Amerks begin 3-game road trip

(Rochester, NY)… The Rochester Americans hit the road tonight for the first of three straight as they return to the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena for the second time in five nights to clash with the Binghamton Senators. Rochester dropped a 4-2 decision in the previous meeting with the B-Sens on January 10th. Janis Sprukts and Drew Larman tallied the Amerks pair of goals in the loss. The Amerks are winless this season against the Senators and are 19-25-4 all-time against the Ottawa Senators affiliate. Rochester (13-23-0-3, 29 points), the winners in four of its last five and three straight at home, enters the contest after a successful weekend in which the Amerks gained four out of a possible six points with home wins over the Syracuse Crunch and Hamilton Bulldogs. The Amerks captured a season-high six goals-for and five goals-against in Sundays 6-5 win over the Bulldogs to close out a three-game weekend. Rookie defenseman Jason Garrison led the way with a single-game best four-point performance (1+3), while Shawn Matthias (2+1) and Cory Murphy (1+2) each chipped in with three points apiece to earn third, first and second star honors, respectively. Goaltender Mike Brodeur made 29 saves to record his 10th win as an Amerk. Fourth-year left wing Stefan Meyer (11+9) and Sprukts (8+12) are tied for the team lead with 20 points, while Meyers 11 goals are currently a team-best. Garrison picked up three more helpers Sunday against Hamilton to extend his assist lead to 15, while his 18 points overall tie him for second on the team to remain Rochesters top scoring defenseman. First-year forward Michael Duco is first on the team with 95 penalty minutes (PIM), with Tanner Glass a close second at 85 PIM. Brodeur, who has started six straight and 15 of the last 16 games for Rochester, boasts a 10-4-1 record in 15 games between the pipes for the Amerks. His 1.94 goals-against average and .936 save percentage are currently the second best in each category among American Hockey League netminders. Further, his two shutouts also tie him for fourth in the league. Binghamton (20-12-3-3, 46 points), playing Game 5 of a current season-long eight-game homestand and the second straight against Rochester, comes into the matchup after sending the Amerks home with a 4-2 loss this past Saturday night. Former Amerk Denis Hamel led the way for the hometown Senators with a four-point effort to snap Rochesters three-game winning streak. Ryan Shannon currently paces the Binghamton offense with a team-high 26 points (10+16) to go along with a plus-five rating through 27 games. Mattias Karlsson leads the team with 20 assists, 13 of which have come on the man advantage, good enough for 11th in the league. Hamel has a team-best 12 goals and his 21 points overall is presently fifth best on the team. Jeremy Yablonski leads the team with 92 PIM. Goaltender Brian Elliott, who is currently on recall to the parent Ottawa Senators, has seen the majority of time between the pipes for the B-Sens this season, posting an 18-8-1 record in 30 games. His 2.31 goals-against average was fifth best at the time of his National Hockey League promotion, while his .926 save percentage was good enough for fourth. Further, his 18 wins tie him for first in the AHL. Rochester remains on the road on Friday, January 16th as it travels north to Verizon Wireless Arena for the second and final meeting of the season with the Manchester Monarchs. Faceoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. with the contest being carried live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK, whtk.com and AHL Live. Rochester returns home on Thursday, January 22nd to play host to the Syracuse Crunch in a midweek divisional battle at The Blue Cross Arena. The 7:05 p.m. contest will be the sixth of 12 meetings between the longtime rivals and will be broadcast live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK, whtk.com and AHL Live. The game falls on a clevermethod Business Persons Special, where fans can turn in their business cards at The Blue Cross Arena Box Office and receive any 100-premium seat for just $10.00. Offer is valid for all Amerks home games Monday through Thursday. Contact the Amerks Office at (585) 454-5335 for more information. Its also Buy One, Get One Half-off night, where fans can purchase a ticket and get another for half the price in any seating section for any Sunday through Thursday game. Tickets can be purchased online through Ticketmaster.com. Its also a RARES Discount Night. The RARES discount is valid for all RARES members by logging onto www.rares.org to review their discounts. For more information, call Nathan Snyder at 454-5335 x-3006. Lastly, it also marks the next Military Discount Night, in which active military and veterans can present a Military ID or an American Legion or VFW membership card and receive premium seating for just $10 or 200 End seats for $5, a savings of $12.25 per ticket. All tickets can be purchased directly at the Box Office window at The Blue Cross Arena.