Amerks Drop Third Straight in 3-1 Loss to Bears
November 15, 2015 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release
(Hershey, PA)... The Rochester Americans and Hershey Bears renewed their longtime rivalry Sunday at Giant Center in the 449th all-time meeting between the AHL's two oldest teams. Despite a brilliant 28-save effort from Amerks goaltender Nathan Lieuwen, the senior Bears prevailed with a 3-1 win over the visiting Amerks, who concluded their three-game weekend swing through the Keystone State winless and fall to 6-8-0-0 on the season.
Hershey's Garrett Mitchell broke a 1-1 tie with 3:47 remaining in the third and Zach Sill added an empty-netter with 46 seconds to spare to help the Bears to their first victory at home since Nov. 1. Paul Carey opened the scoring in the win for Hershey and veteran netminder Dan Ellis finished with 25 saves on 26 shots en route to his fourth win of the season.
Second-year forward William Carrier scored the lone goal for the snake-bitten Amerks, who have been held to just a single goal in each of their last three games, while Bobby Sanguinetti recorded an assist for the second straight game.
Rochester escaped a rather one-sided first period that saw the Bears hold the Amerks to a season-low two shots on goal despite a four-minute power-play opportunity for the visitors late in the frame.
Lieuwen was excellent from the start for the Amerks, stopping all 12 shots he faced from Hershey, including a spectacular glove save on an attempt from Nathan Walker off a 2-on-1 fast break. Lieuwen was tested again just minutes after a goal-mouth scramble led to a barrage of shots from the aggressive Bears forwards, but the Rochester netminder reeled off another impressive series of saves to keep it a scoreless game with 6:29 to play in the opening period.
The Amerks appeared to take a 1-0 lead over their hosts after nifty stick work from defenseman Matt Donovan, who after taking a quick pass from Phil Varone, maneuvered his way through the Hershey defense and spun a back-hander on net that looked to sneak by Ellis. The play would ultimately go to video review, where it was quickly determined the puck never made it past the Bears goaltender.
Hershey's persistence would eventually payoff, however, as Carey broke the stalemate a short time later when he received a long stretch pass from Aaron Ness and capitalized on a breakaway opportunity to give the Bears a 1-0 lead on their first goal in 199:14.
Carrier evened the score 6:54 into the third period when his attempted backhand pass through the low slot caromed off the skate of Bears defenseman Travis Boyd and in, making it 1-1.
The Bears regained the lead later in the frame when Mitchell took matters into his own hands before snapping home his third of the season at 16:13. After Varone missed wide of the net off a give-and-go setup with Jason Akeson, the puck zipped around the end boards until it was collected by Mitchell, who proceeded out of his own zone along the right wing boards. Using a defenseman as a decoy, Mitchell out-waited Lieuwen before picking the upper left corner to put the Bears in front, 2-1.
Rochester pulled Lieuwen for the extra attacker with 1:30 to play in the third period, but Sill iced the game into the empty-net 45 seconds later as the Bears handed the Amerks their third straight loss on the weekend.
Rochester returns home on Wednesday, Nov. 18 to host the North Division rival Toronto Marlies at The Blue Cross Arena for the first of two meetings on the week and the second of eight on the season. Following Wednesday's game, the same two teams will face-off again on Saturday at Toronto's Ricoh Coliseum. Wednesday's contest, which is Rochester's first home game since Nov. 6, will be broadcast live on FOX Sports 1280 Rochester.
Goal Scorers
RCH: Carrier (2)
HER: Carey (5), Mitchell (3), Sill (2)
Shots
RCH: 26
HER: 31
Goaltenders
RCH: Lieuwen - L (28/30)
HER: Ellis - W (25/26)
Specials Teams
Amerks Power Play: 0-7
Amerks Penalty Kill: 3-3
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