AHL Rochester Americans

Amerks Look For Seventh Straight Tonight Against Syracuse

Published on October 25, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


Tonight, the Rochester Americans take their six-game winning streak back to home ice as they host the Syracuse Crunch at The Blue Cross Arena. Faceoff is slated for 5:00 p.m. The contest will be the second leg of a home-and-home series between the intra-state rivals and the third of 10 scheduled meetings this season. The matchup will be broadcast live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK and FM 107.3, Rochester's Sports Talk. The game will also be televised live on Time Warner Cable SportsNet Channel 26.

Promotions:

Tonight, in the spirit of Halloween, the Amerks will again host their third annual "Sweets in the Suites" promotion, courtesy of BJ's Wholesale Club. Wear your Halloween costume to the game and receive best-available seating for as low as $10.00. Kids can trick-or-treat, be selected to carve pumpkins or have a chance to win trick-or-treating with The Amerks Moose or Eagle, R. Thunder. The highlight of the evening is the Best Costume Contests with fan voting selecting the winners. The first contest is for kids ages 5 and under with the winner receiving one hour of trick-or-treating with The Moose on Halloween (Saturday, October 31st).

 

The Best Costume winner for kids ages 6-12 will win one hour of trick-or-treating with R. Thunder. Restrictions apply to the Greater Rochester Area. As part of "Sweets in the Suites," all children can trick-or-treat during the first intermission of the game in the suite level of The Blue Cross Arena. Three people will also be selected to compete in a pumpkin carving contest during the second period. The winner will take home an Amerks gift bag.

 

The game also falls on the first installment of the Amerks Red Hot Sundays, courtesy of Zweigle's.  This season marks the second season that the Amerks have partnered with Zweigle's to offer the "Red Hot Sundays" promotion. The promotion allows fans to purchase a Family Four Pack, which includes four hotdogs, four soft drinks and four tickets, for the low price of $44. In conjunction with Savor Catering at The Blue Cross Arena, the Amerks will offer this great promotion to the fans 10 times this season. Packages can be ordered by calling the Amerks office directly and speaking with a ticket sales representative. The phone number is (585) 454-5335. After the game, fans can head down to The Distillery located at 1142 Mt. Hope Ave. for the official postgame party.

Head-to-Head:

The contest is the third of 10 between Rochester and Syracuse this season. The Amerks are 2-0-0-0 this season against the Crunch and have outscored their longtime rivals 7-3 through the previous two get-togethers.

Amerks Notes:

Rochester (7-1-1-0, 15 points) enters the contest currently tied for first place in the North Division and first overall in the American Hockey League with the Manitoba Moose. The last time the Amerks started the season with seven wins and 15 points was during the 2006-07 season. Rochester earned seven consecutive wins to kickoff the season and were victorious in 14 of the first 15 games. The Amerks are in the midst of a six-game winning streak after earning a 3-2 OT win over Syracuse last night at the War Memorial at Oncenter. The win was Rochester's first in Syracuse since the 2006-07 campaign after going 0-12 against the Crunch on the road the past two seasons.

 

Michal Repik netted the game-winner with just thirty seconds left in the extra frame to cap another come-from-behind OT rally for the Amerks. After facing an early 2-0 deficit in the first period, Rochester's Jimmy Bonneau and Jamie Johnson scored their first goals of the season to jumpstart the rally before Repik completed the comeback with his team-leading sixth goal of the season. The win was the Amerks' second OT victory in a week after posting a 4-3 decision over the Toronto Marlies last Saturday at Ricoh Coliseum. Rookie goaltender Alexander Salak logged his fourth win of the season with a 22-save performance to improve to 4-0-0.

 

Re-joining the Amerks tonight will be defenseman Jason Garrison who received his second National Hockey League promotion to the Florida Panthers Saturday. Garrison received just over 10 minutes of ice time in Florida's 5-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. The second-year blueliner has now skated in two games with the Panthers this season.

 

The Amerks, who lead the AHL with a team-best four shorthanded goals, have outscored their opponents 22-11 in the last six games and have allowed the second fewest amount of goals in the division with 22.

 

Repik continues to pace Rochester's offense with a team-high six goals and 11 points in just eight games. The second-year pro has registered nine points (5+4) in his last six outings. He also currently ranks tied for third in overall points and tied for first in goals in the AHL. Teammate Jeff Taffe is tied for third in the league with four goals. Chris Taylor, presently on a three-game point streak, (1+3) earned his team-leading sixth assist on Repik's game-winner to move within six assists from surpassing Dick Gamble on the all-time list. Additionally, tonight Taylor will pass former defenseman Doug Janik on the all-time games played list as he skates in his 377th game as an Amerk. Garrison and fellow blueliner Clay Wilson remain Rochester's top scoring defensemen with five points each and are currently tied for seventh in scoring among league defensemen.

 

Third-year forward Kenndal McArdle is first on the team and second in the league with 52 penalty minutes. Salak, who has started the last two games between the pipes, shows a flawless 4-0-0 record with 126 saves in just five games. His 1.94 goals-against average and .933 save percentage currently rank him ninth and eighth among league netminders, respectively. His four wins are third best.

Syracuse Notes:

Syracuse (3-3-1-1, eight points), playing Game one of a four-game road swing, comes into the matchup after earning a point in its 3-2 OT loss to the Amerks last night. The Crunch have dropped two of their last three games. Tim Miller and Maksim Mayorov scored Syracuse's pair of goals, while goaltender Dan LaCosta turned away 30 of 33 shots in the losing effort.

 

Fifth-year pros Alexandre Picard (4+4) and Pascal Pelletier (2+6) presently lead the Crunch offense with eight points apiece, while Pelletier's six helpers are a team best. Tough-guy Forwards Kevin Harvey (45), Jon Mirasty (44) and Tom Sestito (41) are first, second, and third on the team in penalty minutes, respectively.  In addition, the trio holds the third, fourth and fifth rankings in the AHL in the same category. LaCosta has seen the majority of time in net thus far, sporting a 3.59 goals-against average and a .897 save percentage. The Crunch currently sit tied for third in the AHL's East Division after making the jump to the Eastern Conference this season.

Next Game:

After closing out a busy four-game in five-night stretch, the Amerks hit the road on Friday, October 30th for their lone game of the weekend with the East Division Binghamton Senators. The 7:05 p.m. contest from Broome County's Veterans Memorial Arena will be the second of 10 meetings this season between the two teams. The Amerks are 1-0-0-0 this season and 23-27-5 lifetime against the Baby Sens. The game will be carried live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK and FM 107.3, Rochester's Sports Talk.

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American Hockey League Stories from October 25, 2009


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