CRAWFORD: AMERICANS FALL TO PACK IN SHOOTOUT
VERSUS 
Hartford Wolf Pack 5, Rochester Americans 4 (SO)
BY: Bob Crawford, Hartford Wolf Pack
Rochester, NY, December 1, 2017 – The Hartford Wolf Pack came back from 1-0, 3-1 and 4-3 deficits Friday night at the Blue Cross Arena at the Rochester War Memorial, to defeat the Rochester Americans, 5-4 in a shootout.
Scott Kosmachuk, whose goal tied the game at four with 4:23 remaining in the third period, also netted the shootout winner, and Vince Pedrie added a goal and an assist for the Wolf Pack. Alexandar Georgiev made 34 saves in the Hartford net and stopped four out of five Rochester shootout attempts.
“I thought the guys battled really hard, to keep getting themselves back in that game, against a really good lineup,” Wolf Pack head coach Keith McCambridge said. “Ended up getting the goal late to tie it back up, but I thought it was an excellent all-around effort from the group.”
With Rochester leading 4-3 in the third, the Wolf Pack were awarded a two-minute 5-on-3 power play at 10:59, when both Evan Rodrigues and Casey Nelson were assessed tripping penalties. Hartford failed to generate a scoring chance on the long man advantage, though, and Kosmachuk was called for hooking at 13:25.
The Wolf Pack killed that penalty, and, after coming out of the box, Kosmachuk found himself on a 2-on-1 with Cole Schneider, with a Rochester pass having been broken up deep in the Wolf Pack zone. Kosmachuk passed to Schneider and went to the net, and was able to deposit Schneider’s return feed in behind American goaltender Adam Wilcox (24 saves).
That forced overtime, and when that failed to settle the issue, the teams had a five-round shootout. Newly-acquired Jason Holland beat Wilcox in the second round for the Wolf Pack, but C.J. Smith kept the Americans alive with a goal in the third round.
After Rochester’s Alexander Nylander and Hartford’s Filip Chytil were unsuccessful in the fourth round, and Georgiev stopped Rodrigues, Kosmachuk capitalized on a chance to end it, beating Wilcox with a high forehand shot for the win.
Rochester scored the only goal of the first period, as Seth Griffith netted his first goal in two games with Rochester since being assigned by the parent Buffalo Sabres.
The Wolf Pack were unable to break cleanly out of their own zone, with Smith keeping the puck in on the left side. Stuart Percy then sent a cross-slot feed to Griffith, and Georgiev had no chance on Griffith’s close-range shot from the right side.
The Wolf Pack avoided further damage later in the period when they were able to kill a two-man disadvantage of 1:29. That was after Dan DeSalvo and Ryan Graves received hooking penalties at 12:41 and 13:13, respectively.
The two clubs then exploded for a combined six goals in the second period, three by each side, including four in a span of 4:20 starting at 1:56.
That was when Ryan Gropp put the Wolf Pack on the board, with a goal in a delayed-penalty situation. Vinni Lettieri fed the puck from the side of the goal to Gropp in the slot, and his quick shot cleanly beat Wilcox.
The Americans responded only 39 seconds later, though, on a goal by former Connecticut Whale forward Steve Moses. Georgiev turned away a point shot by Zach Redmond, but the rebound came right to Moses, who put it in from the right side of the slot for his sixth goal of the year.
Only 52 seconds after that, at 3:27, Garret Ross made it a 3-1 Rochester lead with his second goal in as many games. A shot hit traffic in front of Georgiev and Ross was able to cut the puck loose and fend off Kosmachuk’s check to sweep it into the net on the backhand.
The Wolf Pack then responded quickly, with Adam Chapie scoring his first career AHL goal at 6:16. Pedrie cut in from the left point and sent a hard pass across the goalmouth, finding Chapie for the deflection to Wilcox’ left.
Hartford tied the score at 9:10, on Pedrie’s second of the year. DeSalvo carried the puck deep into the Rochester end on the right wing and then dropped it out to Pedrie breaking up the slot. Pedrie fired a low shot through Wilcox’ legs to even things up.
The American power play got the hosts back on top at 13:40, though, with Dawson Leedahl, playing his first career AHL game up from Greenville of the ECHL, in the penalty box for interference. Brendan Guhle passed cross-ice from the right circle to Rodrigues, and he was able to one-time it into the net before Georgiev could get across.
The Wolf Pack now head to Toronto, where they will take on the Marlies on Saturday, with faceoff at 4:00 PM. All of the action of that battle can be heard live on News Radio 1410 WPOP, and online at newsradio1410.com and iHeartRadio. Video streaming is available at ahllive.com.
The next home game for the Wolf Pack is next Saturday, December 9, when they rematch with the Americans in a 7:30 PM contest, and that is “Star Wars Night” at the XL Center. Fans can hang out with their favorite Star Wars characters and win some awesome Star Wars prizes. Also that night, the first 2,000 fans will receive a free Wolf Pack 2018 calendar, presented by Hartford Distributors.
Tickets for all Wolf Pack 2017-18 home games are on sale now at the Agera Energy Ticket Office at the XL Center, online at hartfordwolfpack.com and by phone at (877) 522-8499.
Season ticket information for the Wolf Pack’s 2017-18 AHL season can be found online at hartfordwolfpack.com. To speak with a representative about all of the Wolf Pack’s many attractive ticketing options, call (855) 762-6451.
Hartford Wolf Pack 5 (SO) at Rochester Americans 4 – Final SO
Friday, December 1, 2017 – Blue Cross Arena
Hartford 0 3 1 0 – 5
Rochester 1 3 0 0 – 4
1st Period-1, Rochester, Griffith 1 (Percy, Smith), 6:30. Penalties-DeSalvo Hfd (hooking), 12:41; Graves Hfd (hooking), 13:13; Guhle Rch (hooking), 16:12.
2nd Period-2, Hartford, Gropp 3 (Lettieri, Pionk), 1:56. 3, Rochester, Moses 6 (Gill, Redmond), 2:35. 4, Rochester, Ross 3 (Malone, MacWilliam), 3:27. 5, Hartford, Chapie 1 (Pedrie, Crawley), 6:16. 6, Hartford, Pedrie 2 (Crawley, DeSalvo), 9:10. 7, Rochester, Rodrigues 3 (Guhle, Nylander), 13:40 (PP). Penalties-Nelson Rch (tripping), 9:18; Leedahl Hfd (goaltender interference), 11:46; Gilmour Hfd (cross-checking), 17:17.
3rd Period-8, Hartford, Kosmachuk 4 (Schneider), 15:37. Penalties-Gropp Hfd (hooking), 1:10; Nelson Rch (tripping), 10:59; Rodrigues Rch (tripping), 10:59; Kosmachuk Hfd (hooking), 13:25.
OT Period- No Scoring. Penalties-Tennyson Rch (slashing), 4:46.
Shootout – Hartford 2 (Tambellini NG, Holland G, Schneider NG, Chytil NG, Kosmachuk G), Rochester 1 (Blackwell NG, Griffith NG, Smith G, Nylander NG, Rodrigues NG).
Shots on Goal-Hartford 6-12-7-3-1-29. Rochester 12-13-8-5-0-38.
Power Play Opportunities-Hartford 0 / 5; Rochester 1 / 6.
Goalies-Hartford, Georgiev 4-7-3 (38 shots-34 saves). Rochester, Wilcox 2-2-3 (28 shots-24 saves).
A-4,275
Referees-Guillaume Labonte (35), Mathieu Menniti (30).
Linesmen-Peter Feola (33), Rick Lembo (25).
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