AHL Rochester Americans

Amerks Back In The First Place After Third-Period Comeback

Published on December 26, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


Rochester- The Rochester Americans used a three-goal third period rally to regain first place in the North Division by defeating the Hamilton Bulldogs 4-2 tonight. The Amerks were led by defenseman Keaton Ellerby's first career four-point night (1+3) and goalie Ryan Mior's 45-save effort in front of 7,083 fans at The Blue Cross Arena.

"This was a huge win for us," said Rochester defenseman Clay Wilson, who chipped in two assists.

The victory catapulted the Amerks (21-10-2-0) past the Bulldogs (19-8-2-3, 43 points) and back into the top spot in the division with 44 points. The Amerks also ended their season-high four-game losing streak. For Hamilton, the loss stopped its three-game winning streak.

Hamilton got a two-point night from center David Desharnais and 19 saves from goalie Curtis Sanford. The Bulldogs outshot Rochester 47 to 23, which included a 17-6 edge in the second period. Yet despite the disparity in shots, the game went into the third period tied at one. Mior made one of his best stops at the conclusion of the second, as he Amerks made a butterfly save on Hamilton's Desharnais with 21 seconds left in the period.

The third period opened with the Bulldogs' second power-play goal of the game. Hamilton regained the lead at 1:07 on a goal by Andre Bemoit from Ben Maxwell and Desharnais. Rochester, however, fought back and tied the game at two at 5:49 on Taffe's first of the game. Michal Repik and Ellerby assisted on the 4-on-4 goal. Taffe took a feed from Ellerby, alone in front, and tucked the puck past Sanford to tie the contest. The two would hook up again for the eventual game-winner as Ellerby ended an end-to-end rush with a pass to Taffe in the slot that he converted at 13:22. Ellerby then iced the game with an empty-net goal that originated from his own zone and crossed the goal line with two seconds left.

Hamilton held two one-goal leads tonight, including opening the game on a Mathieu Darche power-play goal at 12:19 for a 1-0 lead in the first period. Desharnais and Yannick Weber assisted on the goal. Rochester erased the deficit at 5:05 of the second period as Wilson fed Evgeny Dadonov at the right post for a tap-in goal to tie the contest at one. Ellery also assisted on the power-play marker. The assist by Ellerby was a precursor of things to come in a four-point outing.

"Mior played an amazing game back there for us and we owe a lot of the credit to him," said Ellerby. "It's a big win to start the second half of the season."

Prior to the game, the Amerks honored Taylor for registering his 1,000th career professional point on December 19th. Tonight, Taylor reached another milestone as he played in his 400th game as an Amerks, passing Les Duff for 10th on the team's all-time games played list. The Amerks remain home on Sunday, December 27th to close out their weekend against the Binghamton Senators at The Blue Cross Arena. The 5:00 p.m. matinee will be the fourth of 10 meetings between the interstate rivals can be heard live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK and FM 107.3, Rochester's Sports Talk. The game will also be televised live on Time Warner Cable SportsNet Channel 26.

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American Hockey League Stories from December 26, 2009


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