AHL Rochester Americans

River Rats slide by Amerks for win

Published on January 29, 2010 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


(Rochester, NY)... The Rochester Americans dropped a close 4-3 decision against interstate rivals, the Albany River Rats, in the third of four meetings tonight at The Blue Cross Arena. The loss drops the Amerks to 27-17-2-0, while the River Rats improve to 26-16-3-2.

Albany was led by forward Nick Dodge who had two points (0+2) to earn the second star in tonight's victory. Teammate Drayson Bowman also netted the game-winner for the visiting River Rats. The offense was led behind Albany's Goalie Justin Peters, who stopped 24 of 27 shots he faced.

Daniel Steiner (1+1) and David Brine (0+2) both had two points for the Amerks, while rookie goaltender Alexander Salak kicked away 23 saves in the losing effort.

The River Rats took the lead at 9:26 of the first period when Amerks defenseman Clay Wilson turned the puck over to Albany's Stefan Chaput who drilled the puck on goal with a blast from the blueline. After Salak made the initial save, Mike Angelidis was there to knock home the rebound, making the score 1-0.

Just over a minute later, Steiner, who signed an American Hockey League contract with Rochester earlier this week, evened the score at 10:39 of the first period. Steiner picked up the loose puck in the neutral zone and was able to dart his way toward the front of the net to beat Albany goalie Peters through the five-hole. Brine picked up the lone assist on the goal.

Chris Terry scored the second goal for the River Rats four minutes into the second period to give Albany a 2-1 lead. His goal came from a nifty behind-the-back back pass from center Dodge after Dodge managed to outmuscle an Amerk defenseman down the ice to the puck.

Albany's lead would once again be short-lived, however, as former River Rat Jamie Johnson tied up the game at 2-2 on the power-play with his team-leading 19th goal of the season at 6:40 of the second stanza. Wilson dove to save the puck from leaving the Amerks zone and then scrambled to get the cross-ice pass to Johnson who buried it into the empty net. Johnson's goal extends his game point streak to a season-high seven games (5+7). Steiner picked up his second point of the evening with an assist on Johnson's equalizer.

Bowman would put the River Rats back on top 3-2 midway through the third period. Taking advantage of the power-play after a Graham Mink double-minor for roughing, Dodge shot a one-timer from the crease, but Salak came up with the save. Bowman then knocked the rebound in after the puck bounced into the air off of Salak's pads.

Defenseman Brett Bellemore put Albany on top by two, scoring his first goal of the season at 19:26 of the third period with an unassisted open-netter.

The Amerks answered back seconds later when Victor Oreskovich banged a shot from the point getting the puck past Peters making the score 4-3. Matt Duffy and Brine assisted on the play. The goal would not be enough for the Amerks though, as they took the loss on the night.

The Amerks head north of the border on Saturday, January 30th as they travel to Ricoh Coliseum to battle the Toronto Marlies in a North Division showdown. The 4:00 p.m. matinee will be carried live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK and FM 107.3, Rochester's Sports Talk. The contest will be the fourth of eight meetings between the two teams this season and the first since November 7th. Rochester boasts a perfect 3-0-0-0 record this season, outscoring Toronto 13-6 through the previous three encounters. The Amerks are 15-21-1 lifetime against the Marlies.

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