Scott Wilson scores twice as Brett Murray ends his scoring slump with 2 assists.
By CRAIG POTTER / C&C Worldwide Sports Director
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester Americans notched their 4th consecutive victory on Friday night before 6,029 fans at the Blue Cross Arena on Hall of Fame night as they inducted Dominic as the 65th member of the Amerks Hall of Fame in pregame ceremonies.
Scott Wilson paced the Amerks with 2 goals and 1 assist.
“Playing simple much like the team has done lately,” said Wilson on his personal success tonight. “When I first came here (from Buffalo), I tried to do too much and I learned that is going to back fire on you. So now I am trusting the guys around me and it has helped me lately.
“You feel like you need to score every night just to regain your confidence.”
Amerks coach Chris Taylor added, “He’s been working really hard at his game. He was one of the guys skating here on our days off (during this week’s All-Star break) so that shows he wanted to be ready.”
Rookie defenseman Jacob Bryson and rookie forward Brett Murray each recorded 2 assists in the 4-2 triumph over the Crunch.
Bryson still is looking for his first goal of the season as he now has 14 assists on the season. Murray registered his first points in his last 15 games with the 2 assists.
“It’s nice to get back on the winning train,” said Bryson. “It was a tough stretch there for us but we are sticking together well. We are playing well and hopefully we continue to play the way we have as of late because obviously it feels great to win.”
Wilson opened the scoring 4 minutes into the game with a backhander while cutting across the crease in front of former Amerk goalie Scott Wedgewood.
The Crunch knotted the count 1:22 later on a shorthanded goal past rookie netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who was just called up from Cincinnati after Jonas Johansson was recalled to the Buffalo Sabres following an injury to Linus Ullmark.
Casey Mittelstadt puck the Amerks in front to stay as he beat Wedgewood on a breakaway, set up by Wilson and Murray, who ended his scoring drought with the point.
Luukkonen came up with a huge save with 3:22 left in the first period when Syracuse’s Cory Conacher was awarded a penalty shot. He finished the night with 31 saves, but none bigger than that one as it could have tied the game.
“I thought he was really solid tonight,” said Taylor when asked about Luukkonen’s performance. “He came up big on the penalty shot and was big for us tonight. Our penalty killing was really good but your number one penalty killer has to be your goaltender and he was one of them.”
Wilson’s second goal came on a power play 48 seconds into the second stanza for a 3-1 advantage. Bryson again set up Wilson, only this time it was more luck than a tape-to-tape pass.
“I’ll admit, I was thinking shot, the lane was open, but it hit a stick and went right to him,” Bryson said after his first 2-point game.
The Crunch answered about 15 minutes later with a power play tally of their own.
However, CJ Smith knocked home the rebound off Andrew Oglevie’s shot 34 seconds later for the 4-2 lead.
In the third period, the Crunch pulled Wedgewood with 4:58 to play in an effort to get back into the game. But Luukkonen came up with the answer when called upon as the defense did its job in limiting Syracuse’s quality scoring chances.
It was a chippy game with 52 total minutes in penalties.
“That’s Syracuse and Rochester,” said assistant captain and veteran defenseman Andrew MacWilliam. “It’s no secret they don’t like us and we don’t like them. It’s always fun and great to be a part of these games. It’s also that way against the other North Division teams. It’s a really competitive division and it’s a fun battle.”
It’s the type of game he thrives on.
“Who doesn’t?” MacWilliam said with a smile.
“A couple times they went into our goalie and we stuck together,” Taylor said. “There were some no-so-clean hits and we stuck together. That makes us a really good team right now, that’s why we’ve won four in a row.”
Rochester begins February on the road Saturday night in Binghamton.
*NOTES — The Buffalo Sabres recalled forward Jean-Sebastien Dea from the Amerks Friday morning. He will replace the injured Kyle Okposo, who left Thursday’s game with an upper-body injury. The good news on Okposo is that head coach Ralph Krueger indicated that it was not a head injury. Dea was the first Amerk to reach the 30-point plateau this season…JS Dea and Andrew Oglevie are tied for the team in goals with 13…Former Amerk Scott Wedgewood was in net for the Crunch and took the loss.