May 20, 2013
66
Games Today




Amerks Scared Away by Monsters in 6-4 Loss; Drop Fourth Straight

January 16, 2011 - American Hockey League (AHL) Rochester Americans

(Rochester, NY)... Despite three unanswered power-play goals, the Rochester Americans were unable to defend the offensively-fueled Lake Erie Monsters, who scored two goals in each period and defeated the Amerks 6-4 tonight at The Blue Cross Arena. With the loss, Rochester falls to 17-21-2-2 and has now lost four in a row, including a loss to the Monsters to start the weekend. With the win, Lake Erie improves to 19-19-3-4 and has posted three straight wins in as many nights to cap off a perfect weekend.

Mark Olver (2+0), who passed Ryan Stoa's team-leading goal count (14), added two, including the game winner, scoring his 14th and 15th goals of the season and earned top-star honors in tonight's contest for Lake Erie. Justin Mercier (1+0), Harrison Reed (1+0) and Patrick Rissmiller (1+0) also added goals in the offensive blast for the Monsters.

Rochester's Mike Kostka (1+1) and Joe Callahan (1+1) both had a multi-point game for the Amerks, earning the second and third star on the night, respectively. Chris Taylor (0+2) also contributed two assists on the night.

The Monsters struck first in the contest on a goal by Olver just 2:57 into the opening frame. After an attempted pass by Kostka alluded teammate PJ Fenton, the puck squirted out into the high slot right to Olver, who rifled a shot to the top corner past netminder Tyler Plante. The tally was the third in as many games for the 23 year old forward.

Lake Erie extended its lead to 2-0 at 8:28 with a shorthanded goal, the league-high 11th surrendered on the season by Rochester. Mercier carried the puck into the attacking zone and drove wide around Kostka before beating Plante to the short-side with a wrister from the left face-off dot.

Reed gave the Monsters a three-goal advantage just 2:32 into the middle stanza. After the Amerks turned the puck over high in their own zone, the Lake Erie centerman grabbed it and fired it past Plante for his opening goal of the season. Patrick Bordeleau also earned a point with the helper.

The Amerks responded with a goal of their own just under two minutes later. Upon a pass from Jordan Knackstedt, Michael Duco broke his five-game scoreless streak by chipping in his team-leading 13th goal of the year past Monsters goaltender John Grahame. AJ Jenks also assisted on the goal.

Lake Erie quickly regained their three-goal lead with a tally by Walter at 5:51. Stoa gained possession of the puck behind the Rochester net and dished it straight to Greg Mauldin, who was standing by at the right wing side. Mauldin then sent a pass to Walter stationed in front of the net and redirected the puck in the net behind Markstrom, who replaced Plante earlier in the period. The goal was Walter's 13th of the season.

Kostka redeemed himself with his sixth goal of the year at 11:34 on the man-up. The defenseman's power-play blast from the blueline beat Grahame and put the Amerks back within two. On the play, Callahan picked up his 100thprofessional point of his career by adding an assist, while Taylor also contributed a helper.

Less than two minutes into the third period, Rochester used the power-play to their advantage to score back-to-back unanswered goals. The first came at 1:56 of the frame from Clay Wilson. After Taylor fed the puck to Bill Thomas, Thomas handled the puck around the back of the net and tried to sneak the puck in the gap between Grahame and the right post. Grahame came up with the initial block, but Wilson was able to pick up the rebound and finish the play.

The third straight goal on the man-advantage for the Amerks came next at 3:38 to even things out at 4-4. Bates Battaglia, who finally contributed his first point for the Amerks in more than a month, sent a back-handed pass to Callahan at the goal-mouth where he deposited it past Grahame for his second point of the night. Taylor also picked up his second point on the night with an assist.

The Monsters wouldn't let the score stay even for long, regaining the lead at 10:01. Olver stole the puck from Thomas and sailed back into the Amerks' zone where he sent a shot flying over Markstrom's right shoulder for the 5-4 lead and what ended up being the game decider.

With less than 30 seconds remaining, Lake Erie's Patrick Rissmiller sent an unassisted goal into the empty net after the Amerks attempted to pull Markstrom in hopes of tying the game. The goal was Rissmiller's ninth of the season and left the game at a 6-4 final.

The Amerks head north of the border on Tuesday, January 18th for a 7:00 p.m. bout with the North Division-leading Hamilton Bulldogs at Copps Coliseum. The contest will be the sixth of 10 meetings this season between the longtime rivals and can be heard live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK and FM 107.3, Rochester's Sports Talk.

• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...
• Digg this story
• Add to Del.icio.us


American Hockey League Stories from January 16, 2011


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.