Irving, Heat Burn Amerks 1-0

(Rochester, December 14)...The Rochester Americans were shut down by the Abbotsford Heat tonight 1-0 at The Blue Cross Arena. With the loss, the Amerks fall to (12-14-2-1) while the North Division-rival Heat improve to (16-12-0-3).

Scoring the lone goal of the night and earning the second star of the game was Abbotsford’s Ryan Stone (1+0). T.J. Brodie (0+1) also earned the third star of the game for adding the helper. The offensive effort was backed up behind netminder Leland Irving, who earned the first star in tonight’s matchup, while handing Rochester its third shutout loss of the season at home.

Rochester had the man advantage midway through the first, but was unable to capitalize on the interference call that put Abbotsford’s Cam Cunning in the penalty box for two minutes. The two teams also combined for 18 shots on goal during the period.

The Heat finally put a tally on the board in the second period, after almost thirty minutes of play to take the 1-0 lead at 8:12 on the power-play. After Rochester’s Bates Battaglia took the hooking penalty at 8:05, it took Abbotsford less than 10 seconds to get the puck into the net. Brodie had the puck at the top of the point and passed it across to center Stone, who then wound up for the slapshot and drilled the puck past netminder Jacob Markstrom, scoring his first goal of the season, which held on to be the game-winner. Keith Seabrook was also credited with an assist.

With less than two minutes remaining, the Amerks had a golden opportunity after a Heat “delay of game penalty,” but Irving was able to shutdown Rochester and seal the victory.
 
The Amerks remain at home on Friday, December 17th as they host the Toronto Marlies in the first of back-to-back tilts as part of a home-and-home series. The 7:35 p.m. North Division contest will be broadcast live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK and FM 107.3, Rochester’s Sports Talk. The game will also be televised live on Time Warner Cable SportsNet Channel 26.