Late Third-Period Rally Propels Amerks Past Checkers
Published on October 26, 2023 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release
(Rochester, NY) -The Rochester Americans (3-1-1-0) pulled off yet another incredible early-season comeback, this time scoring three goals over a span of 2:42 in the closing minutes of the third period to erase a 3-1 deficit and come away with a 4-3 win over the Charlotte Checkers (2-3-0-0) Wednesday night at The Blue Cross Arena.
With the win, the Amerks improved to 7-14-0-0 all-time against Charlotte through 21 meetings. Additionally, Rochester has earned four wins in the last seven contests against the Checkers dating back to Feb. 2, 2022.
Isak Rosen (1+1) extended his point streak to an AHL-best five games as he tallied two points for his third multi-point game of the season while linemates Jiri Kulich (1+1) and Matt Savoie (0+1) combined for a goal and two assists. Michael Mersch opened the scoring with his first of the campaign while Aleksandr Kisakov logged his third. Lukas Rousek, Tyson Kozak, Nikita Novikov and Brett Murray all were credited with an assist.
Goaltender Devin Cooley (2-1-0) made 16 saves in his third start of the season while also earning his first win inside The Blue Cross Arena.
Michael Benning (1+1), Jake Wise (1+1) and former Amerk Rasmus Asplund (0+2) all recorded multi-point outings for Charlotte. Patrick Khodorenko (1+0), Justin Sourdif (0+1), Cameron Morrison (0+1) completed the scoring with a point.
Goaltender Spencer Knight (1-2-0) stopped 11 of the 15 shots he faced in the defeat.
Facing a 3-1 deficit and approaching the final minutes of regulation, Joseph Cecconi provided an outlet pass to Murray at the far blueline. Murray exchanged a pass with Novikov to enter the offensive zone before sending a backhanded pass through the slot for Kulich to steer past the outstretched leg of Knight before the netminder could make the lateral move across his crease.
Less than a minute later, Kozak scooped up a loose puck in the center of the ice. He quickly provided a transition pass for Rousek along the right wing. The speedy forward darted to the hashmarks and flung a shot to the goalmouth, where Kisakov redirected past Knight to even the score at three.
The three-goal run was capped off following Kulich's face-off win from the left dot. The puck pinballed its way back to Rosen, who in one swift motion after gaining possession, spun and wired a shot by the Charlotte netminder with 3:15 remaining in regulation.
While Charlotte saw its two-goal cushion disappear, they pulled Knight for an extra attacker for the final two minutes of play with the hopes of forcing overtime. Rochester, however, did not allow any last minute heroics as they held on for the 4-3 victory.
Early in the first minutes of play, the teams traded goals on Khodorenko and Mersch's goals before Wise gave the Checkers a 2-1 advantage at the intermission break, going bar down.
Charlotte added its second power-play goal of the night to up its lead to 2-1 six minutes into the middle frame when Benning boomed a slap-shot from the point that handcuffed Cooley, but Rochester scored three straight in less than three minutes late in the third period to earn the 4-3 win.
The Amerks continue their busy stretch as they welcome the Laval Rocket to The Blue Cross Arena on Friday, Oct. 27 for a 7:05 p.m. contest. The North Division showdown will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
Stars And Stripes:
Jiri Kulich leads the Amerks with five goals in five games and is tied with Rosen for the team lead in points (8) ... He has scored at least one goal in each of Rochester's three wins, including his first career hat trick last Wednesday at Laval ... He's one of seven AHL skaters with five goals on the season, which is tied for most in the league while his eight points are tied for fourth in the AHL ... Aleksandr Kisakov pushed his point streak to a career-long four games and has matched a personal-best two assists through just five games into the 2023-24 campaign ... Rochester's power-play unit has gone 5-for-16 (31.3%) in the last four games.
Goal Scorers
CLT: P. Khodorenko (3), J. Wise (1), M. Benning (2)
ROC: M. Mersch (1), J. Kulich (5), A. Kisakov (3), I. Rosen (3)
Goaltenders
CLT: S. Knight - 11/15 (L)
ROC: D. Cooley - 16/19 (W)
Shots
CLT: 19
ROC: 15
Special Teams
CLT: PP (2/5) | PK (2/3)
ROC: PP (1/3) | PK (3/5)
Three Stars:
1. ROC - I. Rosen
2. ROC - J. Kulich
3. CLT - M. Benning
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