By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
After an uninspiring performance on Wednesday night against a team they simply can’t beat, the Rochester Americans rebounded to defeat the not-so-good Binghamton Devils.
The 4-3 loss to the Providence Bruins — the ninth time in the past 10 meetings that Providence has defeated the Amerks — provided some of the motivation in Friday’s 4-2 victory at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial.
Here’s your Friday Amerks’ Six Pack:
Minnesota (scoring) nice
The all-Minnesota defense pairing of Casey Nelson and Will Borgen provided the offensive spark.
Nelson (Minnesota State-Mankato) scored the first goal and assisted on the clinching empty-netter by Remi Elie while Borgen (St. Cloud State) assisted on goals by Nelson and Jean-Sebastien Dea. Each was a plus-3.
Nelson entered the night with just two assists in eight games and Borgen didn’t have a point in nine. But they’re expected to produce, interim coach Gord Dineen said.
“They both skate well, they both have good puck skills,” Dineen said. “They’re not going to wow you with how they produce offense but they’re effective with their shot selection and simple movement of the puck.”
Who knew it was possible for products of two rival Minnesota colleges to be defense partners.
“It is now,” Nelson said.
Said Borgen: “We were in different conferences (Mankato in the WHCA, St. Cloud in the NCHC). I was in a better one.”
Dea scores again
Dea now leads the Amerks in goals with five after his goal at 10:55 of the third period clinched the victory.
He established position in the deep slot and fired home the rebound of Borgen’s point shot.
“Obviously it feels good to score but honestly I didn’t do much,” he said.
Strong start
On Wednesday, the Amerks trailed 1-0 after the first period and 3-0 after two. They were much better from the first drop of the puck on Friday.
“I think we played a great game from the start,” Dea said. “We wanted to bounce back. We knew we had to start well.”
Doing the little things
Moments before the puck ever went in the net on the Amerks first and third goals, strong wall play created the chances.
On the Amerks second goal, rookie left winger Brett Murray outworked defensemen Luc Snuggerud and Josh Jacobs on the end boards, pushing the puck toward the left corner.
From there, Eric Cornel fed Nelson at the left point and his wrister found the net.
On the third goal, Curtis Lazar drove Jacobs off the puck behind the Devils net, Remi Elie passed to the point and Borgen one-timed a slap shot that was stopped by Gilles Senn by Dea slammed in the rebound.
“That was kind of our focus, winning puck battles,” Borgen said.
Penalty killing makes amends
The Amerks allowed three power-play goals on six chances to Providence on Wednesday, which gave them the worst penalty killing in the league. The success percentage was an ugly 69.8 entering Friday night.
They were better on Friday, however, killing all four Binghamton opportunities.
“Our best penalty-killer was (goalie) Andrew Hammond and he was surrounded by some guys who were a really motivated group,” Dineen said.
UPL getting closer
Goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was assigned to the ECHL Cincinnati Cylcones on Friday. They play Brampton on Saturday night.
The Amerks will need him ready next week because the parent Buffalo Sabres must take a third goalie to Sweden for the Nov. 8 and 9 games against Tampa Bay in Stockholm.
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