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 Rochester Americans

Amerks End Skid with 3-2 Overtime Win over Bridgeport

November 20, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


Rochester Captain Cal O'Reilly factored in on both regulation goals, assisting on the first by Nick Baptiste and scoring the second to help the Amerks build a 2-0 lead. Evan Rodrigues and Justin Bailey each notched assists in the win and Andrey Makarov started for the second straight game, stopping 23 of 25 shots he faced for his second win of the season.

Jared Gomes and Ryan Stome provided the scoring for the Sound Tigers, who at one point wiped out a two-goal deficit, while Christopher Gibson made 19 saves in the losing effort.

The teams appeared to be headed to a clean sheet after a tight first period, but the Amerks would eventually break through with O'Reilly setting up Baptiste for the game's first goal with just eight seconds remaining in the opening frame. A failed clearing attempt by the Sound Tigers quickly turned in Rochester's favor as O'Reilly scooped up a loose puck along the right wing boards before hitting an oncoming Baptiste with a perfect cross-ice pass that eluded two Bridgeport defensemen. The rookie forward caught the pass in stride and ripped a one-timer by Gibson on the short side to give the Amerks a 1-0 lead heading into the break.

After single-handedly setting up Rochester's first tally, O'Reilly again took matters into his own hands, going top shelf on a breakaway opportunity to extend the Amerks lead to a pair at 13:35 of the second period. Rodrigues earned the lone assist on O'Reilly's third of the year after picking the pocket of Bridgeport defenseman Ryan Pulock to spring his captain free up the center of the ice.

Rochester's two-goal lead wouldn't last long, however, as the Sound Tigers answered on the very next shift to make it a 2-1 game. Justin Florek teed up a harmless shot from just inside the blueline that missed wide right of Makarov, but the rebound caromed off the end boards to Gomes, who was waiting for the put-back.

The Amerks maintained their one-goal advantage for most of the third period until Strome scored the equalizer off a tip-in of Matt Finn's point shot with just 2:26 remaining to force extra time.

At 3:03 of overtime, Bailey was able to utilize his body to force the puck free from Bridgeport's Sebastian Collberg. Using his speed to overpower the Sound Tigers defenseman, Bailey took the puck to the front of Bridgeport's net and made a last-second crossing feed to Sanguinetti, who lifted the game-winner over Gibson to give Rochester the 3-2 win.

The Amerks bring the weekend to a close on Saturday, Nov. 21 as they head north of the border for another showdown against the league-leading Toronto Marlies at Ricoh Coliseum. The 5:00 p.m. contest will be the second meeting in just four days between the North Division rivals and will be broadcast live on FOX Sports 1280 Rochester.


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