AHL Rochester Americans

Amerks Clinch 2,000th Franchise Win In The Shootout

February 21, 2010 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


(Rochester, February 21)... Mike York scored both the equalizer and the game-deciding shootout goal to give the Amerks a 3-2 victory over the Portland Pirates for their 2,000th franchise win. With the win, the Amerks snapped a four-game skid and ended the Pirates franchise-record 11-game winning streak. The Amerks are now 32-25-2-0 (66 points), while the Pirates fall to 32-16-5-3 (72 points).

The 2,000th win makes the Amerks just the second team in the American Hockey League and only the eighth team in North American hockey history to collect as many wins. In addition to all the founding original six members of the National Hockey League, the only other AHL team to accomplish the feat is the defending Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears.

With the net empty and a Pirate in the penalty box, the Amerks forced overtime when Mike York batted in a bobbling puck with just 1.7 seconds remaining in the game. York would also go on to score the deciding goal in the shootout. Jeff Taffe finished the night with two points (1+1) while Clay Wilson also added two assists to extend his team-leading assists tally.

The Pirates took a 1-0 lead just 3:26 into the opening period as two former Amerks hooked up on a 2-on-1 break. Marc-Andre Gragnani and Mark Mancari passed back-and-forth before Gragnani capitalized on a near empty net. Tyler Ennis was also credited with an assist on the goal.

Rochester responded on an odd-man opportunity at 10:47 after Gragnani was called for closing his hand on the puck, leaving the home team with a 5-on-3 advantage. Wilson ripped a shot from the point just 20 seconds later, which bounced off goaltender J.P. Lamoureux to the stick of Taffe. The center quickly put the puck in the back of the net for the equalizer goal. Jamie Johnson also received a helper on the score. With the goal, Taffe extended his point streak to five games and Wilson continued his seven game point streak. He now has eight points (3+5) over the six-game stretch.

After a scoreless second period, the Pirates gained a 2-1 advantage on a goal from Felix Schutz. Schutz was able to knock the puck out of the air and past Amerk goaltender Alexander Salak for his 12th score of the season.

A cross-checking penalty from Portland's Mike Weber gave Rochester a 7-on-5 advantage for the final 57 seconds, which led to York's tying goal.

In the shootout, Johnson and Evgeny Dadonov also added goals to assist York and Salak who made a final stop on former Amerk Derek Whitmore to seal the win. Salak would finish the game with 20 saves for his 24th win of the season. Counterpart Lamoureux finished with 37 stops for his second shootout loss of the year.

Prior to this afternoon's matchup, the Amerks inducted Randy Cunneyworth, Jim Wiemer and Kent Weisbeck as the 46th, 47th and 48th members enshrined into the club's prestigious Hall of Fame as the Class of 2010.

Rochester closes out its season-long five-game homestand on Friday, February 26th as the Grand Rapids Griffins make their way to The Blue Cross Arena. The 7:05 p.m. contest will be the third of six meetings between the North Division rivals this season and will be carried live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK and FM 107.3, Rochester's Sports Talk. The game will also be televised live on Channel 98.

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