(Binghamton, NY) … After shutting out the Binghamton Devils (5-8-1-0) on Wednesday night on home ice, the Rochester Americans (9-4-1-1) were held off the scoreboard in a 5-0 loss Saturday night at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena in a rematch against the Devils.
The loss was the Amerks first in regulation on the road this season after starting 4-0-1-1 away from The Blue Cross Arena. Additionally, the loss snapped Rochester’s string of seven straight games with a point, the team’s longest stretch since an eight-game run to open the month of April during the 2013-14 campaign.
Defenseman Stuart Percy, who entered the contest riding a four-game point streak (2+5), led all Amerks with five shots while goaltender Adam Wilcox suffered the defeat in net despite making 31 saves.
Jacob MacDonald helped the Devils to the 5-0 win as the defenseman recorded his second-straight multi-point night as he bagged his sixth goal of the season to go with his two assists. Joe Blandisi (1+1) and Josh Jacobs (0+2) each collected two-point nights while Viktor Loov and Blake Pietila rounded out the scoring on the night. Netminder Mackenzie Blackwood notched his first shutout of the season, stopping all 18 shots sent his way while snapping a six-game winless streak.
The Devils opened the scoring 6:18 into the first period as Lappin received a pass just inside the Amerks blueline and took a few strides to the center of the ice before ripping his team-leading 10th goal of the season past Wilcox.
Binghamton took a 1-0 lead into the intermission but would add a pair of goals during each of the second and third periods to end its season-long six-game skid.
Midway through the second period, Blandisi and Pietila each beat Wilcox less than five minutes apart to carry a 3-0 lead after 40 minutes of play. The Devils outshot Rochester 28-11 through two periods and limited the Amerks to just two shots during the middle frame.
In between the two Binghamton tallies over the course of the second period, Amerks leading point-getter C.J. Smith appeared to make it 2-1 game as he thought he beat Blackwood under the crossbar with a shot at the 14:51 mark. After video review, however, the referees deemed the puck had not gone into the net but just hit the crossbar.
Binghamton’s offense was quick to strike again in the third period, as MacDonald and Loov scored 1:15 apart to seal the 5-0 win.
The Amerks remain on the road on Wednesday, Nov. 22 for a pre-Thanksgiving Day matchup with the Syracuse Crunch at the War Memorial Arena. Game time is slated for a 7:00 p.m. start and will be broadast live on Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM ESPN Rochester.
Goal Scorers
RCH: None
BNG: Lappin (10), Pietila (5), Blandisi (3), MacDonald (6), Loov (2)
Goaltenders
RCH: Wilcox – 31/36 (L)
BNG: Blackwood – 18/18 (W)
Shots
RCH: 18
BNG: 36
Special Teams
RCH: PP (0/7) | PK (4/5)
BNG: PP (1/5) | PK (7/7)
