AMERKS FALL TO SENATORS
Jobst scores career-high 15th goal of season, Levi makes 32 saves in 4-1 loss to Belleville
Feb 21, 2024Forward Mason Jobst scored his career-best 15th goal of the season but the Rochester Americans (24-18-5-1) dropped a 4-1 score to the Belleville Senators (24-20-2-3) in the first of back-to-back meetings between the two teams Wednesday at The Blue Cross Arena.
GAME SUMMARY PHOTO GALLERY POST-GAME REPORT
Despite the defeat, the Amerks have recorded at least one point in 10 of their last 14 games dating back to Jan. 17. Rochester shows a 1-2-0-0 record through the first three games of the season-series ahead of Friday’s rematch against the Senators.
While Jobst scored in the second period for the second consecutive contest and added his ninth point (5+4) of February, Lukas Rousek and Linus Weissbach tallied an assist. Rousek has recorded a point in 21 of the last 25 games for Rochester, registering six goals and 19 assists dating back to Dec. 20, while Weissbach has picked up 11 (7+4) of his last 12 points on home ice.
In his 11th appearance of the campaign, goaltender Devon Levi (6-3-2), who entered the contest coming off back-to-back 40-save performances, stopped 32 of the 36 shots he faced. The rookie netminder has made 30 or more saves in seven of his 11 games with the Amerks this season.
Rourke Chartier opened the scoring in the first period while Angus Crookshank, Josh Currie and Garrett Pilon capped the win as they found the back of the net in the final 10 minutes of regulation. Netminder Mads Sogaard (13-7-2) turned aside 27 of the 28 shots he faced to earn his 13th win of the campaign and third of his last four outings.
Less than eight minutes into the final period and the score tied 1-1, the Amerks drew their fourth penalty of the contest.
The Senators successfully killed off the too-many-men infraction and used the momentum to take a 2-1 lead at the 10:08 mark as Crookshank finished off a rebound from Lassi Thompson and Donovan Sebrango.
Nearly two minutes later, Belleville doubled its lead as Currie grabbed a rebound in the center of the Amerks zone and banged in his ninth of the campaign.
Belleville closed out the scoring as Pilon scored with 3:43 left in the frame.
On its second shorthanded situation in the first period of a scoreless contest, the Senators forced the Amerks to turnover the puck inside the Belleville zone with nearly four minutes left in the frame.
Maxence Guenette and Jiri Smejkal dug the puck out from the right corner of Sogaard. Smejkal slid a pass to Chartier before the duo darted up the ice on an odd-man rush towards Levi. As Chartier reached the right circle in the offensive zone, he quickly wired a shot to open the scoring with his fourth of the season.
Following the break and trailing 1-0 midway through the second period, Brett Murry drew a high-sticking infraction with 10:35 left in the stanza.
On the ensuing power-play, Weissbach raced into the offensive zone with the puck along the right wall. Eventually, Biro gathered the puck just inside the blueline before hitting Weissbach with a potential one-time feed. The latter fanned on the shot, but it caromed off the end boards for Rousek to tap towards Jobst, who immediately fired it into the net to even the score at the 10:25 mark.
In the final period, Belleville scored three unanswered tallies to earn the 4-1 victory.
The Amerks look to bounce back on Friday, Feb. 23 when they meet the Senators for a rematch at The Blue Cross Arena. The 7:05 p.m. matchup will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV. Prior to the game, the Amerks will induct former defenseman and Rochester native Rory Fitzpatrick into the Hall of Fame during a pregame ceremony.
Stars and Stripes:
By scoring Rochester’s first goal of the contest for the second straight game, Mason Jobst established a new career-high in goals (15) this season after scoring 14 in 61 games with the club in 2022-23 … Jobst has 18 points (8+10) over his last 19 games since the turn of the new year … The Amerks have gone 6-for-26 on the power-play in the seven games since Feb. 9 after scoring just six goals over its previous 16 games.
Goal Scorers
BEL: R. Chartier (4), A. Crookshank (19), J. Currie (9) , G. Pilon (12)
ROC: M. Jobst (15)
Goaltenders
BEL: M. Sogaard – 27/28 (W)
ROC: D. Levi – 32/36 (L)
Shots
BEL: 36
ROC: 28
Special Teams
BEL: PP (0/2) | PK (3/4)
ROC: PP (1/4) | PK (2/2)
Three Stars:
1. BEL - A. Crookshank
2. BEL - M. Sogaard
3. BEL - J. Currie