A second consecutive overtime game for Rochester seems to pay tribute to an
aggressive nature, or so one would think. Aggressiveness can also hurt teams
when it comes to the final horn. In two games, the Amerks have been assessed
20 penalties and much speculation lays the blame squarely on the obstruction
crackdown in the league. However, the Amerks were their own worst enemies
Saturday night in Philadelphia, where the arch-rival Phantoms took advantage
of six penalties in overtime to notch a goal with a half minute remaining in
the period. Mark Geiger, whom seems to take personal satisfaction in
upsetting Rochester, scored the lone goal for Philly, coming on a 5-on-3
advantage.

Philadelphia and Rochester were at 4 skaters apiece per AHL overtime
regulations when Denis Hamel took a 2 minute break for hooking. A rather
questionable call then came when Jason Botterill ran over Bruno St. Jacques
of Philadelphia. St. Jacques turn into the full force of Botterill, no small
man, and fell to the ice and appeared injured. Botterill was called for
boarding, then St. Jacques quickly got to his feet and went to his bench.
Amerks coach Randy Cunneyworth is quoted as saying "...he skates right by our
bench and winks. So it was a heckuva an acting job." The Amerks replaced
Botterill on the ice and the Phantoms were allowed to add a player to the ice
to make up the difference. Soon afterward, Geiger scored the game winner.

Ryan Miller had another strong showing in goal for Rochester, stopping 21 of
22 shots on goal. In two games, he's frozen 28 of 31 shots and has a 1.39
GAA. Rochester is home again Monday, October 14 to host the Hamilton
Bulldogs in a 5:05pm start.

Jon LeRoy, Moderator
amerks@yahoogroups.com
Go Amerks!