By CRAIG POTTER
Linus Ullmark makes 31 saves as Sahir Gill scores 2 goals to pace Rochester.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Rochester Americans came alive in the third period to defeat the Belleville Senators, 3-1, on Wednesday night before 2,782 fans at the Blue Cross Arena.
The game was scoreless after two periods, thanks to stellar goaltending by the Amerks Linus Ullmark as he turned aside all 20 shots by the B-Sens. He finished with 31 saves as he lost his shutout bid with one minute left in the contest on a goal by Daniel Ciampini.
The Amerks erupted for 3 goals in the final 20 minutes as they equaled their 12 shots of the first two periods.
Sahir Gill tallied his 8th and 9th goals of the season. A year ago, while playing for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, he had only 6 goals. He scored twice within 62 seconds with the first goal coming on a power play. He redirected a shot by defenseman Andrew MacWilliam.
“He’s getting an opportunity to play,” said Amerks head coach Chris Taylor, who was an assistant coach in WBS. “In Wilkes-Barre he was in another lineup playing fourth line. Here he’s on a line and having much more confidence and more ice time on the power play. He wasn’t on the power play in Wilkes-Barre as much.
“He’s getting a chance to play and he’s proving why he’s getting a chance. You reward guys who are playing well and doing what you ask them to do. That’s why he’s getting the ice time he’s getting.”
Zach Redmond and Colin Blackwell set up Gill for the second tally as he knocked home a rebound shot.
“At this point in the season, we have certain expectations amongst ourselves to go out there and perform,” said Gill, whose last two-goal game earlier this season also came against Belleville.
“Linus gave us a chance to win going into the final period, so we felt we were in a good spot despite not playing our best two periods.”
Redmond netted the final goal with a blast from the right circle. Team captain Kevin Porter picked up an assist on the play.
“I liked the way we played tonight,” said Taylor. “I thought our penalty kill was strong and Linus played really well. Belleville is a good team, but we found a way to get the win tonight.”
Redmond also had an assist and is third on the team in scoring with 18 points behind rookie C.J. Smith (30) and Gill (21).
“There’s a reason why he’s played in the NHL becomes he comes to play every night,” Taylor said of Redmond. “He’s got a great shot…He cares about what he needs to do to get better, and he wants to get better. He wants to get back in the NHL. He doesn’t want to stay here, and he’s trying to prove that to everyone who sent him down here. He wants other people to watch him and to get back up there.”
Though it’s still only December with 57 games to play, combined with Toronto’s loss in Utica Wednesday, the Amerks (17-6-3-3) trail the Marlies (21-8-0-0) by 2 points in the North Division. The outlook the past 3 seasons at this time of year was not so rosy as the team failed to qualify for the AHL playoffs each time.
“This season we have been a lot more successful, which has been a lot easier coming down to the rink knowing you have a great opportunity every night to win the games,” Ullmark said. “I’m feeling very confident in my guys.
“We’ve played the Marlies just once. We know they’re a good team and we have (7) games left against them so we know it will be exciting.”
Rochester and Lehigh Valley are tied for second most points (40) in the Eastern Conference behind Toronto (42). However, the Phantoms have played 2 more games than both the Amerks and Marlies.
The Amerks travel north of the border for the first of back-to-back meetings against the Laval Rocket on Friday. The two teams will play each other a total of four times over the next five games with two more get-togethers in Rochester following the Christmas break. The other game will be against the Marlies in Toronto are Dec. 29.
*NOTES – The Buffalo Sabres assigned forward Hudson Fasching to the Rochester Americans on Monday…The Amerks also signed defenseman Stuart Percy to an AHL contract for the remainder of the season on Tuesday…Belleville defenseman, and former Amerk, Erik Burgdoefer makes his first appearance in Rochester since signing with the Ottawa Senators organization this past summer…Amerks GM Randy Sexton’s son Ben is a forward with the B-Sens. However, he was scratched for this game. Sexton has 2 goals in his first season in Belleville after scoring a career-high 19 goals a year ago with the Albany Devils.
Links
Rochester Americans – amerks.com
Videos
Linus Ullmark save on pk – https://youtu.be/nzi6Yywvm5E
Nick Baptiste stick check – https://youtu.be/IZ0PtM65rWs
Hudson Fasching shot – https://youtu.be/CSCXW5upPuU