Don’t look now, but here come the Rochester Knighthawks. For the second time in as many weeks, Rochester was set to do battle with one of their instate rivals, the Albany FireWolves. Last week, Rochester had an offensive explosion, beating Albany 18-12. This contest was much closer, but had the same result. Using a six-goal run between the end of the first and beginning of the second, Rochester snuck out of the capital region with an 11-10 victory, downing Albany for the second consecutive week.
The start of the first quarter was a pretty standard back and forth (these teams did see each other a week ago). The first four goals were two aside, Ryan Lanchbury and Kyle Waters got the first and third for Rochester, and Tye Kurtz and Alex Simmons got the second and fourth for Albany. This is where things got a bit ugly for Albany, as Rochester started their six-goal run prefaced at the top. Three straight to end the quarter put a stunned silence over the crowd at MVP Arena. Scorers were Connor Fields twice, both on the power play and Matt Gilray. 5-2 K’Hawks after one.
Math tells us that the next three were also by Rochester, specifically Lanchbury twice, giving him the hat trick and the other from Ryan Smith. More math shows us that Albany was held scoreless for almost twelve minutes, which is uncharacteristic with their potent young offense. Kurtz and Ethan Walker on the power play rattled off two in a row to finally break that streak and that would take us into the half. 8-4 Rochester at the break.
“I don’t know if it’s necessarily Albany,” said Lanchbury at the half about the team’s recent offensive success. “We’ve got eight goals, everyone is moving their feet, moving the ball, good things happen when you’re doing that. Our backs are against the wall and we’re playing well.”
Riley Hutchcraft was marvelous in net for Rochester, stopping 20 of 24 in the first half. On the other side, Doug Jamieson definitely got his money’s worth, facing an absurd 40 shots. He definitely did his part, stopping 32 of those.
Rochester tacked one more onto their lead, but that’d be it for their scoring until the end of the third quarter. Mitch Ogilvie opened the scoring and Thomas McConvey closed it. In between those goals, Albany went on a run of their own, scoring four-straight. Scorers in that span were Patrick Kaschalk, Travis Longboat, Walker, and Sam Firth. 10-8 Rochester after three.
The fourth quarter saw the scoring settle down significantly. Only three goals were scored, Fields for Rochester got his hat trick, and Simmons and Marshall Powless got the two for Albany. Powless’ goal was with 2:44 to play, which means Hutchcraft and the Knighthawks’ defense deserves their flowers. Rochester shut down Albany the rest of the way en route to their 11-10 victory.
Players of the game for Rochester were Fields (3+2), Lanchbury (3+2), and Smith (1+3). Hutchcraft was just as incredible in the second half, stopping 40 of 50 for the game. For Albany, Simmons (2+4), Walker (2+4), and Kurtz (2+1) led the way. Jamieson had his shining moments, but let’s be real, he faced a flurry of shots. He finished with 49 saves on 60 shots.
Two little tidbits of information for you: Rochester has now scored 48 goals in their last three games, equating to an average of 16 a game. Bananas. On the other side, Albany had a streak snapped as they were 6-0 coming in when Kurtz scored two or more goals in a game.
“Brings back a lot of memories being here,” said Fields after the game, who played his illustrious college career at the University of Albany. “I’m just happy to come out with a win. I think we just stick to what’s working for us, I think our confidence is high and that’s what you need for success in this league.”
Rochester (6-6) has their second three-game winning streak of the year, but more importantly have crept into the top eight. They look to continue their hot play as they hit the road to take on Colorado (4-9) this Saturday at 9 p.m. Albany (10-4) still sits towards the top of the standings, but look to get off the losing side of things. Their next shot is this Friday when they travel to Calgary (5-8) for their 9 p.m. clash.
