Leggio Excellent In Amerks Win
By: Thad Brown
Updated: January 15, 2012
The Rochester Americans rode
the hot goaltending of David Leggio to get back to their winning ways
with a 3-1 victory over the Hamilton Bulldogs at The Blue Cross
Arena on Saturday night. The win moves the Amerks (17-13-5-3) back to
within five points of division-leading Toronto.
"Leggio
was great for us again tonight and he was a difference-maker in that
game without question," said Head Coach Ron Rolston. "He's had a stretch
here where he is really
feeling it and looks very confident."
A
crowd of 6,305 watched Leggio finish with 35 saves between the pipes
for Rochester to earn first star honors. Marcus Foligno scored two goals
and Phil Varone added two assists
while Mark Voakes also contributed a goal in the effort. Leggio has now
started four straight games for the Amerks, posting a 1.95 goals against
average and a .954 save percentage in that span. Varone now has 16
points (5+11) in the last 15 games.
"It's
about time (we beat Hamilton)," Foligno said. "The guys are very
relieved that we finally beat them. They have taken some points from us
and it is good to beat that team
right below us and we want to keep them below us. It definitely builds
confidence and these two points were huge."
Phil DeSimone lit the lamp for Hamilton in the loss while netminder Robert Mayer turned away 28 of 30 shots.
The
Amerks got on the board first in the final minute of the opening period
as Voakes finished off a pretty passing combination for his fifth goal
of the season. Shawn Szydlowski
found Nick Crawford in the slot, creating a two-on-one and Crawford
quickly hit Voakes at the right circle with a perfect pass to beat Mayer
low to the stick side.
Rochester
responded with another tally just 17 seconds into the second period to
double its lead to 2-0. Varone connected with Foligno streaking to the
net off the rush and Foligno
deflected the feed past the Hamilton goaltender on the backhand.
Hamilton
responded at 4:19 of the second to cut its deficit in half, as DeSimone
notched his seventh goal of the season. The East Amherst, NY, native
was the recipient of a pass
at the left weak-side post off the stick of Garrett Stafford and slid
the puck into the vacant cage to make the score 2-1 Rochester.
Despite
a strong third period push by the Bulldogs in attempt to even the
score, Leggio stood tall in the Amerks' crease and Foligno buried an
empty-netter in the final minute
of play to secure the victory.
Rochester
remains at home on Thursday, January 19 as the Oklahoma City Barons
make their inaugural trip to The Blue Cross Arena for the first of
back-to-back tilts in Western
New York. The teams will meet again in downtown Rochester again the
following night to bring the season series to a close. Both games are
slated for a 7:35 p.m.
