(Toronto, ON) – Despite recording 47 shots on goal, the Rochester Americans fell to the Toronto Marlies by a 4-2 score at Ricoh Coliseum on Sunday afternoon to close out the 2015-16 season. The Amerks finish the year with a record of 34-38-3-1.
Cole Schneider scored a power-play goal in the game for his 21st of the season and finishes as Rochester’s leading scorer with 56 points (21+35), including 14 points (4+10) in 19 games with the Amerks following a late-season trade with Ottawa.
Jean Dupuy also scored a goal while Evan Rodrigues tallied two assists. Chad Ruhwedel and Nick Baptiste each recorded an assist while goaltender Linus Ullmark stopped 38 of 41 shots in the game. Justin Bailey, who this season became the first Amerks rookie to reach the 20-goal mark since 2006-07, was one of three Amerks (Schneider, Brady Austin), to record a game-high six shots on Sunday.
Marlies goalie Garret Sparks turned in a career-high 45-save performance to earn the win, while Eric Faille scored twice and Jordan Hickmott and Tony Cameranesi rounded out the scoring for Toronto.
The Marlies got off to a quick start, scoring just 1:42 into the contest. Chase Witala sent a cross-ice pass to Hickmott as the Marlies quickly transitioned through the neutral zone. Hickmott then snapped a shot on net from the right-wing boards that Ullmark was able to turn aside, but Faille crashed the net and was able to swat a bouncing rebound into the goal to stake Toronto to a 1-0 lead.
As the shots mounted for both teams over the first 40 minutes of the game, each club got on the board during the second period. Toronto took a 2-0 lead when Hickmott capitalized on a perfect centering feed from Faille, who found Hickmott on the weak-side post.
The Amerks then scored a power-play goal in the closing moments of the second period. As they worked the puck around the offensive zone, Schneider took a pass from Ruhwedel and fired a shot from the right half-wall. The puck appeared to deflect off the stick of a Toronto defender and beat Sparks for the goal with 20 seconds remaining in the frame. Rodrigues also collected an assist on the goal.
Moments after Bailey and the Amerks nearly tied the score while shorthanded, the Marlies extended their lead to 3-1 as Cameranesi raced up ice on a breakaway and wrapped the puck just past the outstretched left skate of Ullmark.
Dupuy cut the Toronto lead to 3-2 with less than three minutes remaining in the third as he worked a perfect give-and-go with Baptiste and chipped the puck past Sparks for the goal. Rodrigues collected his second assist of the night.
Just over a minute later, Faille added an empty-net goal to seal the 4-2 win for Toronto as Rochester closed out the 2015-16 campaign.
Goal Scorers
RCH: Schneider (21), Dupuy (8)
TOR: Faille (6, 7), Hickmott (1), Cameranesi (2)
Shots
RCH: 47
TOR: 42
Goaltenders
RCH: Ullmark – L (38/41)
TOR: Sparks – W (45/47)
Special Teams
Amerks Power Play: 1-3
Amerks Penalty Kill: 3-3
