AND FOR ANOTHER POINT OF VIEW
Does Stickum work with goalie equipment?
After a 4-1 loss to the Iowa Chops on Friday night, Rochester Americans coach Benoit Groulx may want to know.
David Shantz allowed two rebound goals and a third goal came on a sharp-angle shot that hit him and caromed into the net.
As a result, the Amerks ended up in a 3-0 hole in the first 27 minutes and couldn't recover, falling to 3-18-0-2 while the Chops improved to 13-7-1-1.
"We didn't start playing until it was 3-0," center Drew Larman said.
The poor start troubled Groulx. He wasn't blaming Shantz for the first goal but he did on the second.
"The first shift we're down 1-0, then a bad goal and it's 2-zip after seven minutes," Groulx said. "To me, it's a lack of preparation. We didn't get involved. Why is that? I don't know."
He wants his older players to provide the answer.
"I expect some guys to show the way; obviously they're not," Groulx said.
Iowa's Drew Miller, the brother of former Amerk goalie Ryan Miller, and Troy Bodie scored in the first period, Ryan Donally scored in the second, and T. J. Trevelyan steered in a perfect pass in the third.
Janis Sprukts scored the Amerks' goal in the second period on a power play.
There would be no comeback, however. The poor start doomed the Amerks, who thought they could build on their strong play of last weekend.
"We have to start to play when the referee drops the puck on the first shift," winger Michal Repik said. "They played better than us, that's why they won."
Miller's goal came just 28 seconds after the first puck dropped. Shantz stopped Brian Salcido's point shot, but it dropped behind him and Miller swatted it in.
"We recognized how well Rochester has played the last little while and that they were feeling good about themselves," Iowa coach Gord Dineen said. "When you get scored on in the first minute ... it takes the wind out of your sails."
The Chops used the power play to extend their lead to 2-0 at 7:13. Shantz stopped a shot from the center point by John de Gray but couldn't find the rebound and Troy Bodie swatted it in.
As the puck dropped on the ensuing faceoff, Amerks tough-guy winger Riley Emmerson dropped the gloves with Donally. The heavyweight bout ended when Emmerson connected with a punishing right hand that cut Donally near the left eye.
Donally came back just fine, though, scoring seven minutes into the second period for a 3-0 lead. Donally, from a sharp angle on the right-wing boards, threw a shot on goal and the puck hit Shantz and somehow went into the net.
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