5 different players score in Rochester’s 5-1 win over Toronto.
By CRAIG POTTER
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Balanced scoring and excellent goaltending from Scott Wedgewood propelled the Rochester Americans to a 5-1 victory over the defending Calder Cup champion Toronto Marlies on Friday night before 8,061 fans at the Blue Cross Arena.
“Five goals from five different players, special teams working, five-on-five working and our goalie played awesome,” said defenseman Zach Redmond. “Those are the kind (of victories) that get the ball rolling.”
The victory was the second in a row for the Amerks as the crowd was the largest since 9,836 fans filled the BCA on Feb. 2, 2018 in a 4-2 loss to the Toronto Marlies. It was Brian Gionta’s tune-up game for the South Korea Olympics. It also marked the only time a local player has scored for the Amerks in his first game, and in Gionta’s case his only game, with the team. Gionta’s goal gave Rochester a 2-1 lead.
Special teams accounted for a trio of Amerks goals, including 2 power play tallies and 1 shorthanded marker.
The Amerks went 2-for-5 on the power play while the Marlies were just 1-for-8.
“That’s so important,” said forward Danny O’Regan said. “The coaches work really hard showing us a lot of video. A couple weeks ago we were kind of on the other end of it.”
The Marlies created their own problem on a power play in the second stanza, after a scoreless first period. Sam Gagner had trouble maintaining control of the puck in his own zone as Marlies goalie Eamon McAdam had to play the puck as it came off Gagner’s stick. Gagner then lost the puck to Eric Cornel’s forechecking. He passed the puck to Wayne Simpson alone coming down the slot as he beat McAdam for the 1-0 Rochester lead.
“Cornel did a good job of pressuring down the ice,” said Simpson. “Once he got the puck, he hit me right on the tape and I just tried to beat the goalie short-side.”
Redmond tied his career high for goals with 15 as he scored on a power play for a 2-0 advantage. Less than 3 minutes later, defenseman Brendan Guhle blasted a shot from the right point past McAdam for a 3-0 bulge.
The Marlies averted the shutout with a power play goal of their own late in the period, but the Amerks got it back before the stanza ended when Justin Bailey received the puck off a steal in the slot, turned and fired a shot past McAdam for a 4-1 margin.
Rochester tacked on a power play goal in the third period by O’Regan to complete the scoring.
“It was an all-around good effort,” Redmond said. “It was a big night for our special teams that we desperately needed.”
Wedgewood turned aside 35 of 36 shots, including several spectacular saves as the Amerks had to kill off 8 penalties, including a full 2 minutes down 2 men, where the Marlies accounted for their power play tally.
“When he’s on the top of his game, he’s very tough to beat,” said Redmond.
“Family time always resets you, so that was good,” said the goalie, who spent the holiday visiting family in Niagara Falls and Toronto. “I probably spent more time in the car than I did with family, but it’s nice to catch up with people you don’t see on a daily basis.”
“It was definitely a team effort tonight,” said Amerks head coach Chris Taylor. “From our penalty-kill to our power-play to our goaltender, I thought we played really well. We had a little bit of a slow start, but I liked how we stuck with it and took the chances when we got them.”
The Amerks close out the 2018 portion of their schedule Saturday night in Utica against the Comets, who were 10-1 losers to the North Division second place Syracuse Crunch Friday night. Rochester (20-10-2-0) maintained its 2-point lead (42-40) over Syracuse (19-8-2-0) with the victory.
*NOTES — Amerks forward Alex Nylander left the game in the first period with an upper body injury suffered on the game’s first shift. Coach Chris Taylor said the winger is day-to-day…Goalie Scott Wedgewood recorded his third shutout of the season Wednesday with a 4-0 win in . over the Monsters. He is one shy of tyig his career record of 4 shutouts, which he set in the 2013-14 season…With 14 goals in 31 games this season, defenseman Zach Redmond is on a record-setting pace to etch his name in team history. Earlier this season, he became the fastest Amerks defenseman to score 10 goals in the fewest amount of games to begin the season since Amerks Hall of Famer Don McSween reached the mark in his first 21 games during the 1989-90 campaign. McSween would later go on to become the top scoring defenseman in franchise history. Redmond, who last season became just the first Amerk blueliner in 7 years to lead the team in scoring, is just 1 goal away from matching his career-high of 15 from last season and needs only 4 more goals to tie the single-season franchise record for the most by a defenseman of 18, set by Rick Pagnutti during the 1972-73 season.
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Rochester Americans defenseman Zach Redmond (22) scores on the power play in the second period against the Toronto Marlies on Friday night (12/28/18) before 8,061 fans at the Blue Cross Arena. The Amerks won their second straight game, 5-1.
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Brought to you by C&C Worldwide, supporting greecenylive.com, irondequoitlive.com, penfieldlive.com, websterlive.com and rochesternylive.com. Video by Craig Potter.
Rochester Americans forward Danny O’Regan (65) scores on the power play in the second period against the Toronto Marlies on Friday night (12/28/18) before 8,061 fans at the Blue Cross Arena. The Amerks won their second straight game, 5-1.
Discover the Healthy Living Mall where you will find the Healthy Living Resources for you to attain your health goals. Check it out at: http://digijunction.com/health/potter10