Amerks Stopped By Late Goal

The Rochester Americans fell to the Hamilton Bulldogs 4-3 tonight in the first of back-to-back tilts with their North Division rivals at Copps Coliseum. The loss drops the Amerks to 0-2-0-0 against the Bulldogs this season and is the third straight for Rochester. Hamilton’s Matt D’Agostini broke a 3-3 tie with 1:23 left in regulation with his team-leading 11th goal of the season and second of the night to lift the hometown ‘Dogs over the Amerks. D’Agostini finished the game with a pair of goals to go along with a game-high 10 shots to earn first star honors. Marc Denis made 14 saves for the win. Rochester was led by two-point efforts from Janis Sprukts and Stefan Meyer, each with a goal and an assist on the night. Sprukts’ two-point performance tonight was the second in as many nights to bring his point total to four (1+3) between two games. Meyer was named the games’ second star. Sprukts opened the scoring in the contest, putting the Amerks on the board with a shorthanded marker at the 3:31 mark of the opening frame. Kenndal McArdle tallied the lone assist on the play. First-year forward Michael Duco extended Rochester’s lead to 2-0 with his fifth goal of the season four minutes later on the power play, but Hamilton quickly responded with a goal from Ben Maxwell to cut the deficit in half. Rochester jumped out to a 3-1 lead thanks to Meyer at 5:21 of the second, but the Bulldogs fought back with two goals in 15 seconds from D’Agostini and Kyle Chipchura to level the score at three apiece. D’Agostini would strike again in the closing minutes of the third period, his second of the game, to secure the win for Hamilton. On Sunday, November 16th, the Amerks are back in action with the Bulldogs for Game 2 of the two-game set at 4:00 p.m. The game will be carried live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK, whtk.com and AHL Live. Rochester returns home on Wednesday, November 19th as it hosts the Toronto Marlies for a 7:05 p.m. North Division matchup at The Blue Cross Arena. That game is a 7:05pm faceoff.