Bailey regaining his form but Amerks lose again to Toronto

By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA

The Rochester Americans lost to the Toronto Marlies on Friday night. This is a recording.

It’s a recording from 20011-12. And seemingly every other seasons since, for that matter.

And just like so many of those previous defeats, the Amerks led late and managed to give up the tying and winning goals before regulation even ended and found themselves 5-3 losers.

This time the Amerks led 3-1 late in the second period after Alex Nylander drove home a Justin Bailey rebound, and they led 3-2 with under five minutes to play.

But then came the avalanche. Chris Muller tied it at 15:47 after a Kevin Porter defensive-zone mistake, Kerby Rychel gave the Marlies the lead with 2:58 remaining, and Miro Aaltonen scored a meaningless empty net goal with eight seconds to play.

“It gets old,” Porter said of losing to the Marlies, who have won four of five games against the Amerks this season. “They’re a good team; we hang with them for 55 minutes and then they got a couple late goals.

“We made a couple mistakes, especially by my line, so this one’s on me. I’m going to take the blame for this one.”

The good news: Bailey played like the Bailey fans saw last season. He scored a breakaway goal, set up Nylander’s goal, was often dangerous and not only used his speed but also played the body.

“That was definitely his game,” Amerks coach Chris Taylor said. “He’s hard to stop (when he’s doing all of those things).

“That was one of his best games I’ve seen in a long time. He’s a big part of our team and a big part of this organization.”

Bailey has struggled all season, in part because of what has been reported to be an ankle in jury. He entered Friday’s game with just 2 goals and 3 assists in 22 AHL games. He produced 2-1-3 in seven games with the Buffalo Sabres. After back-to-back 20-goal campaigns with the Amerks, this season has been frustrating for the Buffalo native.

“The last couple weeks I’m starting to feel like myself again,” Bailey said.

Monday’s NHL trade deadline could impact the third-year right winger. His name isn’t at the forefront of rumors, but other prospects seem to have made a bigger impact on the new management team.

“I think it’s in the back of everybody’s mind every year but it’s out of our control,” Bailey said.

Sabres general manager Jason Botterill and assistant GM Randy Sexton were in attendance on Friday.

The Amerks and Marlies play again at 4 p.m. Saturday in Toronto. The Amerks are home to play Bridgeport on Wednesday.