AHL Rochester Americans

Moose hand Amerks third straight loss

February 19, 2010 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


(Rochester, NY)... The Manitoba Moose stomped over the Rochester Americans 4-3 tonight at The Blue Cross Arena. With the win, the Moose improve to 28-24-5-1, while the Amerks fall to 31-24-2-0. The setback marked Rochester's third straight loss and eighth consecutive Friday night home loss.

Rochester remains just one win shy from capturing its 2,000th win in the 54-year history of the franchise.

Pierre-Cedric Labrie, Dan Sexton, Travis Ramsey and Michael Grabner all had one goal each for Manitoba and Marco Rosa had two points (0+2) to lead the offense. Goaltender Cory Schneider also played a key role in the Moose's victory, stopping 32 of the Amerks' 35 shots.

The game also featured the return of forward Mike York, who missed the past 33 games with personal leave and injury. York scored his sixth goal of the season in his return. Jeff Taffe and Chris Taylor also contributed goals.

Taffe gave the Amerks a 1-0 lead at 8:02 of the opening frame with his 19th tally of the season. Just as his penalty expired, Jimmy Bonneau stepped out of the penalty box and flattened Manitoba's Brian Salcido in the neutral zone. On the ensuing turnover, Taffe picked up the loose puck and skated his way untouched into the Moose zone and flipped a nifty back-hander into the top corner over the glove of Schneider. The goal was unassisted.

The Moose tied things up just over a minute later as Labrie found the back of the net at 9:25 for just his third goal of the season. His unassisted tally beat Amerks goaltender Alexander Salak just under the crossbar. Manitoba then took the lead at 18:49 when forward Sexton beat Salak, scoring his fifth goal of the season to make it a 2-1 game. Rosa and former Florida Panthers defenseman Nick Boynton both assisted on the play.

The Amerks had a golden opportunity to tie the game at 2-2 when defenseman Jordan Henry found himself on a breakaway as his penalty expired, but Schneider was equal to the task to preserve Manitoba's 2-1 lead.

On the ensuing play, Manitoba's Guillaume Desbiens collected the loose puck and led a 3-on-2 rush up the ice into Rochester's zone. Desbiens sent a cross-ice pass to Moose captain Mike Keane who then found Ramsey open in the slot for his first of the season at 7:26 of the middle stanza.

Rochester climbed back within one as York knocked in a Jason Garrison rebound on the power-play at 2:06 of the final frame. Garrison blasted a shot from the left point through traffic, but the rebound made its way to York who was able to slide the puck just inside the left post past Schneider for his sixth of the season. Michael Duco also earned an assist on the play that made it a 3-2 contest.

Grabner added another goal for the Moose to stretch their lead to 4-2, scoring his 13th goal of the season at 15:46 of the third period. Rosa passed the puck to a wide-open Grabner who then drilled it passed Salak.

Rochester then put the pressure on as they scored less than two minutes later at 17:08 to minimize the lead to 4-3. Clay Wilson took the initial shot from the point which was then recovered by Michael Repik. The puck then dribbled behind the net to the stick of Evgeny Dadonov who set up the play for Taylor who scored in front of the net.

The pressure would not get to Schneider though, who sealed the victory for the Moose. Salak picked up 16 saves in the losing effort for the Amerks.

The Amerks continue their season-long five-game homestand on Saturday, February 20th as the Portland Pirates journey west to The Blue Cross Arena for the first of two of get-togethers on back-to-back nights. The 7:05 p.m. matchup will feature the return of former Amerks Mark Mancari, Derek Whitmore, Marc-Andre Gragnani and 2010 AHL All-Star defenseman Mike Weber. The matchup will be the first between the Pirates and Amerks in Rochester in 10 years since the 2000-01 season. The last time the two teams met this season was back on November 12th when the Pirates denied Rochester its franchise-record 12th consecutive win in a 6-3 loss at HSBC Arena in Buffalo. Fans can tune in for the live broadcasts on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK and FM 107.3, Rochester's Sports Talk. The game will be shown live on Channel 98.

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