By CRAIG POTTER
Rochester forward Justin Vaive knots the game 2-2 against his former Sound Tigers teammates.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester Americans know hockey is a 60-minute game, but until they start playing for the full 60 minutes, they likely will continue to have games like Friday night where they lost to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, 5-2, before 5,210 fans at the Blue Cross Arena.
The visitors from Connecticut scored twice in the first 3 minutes of the contest, and it looked like the contest might be a blowout.
However, the Amerks battled back in the next 10 minutes to tie it up. Defenseman Patrick Mullen, who was playing in just his 5th game for Rochester, blasted a shot past veteran goalie Jaroslav Halak to put the Amerks on the scoreboard. Cal O’Reilly and Eric Burgdoerfer assisted on the play.
“He’s an offensive defenseman,” said Amerks head coach Dan Lambert of Mullen. “He has the ability to pass, and he showed that the first three games with three assists. He can shoot the puck and score goals. He has the ability to do those things for us.”
Former Bridgeport player, and now Rochester forward, Justin Vaive tallied the equalizer with 8:31 left in the stanza. Vaclav Karabacek and Brady Austin picked up assists on the goal.
“The play was a bit of a cluster,” Vaive said. “I have to give the credit to my linemates for getting the puck into the zone and to the net, but I was lucky enough to find the puck when I covered the point. I just fired a shot and the puck somehow found its way into the net.”
“I thought Brady played a solid game,” said Lambert. “I think he is bringing more physicality to his game and I think it is helping his overall game.”
The game remained knotted until late in the second period when the Sound Tigers Dal Colle knocked home a rebound shot past Amerks netminder Linus Ullmark while on a power play.
“Tonight was another tough start for us,” said Lambert. “When we tied the game up, we had a chance to grab the lead but our power-play did not execute and Bridgeport’s did and that ultimately was a big momentum shift.”
“The top teams in the league usually have strong special teams that find a way to convert on the power-plays and limit the opponents. That is exactly what the Sound Tigers did tonight and unfortunately we did not,” said Vaive.
Ullmark finished with 24 saves, many of the spectacular variety in the second period prior to the late Amerks’ penalty that resulted in Bridgeport’s third goal.
“It’s got to be better right from the start,” Ullmark said.”It’s just not good enough when you’re playing in this league. You’ve got to be prepared right from the get-go. It wasn’t enough today.”
The visitors secured the victory late in the third period on a breakaway, after the Amerks failed to score on a 5-on-3 power play. Rochester successfully killed off a 5-on-3 Bridgeport advantage for 1:01 a couple of minutes prior.
“That was huge,” Lambert said of the missed opportunity. “If you look at a number of our recent games that’s been the difference.”
The Sound Tigers then added an empty net goal.
Rochester rookie Alex Nylander had 17 points in 30 games prior to playing in the World Junior Championship where he led Team Sweden in scoring. But he only recorded 2 assists in the 14 games since, and both of those came in a 5-3 victory at Albany.
“Alex has got to want the puck a little more than he did tonight,” said Lambert. “When you are dealing with an 18-year-old player you will have a lot of nights where he’s maybe not as sharp as the other guys. But in saying that, he’s got to work better. You can’t play the game at the end of your stick, and I thought he did that tonight.”
The Amerks continue their 3-in-3 weekend on Saturday in Binghamton against the Senators before returning to the BCA on Sunday afternoon at 5:05 pm, also versus the B-Sens.
*NOTES – The game was just the third all-time for the Sound Tigers at the BCA…The 3-in-3 weekend is the only one for the Amerks in February…On a personal note, former Amerks goalie Phil Myre was here scouting for the International Scouting Services. I attended his week-long goalie camp at Lakeshore Hockey Arena for two years back in the early 90s. I was the oldest camper at 42, and I won the coveted Most Spectacular Save Competition the second year. The other adult at the camp won the Breakaway Competition. Phil brought Detroit goalie prospect Scott Osgood with him the second year as well. However, Osgood suffered a case of food poisoning and wasn’t around for much of the camp. I was the only reporter in press box row so Phil sat there and we chatted and reminisced for the night. Phil was with the Amerks on 2 separate occassions and lived in Pittsford both times, which was where I grew up…Another scout on the list was Peter Mahovlich, scouting for the Florida Panthers. When Pete was playing for the Montreal Canadiens in the mid-70s, I was in Pittsburgh. I called in to the Myron Cope On Sports talk show on radio and suggested the Penguins trade disgruntled center Pierre LaRouche to Montreal for Pete Mahovlich. He said I should be a GM. Well, about a week later, the Pens and Habs DID make that trade!
Links
Rochester Americans – amerks.com
Videos
Justin Vaive goal – https://youtu.be/o6dYW76x1nU
Linus Ullmark save – https://youtu.be/PYVaQ2fEidk
Linus Ullmark interview – https://youtu.be/4wdlCUpGav0
Justin Vaive interview – https://youtu.be/r-CWPvxr3EM
Dan Lambert interview – https://youtu.be/Fd30X9MW1jI