Amerks Start Fast, Then Get Hammered
By: Thad Brown
Updated: February 21, 2012
The Rochester Americans
closed out the weekend with a 7-3 loss to the Hamilton Bulldogs in
front of 6,094 fans at The Blue Cross Arena on Sunday. The Amerks took a
2-0 lead into the first
intermission but were unable to hold on for the victory.
Phil
DeSimone and Ian Schultz each tallied a goal and two assists to pace
the Bulldogs offensively, while Blake Geoffrion chipped in a pair of
assists. Andreas Engqvist, Joonas
Nattinen, Eric Lampe, Garret Stafford and Alain Berger also scored while
netminder Nathan Lawson turned away 27 of 30 Rochester shots to earn
the win.
Corey
Tropp, Paul Szczechura and Derek Whitmore lit the lamp for the Amerks,
while Phil Varone extended his point-scoring streak to three games with
an assist, giving him five
points (1+4) on the weekend. Drew MacIntyre finished the night with 41
saves between the pipes.
The
Amerks took an early 1-0 lead just 4:50 into the opening period, as
Tropp finished-off a slick give-and-go with Varone. The two charged into
the offensive zone on a 2-on-1
rush and traded passes before Tropp one-touched the final feed into the
open side.
Rochester doubled its advantage to 2-0 at 15:36 when Szczechura drove to the net and jumped on a loose puck to bury his 11th
of the season. Shaone Morrisonn fired a slapper from the neutral zone on
goal and Lawson kicked the rebound right to Szczechura, who deposited
it behind the Bulldogs' netminder.
Hamilton
cut the Rochester lead in half at 4:59 of the middle frame, as Schultz
buried a rebound from the top of the crease after MacIntyre denied
DeSimone's initial bid from the
right-circle. The Bulldogs evened the score at two apiece with the man
advantage at 9:39. Off the rush, Geoffrion fired a wrister that squeaked
through MacIntyre and lay in the crease before Engqvist jammed it to
the back of the net.
Hamilton
once again converted on the power-play for its third straight goal of
the second period at 18:57. Nattinen pounced on a loose puck in the
crease and stuffed it home to
give his club its first lead of the contest.
The
Bulldogs opened up a two-goal cushion and made the score 4-2 when Lampe
found himself in alone on a breakaway and beat MacIntyre with a deke to
the backhand. Hamilton netted
a pair of power-play goals midway through the final frame to extend its
lead to 6-2. Stafford scored on a two-man advantage at 8:14 and Berger
followed up 18 seconds later with the Bulldogs still skating with a
5-on-4 advantage.
Whitmore scored his team-leading 21st goal of the season with 4:58 remaining
in regulation, sending a shot from the high-slot over the shoulder of Lawson.
DeSimone added a late empty net goal to secure the 7-3 victory.
The
oldest rivalry in the American Hockey League will be renewed on
Wednesday night in Rochester when the Amerks welcome the Hershey Bears
to The Blue Cross Arena for the only
time this season. The puck drops on the 444th all-time meeting between
the clubs at 7:05 p.m. 
