 The Amerks lost their third straight by the final score of 4-3 against the Binghamton Senators on Sunday night in front of an announced crowd of 5,488 fans at Blue Cross Arena.
The Senators scored three goals in the second period to put the score at 4-1 and the Amerks weren’t able to catch up.
We may as well start with some highlights of the game, Mark Mancari had 2 power play goals, Marek Zagrapan scored his team leading 9th goal of the season, and Clark MacArthur had 3 assists.
In the third period Drew Larman made an outstanding save diving through the crease to stop a shot headed into the net.
The Amerks did play a strong third period getting 12 shots on net and scoring two goals, but it was too little too late.
The Senators game winning goal was scored on the power play after Mike Weber was sent to the box for roughing and unsportmans like conduct after he shot the puck down the ice after the whistle had blown. The Amerks did manage to burn off 3 minutes and 47 seconds before the puck went into the net. Another game and another undisciplined penalty that turned out to be a deciding factor in the game.
Just after Mike Weber came out of the box he attempted to clear the puck into the Senators zone when the ref tossed him from the game for ‘physical abuse of officials cat 3).’ The ref looked at the play as if Weber was trying to shoot the puck at him. A penalty that according to the rule book could lead to a further suspension.
While that series of incidents was a deciding factor in the game, the Amerks did also allow another short handed goal.
It was another game that they should have been able to win but couldn’t pull it out. It was also another game that one could say was decided by officiating and an undisciplined penalty. Is it a group of young defenseman, or a lack of offense? Either way if the team can stay consistent for 60 minutes they’ll have another stretch of winning games.
The three stars in order were Josh Hennessy, Mark Mancari, and Clark MacArthur.
We’d also like to comment on Franklin MacDonald who has been getting a lot of ice time and looking to be have a great future in hockey. Although he didn’t put any points on the board tonight, he’s making an impact on the ice.
Patrick Kaleta was able to stay out of the penalty box tonight and also seems to be stepping up his game with more offensive opportunities.
This weekend was the easiest thing that will happen to the Rochester Americans this month. Starting on December 13th, the Amerks will be playing ten games in 17 days with a packed schedule for every weekend and during every week.
Next weekend the Amerks will be traveling from Rochester to Chicago, to Rockford, to Perioa back to Rochester from Friday to Sunday. Only three days later on Wednesday the 19th the team travels to Albany. They are back in Rochester on the 21st against the Toronto Marlies and then immediately off again to Binghamton for a game there the next day.
Lucky for them, the team has three days off for Christmas. But, they will have to be working hard because on the 26th the Amerks once again host the Marlies for the thrid time in December. They then have another three games in three days that weekend. It starts with a home game against the Hamilton Bulldogs on Friday, then they travel to Cleveland for a game against the Lake Erie Monsters on Saturday. That weekend is rounded off with another home game on Sunday against the hated Syracuse Crunch.
There is no drought of games to go to this holiday season.
Additional coverage of the game:
- Official AHL Stats
- Amerks.com – Amerks Fall to Sens, Lose Third Straight
- D&C – Amerks falter in second period
- Press & Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton) – Elliott helps B-Sens’ thwart Amerks’ comeback
