The 2013 Greater Rochester Area Honda Dealers Frozen Frontier game on Friday night was a resounding success for Rochester and the Americans themselves. It could have been a regulation win if not for a Matt Hunwick goal that was scored with 0.1 seconds left in the third period to tie the game.
The first period got off to a quick start for the Americans as Matt Ellis scored just 3:36 into the first period on a falling shot in front of the net. That would be the only goal for the Americans in the first as Lake Erie, the AHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, would score twice before the first period horn, one from Mark Olver and Matt Hunwick’s first goal of the game.
The Monsters would continue their scoring halfway in the second period as Garrett Meurs would score at the 9:38 mark of the second period. It would be the largest lead that Lake Erie would hold in the game. The Americans offense came storming back Jerome Gauthier-Leduc and Phil Varone each scored in the second period to tie the game at 3 before the second period horn sounded.
The Americans would take the lead in the third period as Colton Gillies would score three minutes into the period to give Rochester a 4-3 lead. That probably should have been the winning goal if not for Hunwick’s second goal of the game that crossed the goal line just fractions of a second before the final horn sounded.
While a game tying goal like that could defeat a team, the Americans were able to find that extra gear and got a timely goal from Matt Ellis in the shootout. The Monsters scored twice in the first three shooters and had a chance to win as Garrett Meurs and Trevor Cheek had shots to clinch the shootout. Mike Zigomanis and Johan Larsson scored as the fourth and fifth shooters to tie shootout at two a piece. In sudden death, Andrew Agozzino missed for Lake Erie while Matt Ellis clinched it for Rochester.
Both teams took a stroll around the ice after the game and took team pictures after the game while post game fireworks shot off in the background.
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I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that one of the few hiccups of the night had to be the traffic situation before the game. Parking lots around Frontier Field were tough to easily get into which caused a traffic nightmare before the game. Even though the game officially started at 7:05 pm, many folks were still streaming into their seats a half hour to 45 minutes after the game.