Victor Olofsson nets his second straight game-winner, this time in OT, to beat the Sound Tigers.
BRIDGEPORT, CT. — After setting up the game-tying goal in the third period to force overtime during Sunday afternoon’s game between the Rochester Americans (3-2-0-0) and Bridgeport Sound Tigers (1-2-1-0), rookie forward Victor Olofsson delivered the game-winning goal just 1:46 into the extra stanza to give Rochester a 3-2 victory at the Webster Bank Arena.
With the today’s overtime-victory, the Amerks have improved to 4-1-1-0 in their last six meetings against the Sound Tigers. Additionally, Rochester has won back-to-back games in Bridgeport for the first time in franchise history.
For the third consecutive contest, Olofsson (1+1) tallied a multi-point game to help lead Rochester to its third straight win while second-year defenseman Brendan Guhle added a pair of assists for his first two-point outing of the season. Zach Redmond recorded his second goal of the slate while Eric Cornel also bagged his second of the campaign.
Goaltender Adam Wilcox, who made his second start in the last three contests, finished the game with 15 saves to earn his second win of the season. Dating back to the end of the 2017-18 season, Wilcox shows a record of 4-0-1 in his last five appearances.
Travis St. Denis and Mike Sislo each lit the lamp for Bridgeport while netminder Jeremy Smith stopped 29 shots but was given his first overtime loss of the season.
The Sound Tigers tallied a pair of second-period goals and took a 2-1 lead into the final period. However, a late penalty gave the Amerks a full two minutes of power-play time to begin the final 20 minutes of regulation.
Rochester only needed 48 seconds to even the game as Redmond gave the club its league-leading seventh power-play goal of the season from Olofsson and Lawrence Pilut.
The marker was Redmond’s seventh point of the season, which paces all AHL defensemen, and Olofsson’s fifth assist while on the man-advantage that leads all AHL skaters.
Continuing with the momentum, the Amerks outshot the Sound Tigers 11-2 during the final period but an extra-period was required as the two teams were tied at 2-2.
The two teams traded a shot early in overtime, but Guhle collected the puck out in front of Wilcox and gave it to Olofsson near the center-ice dot. The Swedish forward entered the offensive zone 1-on-3 but he quickly fired a shot that glanced off the inside of left post and past Smith to complete the two-game weekend sweep.
Cornel gave the Amerks a 1-0 lead after the first period as he redirected his second goal of the season past Smith at the 15:11 mark from Guhle and Alex Nylander.
With his assist, Nylander has five assists over his last four games while Guhle earned a helper for the second straight night after being held without a point in the first three contests of the year
Bridgeport was able to score a pair of goals in the second before Redmond knotted the score in the first minute of the third that ultimately forced overtime.
The Amerks close out their three-game road swing on Wednesday, Oct. 17 when they face the North Division rival Utica Comets at the Adirondack Bank Center. The 7:00 p.m. contest will be the first of 10 scheduled meetings between the two team this season and can be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM ESPN Rochester as well as AHLTV.