Amerks drop 3 road games, prep for home game tomorrow

The Rochester Americans concluded a three-games-in-three-days road trip on Sunday, which saw them take on two of the top three teams in the Eastern Conference. Justin Bailey, Cole Schneider, Evan Rodrigues, Alexander Nylander, Cal O'Reilly and Eric Cornel each had multi-point weekends, but the Amerks were unable to come away with a win.
At 9-15-0-1, the Amerks currently sit in sixth place in the North Division and 12th place in the Eastern Conference.

RCH 3 - LV 4

Amerks 3 - Lehigh Valle 4
For the third time in the last four games, the Rochester Americans were first on the board but were unable to hold the lead as the Lehigh Valley Phantoms answered with four unanswered goals before holding off a late comeback by the Amerks to escape with a 4-3 victory Friday at PPL Center. Rochester has now lost two straight heading into Saturday's rematch against the Phantoms.
Cole Schneider and Justin Bailey led the way with a goal and an assist each while Nick Baptiste chipped in with his team-leading 11th goal of the campaign in just 15th game for the Amerks. Evan Rodrigues, Alexander Nylander, Cal O'Reilly and Casey Nelson all recorded an assist while goaltender Linus Ullmark made a season-high 44 saves in the defeat to fall to 8-9-1 on the season.
Lehigh Valley was led by Chris Conner's season-high three points (2+1) and Andy Miele (1+1) as each factored in with multi-point efforts in the victory. Travis Sanheim and Greg Carey rounded out the scoring for the Phantoms behind a 21-save effort from rookie goaltender Alex Lyon.
After being unable to come out with a win, the Amerks squared off against the Hershey Bears (15-5-4-1), who won 6-1 in the 453rd all-time meeting between the two oldest AHL teams. Rochester jumped out to a 1-0 lead midway through the opening period, but the Bears fired back in an explosive second period, tallying five unanswered goals and another one in the third.

RCH 2 - LV 4

Amerks 2 - Lehigh Valley 4
The Rochester Americans (9-14-0-1) fell behind early in Saturday's matchup with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (17-7-1-0) and were never able to recover as they dropped a 4-2 contest in the second of back-to-back meetings against the Phantoms at PPL Center.
First-year pro Eric Cornel notched his first career multi-point game as he registered his fourth goal of the season and added an assist on Alexander Nylander's first-period tally. Nylander's marker was his fifth of the campaign.
Mac Bennett, Cal O'Reilly and Cole Schneider each picked an assist while goaltender John Muse made his third start of the season for the Amerks. The veteran netminder made 31 saves but suffered the loss and now shows a record of 1-2-0 on the season.
Lehigh Valley was led by Jordan Weal (1+1), Danick Martel (0+2) and rookie Nicolas Aube-Kubel (1+1) as each turned in a multi-point effort in the victory. Former Amerk T.J. Brennan closed out the scoring for the Phantoms as first-year goaltender Alex Lyon stopped 25 of the 27 shots he faced to improve his record to 9-5-1 in his second straight start in as many nights against the Amerks.

RCH 1 - HER 6

RCH 1 - HER 6
The Rochester Americans jumped out to a 1-0 lead midway through the opening frame, but the Hershey Bears erupted for six unanswered goals, including five during an explosive second period, on their way to a 6-1 win over the Amerks Sunday at Giant Center.
The game marked the 453rd all-time meeting between the AHL's two oldest teams and concluded a season-long four-game road trip for Rochester, which falls to 9-15-0-1 on the season.
The lone Amerks goal was provided by Kyle Bonis, who scored shorthanded 11:26 into the first period off assists from Evan Rodrigues and Erik Burgdoerfer, the latter of which was celebrating his 28th birthday against his former team. Linus Ullmark, coming off a season-high 44-save performance Friday against Lehigh Valley, returned to the paint after having Saturday off and made 36 saves in the loss for Rochester,
Rookie forward Zach Sanford paced the Bears offense with a career-best four points, scoring Hershey's first two goals of the game before setting up two others. Travis Boyd (1+1) and Christian Djoos (1+1) also posted multi-point efforts while Christian Thomas and Paul Carey rounded out the scoring for Hershey behind a 17-save effort from goaltender Vitek Vanecek.

Home for the holidays

The Amerks will play six of their next seven games at home beginning on Wednesday when they host the North Division rival Toronto Marlies at The Blue Cross Arena. The game will be televised on MSG.
After visiting the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday, Rochester returns home on Saturday to begin a season-long five-game homestand that keeps the team on home ice through the end of the month. The Amerks play their final game before the Christmas break on Monday, Dec. 19 against Binghamton.

Toy Drive begins this week

The Amerks will collect toys for the Pirate Toy Fund during their next three home games on Wednesday against the Toronto Marlies, Saturday, Dec. 17 versus the St. John's IceCaps and Monday, Dec. 19 against the Binghamton Senators at The Blue Cross Arena. All three contests begin at 7:05 p.m.
Founded in 1995, the Pirate Toy Fund collects and supplies new toys year-round to over 70 agencies that provide aid and comfort to thousands of children in need throughout the Greater Rochester region. In 2016, the Pirate Toy Fund reached a milestone of giving away over 250,000 toys since its inception.
Fans are encouraged to donate new, unwrapped toys in the Pirate Toy Fund donation boxes located near The Blue Cross Arena Box Office in the lower atrium prior to the aforementioned home games.
Any fan that donates a toy will receive a complimentary ticket voucher to the Amerks home game on Wednesday, Dec. 28 against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Scoring leaders

1. Cal O'Reilly 5G - 19A - 24 PTS
   2. Cole Schneider 10G - 13A - 23 PTS
   3. Alexander Nylander 5G - 11A - 16 PTS
   4. Nicholas Baptiste 11G - 4A - 15 PTS
   Justin Bailey 8G - 7A - 15 PTS

Goaltending leaders

1. Linus Ullmark 8-10-1-0; 3.06 GAA; .912 SV%
   2. John Muse 1-2-0-0; 3.20 GAA; .901 SV%
   3. Jason Kasdorf 0-3-0-0; 5.75 GAA; .828 SV%