Courtesy of Amerks.com
Toronto, ON. – Facing a 4-1 deficit entering the third period, the Rochester Americans erupted for four straight unanswered goals, including Jiri Kulich’s game-winner halfway through overtime, to prevail with a 5-4 come-from-behind win over the Toronto Marlies Saturday afternoon at Coca-Coliseum.
The Amerks, who twice rallied back from three-goal deficits, closed out the opening weekend of their 68th American Hockey League season earning three out of a possible four points. With back-to-back overtime appearances, it marked the first time since the 2002-03 campaign the Amerks began a season with consecutive games being decided beyond regulation. (Oct. 11 vs. Albany, 2-2 tie; Oct. 12. at Philadelphia, 1-0 OTL)
Rochester’s three third-period goals were the first by the club since a three-goal frame in the final 20 minutes on Mar. 24, 2019 at Toronto (also a 5-4 overtime win). In 25 of the last 29 meetings between the Amerks and Marlies, the winning team has scored at least four goals dating back to the 2017-18 season.
In addition to Kulich recording a two-point outing (1+1), Isak Rosen (1+1), Jeremy Davies (1+1), Aleksandr Kisakov (1+1), Michael Mersch (0+2) and Ryan Johnson (0+2) all notched a pair of points in the win. Lukas Rousek and Nikita Novikov each chipped in an assist to complete the scoring.
Goaltender Michael Houser made 39 saves in his season debut, while facing double digits in shots in each period, including 30 through the first two frames. Since the start of the 2022-23 campaign, Houser has seen 40 or more shots in four of his last 22 appearances.
Toronto was led by captain Logan Shaw’s four-point (2+2) outing. He also matched a career-best with eight shots on goal while Bobby McMann (2+1) and Nicholas Robertson (0+2) also tallied a multi-point effort. Nick Abruzzese, Topi Niemela and Marshall Rifai all had an assist.
Goaltender Keith Petruzzelli stopped 27 of the 32 shots he faced for the Marlies in his season debut.
Less than five minutes after starting the final period, the Amerks trimmed the Marlies lead to 4-3 as Murray and Kisakov both found the back of Petruzzelli’s net.
Murray kicked off the third-period scoring frenzy as he converted Johnson’s centering feed from behind the net 1:54 into the frame before Kisakov buried a rebound on the power-play.
The Amerks, who outshot the Marlies 10-0 in the first 10 minutes of the third period, continued working to find the equalizer as they tested Toronto.
The Marlies were given a three-minute powerplay with just over eight minutes to play, but immediately after the infraction, Rosen provided an outlet pass to Davies at the far blueline. The defenseman gathered the pass in stride and unleashed a blast from the top of the circle that sailed past Petruzzeli to force overtime with his first of the season.
During the extra frame, Tyson Kozak nearly completed comeback as both he and Brandon Biro had an odd-man rush but were denied in the first minute.
Later in the period, Davies sprinted up the ice carrying the puck through the Amerks zone. Prior to reaching the center-ice logo, he left it for Kulich near the Rochester bench. The second-year pro cut inside the Marlies blueline and left the puck for Rousek, who returned it to Kulich for a one-timer to complete the 5-4 win.
Toronto opened the scoring as they built a 3-0 lead and eventually a 4-1 cushion going after 40 minutes of play, but the Amerks countered back with four unanswered tallies to come way with their first win of the season.
The Amerks continue their three-game Canadian road swing on Wednesday, Oct. 18 with the first of back-to-back meetings against the Laval Rocket at Place Bell. Game time is slated for a 7:00 p.m. start and will be carried on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
Storyline Stripes:
With three assists through his first two professional games, Ryan Johnson leads all AHL rookie defensemen while Nikita Novikov is one of nine blueliners overall with two or more helpers … Jiri Kulich was credited with the secondary assist on Aleksandr Kisakov’s power-play goal … Of Kulich’s 49 career points with Rochester, Kulich has 21 power-play points (9+12) in 64 games.
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