ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Rochester Americans came out victorious over the Hartford Wolf Pack 6-3 on Friday night. Blue Cross Arena was filled to the brim with excited fans, and they definitely got their money’s worth from this game. This victory put the Rochester Americans at 2,500 wins in the regular season – only the second franchise in the AHL to do so. Unfortunately, another headline out of the game would be a game misconduct from Hartford’s Ben Harpur in the second period.
The Amerks power play went off in the first period – Brett Murray scored for the Amerks six minutes into the game, and then Juri Kulich scored shortly after that. Isak Rosen and Zach Metsa got the assists on both goals. The Wolf Pack were able to respond with a goal from Dylan Roobroec ending the period 2-1 Amerks.
In the second, Viktor Neuchev, Konsta Helenius, and Josh Dunne scored for the Amerks – all three goals scored in a four minute span. At around 16 minutes, Ben Harpur checked Amerks goalie Felix Sandestrom into the net – he was injured on the play and helped off by his teammates. Michael Houser was sent in to replace him. Harpur was charged with a major for charging, which was also a game misconduct. It was later found that Harpur had a history with Sandestrom – the year prior Sanderstrom had accidentally tripped Harpur and ended his season. During this play, Matt Rempe was present on the ice and stood between Harpur and Vsevolod Komarov, who took exception to Harpurs hit. No fights broke out, and the Amerks declined to fight heavyweight Rempe on various occasions.
Brett Berard scored for the Wolf Pack right away in the third. However Rosen scored again for the Amerks. Later, Bryce McConnell-Barker scored for the Wolf Pack, the final goal of the game. Isak Rosen finished the night with one goal and two assists, making him the first star. Metsa was the second star with three assists, and Kulich came in at third for his goal.
Louis Domingue stopped 29 of 35 shots faced for the Wolf Pack. Sandstrom stopped 14 of 15, and Houser stopped 11 of 13.
Harpur was given a four game suspension the following day.
Check out this photo gallery from Inside The Rink’s Photographer, Brett Ballachino, for highlights from the game.
