Sports stats

AHL Rochester Americans

Amerks suffer third straight loss to 'Pens

January 2, 2010 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


(Rochester, NY)... The Rochester Americans kicked off the New Year with a 5-3 loss this evening to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza. The loss was Rochester's third straight as the Amerks completed their three-game road trip and fell to 22-13-2-0 on the season. The loss also extended the Amerks' road losing streak to six games.

Forward Daniel Steiner and defensemen Clay Wilson and Jordan Henry scored single goals for the visiting Amerks as Ryan Mior earned 28 saves in the losing effort to fall to 3-4-0 on the campaign. Wilson finished the night with two points (1+1).

Mark Letestu led the hometown Penguins scoring two goals and assisting on another en route to garnering second star honors. Dustin Jeffrey (0+2), Konstantin Pushkarev (1+1) and defenseman Deryk Engelland (1+1) each had two-point nights while former Amerks goaltender Adam Berkhoel earned the win with a 29-save performance.

The opening period saw a heavy volume of offensive activity as both teams exchanged goals three times to combine for six goals.

Rochester took a very early 1-0 lead, just 21 seconds into the contest to be exact, off a goal from Steiner in his first game back in the lineup since participating in the Spengler Cup. Jamie Johnson claimed his team-leading 34th point with an assist as did Wilson on the play.

The lead would remain short-lived, however, as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton knotted the game at 1-1 just 49 seconds later with Letestu's 10th of the year from Jeffrey and Nick Johnson.

Wilson put the Amerks back on top 2-1 with his fourth of the season at 7:48 of the period. First-year forward Evgeny Dadonov and former Penguin Jeff Taffe each received assists on the play.

Once again, the Rochester lead would be brief before the Pens would make it a 2-2 game 33 seconds later on Joe Vitale's third tally of the season. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton would take its first lead of the game as Pushkarev converted on a pass from Letetsu to give the Penguins a 3-2 lead at the 13:53 mark.

The Amerks evened the game at 3-3 late in the opening period as Henry joined an offensive rush with David Brine and Andrew Sweetland for his fifth of the season at 16:33 to round out a productive first 20 minutes.

Engelland gave his Penguins a 4-3 lead at 16:26 of the second stanza before Letestu secured the 5-3 win with an empty-netter in the closing ticks of regulation to hand Rochester its third consecutive loss and deny any hopes of a last-second comeback.

Rochester returns home on Friday, January 8th as it hosts the Grand Rapids Griffins at The Blue Cross Arena. The 7:05 matchup will be the first of three straight at home and 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.

Check out the Rochester Americans Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from January 2, 2010


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Rochester Americans Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central