Duke of Earl Keeps Amerks Freefalling
By: amerks.com
Updated: December 21, 2007
The Rochester Americans dropped their eighth straight tonight, a 4-2 loss to the North Division leading Toronto Marlies at The Blue Cross Arena.
With the loss, Rochester drops to 10-18-1-2 on the year.
"Theyre dangerous," said Amerks Head Coach Randy Cunneyworth. "Speed kills and you need to take extra care of the puck. We did some good things against a very good team."
Clarke MacArthur extended his point streak to four games (3+2), scoring Rochesters first goal fo the night. Mark Mancari had the Amerks late tally. Rookie goalie Tyler Plante made 26 saves in his second start and loss of the season.
Marlies left winger Robbie Earl had a hat trick, while Simon Gamache completed the scoring for Toronto. Goalie Scott Clemmensen matched his advirsary, making 26 saves.
Dylan Hunter left the game six minutes in after taking an elbow along the boards from Torontos Ben Ondrus. Ondrus was issued a five minute major and a game misconduct for the harm.
After Earl snagged his seventh goal of the year shorthanded at 16:30 of the first, MacArthur evened the line at one apiece on the man advantage at 18:31.
Rochesters David Brine was granted a penalty shot after being taken down by a Marlies defenseman at 2:45 of the second, but the rookie centers penalty attempt was foiled by the right pad of Clemmensen.
Earl scored his second of the night to give Toronto a 2-1 lead at 15:02 of the second frame.
In the third, the Marlies extended their lead to 3-1 with Simon Gamaches shorthanded goal at 14:03.
On a 5-on-3 power play with 51 seconds remaining in regulation, Mancari pulled the Amerks with one. Some tic-tac-toe passing gave the Amerks forward some space on the weak post to slide a shot past the pads of Clemmensen.
Earl completed the hat trick and sealed the victory for Toronto, tacking on the empty-netter with 24 ticks remaining.
Rochester will conclude the weekend with a non-divisional matchup on Saturday, December 22nd against the Binghamton Senators at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.
