The Amerks played a home and home series with the Hamilton Bulldogs this weekend, and there was no shortage of big news. Connor Knapp played his first game, Zemgus Girgensons scored his first goal, and the diminutive Frederick Roy got into his first AHL fight, but the Amerks also sustained their first big injury this season – Cody Hodgson had a splint on his hand on Saturday and will miss one to two weeks, according to head coach Ron Rolston.
Friday night saw the Amerks hang on for a 3-2 shootout win over the Bulldogs, getting goals from Girgensons, Kevin Porter, and the shootout winner from Marcus Foligno. Girgensons deflected a shot from defenseman Alex Biega at the end of a hard working shift, and seemed glad to get the monkey off of his shoulders. David Leggio notched the win for the Amerks, and Frederick Roy impressed in his fight with an ambidextrous performance.
Saturday wasn’t so kind to the red, white, and blue, as the Amerks fell to Hamilton 4-3. Connor Knapp’s debut game was spoiled when he gave up four unanswered goals in the third period after entering the period with a 2-0 lead. Rebound control was a problem for the rookie netminder, who also spoiled a two-goal effort from fellow rookie Brian Flynn. Nick Tarnasky scored the other Rochester goal.
Cody Hodgson didn’t play in Saturday’s game thanks to an injury sustained on Friday evening. He was wearing a splint on his hand and is likely to miss at least the next weekend’s two games. The Amerks have a few days to regroup as they don’t play again until Friday, when they host the Adirondack Phantoms.