By CRAIG POTTER
Rochester’s rally cannot overcome a 5-goal deficit in the 6-4 loss to the P-Bruins.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Rochester Americans yielded 3 goals in just under 6 minutes early in the second period as the Providence Bruins bolted to a 6-1 lead en route to a 6-4 victory on Wednesday night before 3,718 fans at the Blue Cross Arena.
Justin Bailey scored a power play goal in the first stanza to give the Amerks a 1-0 advantage.
However, the Bruins answered with 2 goals against starting goalie Linus Ullmark, the racked up the trio in the second in about 5 minutes as Amerks coach Dan Lambert pulled Ullmark in favor of John Muse, who was just recalled from the Elmira Jackals of the ECHL.
Providence netted a goal about 3.5 minutes later on Muse for the 6-1 margin.
“I liked our first period despite being down by a goal,” said Lambert. “I thought we played with them for the first 20 minutes, but then in the second, we had a bad change and everything crumbled from there over the next period.”
Veteran forward Kyle Bonis tallied his first goal as an Amerk to cut the margin to 6-2, 27-seconds later in the second period. Eric Cornel and Mac Bennett each gathered an assist on the play.
“They did a real good job down low…and unfortunately with a team with that much skill they’re going to score,” Bonis said of the Bruins’ 3 quick goals.
Nick Baptiste netted a power play goal to cut the deficit to 6-3 in the final two minutes of the period. He tallied his second goal of the game on a power play in the third period, but that was as close as the Amerks could get.
“We’ve got to play better for our goaltender,” said Baptiste.
Mike Avianni picked up his first points as an Amerk in his fourth game of the season with 2 assists. Rookie Alex Nylander also collected 2 assists for Rochester (7-9-0-1).
Evan Rodrigues, who has 9 points, was wearing the third ‘A’ as Assistant Captain with team captain Cal O’Reilly up with Buffalo.
“Evan has played hard this season,” Lambert said. “He’s a second-year guy, he’s an older guy within our group. We rely on him in many situations – power play, PL – and we thought we’d give him an ‘A’ and reward him for his effort.”
Defensemen Erik Burgdoerfer and Tyson Strachan wear the 2 other ‘A’s.
*NOTES – The visit by Providence is the Bruins only trip to Rochester this season…With Cal O’Reilly and Cole Schneider up withthe Buffalo Sabres, Justin Bailey and Alex Nylander share the team lead in points with 12. Nick Baptiste is one behind at 11…One positive for the game is that the Amerks went 3-for-4 on the power play while the penalty killing unit was successful 2 out of the 3 chances the Bruins had on the power play…Rochester returns to action at the BCA on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. against the Utica Comets…The Amerks announced that the team will hold a Skate and Shoot session for fans from 4-5:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 25 prior to their home game against the Utica Comets at the Blue Cross Arena. Admission for the Skate and Shoot will be $15 per person and includes a ticket voucher that can be redeemed for that night’s game against the Comets. Vouchers can be redeemed at the Blue Cross Arena Box Office. While full equipment is encouraged, helmets, skates, and gloves are required for all participants.
Links
Rochester Americans – amerks.com
Videos
Nick Baptiste interview – https://youtu.be/D_zEI9y2gQw
Kyle Bonis interview – https://youtu.be/EVM5OX5AmbM
Dan Lambert interview – https://youtu.be/_HrGMmRMRCA