AHL Rochester Americans

Amerks Doubled Up In First Of Two With Checkers

January 27, 2023 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


(Rochester, NY) - The Rochester Americans (20-15-2-1) were unable to dig themselves out of a three-goal deficit as they dropped a 4-2 decision in the first of back-to-back meetings against the Charlotte Checkers (21-15-2-2) Friday night at The Blue Cross Arena.

Despite the loss, Rochester has won two of the first three games of the four-game season series ahead of tomorrow night's rematch with the Checkers. The Amerks remain in third place in the North Division standings.

Defenseman Lawrence Pilut, who scored Wednesday night versus Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, notched a pair of assists for his third two-point outing over his last eight games. Rookie forwards Isak Rosen and Aleksandr Kisakov both scored their fourth and fifth goals of the campaign, respectively. Linus Weissbach and Filip Cederqvist rounded out the scoring as they each recorded an assist.

Goaltender Malcolm Subban (10-5-0) made his 16th appearance of the season but suffered the loss despite making 24 saves. After suffering a defeat in his season-debut on Nov. 18, the netminder has gone 10-4-1 since, including seven straight wins between Dec. 10 to Jan. 14.

Connor Bunnaman and Gerry Mayhew both recorded a pair of points as they each added a goal and an assist in the win for Charlotte. Riley Bezeau opened the scoring while Lucas Carlsson closed it with an empty netter.

Netminder Jean-Francois Berube (2-2-1) evened his record on the season as he turned aside 25 of 27.

Trailing 3-0 in the final minute of the second period, the Amerks drew a high-sticking infraction.

Rochester used the man-advantage to keep the puck inside the Charlotte zone as Weissbach flagged down a clearing attempt atop the right point. The Swedish forward dished a cross-ice pass for Pilut, who then sent a diagonal feed into the near circle for Rosen.

Rosen collected the pass before patiently picking the top right corner to put the Amerks on the board with his fourth of the slate.

With the secondary assist, Weissbach has 17 points (7+10) over his last 22 games, including eight in the last 11 games (3+6).

Rochester rode the momentum into the final frame as they pressured the Checkers for much of the third period.

The home club got rewarded for their work near the halfway point when Cederqvist kicked a pass out to Kisakov from behind the Charlotte net. The Russian rookie was initially denied but retrieved his own rebound and roofed a shot with 7:53 left in regulation.

By earning the secondary helper, Pilut has seven points (1+6) over his last eight games dating back to Jan. 7, while collecting his first assist since Dec. 31.

The Amerks tried to find some late-game heroics by pulling Subban for the extra attacker but Carlsson erased any hopes of a comeback as sealed the win with an empty net goal with 23 seconds left.

Charlotte, who outshot Rochester 14-5 in the opening period, including 9-2 in the first 12 minutes of play, carried a 2-0 goal lead into the intermission.

The Checkers opened the scoring as Patrick Giles batted down an outlet pass in the center of the ice. After Giles crossed paths with Bunnaman, the puck made its way to Bezeau, who sprinted down the right side of Rochester's zone. As Bezeau cut to the front of Subban, he tucked a shot behind the netminder for his third of the campaign.

Four minutes later Charlotte forced another turnover inside its own, Logan Hutsko skated into the offensive side of the ice on a odd-man, rush with Mayhew. After reaching the top of the circle, he lobbed a pass for Mayhew, who picked the corner to up Charlotte a 2-0 lead at the 16:02 mark.

Rochester scored a pair of goals to make it a 3-2 deficit, however, the Checkers hung on before capping off the win with an empty net goal in the final minute of regulation.

The Amerks conclude the first month of 2023 with a rematch against the Checkers on Saturday, Jan. 28 at The Blue Cross Arena. All of the action from the 6:05 p.m. contest will be carried on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.

Storyline Stripes:

Prior to tonight's game, forwards Val James and Jason Pominville were inducted into the Amerks Hall of Fame as the Class of 2023, becoming the 66th and 67th members of the prestigious club.

Goal Scorers

CLT: R. Bezeau (3), G. Mayhew (10), C. Bunnaman (8), L. Carlsson (8)

ROC: I. Rosen (4), A. Kisakov (5)

Goaltenders

CLT: J. Berube - 25/27 (W)

ROC: M. Subban - 24/27 (L)

Shots

CLT: 28

ROC: 27

Special Teams

CLT: PP (0/1) | PK (3/4)

ROC: PP (1/4) | PK (1/1)

Three Stars

1. CLT - G. Mayhew

2. CLT - C. Bunnaman

3. ROC - L. Pilut

Check out the Rochester Americans Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from January 27, 2023


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