunch and increased the lead to four.  Both teams have played 46 games.

In Thursdays game the Amerks looked like a team hungry and ready to go after the win and they did just that with a 3-0 shutout.  Nick Crawford scored a goal 95 seconds into the game that turned out to be the game winner.  Marcus Foligno fed a perfect cross ice pass to Crawford who beat Leland Irving.  Phil Varone scored a short handed goal at 2:56 of the third period and then Travis Turnbull stayed focused and put in his own rebound on the power play at 16:01 of the third.

David Leggio was focused throughout the game with 33 saves for the shutout.  Credit is also due to the defensemen who were able to keep the Heat away from the net and also clear the pucks as needed.  Nick Crawford did an outstanding job clearing the puck from the crease that created the rush out of the zone for Varone to score short handed.

After the win the team talked about cleaning a few things up and coming out with the same effort on Friday with the same effort.  That didn’t happen.

On Friday the team couldn’t connect a pass in the first half of the game if their careers depended on it.  The team also didn’t start to build any momentum until halfway through the second period, after the Heat were already up 2-0.  A late second period goal by Igor Gongalsky and a third period goal by Paul Szczechura tied the game before an eventual overtime shot by Clay Wilson won the game for the Heat.

The first goal of the game was credited to Akim Aliu of the Abbotsford Heat.  The odd part about the goal was that Leggio argued it was a high stick.  Kevin Oklobzija wrote that referee Francis Charron mentioned it went off of the glove of Nick Crawford.  If that’s the case the goal should go to Clay Wilson who took the shot, not Aliu and it’s a good goal.  Clay Wilson said it never went higher than the crossbar.  Leggio said it did.  Who’s right?  We’ll never know.  I doubt a high quality replay will ever be available.

Dustin Sylvester gave the Heat a 2-0 lead when he tipped another Clay Wilson shot down to the ice which then bounced over David Leggio.  The goal was originally given to Wilson but it was clearly tipped.  Not sure what Charron was watching on the ice but he didn’t seem to follow the puck closely on it’s path to the net each time.

The Amerks finally started to gain some momentum late in the second period with a number of great chances but they couldn’t find the net.  Paul Szczechura and Maxime Legault had a great 2 on 1 break towards Irving but the Szczechura pass to Legault didn’t connect very well.  Legault had another opportunity shooting at an open net but the puck went high.  Travis Turnbull had a chance but couldn’t get the puck on the inside of Irving’s pad and shot it wide.  Shaone Morrisonn had a point blank shot but Irving stopped him cold with a pad save.  Paul Szczechura was even pushed on top of Irving at one point but no one had a shot on net at that exact moment.

Travis Turnbull took a shot on net from the half boards and the rebound directed right to Igor Gongalsky who was able to backhand the puck into the net to put the Amerks within a goal of the Heat heading into the third period.

Paul Szczechura tied the game 2-2 by burying pass from Phil Varone into the net.  Varone was behind the net and sent the pass through the legs of a Heat defender to Szczechura who was skating into the slot at that moment.

The team quickly came back to life after that with shot blocking, clearing the puck and creating scoring chances.  Whitmore blocked a shot at one point just putting his stick in the air on a shot.  David Leggio made a save but the rebound fell behind him in the crease but luckily Voakes was there to clear it out.  Travis Turnbull had a great short handed opportunity taking the puck to Irving to get off a shot but unfortunately couldn’t find his own rebound to bury it.

Chad Cassidy draws up a play as the Amerks head into overtime against the Abbotsford Heat

And then Derek Whitmore committed a holding penalty at 18:19 of the third period.  The Amerks were able to kill off part of the penalty in regulation but just as Whitmore stepped out of the box in overtime the game was over.  Clay Wilson had just buried a shot on David Leggio to win the game 3-2.

The Amerks are off to Syracuse for a game at 7:30pm tonight to finish up this stretch of three in three games.  The Crunch embarassed the Amerks with a 4-0  win last week, hopefully the Amerks have their Thursday team show up for the game.

David Leggio would be making his third start in three nights on Saturday but the only reason he shouldn’t start would be because of an injury.  Otherwise he’s earned it.

The only new injury to report was that of Alex Biega.  He was hit hard on Thursday night and left the game but came back to play the second and third periods.  He missed the game on Friday night with a wrist injury.  It doesn’t sound like it’s too deserve and is day to day.

Colin Stuart could be back as early as next Friday if everything goes well.  Stuart could make a big difference with the offense these days on this team.

Leggio Earns the Amerks 3 out of 4 Points Against the Heat is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

Buffalo Sabres GM Darcy Regier was in Syracuse to watch the game and so was Anaheim Ducks GM Bob Murray.  Were they talking trades in person?  Just watching some hockey?  With the NHL All-Star break they were likely there just to watch the prospects but everyone can insert their own assumptions.

Lindsay Kramer of the Post Standard had this in his writeup:

The first two markers were chunks of raw meat for a sellout crowd of 6,353 fans, which then in turn pushed the team into a higher gear game. The bounceback came after Syracuse dropped both ends of a home-and-home series to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last weekend.

“It pushes them (the Amerks) on their heels. And the crowd was great,’’ Schofield said. “We focused on coming out (hard) early all week. Losing two in a row, that was the main emphasis (in practice). We stopped the streak at two.’’

A large home crowd and a hungry team.  The Amerks have nine home games in February, here’s hoping they do the same things.  The team is only three points out of the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference and heading into the second half of season every win starts to become more and more valuable.  Still trying to look at things with a half glass full kind of way.

The Amerks had six power play opportunities but again were held scoreless.  The last time the team scored a power play goal was January 13th.  They haven’t scored in six games with 23 chances during those six games.  Looking at the other side, the Amerks have lost four of those six games and the opposition has only scored four goals out of 24 chances.  Four goals isn’t all that much, even strength goals have been a bigger factor but when you can’t score playing five on five you need the power play to stand up.

One concern is, how much has the “no quit” attitude taken a toll on this Amerks team?  They work hard and do what they can but when you’re not winning it starts to take an emotional and physical toll.

Past seven games, #Amerks have scored just 12 goals. Winger Derek Whitmore: "A little bit of doubt and a lack of confidence sets in,"

January 27, 2012 10:41 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@kevinoDandC

Kevin Oklobzija

We’ll see what happens when the team plays against the Toronto Marlies at 3pm today in Toronto.

Here’s more on the game from the Amerks:

Syracuse jumped out to a quick start, taking a 2-0 lead before the game was three minutes old. Kyle Palmieri opened the scoring with his team-leading 24th goal of the season. A dump-in by Syracuse bounced through traffic and Palmieri, who found his way in behind the Rochester defense, picked up a loose puck in front and knocked it in for the goal at 1:47 of the period. Caputi picked up the lone assist on what proved to be the game-winning tally for his first of two points on the night.

The Crunch added to their lead 70 seconds later when Rick Schofield scored his fifth goal of the season. The unassisted goal came after Schofield’s shot from the right wing went through a screen in front to make its way past MacIntyre.

The teams played a scoreless second period, though there was no shortage of scoring opportunities at both ends of the rink. Strong play between the pipes by MacIntyre and Tarkki kept it a 2-0 game through 40 minutes of play.

After nearly 30 minutes of scoreless activity, Bell extended his team’s lead to 3-0 at 12:02 of the final frame when his shot from the high slot eluded MacIntyre for his sixth goal of the campaign. Andrew Gordon and former Amerk Sean Zimmerman each earned assists on the play.

Caputi and the Syracuse power-play capitalized on a late man-advantage opportunity, needing just 13 seconds on the man-up after Rochester’s Paul Szczechura was sent off for holding. Bell earned his second point of the night with an assist and Nate Guenin also helped set up Caputi’s sixth goal of the season at 15:45 to make it a 4-0 contest in favor of the Crunch.

Joe Finley sat the game out due to illness.

Amerks Shutout in Syracuse; Toronto at 3pm Today is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

The real downfall has been the inconsistencies.  Everything from goal scoring to goaltending to wins and losses.  This is a hard working group of hockey players with a lot of potential how much they can really accomplish is the question.  The hope for any sports team is to get into the playoffs and then anything can happen.  It’s going to take a lot for this team to get there with a group of hard working but inconsistent players.  They are currently without Colin Stuart, Evan Rankin, Corey Tropp and Michael Ryan all out with injuries.  They’re also without defensemen Brayden McNabb and TJ Brennan, both currently on recall to the Sabres but both are also injured.  Those six players could make significant improvements to the team but that’s assuming the world is perfect and there were no injuries with the Sabres and that’s unrealistic for any NHL team.

So, you can point to injuries but you can also point to weaknesses in scoring that this team has had since July 1st and nothing was done about it.  Second and third line players have been expected to play top six positions and minutes.  That will not bring a team success.

As for the game itself, it went in the opposite direction of what the Rochester Americans needed to win.  The Griffins scored three goals in two minutes and 22 seconds halfway through the first period and it was enough  for the Griffins to eventually win the game by the final score of 4-1.  Derek Whitmore scored his first goal in seven games early in the second period but it wasn’t enough of a spark to get the team back into the game.

The Griffins press release gives a pretty good description of the three goals:

The Griffins abused the glove of Rochester netminder David Leggio in the opening period, whipping three shots past it in a span of 2:22. Fabian Brunnstrom started the scoring at the 9:17 mark, bringing the puck across the Amerks’ line on a 2-on-1 and firing it high into the corner of the cage from the right circle.

Brent Raedeke and Johnson then combined for the Griffins’ fastest two goals this season. Wide-open in the right circle, Raedeke cradled a long cross-ice pass from Janik and snuck a shot just beneath the crossbar at 11:15. Only 24 seconds later, Johnson was alone in the slot when he took a feed from Chris Conner out of the left corner and deposited the puck inside the right post.

And that was more than enough to hold on to control of the game.

Derek Whitmore had not scored a goal or tallied an assist in seven games but broke that drought with the Amerks only goal of the game at 5:59 of the second period.  Whitmore was near the front of the net and was able to bury a Drew Schiestel rebound.  Phil Varone was also given an assist.

Zack Kassian had a great chance early in the third period trying to back hand the puck into an opening but Griffins goaltender Joey MacDonald robbed him with a super glove save.  Shawn Szydlowski also had a couple of scoring chances but MacDonald made the save on those as well

Igor Gongalsky tried to create a spark in the game by getting into a fight with Sebastien Piche of the Griffins, as seen here (ignore Don Stevens saying Minard):

Travis Turnbull also tried to get feisty in an attempt to fight Trevor Parkes but Parkes didn’t want anything to do with him and Turnbull went to the penalty box by himself.

The Griffins made the score 4-1 thanks to a power play goal from former Rochester Americans defenseman Doug Janik.  Janik rifled a shot from the blue line past Leggio.  It looked as if Leggio was screened on the play so give credit to Janik for getting his through to the net without hitting anyone else..

Rochester was scoreless on four power play opportunities and have now failed to score in any of their 18 previous power play opportunities.  They only had three shots total during their first three power play chances of the game.  Everyone hates when someone yells “shooooooot it” but sometimes that can be the only way to create a scoring chance with a man advantage.

The Griffins defense and goaltending was better and it shows in the score.  Leggio made 32 saves but was left vulnerable by the defense.  Corey Fienhage and Drew Schiestel were on the ice for the first two goals, Biega and Crawford for the third and Finley and Morrisonn trying to kill the penalty on the fourth goal.

One of the things that Rolston has preached from his first day was that a team needs to win from goaltending on up and that just isn’t happening.

The Amerks left Grand Rapids on their sleeper bus for a long 10 hour bus ride home before they play Syracuse on Friday and Toronto on Saturday afternoon.

Griffins 3 Goals in Under 3 Minutes Defeats Amerks; Gongalsky vs Piche is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

The news leading up to the game was that Michael Ryan would finally be back in the lineup after missing 35 games.  Well, he wasn’t.  He looked fine at the morning skate and Rolston even talked about him playing after practice.  Because of those two things I was expecting to see him but when the team came out for warmups one of the players missing was Ryan.  Jacob Legace wasn’t expected to play either but did given the opening in the roster.  Ryan in the lineup probably wouldn’t have been a game changer but he would’ve helped.

Alex Biega made one of the better plays of the game going one on one against Ryan Keller who was rushing into the Amerks zone.  Biega was able to slow Keller and push the play away from the net but followed up a great play with a poor play by being called for a hooking penalty.  The Amerks penalty kill is 23rd in the league but did a great job killing it off.

The Amerks scored first in the game at 7:53 of the first period when Paul Szczechura scored his fifth goal of the season.  Jacob Legace made a quick pass to Zack Kassian in front of the Barons net where he attempted to redirect the pass into the net.  Yann Danis made a great save on the redirect but his momentum took him out of position and Szczechura skated into the slot and put away the rebound.

Oklahoma City scored just over two minutes later at 9:58 of the first period when Hunter Tremblay slid the puck through the five hole of Leggio.  The play started when a Barons player fired the puck from across the blue line at Leggio as they went to make a line change  Leggio made the save and like most goalies would do he dished the puck off to the side of the net but the Amerks weren’t able to clear it and it resulted in a goal.  The second Barons goal scored by Mark Acrobello was a shot from the point on a delayed power play that was tipped past Leggio to give them a 2-1 lead.

The rest is pretty much history.. The Barons continued to go at the net and keep the defense out of position which allowed them to score goals.  The fourth Barons goals came after Jonathan Parker made a perfect tape to tape pass in the neutral zone to a Barons played who went in to score.  Parker wasn’t seen on the ice for some time after that.

The Barons defense was able to do what the Amerks couldn’t and that was keep control of the middle section of the ice in front of their goaltender Yann Danis.  Their defense was also able to successfully move the puck out of their own end and create plays down the ice.  The Amerks defense had struggles all night doing that.

Travis Turnbull scored at 18:52 of the second period to make it a 5-2 game.  The goal was scored off of a faceoff only 11 seconds after the Barons fifth goal was scored by Teemu Hartikainen.  Turnbull split the defense down the middle and put a back handed shot past Danis.  That was the last of the offense the team could put together.

Yann Danis was excellent in net throughout the game with the highlights coming in the second period when he robbed Paul Szczechura with an excellent glove save and then shortly after did the same thing to Marcus Foligno.  If those two shots had gone in the game would’ve been 4-3 in favor of the Barons and likely changed the flow of it.

If the Amerks are going to win on Friday night they’ll need to find a way to get the play in the Barons zone.  Seems pretty basic and simple.

A few other items about the game…

Newcomer Brock Matheson came out of the penalty box late in the second period and Paul Szczechura saw this and sent a great pass up ice to Matheson who should’ve had a breakaway.  Matheson didn’t appear to expect that and the chance went out the window.

The Amerks did a great job killing off a two man advantage the Barons had late in the second period.  Matheson and Turnbull were in the box at the same time for delay of game penalties, something that could be avoided.

The Amerks power play is ranked 22nd in the AHL and it showed.  They had six chances but weren’t able to score on any of them.

Leggio stopped 29 of 34 shots on net allowing five goals.  It’ll be interesting to see if Rolston starts Leggio again or gives the start to MacIntyre.  Leggio didn’t play poorly by any means but MacIntyre will get a start either Friday or Saturday night.

Zack Kassian again had a less than stellar game.  He assisted on the first Amerks goal of the game but that was one of the few highlights.  He isn’t playing physical and he doesn’t seem to be playing with the same edge and grit that he had against the Binghamton Senators and Hershey Bears two weeks ago.  What’s the answer?  Get some players back in the lineup like Colin Stuart and Evan Rankin so that Kassian isn’t expected to be a top line scorer.  That’s not his game but it’s what’s being expected of him and it’s likely throwing him off.

The defense consisting of Alex Biega, Dennis Persson, Corey Fienhage, Nick Crawford, Maury Edwards and Brock Matheson will have to be better on Friday if the Amerks are to win.  The puck drops at 7:35pm, see you there!

Amerks Using a Mulligan after 5-2 Loss to the Barons, Try Again Friday is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

This team has needed the goalie to steal wins and the win against Hamilton could be considered one of those games.  Right now that goal is David Leggio and he’ll have more starts on the horizon.

Back to the win over Hamilton.. the Amerks are now 9-0-1-0 when leading after two periods of play.  When this team can find a way to build a lead they’ve done an outstanding job of holding on to it.

Mark Voakes put the Amerks on the board first with his fifth goal of the season at 19:27 of the first period.  Shawn Szydlowski had control of the puck along the boards and sent a pass to Nick Crawford on the other side of the ice who was able to quickly put the puck onto the stick of Voakes who beat the Bulldogs goaltender Robert Mayer.

Marcus Foligno scored 17 seconds into the second period for his 11th goal of the season with a tip in past Mayer.  Foligno brought the puck across the blue line with Alex Henry trailing behind him but he was able to backhand a pass to Phil Varone who then put the puck right back at the tip of the stick for Foligno who was able to deflect the pass into the net.

The only goal of the game for the Hamilton Bulldogs was scored by Phil DeSimone who was standing all by himself on the far side of the crease to redirect a pass from Garrett Stafford into the net.  Alex Biega was trying to fend off the rush of Stafford and as TJ Brennan tried to step up to help it left DeSimone wide open.

With just three minutes left in the game there was some pushing and shoving in the corner on the Bulldogs end of the ice due to Jonathan Parker being called for a boarding penalty.  As David Leggio watched Robert Mayer skate into the mess he slowly strolled out closer and closer to the blue line keeping a close eye on the situation.  Referee Chris Ciamaga quickly ordered Mayer back to his crease at which point Leggio also skated back but not before he shook his stick in the “I’m watching you” kind of way.

The boarding call by Parker was likely the right call by the referee but not the right call by Parker with the score so close and such little time left on the board.  The team was able to kill off the penalty and then Marcus Foligno scored an empty netter to secure the win.

There’s no quitting for this team and they stand behind one another through the great calls and even bad calls and bad decisions.  It’s a hard working team that knows they’ll have to stay disciplined and fight their way to every point possible in the standings.  There’s obviously still some questions and concerns but it’s a team everyone can root for and in return they’ll give us everything they have.

A few other thoughts/notes…

** Jonathan Parker probably came as close as he has to scoring a goal since October in the second period when one of his shots went off the right goal post. He did get an assist on the empty net goal by Foligno, his first point since October 16th.

** Hamilton Bulldogs tough guy Zack FitzGerald appeared to be running his mouth for a lot of the game trying to challenge Maxime Legault and Riley Boychuk at various times but neither of them were willing.  This is where Joe Finley would’ve come in handy to either put the guy in his place or make him think twice about even going down that path.

** Joe Finley had been called up on Saturday to the Buffalo Sabres to fill in for an injured Brayden McNabb.

** Zack Kassian seemed to be somewhere else this weekend.  Maybe it was too many questions from the media at practice on Thursday about his time in Buffalo or something else but he just didn’t seem like the same Kassian who played with fire against Binghamton and Hershey a week prior.  He wasn’t very physical, made poor decisions with his passes and even on one instance put little effort into a shot after Paul Szczechura passed the puck to him.

** The Amerks had their first back to back games of 6,000+ fans in a very long long time.  There may be numbers out there saying it’s happened but when it comes to people in the seats it’s been a while.  The game on Friday game had 6,456 and on Saturday they had 6,305.  Way to go Rochester, especially during the first real sign of winter.  There’s a lot of great reasons to see the team play and the word seems to be spreading.

** Igor Gongalsky missed his second straight game after a knee on knee collision with Jacob MicFlikier of the Hershey Bears.

** Corey Fienhage has only played in eight games this season but has worked his way into the lineup on Saturday and played a respectable game.

** A mid season report card is on the way within the next 48 hours.

Leggio Leads the Amerks to the Second Half of the Season with a Win is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

(photo courtesy of Sweetest Hockey on Earth, a Hershey Bears site similar to this one)

It was a successful weekend for the Amerks picking up four out of a possible six points in the standings.  They lost in the shootout on Friday against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and defeated the Binghamton Senators on Saturday.  I’ve often said not so nice things about the quality of video that you get purchasing an away game on AHL Live but the service has improved drastically this season and with the way this team has been playing the $6.99 is well worth it if you can afford it.

Back to the game.. The Bears controlled just about every aspect of the game, it often looked like they were on the powerplay when the teams were at even strength.  The Amerks just could not get it out of their own end.  Hershey took advantage of just about every loose puck or misplay that occurred on the ice.  At one point TJ Brennan tried to take an extra stride into the Bears zone to get the puck but was beat to it and the Bears took it the other direction for a fast break.  David Leggio was great all night stopping that fast break and eventually making 49 saves by the time the night was over.

Patrick McNeill scored first for the Bears at 5:56 of the second period with a shot from center ice near the top of the face off circle.  Leggio appeared screened on the power play goal and didn’t get a view of it.  Even if he wasn’t screened it was an excellent shot by McNeill.  Christian Hanson scored a shorthanded goal at 11:32 of the second period.  David Leggio made the first save but the rebound went behind the net where Hanson shot it back and it appeared to go off of Leggio and in.

The game was almost 2-1 in the second period when Corey Tropp put the puck past Holtby but it was waived off due to a penalty called on the Amerks.

Zack Kassian has made his return known tallying two goals and an assist on Sunday and on Saturday he had one assist.  Kassian got the Amerks within one goal off of the first face off of the third period scoring 15 seconds in.  Paul Szczechura won the initial face off and got the puck to Phil Varone.  Varone brought the puck up the boards into the Bears zone and passed the puck to Kassian who was skating in down the middle where he was able to get off an initial shot and then tapped in his own rebound as it dropped next to the post.  The goal was part hard work and part Braden Holtby not able to control the puck.  It was a power play goal off a Bears penalty from the 2nd that carried into the 3rd.

It could have been very easy for the Amerks to start to slow down after being ran all over the ice but they did the opposite, they came out with fresh legs and made it a hockey game.  The Sunday afternoon game of a three in three weekend for teams can often be a snooze fest but this game was far from that.

TJ Brennan scored another power play goal at 4:26 of the third period to tie the game 2-2 with assists to Zack Kassian and Marcus Foligno.  Kassian was along the boards and with a backhanded behind the back pass got it to Brennan who took it to the slot and put a wrist shot past Holtby.  Excellent pass by Kassian and even better shot by Brennan who was trailing the play.

After that Brennan goal the Hershey Bears took a timeout to try and settle themselves as the game was finally going in the Amerks direction.

The Bears took a 3-2 lead at 12:55 of the third period when Patrick McNeill scored his second goal of the game with a slap shot that appeared to hit the right post and go into the net.

Something finally went in favor of the Amerks when the Bears iced the puck with 1:19 left in the third period.  It gave them a great opportunity to take Leggio off of the ice with the face off at the other end.

Paul Szczechura took the face off and won it which set the game winning goal in motion.  The Amerks got off a couple of shots and they were able to move the puck around the Bears zone before it eventually got to the stick of TJ Brennan.  From the blue line Brennan passed it across the ice to Alex Biega who fired a shot from the point.  Holtby made the initial save but the puck fell dead to the ice where Zack Kassian was camped out waiting and put it into the net to tie the game 3-3 with only 61 seconds left on the clock.

The game could’ve been over in regulation at that point but for the next 61 seconds both teams continued playing going for the win instead of the guaranteed one point but neither scored and it went to overtime.

Jacob MicFlikier was given a penalty shot only seven seconds into OT after supposedly being taken down by Joe Finley.  We all know Finley’s a legend but the way his stick was on MicFlikier and the way MicFlikier went down is debatable.  Finley’s stick was up and on him but I don’t see how it sent him to the ice like it did.  Either way, Leggio came up big making the save.

Shaone Morrisonn was called for tripping at 3:52 in overtime to give the Bears a four on three advantage for the rest of the overtime session.  The Amerks were able to fend off the Bears to send it into a shootout.  It was a bad penalty to take in overtime but at the same time it may have prevented a goal by the Bears player streaking across the blue line with the puck.

In the shootout Zack Kassian was the only player to score but TJ Brennan and Paul Szczechura both came close hitting posts.  Corey Tropp and Derek Whitmore also made attempts.

Keith Aucoin and Cody Eakin scored for the Bears in the skills competition for the win.  Ryan Potulny and Kyle Greentree also made attempts.

A few other notes..

** After this game it’s probably safe to say that David Leggio will get the start on Friday when the Amerks play the Toronto Marlies.  Leggio was impressive with 49 saves on the night.  The goals that were scored on him were excellent shots by skilled Bears players.

** As the game was winding down Igor Gongalsky left the game after colliding knee to knee with Jacob MicFlikier.  Questionable play by MicFlikier who appeared to stick his leg out to slow down Gongalsky.  No word on the extent of the injury.

** Maxime Legault also didn’t appear to play at all or very little after the first period. No other info available right now on that.

** Rochester finished the weekend with four out of six points, a win and two shootout losses.  It’s another one goal loss but shows again how close this team could be with another goal scorer.  The team is still far away from being considered an “elite team” like the Bears but they’re competitive and that’s what matters.

** The team is now tied for 8th place in the Western Conference with the Peoria Rivermen, both teams are at 39 points.  The Hamilton Bulldogs are only two points behind the Amerks.  It’s likely going to continue to be a close race for the second half of the season and every one of these points will make important.

** It looks like tickets are selling well for games next weekend against Toronto and Hamilton so if you haven’t purchased them yet I’d do that now to get some decent seats and avoid any last minute lines.

Amerks Comeback Takes the Bears to the Shootout; Successful Weekend is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 7, 2011

VARONE, LEGGIO POWER AMERKS TO 3-2 WIN OVER B-SENS

(Rochester, NY)… Rochester Americans rookie forward Phil Varone scored a pair of goals, including the game-winner, and David Leggio made a season-high 44 saves to power the Amerks to a 3-2 win over the defending Calder Cup champion Binghamton Senators tonight at Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena. The win improves Rochester (15-13-4-2) to 3-1-0-0 this season against the B-Sens as it has now collected points in six of its last seven games.

The two-goal effort was the first multi-goal game for Varone, who also extended his point streak to six games. The game also featured the return of forward Zack Kassian and defenseman T.J. Brennan, who were reassigned to Rochester earlier this morning. Kassian made an immediate impact in his first game back in the lineup, assisting on Varone’s first goal of the game and finishing with a +1 rating.

Andre Petersson (1+1) and Corey Locke (0+2) each notched two points for the Senators, who also received a 25-save performance from goaltender Mike McKenna in the losing effort.

The Amerks took a 1-0 lead at 13:57 of the first period with a power-play goal from Varone, who became the lucky recipient off a goal-mouth scramble. With Binghamton’s Corey Cowick sitting two minutes for slashing, Kassian darted to the net from the left corner looking to sneak a shot in on the short-side, but a poke check from McKenna denied Kassian the scoring chance.

The puck would make its way to Varone stationed to the left of the crease and the rookie forward finished the play flipping a shot over a sprawled McKenna for his fourth goal of the season. With the goal, Varone has now found the back of the net in three straight games and extends his point streak to a career-best six games. Kassian, playing his first game back in an Amerks uniform since November 19, earned the lone assist on the play.

Binghamton’s Rob Klinkhammer evened the game up at one midway through the middle frame as he converted on his own rebound for his team-leading 12th goal of the season. After gaining entry into the Rochester zone along the left wing boards, Klinkhammer sent a shot on goal only to be knocked down by Leggio. The rebound, however, would fortunately land on his stick and Klinkhammer, facing no defensive pressure, skated across the net-front uncontested and put a nifty backhander under the crossbar at the 10:00 mark. Petersson and Locke each earned assists on the goal.

Igor Gongalsky gave the Amerks a 2-1 lead just 1:06 into the final frame with a shorthanded breakaway goal. Maxime Legault capitalized on an offensive turnover and sent an outlet pass to Gongalsky, who tucked the puck through the legs of McKenna for his first goal as an Amerk. The goal comes a night after Gongalsky helped set up Legault’s shorthanded tally at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Friday night. Gongalsky, with the Amerks on a professional tryout, now shows points in back-to-games for the first time this season.

The B-Sens would rally again just over five minutes later as Petersson deflected Eric Gryba’s shot from the right point for his 10th goal of the campaign and second point of the night to make it a 2-2 game. Locke would also record his second point of the night with an assist on the goal at 6:13.

The game would remain tied for the next 2:14 until Varone’s second goal of the game would help Rochester reclaim a 3-2 advantage at 8:27. After a great individual effort by defenseman Joe Finley to keep the puck in the zone, he delivered a blast from his post on the left point through the slot, where Varone was able to get his stick on it before it crossed the goal line. Finley would get the only assist on the goal, which proved to be the game-winner.

Rochester appeared to double its lead to 4-2 minutes later, but referee Ryan Murphy waved the goal off due to Travis Turnbull’s incidental contact with McKenna.

The B-Sens nearly tied the game in the waning minutes of the final frame, but a solid penalty-kill by the Amerks, who were down two men, and an impervious Leggio, who came up with several keys saves late in the game, thwarted any comeback attempts from a desperate Binghamton team.

The oldest rivalry in the American Hockey League will be renewed on Sunday, January 8 as Rochester collides with the Hershey Bears at Giant Center in the first of two gatherings between the league’s oldest teams this season. The 5:00 p.m. contest marks the 443rd regular season meeting in league history between the AHL’s cornerstone franchises and will be broadcast live on 107.3 FM and 1280 AM, Rochester’s Sports Talk. The Amerks are 184-205-53 all-time against the Bears after splitting the 2010-11 season series with a 2-2-0-0 mark with Hershey.

Varone and Leggio Lead Amerks to 3-2 Win Over B-Sens is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

The game started with both teams skating back and forth for the first 10:48 before the first whistle of the game and then they finished the first period in under a half hour.  At 17:11 of the first period Marcus Foligno put the puck on goaltender Brad Thiessen who tried to go for the glove side but it went off the edge of his glove.  The puck landed to the side of the net where Phil Varone was skating in and scored for his third of the season.

Jason Williams tied the game at 11:07 of the second period with a shot from the slot beating MacIntyre low stick side.  At 16:18 of the second period Alex Grant put the Pens up 2-1 with a shot from the left point that went five hole on MacIntyre.  It was a low shot that somehow made it through a bunch of feet and MacIntyre couldn’t close his pads quick enough.

It only took a minute and 12 seconds into the third period for the Amerks to tie the game 2-2 thanks to a goal by Derek Whitmore.  Shawn Szydlowski had taken the initial shot and Whitmore was there (like he always is) for the rebound and scored his 15th goal of the season.

If only this team had more goal scorers like Whitmore.

The game was tied 2-2 until Maxime Legault stole the puck from Penguins goalie Brad Thiessen and scored short handed to put the Amerks up 3-2.  Thiessen had his back turned outside of the crease about to pass the puck behind the net but appeared to hesitate for a moment as Legault went in and Legault was able to steal it.  Legault circled around and was able to put the puck into the net before Thiessen could get back into position.

The Penguins still had a five on three for 53 seconds but the Amerks were able to kill that off.  Unfortunately as time was winding down on the second penalty the puck was loose in front of the Amerks net and no one was able to clear it out but Eric Tangradi swooped in and was able to put his stick on it and beat MacIntyre.

There was just over five minutes to play in the third with the game tied and the Amerks were going on the power play, perfect time of the game to put it away.  The power play wasn’t meant to be though and the Amerks were called for what should be the most avoidable penalty in the game, too many men on the ice.

The shootout took eight rounds with only Paul Szczechura and Jonathan Parker scoring for the Amerks.  Geoff Walker, Bryan Lerg and Eric Tangradi scored for the Penguins to win the game.

A questionable move was having Marcus Foligno and Nick Crawford take shots in the shootout before Jacob Legace.  It’s possible those two have some moves in practice but when it comes to game situations they aren’t too fancy.  The loss can’t be blamed on choices made during the shootout but it’s questionable.  Jonathan Parker can score in the shootout but he still can’t find the back of the net during regulation.  One of these games the hockey gods will look upon Parker and Szydlowski and have something go their way.

Overall it was a close game back and forth but special teams were a factor with the Amerks going 0/4 on the power play meanwhile the Penguins were 2/6.

Rochester is getting on the bus and heading to Binghamton for a game on Saturday night and then heading to Hershey on Sunday.

Another One Goal Loss, Pens Defeat Amerks in the Shootout is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.

I don’t have the time to do a typical post game report so here’s a few random thoughts:

** This was the Amerks 11th loss by one goal.  Include a game where an empty netter was scored and it’s really their 12th.  There’s probably a few ways you can look at a stat like that.  Is it due to goaltending letting in one too many soft goals?  Typically the case.  Is it due to the lack of a real finisher that can be relied on to score a goal when needed?  That’s also an issue.  Either way it shows how close the games continue to be.

** It wasn’t awesome to see Derek Whitmore hit hard into the boards but it was awesome to see him get right back up and drop the gloves.

** Marcus Foligno was everywhere tonight.  Great pass to Phil Varone for the the second goal of the game.

** The Bulldogs had a 5 on 3 power play and the crowd was the loudest at that point.  Unfortunately the Bulldogs scored but the building got behind the team which was great to see.

** I typically have the “in game entertainment” tuned out but after seeing so many people complain about what they hear in Buffalo lately I paid attention a little more and have to give the Amerks some credit.  When the crowd was trying to chant they would play something to try and fuel that.  They didn’t just go to some promotion and kill any momentum.  There’s always work to do and you can never please everyone but whoever is in charge does a good job.

** Mitch Wahl has a wicked shot and Drew MacIntyre gave him the openings to put the puck in.  MacIntyre isn’t playing like the veteran goaltender he’s supposed to be.

** Mark Voakes and Travis Turnbull lost some blood tonight but got right back into the games.  Two players that put their bodies out there on every shift.

** The players all said that the large crowd gave them instant energy which is awesome. It was noticeable too at the way they didn’t let down all game.  Hopefully everyone in the building isn’t put off by the loss and will come back.  At least it wasn’t as bad as the opening night loss in front of a large crowd.

** The game was tied 4-4 after two periods so it was an interesting coaching move by Ron Rolston changing things up and putting David Leggio in net.  He knew he needed to make some sort of change and went with it.

** TJ Brennan is being called up due to Christian Ehrhoff being injured with the Sabres tonight and it’s being reported that Ehrhoff will be out for “weeks.”

Sorry for the lack of a more in depth post game story, I’ll return with one next game.

The Amerks are off until next weekend when they play three games in a row in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Binghamton and Hershey.

A Few Random Postgame Thoughts, Another One Goal Loss for the Amerks is a post from: Let's Go Amerks!. For discussion visit the forums at LetsGoAmerks.com/Forums.