Amerks Sunk by IceCaps, 3-0
March 3, 2017 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release
Rochester, NY- The Rochester Americans (22-32-0-2) opened a four-game homestand with a 3-0 setback against the St. John's IceCaps (26-23-7-1) at The Blue Cross Arena Friday night.
Cal O'Reilly and Nick Baptiste each led the Amerks with four shots while Linus Ullmark made 24 saves in his 14th start in the last 16 games for Rochester. On the campaign, the Swedish netminder shows a record of 20-21-2.
Rookie forward Daniel Audette and Bobby Farnham each collected a pair of assists to lead the IceCaps to the shutout win, while first-year netminder Charlie Lindgren picked up his third shutout of the slate after stopping all 29 shots he faced. The rookie goaltender is now tied for third among AHL rookies in shutouts and improved to 18-14-5 on the season.
The Amerks and IceCaps entered the first intermission scoreless but they combined for 0-for-6 with the man advantage, including Rochester unable to capitalize on a five-on-three opportunity. However, following the break, St. John's wasted little time in the second stanza to capture the game's first tally 1:43 into the period.
"I thought we had some chances to score early in the contest," said Mat Bodie following his Amerks debut. "I think if we had got on the board, it might have been a different game. I liked our start to the game but I think our penalty kill unit gave us some momentum after we were not able to score on the power-plays early."
After serving a slashing infraction late in the first period, de la Rose received a backdoor pass from Jeremy Gregoire to beat Ullmark to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. The two-on-one rush began with an outlet pass from reigning CCM/AHL Player of the Month Chris Terry just inside the IceCaps zone that sprung Gregoire.
Later in the frame, the IceCaps doubled their lead with Brett Lernout's third tally of the slate at the 11:18 mark. The goal was preceded by a glove save from Lindgren, stopping a two-on-one rush for Jean Dupuy and Eric Cornel.
"We had a lot of chances throughout the game," O'Reilly said. "I think St. John's was the better team, especially in the second period when they had a push but we were not able to push back."
The final marker of the night came 10:05 into the final period of regulation with Nikita Scherbak's 12th of the season as he roofed a shot over the left shoulder of Ullmark to finish a tic-tac-toe passing play with Audette and Farnham.
The Amerks continue their four-game homestand on Saturday, March 4 as they host the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in the final meeting of the season between the two teams. Game time is slated for a 7:05 p.m. start and all of the action will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM ESPN Rochester.
Goal Scorers RCH: None STJ: de la Rose (6), Lernout (3), Scherbak (12)
Goaltenders RCH: Ullmark - 24/27 (L) STJ: Lindgren - 29/29 (W)
Shots RCH: 29 STJ: 27
Special Teams RCH: PP (0/4) / PK (2/2) STJ: PP (0/2) / PK (4/4)
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