An announced crowd of 4659 was there to watch the game tonight, which seemed to be a fairly large one tonight. I am a big fan of the section covers/advertisements; it brings everyone together and makes the stadium seem much more alive. I really enjoyed the upper level seats as well, normally I sit in the upper bowl which are decent seats but we took the cheap ones today. The ones we were in, as you can see in the picture, literally allow you to see everything going on on the ice, as well as making it easy to watch plays develop. The only downfall is the distance that you are from the far end.
The sled hockey demonstration by some of the members of the gold medal winning US team was very interesting. I have never seen the game played before but was instantly impressed since I know how much balance it takes when I have two feet on the ice and can push with my legs, never mind all the extras that they were doing.
First Period:
The Amerks came out hot to start the game, they had three very solid scoring opportunities in the first two minutes of the game but unfortunately Hamilton goalie, Robert Meyer, was ready to go as well denying them any success in the first period. The key to the American's success in the first period was the intensity of their dump and chase game plan. For the first half of the period the Amerks were getting the puck in deep and then outworking the Bulldogs to regain control the puck and generate scoring chances. This was shown by the shot totals after the first period; the Amerks had 16 shots to the 7 generated by Hamilton. The second half seemed to reverse the game plan, though Hamilton was not able to generate nearly as many shots or scoring chances as the Amerks had.
The Amerks had two consecutive power plays in the middle of the period which gave them a chance to get ahead. Jimmy Bonneau took the first penalty, 2 minutes for interference. The Americans seemed to control the puck well but were never really able to generate any quality shots during that time. Andrew Conboy took the second penalty for the Bulldogs, an elbowing call at 14:33 of the period; just two minutes after the first power play had expired. This power play yielded the same results as the first for Rochester which swung the momentum for Hamilton.
The first Hamilton goal was set up by a miscommunication by Tyler Plante and the pursuing turnover behind the Amerks net. Plante went out to play the puck behind the net and was successful in doing so; however when he turned around he had a Hamilton player pressing him hard from both sides. Plante left the puck behind the net where it was recovered by Aaron Palushaj who rolled around to the right of Plante, fired a perfect pass onto the tape of Andrew Conboy who put the puck home just inside the post to the left of Plante.
The remaining three minutes of the period were uneventful until Chris Taylor had to hook down a Hamilton forward to break up a 2 on 1 situation with just 9 seconds left. This was a good penalty to take though since it appeared that the Bulldogs would have had no trouble taking a 2-0 lead into the first intermission without it. The period ended shortly thereafter with a scrum that send both Michal Repik and Olivier Fortier to the box to start the second period.
The Bulldogs seemed to control a majority of the play in the period despite the large disparity in shots. The scoreboard only read 1-0 however and the Amerks were still in the game.
Second Period:
The second period seemed to be a much more relaxed phase than the first period. The Amerks reverted to a forcheck with much less pressure and therefore generated many fewer shots and opportunities for themselves. The emotion wasn't lacking in the least however as a scrum of some sort was formed almost every whistle, though there were no fights in the game. The nine minute mark of the second period was the first major event, which was new comer from boston, Jordan Knackstedt getting called for high sticking.
The penalty wouldn't have been a big deal; however the Amerks were not able to kill it off. After stopping three shots being sprawled out all over his crease Tyler Plante finally found his match and Aaron Palushaj got his second point of the night, burying the rebound shot. Andreas Engqvist and Brendon Nash were both credited with assists on the goal that made it 2-0 Hamilton.
The Amerks weren't done yet though, especially since they had come back from being down 3-1 just two nights earlier. With just under eight minutes left in the period the puck was dumped into the Bulldogs zone. It took a favorable bounce off the glass where it was picked up by Jordan Knackstedt and fed nicely across the slot where it was met by two Amerks players. The other new guy from the Boston trade, Jeff LoVecchio, got his stick on it and buried it to get the game back to a one goal deficit. Only 16 seconds after the goal the Bulldogs Alexander Avtsin took a penalty similar to the one taken in the first by Chris Taylor. The Amerks weren't going to settle for starting the night 0-3 on the power play though. Clay Wilson fired a shot on net where it settled in front of the Hamilton goalie and was smashed home by Michael Duco, who picked up his second goal in as many games since his return from a broken rib. A minute after the Duco goal AJ Jenks had the missed opportunity of the night, firing wide on a one timer from the slot on a semi open net.
Tyler Plante made some fantastic saves at the end of the period to assure that the Americans would take at least a tie into the second intermission. The period seemed to be split again in the second; Hamilton controlling the play much of the first half and Rochester taking over for the later half. Shot in the period were 17-9 in favor of the Bulldogs, though I felt play in the second was closer then play in the first.
Third Period:
The third period continued the flow of the previous two periods; the Amerks started hot again, controlling the puck for most of the first three minutes of the period but coming up empty. Their attack was countered as Hamilton controlled from most of the next three minutes. Michael Caruso picked up the only penalty of the period, another good hooking penalty; however it was his own turnover that caused the situation to occur.
The referees did a good job of letting both teams play I thought. There were only eight penalties in the game; four for each team and two of those were the offsetting ones at the end of the first. The players were playing with lots of emotion, something that tends to happen when they play twice in three nights and both games are closely fought affairs.
Both goalies made huge saves to close out the third. Plante's biggest save of the night was on a tipped point shot with under a minute left that looked like it was headed to the far corner of the net before he got his toe on it. Mayer matched the effort with a sprawling save on the Amerks final rush with less than ten seconds left. Shots for the third period were 13-6 once again in favor of Hamilton. The total second and third period shots for the Amerks did not match the number of shots the generated with their high pressure fore-check in the first period.
Overtime:
Overtime didn't provide much action until the goal was scored by the Bulldogs. Neither team was willing to take a risk prior to that point as they both cleared the red line and got the puck in deep. The Hamilton goal was a result of the same play; the puck went in deep and was recovered by Hamilton. Eventually it was worked to the front of the net where three Bulldogs players were ready to work put it home. Max Pacioretty was credited with the goal, Alex Henry and David Desharnais were credited with the assists. Plante made the first two saves but couldn't get the third, giving him 37 saves for the night but the overtime loss.
Overall:
The first period was basic Amerk's hockey. They were getting the puck in and grinding it out, something that I usually expect when I attend the game. After the first period the effort went away and the game became more about finesse. Players were trying to make one extra move, one extra shot before getting the puck on net. Overall it was a great game to watch, plus a Ryan Miller bobble head and dollar dogs and drinks Friday, who could possibly not enjoy that?
The Amerks return home Sunday, after a trip to Binghamton tomorrow, to take on the same Senators at five pm. Be sure to catch the in state rivalry if you get the chance.
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