Linus Ullmark makes 37 saves in the goaltending duel.
TORONTO, ONT. —
After shutting out the Toronto Marlies (31-11-0-1) at Ricoh Coliseum 2-0 nearly a month ago, the Rochester Americans (24-10-5-5) returned north of the border in the fourth game of a five-game road-swing. The Amerks however, were unable to solve Marlies goaltender Garret Sparks as they dropped a 2-0 contest Friday night in the third of eight meetings between the North Division rivals this season.
With the loss in regulation, Rochester becomes the last team in the AHL to reach double digits (10) while suffering just its the third away from The Blue Cross Arena as the Amerks carry a 13-3-5-3 record in 24 road games this season.
Amerks captain Kevin Porter led the team with four shots while 15 of the 18 Rochester skaters registered a shot on goal over the course of the tilt as goaltender Linus Ullmark made 37 of 38 saves on the night.
Colin Greening opened the scoring for the Marlies in the first period before former Amerk Jean Dupuy sealed the 2-0 win as he tacked on an empty-netter late in the final stanza.
After the two teams traded scoring chances in the first half of the opening 20 minutes of play, Greening received a pass from Gauthier to the right of Ullmark. The forward snapped a wrist-shot to the left of the Swedish netminder to break the scoreless game at the 14:30 mark of the first period.
The Marlies took the 1-0 lead into the intermission break along with a 12-6 shot advantage.
Over the course of the second period, the Amerks fired 13 shots on Sparks, but the netminder stood tall while Ullmark equally was up to the task as he stopped all 16 shots he faced.
After killing off a penalty to begin the final period, Rochester continued to try to spoil Sparks’ shutout bid but he would not crack as he made all 12 saves to complete the shutout while Dupuy scored an empty-netter in the final half-minute of play as Ullmark was on the behind for an extra-attacker.
The Amerks bring their season-long five-game road swing to a close on Saturday, Jan. 27 when they return to Yardmen Arena to face the Belleville Senators at 7 pm in their final game before the AHL All-Star break. All of the action can be heard live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM ESPN Rochester.
*NOTES — The Buffalo Sabres announced the team assigned defenseman Matt Tennyson to the Amerks on Friday…With the loss, the Amerks fell 5 points behind the Marlies, who have 1 game in hand.