AHL Rochester Americans

Amerks Battle Back But Lose with Late Push by Moose

Published on March 29, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


(Rochester, NY)... Despite battling back with a shorthanded goal late in the second, Bill Sweatt's second goal of the game on the power-play with less than 30 seconds left in regulation lifted the Manitoba Moose past the Rochester Americans 3-2 tonight at the MTS Centre in downtown Winnipeg. With the loss, the Amerks winless streak extends to six, tying a season-high, and now show a (30-36-4-3) record, while the Moose improve to (41-27-1-5), putting them atop the North Division standings along with the Lake Erie Monsters at 86 points each.

Veteran forward Mark Cullen also skated in his 500th career American Hockey League game tonight, but doesn't have much to celebrate after Rochester's 10 th loss in its last 11 outings (1-9-1-0).

Sweatt (2+0), who scored the go-ahead goal twice for the victorious Moose, including the game-winner, earned top star honors in tonight's contest with his 18th and 19th goals of the season. He is also just one goal shy of tying fellow teammate Sergei Shirokov for leader in the category. Also adding two points was Yann Sauve (0+2), skating on the ice during both of Sweatt's goals. In addition, Jason Jaffray scored his first goal of the season during his first game with the team, good for the third star of the contest.

Eric Selleck (1+0) and Bill Thomas (1+0), who evened things at two late in the third, had the tallies for the Amerks tonight. Netminder Marc Cheverie, who suffered another loss, also posted a season-high 43 saves against Manitoba, which included 23 shots in the third period alone. The strong defensive effort between the pipes earned Cheverie the second star of the game.

After receiving a double-minor for high-sticking only seconds into the contest, Amerks forward Michael Duco left his team short-handed for the first four minutes of play in the first period. The man-advantage led to the Moose's first goal of the game at 2:42 of the period by Jaffray, in his first shift of the night. Jaffray, who was denied on his initial shot by Rochester's Cheverie, only needed to take a few more slight attempts before he found the back of the net, notching the first goal of the game on the power-play. Marco Rosa and Shirokov were credited with the assists.

Exactly two minutes later the Amerks' Selleck would answer back for Rochester and tie things up at one at 4:42. After being fed the puck from P.J. Fenton, who is seeing ice time for the first time since missing the past few games due to illness, Selleck sent a shot at Moose netminder Eddie Lack from the left-wing side. Lack made the save, but the puck then popped into mid-air and couldn't be located by the Manitoba goalie, dropping behind him and into the net for the evener. The goal was Selleck's third of the year.

The Moose regained the lead scoring their second tally of the first when Sweatt scored his 18th goal of the season at 14:33. Upon a pass from winger Guillaume Desbiens, Sauve picked up the puck in the corner and centered it to Sweatt. Sweatt then sent a shot toward Cheverie stick-side, who made the save, but was unable to hold on to the rebound. Sweatt wouldn't be denied on his second go at the net, making the score 2-1.

Rochester had another opportunity to again even things out at the close of the first when Desbiens was sent to the box for an interference call at 18:15, but it was unable to make any offensive progress. The inability to utilize the power-play left the Amerks at 0-23 in their last five games.

After a scoreless second period, the Amerks found themselves with a single-digit amount of shots in the stanza for a two-period total of 18, while Manitoba dished out nine, for 23 throughout two. Also, with two more power-play attempts behind them in the second, Rochester is now 0-25 and counting through five games.

Rochester's Thomas then broke the silence between the clubs with an unassisted, shorthanded goal at 13:21 of the final frame, locking the score at two. After spending the majority of the period in the Amerks' zone, Thomas came up with the breakaway, faking a backhander to the left side of Lack. He then drew the puck back to the opposite side of the net for the forehanded shot just inside the right post. The goal gives Thomas six points (3+3) in his last seven games, including one goal and one assist during his promotion with the parent Florida Panthers. He also extends his point streak to three games.

The power-play would doom the Amerks from both ends of things though, as T.J. Fast's high-sticking call at 18:07 would lead to the game-winner by Sweatt. The game-winner broke the tie with only 23 seconds to go in the game and put the Moose at 2-for-5 on the power-play for the night in what became a 3-2 Manitoba decision.

The Amerks and Moose will meet again Wednesday night in the second of back-to-back tilts between the North Division rivals at the MTS Centre. Faceoff is slated for an 8:30 p.m. EST start and will be carried live on Sports Radio 1280 WHTK and FM 107.3, Rochester's Sports Talk.

Check out the Rochester Americans Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Hockey League Stories from March 29, 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.

OurSports Central