By CRAIG POTTER
Marty Biron is inducted in to the Amerks Hall of Fame as Rochester posts a 12-3 win over the Penguins.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – It will be a Rochester Americans Hall of Fame night to be remember.
Following the ceremony that saw former goalie Martin Biron become the 62nd player inducted into the Rochester Americans Hall of Fame, the Amerks erupted for 12 goals, the most goals ever allowed in Penguins franchise history, to end a 5-game winless streak with a 12-3 thrashing of WBS before 6,215 fans at the Blue Cross Arena.
Colin Blackwell turned his return to the lineup into a statement as he delivered a solid check on Penguins defenseman Lukas Bengtsson in the left corner that sent the player to the locker room for the remainder of the contest.
“I liked our start,” said Amerks head coach Chris Taylor. “We had a couple of tough practices and a few days off leading into the weekend. It can be tough on the home team with a ceremony before a game, but I thought we responded the right way.”
As a result, the Penguins lost their composure throughout the night, racking up 64 minutes in penalties as the Amerks notched half of their total on the power play. Rochester finished 6-for-9 with the man advantage.
“Blacky got us going with that big hit,” said Seth Griffith. “They were rattled at the get-go and we took advantage of them running around trying to make big hits.”
“I watched the hit, it was clean,” added Taylor, who was an assistant coach last season with WBS. “That hit motivated our guys. We haven’t had those types of hits for a while.
“We talk about it all the time, we need to finish our hits. I coached Lukas last year; he’s a good kid and you don’t want him to be hurt. But it was a good hit.”
The Penguins entered the game with the fourth fewest goals allowed in the AHL.
Griffith paced the hosts with 5 points on 2 goals and 3 assists.
“Tonight was big overall for the team’s confidence,” said Griffith, who was named the game’s first star. “We realize that goals will not be that easy to score every game, so tomorrow night against Binghamton is a rebound game for us.”
Two other players also recorded 2 goals, Kyle Criscuolo, who also had 2 assists apiece to finish with 4 points.
“It was an emotional win,” said Criscuolo. “We had a lot of guys who played with Wilkes-Barre last year and returned a few guys to the lineup. Therefore, a lot of players had that extra jump, so it was a big win for us as we have been in a bit of a rut lately.”
Alex Nylander also recorded 2 goals and 2 assists. It was the breakout game the Amerks have been hoping for from him in the year-and-a-half he has been with the team. Time will tell if he can continue it.
Justin Bailey, Taylor Fedun, and Hudson Hasching each collected 2 assists as only Kevin Porter and Eric Cornel did not pick up a point in the contest.
Linus Ullmark recorded 35 saves in winning his 18th game of the campaign, but he was overlooked for consideration for one of the three stars of the game because of the offensive output.
Marty Biron HoF induction
Martin Biron was inducted into the Amerks Hall of Fame in pre-game ceremonies. Biron played his first two pro seasons with the Amerks, starting in 1997-98, and was the AHL’s first-team All-Star and goalie of the year in 1998-99.
He fought back tears on three occasions during his on-ice speech: when he thanked his parents, when he thanked his wife, children and in-laws, and again when he thanked the fans.
“You guys helped me get to where I am today,” he said.
*NOTES – The Amerks lost leading scorer C.J. Smith on Tuesday with a lower body injury. He is expected to be out 4-6 weeks as he was leading the team in goals (14), assists (25) and points (39)… Rochester has played a league-high 21 games that went beyond regulation…The Amerks travel to Binghamton to play the Devils Saturday night, then come home to face Binghamton again at 3:05 pm Sunday.
Links
Rochester Americans – amerks.com
Videos
Zach Redmond pp goal – https://youtu.be/OZHlRWUoCFM
Kyle Criscuolo pp goal – https://youtu.be/aWDeMyluHIQ
Stuart Percy 5-on-3 goal – https://youtu.be/qqc4o5KxRxI