The Rochester Americans and Lowell Lock Monsters met Sunday afternoon for
only their second time this season; Lowell defeated Rochester in the first
meeting 3-2. This time around, things were different. With All-Star
goaltender Martin Biron taking a break, professional veteran Tom Draper
stepped in to backstop the Amerks with 25 saves.
Lowell's Dimitri Nabokov scored at 10:39 of the first period, putting
Rochester in an early hole. Rochester's slow first period was shown by the
shots in the period, 11-2 in favor of Lowell. The game picked up for the
Americans when points-leader Domenic Pittis flipped the puck under the
crossbar to tie the game at 7:19 of the second period. Rochester took the
lead and ultimately won the game with Craig Fisher's goal at 15:54 of the
final period. Both of the Amerks goals were scored during power-play
opportunities, which was a strong point for the team early in the season, but
is currently working at around 20%.
As for injuries, Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre is listed as day-to-day with a
sprained wrist. The Amerks defenseman was the victim of an after-the-whistle
check by the Providence Bruins' Landon Wilson last Friday. Jason Mansoff and
Shane Kenny remain on the list as well; Mansoff is out indefinately with a
herniated disk in his back and Kenny suffered a broken hand during a fight in
a previous game and is expected to miss at least two more weeks.
The team travels to Hamilton tonight to take on the Bulldogs, an Empire
Division rival for their seventh meeting this season. Both teams are
currently in second place in the division; the winner would take sole
possession of first place.

Til then,
GO AMERKS!

Jon D. LeRoy,
List Moderator