By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
Early in the game, during a promotional timeout, the Rochester Americans took a moment to pay tribute to Bridgeport Islanders winger Chris Terry, announcing that the 16th-year veteran was playing in his 899th AHL game.
In doing so, he passed Amerks Hall of Famer Dick Gamble for 16th on the league’s all-time list.
Terry then made sure he showed the 5,449 fans at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial he’s still got plenty left, even at age 36.
Terry pounced on the loose puck at the right hash mark in the slot and fired it past goalie Topias Leinonen with just 36.1 seconds remaining, breaking a 4-4 tie and giving the Islanders a 5-4 comeback victory.
The goal was the type goal-scorers score, and Terry is a goal-scorer. He has produced 20 goals 10 times and eclipsed the 30-goal barrier four times.
On this goal, his third of the season, Luke Rowe had held in the puck at the right point and zipped a wrister toward the net. Amerks defenseman Jack Rathbone blocked the shot with his stick blade but the puck dropped right in front of Terry.
An instant later it was in the net.
“Just a really brutal way to lose,” said Amerks assistant coach Nathan Paetsch, who ran the bench with assistant Vinny Prospal in the absence of head coach Michael Leone. He was away from the team to tend to a personal matter.
The Amerks led 3-0 just five minutes into the second period on goals by Carson Meyer and Olivier Nadeau in the first period and Riley Fiddler-Schultz in the second.
But Bridgeport (6-8-1-1) began their rally just 53 seconds after Fiddler-Schultz scored. Joey Larson connected on a power play at 5:36 with Noah Laaouan in the box for slashing.
Marc Galcomb sliced the deficit to 3-2 at 10:18 when his shot from above the right circle went in off Leinonen’s glove.
Graham Slaggert scored his first goal of the season – in his 18th game – off a two-on-one with Jagger Joshua 1:50 into the third period. The Amerks (10-8) were again seemingly in control and Slaggert was relieved to have finally found the net.
“It was just a huge weight off the back,” said the fourth-year winger, who scored 12 goals a year ago. “That’s probably the longest I’ve ever gone without scoring.”
The Amerks should have been able to protect the 4-2 lead but instead allowed a goal to Adam Beckman at 4:01 and it was suddenly a one-goal game again.
“We got away from our checking game,” Slaggert said, “and they were entering our zone with a ton of speed.”
Matthew Maggio then tied the score at 11:54 on a shot that never should have gone in. He drove wide down the left of the slot and Laaouan had him played pretty well, limiting the options, so Maggio flicked the puck toward the net and somehow it eluded Leinonen.
“That was a tough fourth goal, you’d like to have that back,” Paetsch said.
The Amerks generated few chances the rest of the way and Islanders then took their only lead of the night on Terry’s goal.
“We put ourselves in a position to win,” Paetsch said, “and found a way to lose.”
Rare penalty call
The Amerks were assessed maybe the oddest bench minor in 70 years of AHL hockey in Rochester at 7:55 of the third period.
Defenseman Zac Jones either tried to flip the puck off the glass and out of the Amerks zone or tried to flip it to center and instead lifted it too high. Either way, the puck cleared the height of the bench by yards and was headed into the crowd when center Jack Leschyshn stood up, reached up with his stick and batted the puck down.
But in keeping the puck from entering the crowd, referees Mike Dietrich and Jake Kamrass ruled Leschyshyn interfered with a puck that may have been leaving the area of play.
Paetsch said the call was correct. Because the penalty was assessed as a bench minor, Tyler Kopff served it.
The defense and goaltending on this team stinks!
The mantra for this team is as soon as they get a lead in a game they stop trying. Very bad!
Coach Leone may have coined the phrase of the season a few games ago when he said ‘ we needed a save’. that has become all too true. Amerks goaltending has not been good this season. Yes, people will make all kinds of excuses to defend the goalies, but sometimes you just have to admit that things aren’t going very well between the pipes.
Not only are the Amerks allowing 3, 4 and 5 almost every game, its when many of those goals are going in that tell the tale. The 3rd periods have been mostly brutal for the team. Blowing big leads, or staging impressive rallies only to see the net minders allow rally killing back breakers have been the norm.
Last nights loss was aggravating to the max. Watching that game tying goal just roll slowly thru the empty crease and into an unguarded net was the worst. Well, unless you consider the game winner with a half minute to go.
Amerks however, really stopped playing right after taking what should have been a comfortable 3-0 lead. They floated thru the 2nd period and then they chased the Isles all around the BCA the entire 3rd. A most deserving but frustrating loss. One has to wonder if/when Buffalo is going to do something about the organizations goaltending. It has not been stellar all season either there or here.
A pretty small pre-holiday Friday night crowd, many of whom may have still been smarting from that horrible Bills game the night before, had to leave the building wondering if Western NY sports is truly cursed. In any event, a very lousy night of hockey. Too many of them lately.