Justin Bailey paced all North Division skaters with four points and plus-four rating.
ALLENTOWN, PA. — The 2017 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Capital BlueCross concluded on Monday with the American Hockey League’s Central Division All-Stars defeating the Atlantic Division All-Stars 1-0 in a shootout to cap off the 2017 AHL All-Star Challenge.
The North Division All-Stars went an even 1-1-1 in their three-game round-robin tournament and its roster included Rochester Americans forwards Justin Bailey and Cole Schneider, and goaltender Linus Ullmark.
In the second game of the night, the North defeated the Pacific Division All-Stars for their lone win by the score of 6-3, but it was Schneider who opened the scoring from Bailey.
“It was pretty special to open the scoring,” said Schneider afterwards. “It is a memory that I will have for a long time. As a team, we wanted to make it to the Finals, but it was still a lot of fun as there was a lot of open ice.”
Bailey impacted the scoresheet as well over the course of the night, scoring a pair of goals and also picking up two assists to go along with a plus-four rating. His four points led the North Division.
“Tonight was really awesome,” said Bailey, who leads the Amerks with 18 goals this season. “I did not really know what to expect so that helped me in a way. I got to play with some really talented players in our Division as well as get to know them a bit. Anytime you can get to know some other guys around the league it is pretty special. Tonight, since it was three-on-three, it felt like I was just playing with my buddies since there was a lot of open ice and that made it very fun.”
Over the course of his three games and 15 minutes of work throughout the evening, Ullmark stopped his final 10 shots after allowing his first, but like Bailey and Schneider, he enjoyed the night’s festivities.
“It was a lot of fun tonight,” said Ullmark, who was named Top Goaltender of the AHL’s Skills Competition the night before. “I was excited to play in the games and it was different than a normal game because its three-on-three and we have not played a lot of overtime games but it was good practice. While it was three-on-three, it did not feel like a regular season game because guys are trying different things and at the same time, I got to do different things on the ice, too. I got to catch up with a lot of the guys who I have played against this year and last season, so there was some good chatter in the locker room and on the ice.”
Ullmark closed out the night with 15 saves on 17 shots against for a 1.43 goals-against average.
The Amerks resume their 2016-17 regular season on Friday, Feb. 3 when they continue their three-game road swing with a matchup against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at Webster Bank Arena. The 7 pm matchup will be the second of four meetings between the two teams this season and will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM ESPN Rochester.