Defenseman Zach Redmond nets the game-winner for his 10th goal of the season.
By CRAIG POTTER
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Zach Redmond ripped home his 10th goal of the season on Friday night to propel the Rochester Americans to a 3-2 overtime victory over the Syracuse Crunch before a Military Appreciation Night crowd of 6,318 fans at the Blue Cross Arena.
“Three-on-three can get wild,” said Redmond, who leads all AHL defensemen with 10 goals and 18 points. “Their guy went back into their zone before he fumbled the puck away to (Alex) Nylander. It turned out to be a quick 2-on-1 and those usually are successful when its three-on-three hockey.”
Nylander thought about taking the shot, “But then I saw he (Redmond) was wide open,” he said.
Rochester goalie Adam Wilcox turned in another strong performance, despite yielding the tying goal with .6 seconds left in regulation. He made 30 saves to improve his record to 4-0-1-0.
The two teams played a scoreless first period before Justin Bailey put the Amerks on the scoreboard late in the second when he received a pass from Lawrence Pilut in center ice, strode down the left wing, cut across the crease and beat Crunch goalie Eddie Pasquale with his shot.
“Justin did a great job driving into the zone and finishing the play,” said Amerks head coach Chris Taylor. “I think he needs to do it more and you can see his confidence growing with the recent success. He has the size and the speed but he needs to continue to trust himself to make the plays.”
“When I came back to the bench, Tails told me to take the D wide,” Bailey said. “The next time when I came back to the bench, he took credit for it.”
Syracuse evened the count early in the third period before a weird play put the Amerks back in front.
Nylander sent a pass to Andrew Oglevie, whose shot went in the Crunch net. Nylander was charging in for a possible rebound, got tripped up and slid into Pasquale, dislodging the cage. The referee signaled ‘goal’ as a scrum ensued with players from both sides trying to protect one another.
“I had the goalie and some other guy on top of me,” Nylander said. “It’s like the first time I got into one of those scrums.
“I thought it was fun.”
Taylor added with a smile, “He doesn’t like the nicks on his nose, though.”
The goal was Oglevie’s first career tally as a pro.
The Crunch pulled Pasquale for the extra attacker and it paid off as they scored in the final second to second the game into overtime.
*NOTES — Sean Malone made his Amerks debut Wednesday in Buffalo against the Cleveland Monsters after missing the first 12 games due to a lower-body injury. He and veteran defenseman Taylor Fedun each picked up 2 assists in the 5-2 victory…Defenseman Zach Redmond scored his 9th goal of the season for Scott Wedgewood earned his 6th win in his last 7 starts as the Amerks as he turned aside 24 of 26 shots…The Amerks get a rare rest of the weekend off before making a road trip to New England for a 3-in-3 next weekend…Victor Olofsson, who last week was named the CCM/AHL Player of the Month for October, sustained an injury during Wednesday’s game and did not return. He was scratched from Friday’s game against Syracuse…Brendan Guhle has missed the last 2 games with an illness…With not having a game until next Friday, one or both players may be ready to return to the lineup next weekend.
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Rochester Americans defenseman Zach Redmond (22) scores in overtime against the Syracuse Crunch on Friday night at the Blue Cross Arena before 6,318 fans on Military Appreciation Night. The Amerks won the game 3-2.
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