The Amerks dropped their fourth straight game on Tuesday night heading into the Christmas break.  I’m changing my wish list to ask for one thing, two big wins this coming weekend.  A lot of things are not going well for this team right now.  There’s also a lot of things that are contributing to things not going well.  There’s been a real lack of good practice time due to the schedule.  The lineup is all mixed up.  No one has faith in Chris Beckford-Tseu yet Ryan Mior was called up and expected to carry the game, something he did not do.

The team has off through Saturday for Christmas break so what we can hope for is a well rested team on Saturday along with hopefully some players returning from Florida.  A decent crowd is expected on Saturday night, hopefully it’ll be enough to put some energy in the team to pull out a win.

I saw 95% of the game but not enough to write a decent recap, so here’s the Amerks press release recapping the game:

(Rochester, NY)… The Rochester Americans extended their season-high losing streak to four games tonight, following a 6-2 loss to the Lake Erie Monsters in a North Division bout at Quicken Loans Arena. Lake Erie scored five unanswered goals, including four in the third period, to rally for the win. With the loss, Rochester drops to 20-10-2-0 on the season after falling in eight of its last 10 road contests.

Forwards Nick Tarnasky and Evgeny Dadonov each scored for the visiting Amerks, while goaltender Ryan Mior, who rejoined Rochester tonight on his second PTO, made 27 saves in the losing effort.

Lake Erie was led offensively by a three-goal effort from Philippe Dupuis, while T.J. Hensick tallied three assists to guide the Monsters to their first win over the Amerks this season. Former two-time Calder Cup winner Darren Haydar (1+1) and Ryan Stoa (2+0) also provided two points of their own as goaltender Tyler Weiman earned his eighth win of the campaign with a 23-save performance.

Tarnasky gave Rochester a 1-0 lead at the 6:54 mark of the opening frame with his third of the season  from Michal Repik and veteran forward Chris Taylor. With the assist, Taylor has now collected five points (2+3) in his last three games and sits just 10 away from moving ahead of Gerry Ehman for third on the all-time list. The 18-year pro also tied Les Duff’s benchmark of 399 games and is just one game shy of 400 career games as an Amerk. Repik also skated in his 100th game as an Amerk tonight.

The Monsters evened things up just three minutes later with Dupuis’ first of the night that came unassisted at 9:47 of the period. The Amerks quickly regained the lead three minutes later with Dadonov’s fifth of the season to give Rochester a 2-1 lead heading into the second. Newcomer David Schulz notched his first point as an Amerk with an assist on the goal against his former mates, in addition to Ernie Hartlieb picking up a helper as well.

Lake Erie once again battled back to knot the game at 2-2 as Dupuis struck again on the power-play at 12:54 of the second stanza to jumpstart a five-goal outburst for the hometown Monsters.

The Monsters came out flying in the third as Haydar put his team up 4-2 on the power-play just 1:34 into the final frame. Lake Erie took sole control of the game as Stoa netted back-to-back goals within an eight-minute span before Dupuis completed his hat trick with a shorthanded empty-netter with just one second remaining in regulation to secure the 6-2 win.

The Amerks return home on Saturday, December 26th as the Hamilton Bulldogs make their second trip within in a six-day span back to The Blue Cross Arena. The 7:05 p.m. matchup will be the fourth of 10 this season between the North Division rivals and will be carried live on Sports Radio 1280 WHTK and FM 107.3, Rochester’s Sports Talk. Fans can tune in live to watch Friday’s game on Time Warner Cable SportsNet Channel 26. Rochester owns a 2-0-1-0 record this season and is 65-51-9 lifetime against Hamilton.

Beginning that night, and during each Friday night home game in January, fans can take part in the “Dollar Dogs ‘N’ Drafts” promotion. Fans will be able to purchase Zweigle’s Hot Dogs and 14oz. Draft Beers for just $1 each!  Along with the Saturday, December 26th game against Hamilton, other Dollar Dogs ‘N Drafts games include Friday, January 8th vs. Grand Rapids; Friday, January 22nd vs. Hamilton and Friday, January 29th vs. Albany.

Consumers will have the opportunity to purchase Zweigle’s Hot Dogs and 14 oz. Draft beers for just one dollar. Locations for the promotion will be the upper atrium bar, in addition to the concession stands located directly behind sections 102 and 128 in The Blue Cross Arena. All sales specific to “Dollar Dogs ‘N Drafts” will be conducted between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. only on the select dates with a limit of two 14oz. draft beers and four hot dogs per sales transaction.

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Rochester Americans 2 At Lake Erie Monsters 6 – Status: Final
Dec 22, 2009 – Quicken Loans Arena

Rochester 2 0 0 – 2
Lake Erie 1 1 4 – 6

1st Period-1, Rochester, Tarnasky 3 (Repik, Taylor), 6:54. 2, Lake Erie, Dupuis 5   9:47. 3, Rochester, Dadonov 5 (Schulz, Hartlieb), 12:42. Penalties-Aspenlind Le (elbowing), 10:38; Haydar Le (hooking), 16:04; Tarnasky Rch (cross-checking), 17:01; Ellerby Rch (tripping), 19:34.

2nd Period-4, Lake Erie, Dupuis 6 (Sertich, Fahey), 12:54 (pp). Penalties-served by Bonneau Rch (bench minor – too many men), 2:30; Dadonov Rch (tripping), 9:12; Sweetland Rch (tripping), 11:38; Caruso Rch (cross-checking), 13:38; Haydar Le (slashing), 15:50.

3rd Period-5, Lake Erie, Haydar 11 (Preissing, Hensick), 1:34 (pp). 6, Lake Erie, Stoa 9 (Hensick), 8:51. 7, Lake Erie, Stoa 10 (Hensick, Haydar), 16:14 (pp). 8, Lake Erie, Dupuis 7   19:59 (sh en). Penalties-Thelen Rch (high-sticking), 1:14; Preissing Le (hooking), 3:03; Fahey Le (delay of game), 5:36; served by Taffe Rch (bench minor – too many men), 14:48; Bordeleau Le (major – boarding), 18:42.

Shots on Goal-Rochester 12-2-11-25. Lake Erie 10-14-9-33.
Power Play Opportunities-Rochester 0 of 6; Lake Erie 3 of 8.
Goalies-Rochester, Mior 1-2-0 (32 shots-27 saves). Lake Erie, Weiman 8-10-2 (25 shots-23 saves).
A-3,583
Referees-Shaun Davis (31).
Linesmen-David Kumler (10), Brian Wisner (35).