Rochester beat Hartford after falling to Bridgeport.
By Erica Whyte
The Rochester Americans nabbed two out of four points in their first two games back from the AHL All-Star break, splitting their two-game road swing through Connecticut. On Friday, the Amerks lost 3-2 to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, who sit in fifth place in the Eastern Conference. On Saturday, the Amerks bounced back with a 4-2 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack, coming out on top in three of four matchups on the season.
In Friday’s game, Justin Bailey, who was recalled Saturday morning to the big club, inched closer to his second straight 20-goal season after scoring his team-leading 19th goal of the campaign. Fifth-year forward Dan Catenacci had a two-point night, including his fifth goal of the year, and newcomer Patrick Mullen tallied his first point in his first game as an Amerk, assisting on the goal by Catenacci. Fresh off his Top Goaltender performance at the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic, Linus Ullmark stopped 25 of 28 shots faced and was perfect in the both first and third periods.
With his next goal, Bailey will become the first Amerk to net 20 goals in back-to-back seasons since Mark Mancari reached the mark in 2006-07 and 2007-08. He’s currently tied for fifth among league leaders in goals, including a team-best seven power-play tallies. The Amerks reigning Rookie of the Year also owns the longest goal-scoring streak in the league this season at seven games and has recorded 14 points (11+3) over his last 13 games dating back to Dec. 16, a stretch that also produced a career-long eight-game point streak, tied for fifth-longest in the AHL this season.
Evan Rodrigues, who was out with an injury for almost two weeks, came back with vengeance with a two-goal game on Saturday night in Hartford to help the Amerks grab a lead they would never see evaporate. Also, picking up two assists was Mullen and team captain Cal O’Reilly, who rejoined the club earlier in the day after being reassigned by the parent Buffalo Sabres. Nick Baptiste and Cole Schneider finished off the scoring for the Amerks while Ullmark made his seventh straight start in between the pipes, stopping 18 of the 20 shots he faced to improve his record to 18-16-2. The Swedish netminder’s 18 wins are just two shy for most in the league this season.
Rodrigues shows 13 points (4+9) in his last 15 games dating back to Dec. 17. O’Reilly appeared his 500th career AHL game and recorded two assists to give him 10 points (3+7) in his last 12 games. With two goals in his last three games, Schneider became the first Amerk this season to reach the 40-point plateau. The Williamsville native has now reached the mark in each of his last four seasons.
UP NEXT FOR THE AMERKS
A pair of North Division showdowns will take place this weekend, as the Amerks look to tackle the Albany Devils at the Blue Cross Arena on Friday, before traveling to Syracuse to take on the Crunch on Saturday. Both of this weekend’s games will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM ESPN Rochester.