If I were to write a full recap of the game it would contain one word, snoozefest. The team just could not get things going offensively. The team has another game on Thursday evening at 5pm on the road against the Lake Erie Monsters. The Monsters have been playing well lately, we’ll see what happens.
Here’s the Amerks press release about the game:
(Hamilton, December 30)… The Hamilton Bulldogs recaptured first place in the North Division with a 4-1 win over the Rochester Americans tonight at Copps Coliseum. The win moved Hamilton (21-8-2-3, 47 points) one point ahead of the Amerks (22-11-2-0, 46 points) for the top spot in the division.
The loss ended Rochester’s streak of earning a point in nine straight games against Hamilton and extended the Amerks’ road losing streak to four games. It also interrupted the Amerks’ two-game winning streak. Despite the setback, Rochester still leads the season series with a 3-1-1-0 record.
J.T. Wyman and Mikael Johansson led Hamilton with two points each tonight (1+1). Bulldogs’ goalie Cedrick Desjardins earned the win in goal with 24 saves and held Rochester to one goal. The Amerks got a goal from Chris Taylor and a 20-save effort from goalie Ryan Mior, who made his fourth straight start.
Wyman opened the scoring at the five-minute mark of the first period, completing a play set up by Johansson and Andre Benoit. Hamilton made it 2-0 at 14:41 on a goal by Mathieu Darche, which was his fifth against Rochester in the past three games. Wyman and Mathieu Carle earned assists on the power-play goal.
Rochester got on the board at 5:46 of the second, as Taylor’s pass to the front of the net was deflected in for a goal. Evgeny Dadonov and Keaton Ellerby assisted on the power-play marker. Hamilton regained the two-goal advantage when Brock Trotter beat Mior with a backhander past his right pad at 12:57. The goal was Rochester’s league-leading 10th shorthanded goal against this season.
In the third period, Johansson ripped a shot from the high slot that eluded Mior at 9:26. The goal was scored moments after Amerks forward Michal Repik blocked the initial point shot. Yannick Weber and Tom Pyatt collected assists on the goal.
Rochester returns to Quicken Loans Arena for the second time in a week to take on the Lake Erie Monsters in its final game of 2009 on Wednesday, December 31st. Fans can tune in to listen live to the 5:00 p.m. New Year’s Eve matinee on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK and FM 107.3, Rochester’s Sports Talk.
