Amerks fight to continue home winning streak
February 3, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release
(Rochester, NY)... The Rochester Americans carry their season-high 10-game home winning streak into Friday night's game against the Albany River Rats at The Blue Cross Arena at the Rochester War Memorial. The 7:35 p.m. contest will be broadcast on WHTK 1280-AM and amerks.com. The game will also be televised tape delayed on Time Warner Cable Channel 98 on Saturday at noon.
Head-to-Head: Friday is the fourth and final regular season game between the two teams. Rochester leads the season series with a 3-0-0 record. The last time they met, Tom Askey made 29 saves to register a 4-0 shutout at Albany. The Amerks lead the all-time series with a 40-34-9 record.
Last Game: The Amerks won their 10th straight time at home, beating the Hamilton Bulldogs 3-2 Wednesday night. Milan Bartovic scored the game-winning goal with 14 seconds left to give the Amerks their 19th win in their last 22 games. Rochester defenseman Jeff Jillson led the way with three points (1+2).
Amerks Notes: Rochester (32-9-3-4) is tied for the best record in the AHL with the Manchester Monarchs (33-9-3-2) with 71 points. Rookie Thomas Vanek has a five-game point streak (2+4). The native of Graz, Austria, is now third in the AHL in rookie goal-scoring (18) and points (33). He also ranks fourth on the Amerks in points and leads the team with 10 power-play goals in 47 games. It was announced Thursday that Vanek will play for Austria at an Olympic Qualifier in Klagenfurt, Austria, from February 10-13.
River Rat Bites: Albany enters the contest seventh in the East Division with 34 points (12-24-5-5) in 46 games. The River Rats, however, do have five points in their last three games. Zach Parise is fourth in the AHL in rookie points with 31 (10+21) in 42 games. Dean McAmmond leads the club with 36 points (11+25) in 45 games.
Taylor Made: On Wednesday, Amerks center Chris Taylor recorded his 200th assist as an Amerk on Milan Bartovic's game-winning goal.
Amerks serve pucks instead of plates: The 2005 Amerks Celebrity Waiter Dinner & Auction will be Monday, February 28th at 5:30 p.m. at the Clarion Riverside Hotel. Join the entire Amerks Team as they "serve plates instead of pucks" to help fund a cure for CF. For further information, contact the Rochester Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation at (585) 697-0777 or Jo Anne Fournier at jfournier@cff.org. Tickets are only $45 each and can be purchased individually or in groups.
Miller Time: Rochester's Ryan Miller made 24 saves on Wednesday to earn his league-leading 26th win. This past week, the Amerks goalie was named the CCM Vector/AHL Player of the Week and the Koho AHL Goaltender of the Month. On January 28th, he notched his sixth shutout of the season, tying the franchise's single-season mark.
Next Game: Rochester remains at home, as they host the Grand Rapids Griffins at 7:35 p.m. on Saturday, February 5th. The game will be broadcast on WHTK 1280-AM and amerks.com. The Saturday contest will also air live on Time Warner Cable Channel 98.
Postgame Party: After Saturday's game, fans can stop by The Distillery (1142 Mt. Hope Ave.) for the official Amerks Postgame Party.
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American Hockey League Stories from February 3, 2005
- Smithson's two goals help Admirals skate past Ducks, 5-1 - Cincinnati RailRaiders
- Amerks fight to continue home winning streak - Rochester Americans
- Americans rookie Thomas Vanek to play for Austria in Olympic Qualifier - Rochester Americans
- Lord Stanley makes a call to MTS Centre - Manitoba Moose
- Aeros recall Bararuk from ECHL Louisiana - Houston Aeros
- Bussing takes on a whole new meaning for Wolf Pack - Connecticut Whale
- Bulldogs' road game to be televised live on Cable 14 - Hamilton Bulldogs
- Goaltender Matt Underhill signed to PTO contract - Toronto Marlies
- Crunch Sign Defenseman Nikita Korovkin to a P.T.O. - Syracuse Crunch
- Admirals Recall Kotyk, Reassign Robinson - Milwaukee Admirals
- Wolves Wives Ask Fans to Pucker Up - Chicago Wolves
- Crunch Announce Details of Turning Stone Fan Appreciation Night - Syracuse Crunch
- Wolf Pack Recall Cuthbert - Connecticut Whale
- Griffins celebrate Jimmy Buffett - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Taco Bell Night Set For Friday, February 18 - Syracuse Crunch
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