Rochester tops the Rocket, 5-2, for its second straight victory.
By CRAIG POTTER / C&C Worldwide Sports Director
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Andrew Oglevie scored his first 2 goals Friday night, since returning to the lineup following an injury, to pace the Rochester Americans to a 5-2 victory over the Laval Rocket before 6,039 fans at the Blue Cross Arena.
The win was the second straight for the Amerks, who were winless in their previous 7 games.
“We’re at our best when we have an identity, and it feels good to get back to playing the way we can,” said Sean Malone, who ended his slump with a goal.
Oglevie opened the scoring in the first period as he tipped a shot by John Gilmour from the left point for a power play goal.
About 4 minutes later, Malone dumped the puck in on Rocket netminder Keith Kinkaid. As he started the transition, Kinkaid shot the puck off the leg of a defenseman as it deflected back and trickled through his legs. Malone got credit for the goal, his first since Dec. 11.
“I didn’t even see what happened,” said Malone, who was headed for the bench when the puck went in. “Sometimes it seems those are the types of bounces that have gone against us lately. It was good to open the flood gates as you would say. It feels good to help the team any way I can.”
The Amerks outshot the Rocket, 14-8, in the opening stanza.
“I thought the first period we came out strong,” said Amerks head coach Chris Taylor. “We dictated the game how we wanted to play and we got off to a great start.”
CJ Smith gave Rochester a 3-0 advantage in the second period when Will Borgen’s shot rebounded off Kinkaid’s pads and the forward tucked it under the crossbar.
The Rocket answered shortly thereafter to spoil the shutout bid by Jonas Johansson on a rebound shot by Gustav Olofsson.
“Tonight and Wednesday night I thought we had the consistency for the full 60 minutes,” said Johansson, who finished with 31 saves. “It has been a little bit of a struggle lately but the last two games we have been able to do that well as a team.”
In a penalty-filled third stanza, the Amerks increased the lead to 4-1 when Scott Wilson scored on a rebound of Jacob Bryson’s shot midway through the period.
Johansson came up huge with the Rocket playing shorthanded and had a 2-on-none breakaway with a save from point-blank range.
“The goal for a goalie is to come up with a save when your team needs one,” said Johansson, who will be the Amerks lone playing representative in the AHL All-Star Classic Sunday and Monday in Ontario, CAL.
The Amerks picked up 2 more penalties, and the Rocket pulled Kinkaid for a 6-on-3 advantage for 25 seconds. Rochester killed off the first penalty, but Laval scored with a 6-on-4 advantage to cut the lead in half, 4-2.
Oglevie fired a backhander into the empty Laval goal to secure the victory.
“I was pretty fired up scoring that one,” he said.
“We put a lot of pressure on their defensemen,” said Oglevie. “We made it difficult for them to get out of their zone, and as a result, we forced a lot of turnovers and generated some quality offensive chances.”
*NOTES — AHL All-Star Jonas Johansson (12-3-3) made the start in the net for Rochester, stopping 23 of the 25 shots that he faced in net to improve to 10-1-1 in his last 12 appearances…The win put Rochester within 4 points of first place in the North Division coming into this weekend’s slate of games…The Amerks close out the weekend on Saturday in Syracuse against the Crunch at 7 pm…Rochester is 12-3-0 all-time record against Laval and winners in 8 of the last 9 games dating back to the 2017-18 campaign…Laval rookie goalie Cayden Primeau is the nephew of former Amerk Wayne Primeau, who was a member of the 1996 Calder Cup-winning team. He was the backup goalie tonight. Cayden also is a cousin of current Rochester forward Dalton Smith…Laval’s roster includes former two-time team MVP and Rookie of the Year Phil Varone, who spent parts of his first five seasons (2011-16) in Rochester. He appeared in 306 career games with the Amerks and is tied for 19th all-time with 156 assists. He had an assist on the Rocket’s first goal.