Amerks Hang On For 6-5 Win

The Rochester Americans won tonight against the Hamilton Bulldogs in a high-scoring 6-5 game at the Blue Cross Arena. The win gives the Amerks the second win of the season against the Montreal Canadiens affiliate and the Amerks 13th win of the season. In the Amerks six-goal game, Shawn Matthias led with two goals and one assist, en route to first star honors. Rookie Jason Garrison had a four point night, with one goal and three assists, while Cory Murphy had a goal and two assists. Jacob Micflikier (0+2) and Stefan Meyer (1+1) each gained two points in the win. Despite allowing the most goals so far as an Amerk, Mike Brodeur gained the win with 28 saves on 33 shots. The Bulldogs were led by Yanick Lehoux with two goals in the game, while David Desharnais (1+1), Mike Glumac (1+1), and Dan Jancevski (0+2) each had a two point night. Goaltenders Cedrick Desjardins and Loic Lacasse switched back and forth in net for the Bulldogs, and combined made only 32 saves on 36 shots for the Bulldogs. In a back and forth first period Hamilton took an early lead at 1:12 on their first shot of the game with a goal by Glumac up and over a sprawling Brodeur. The Amerks tied it up on the power play at 9:44 with a goal by Karl Stewart through the legs of Desjardins. The Bulldogs took back the lead 2-1 with an unassisted goal by Lehoux, but the Amerks came back again just a couple minutes later with a goal by Matthias. Desharnais took back the Bulldog lead with just over a minute left in the period with a top shelf goal above the glove of Brodeur. Garrison tied it up again for the Amerks with just 17 seconds left in the period with a shot from the near point by Jason Garrison to end the period tied at 3. The Amerks took their first lead of the night at 4:16 of the second on the power play with a top shelf goal by Matthias, up over the shoulder of Bulldogs goaltender Lacasse, who replaced Desjardins in net at the beginning of the period. The Amerks extended their lead to 5-3 on a two-man power play with a blast from the point by Murphy past Lascasse. At 7:31 of the third, the Amerks doubled their lead to 6-3 with a goal by Stefan Meyer between the near post and a sliding Desjardins. The Bulldogs’ Lehoux brought the Bulldogs back within two with a power-play goal at 12:15, just past the glove of Brodeur. The Bulldogs added another just over a minute later with a goal by Steve Gainey to cut the Amerks lead to 6-5. Kenndal McArdle was denied on a penalty shot with just under three minutes to go, but the Amerks held on to win the game 6-5. Rochester heads back to Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena on Wednesday, January 14th for a midweek tilt with the Binghamton Senators.