Lineup
Forward lines and defense pairings:
[one_half]Hudon – Terry – Carr
Matteau – de la Rose – Friberg
Farnham – Audette – Scherbak
Veilleux – MacMillan – Gregoire[/one_half]
[one_half_last]Hanley – Redmond
Lowe – Johnston
Brouillette – Lernout[/one_half_last]
Goaltenders:
Lindgren
Danis
Scratches: Josiah Didier, Tom Parisi, Anthony Camara, Alexandre Ranger, David Broll, Markus Eisenschmid (undisclosed)
Injured Reserve: Martin Reway
Game Report
The IceCaps kicked off their March road trip on Friday night with a tilt in Rochester against the Americans. Daniel Carr returned to the lineup after missing a number of games due to having a “minor procedure” per reports from the team broadcast. He was assigned to the top line with Chris Terry and Charles Hudon.
The first period began after a 25-minute delay as the home team honored their 2017 Rochester Americans Hall of Fame inductees. Once play finally began, the IceCaps penalty killers found themselves front and center far too often, with St. John’s taking four minor penalties in the opening frame. Fortunately, goaltender Charlie Lindgren was seeing the puck very well and made some spectacular saves to keep the game scoreless going into the first intermission.
In the middle frame, St. John’s looked like a much more focused team. They outshot the Amerks 11-9 in the period and managed to take a 2-0 lead into the second intermission. The first IceCaps goal came as Jacob de la Rose exited the penalty box near the start of the period and accepted a perfect pass from Jeremy Gregoire which he quickly put in the back of the Rochester net. Later in the period, Brett Lernout fired a laser shot from the blue line to pot his third goal of the season and give his team a two-goal lead.
The third period brought more of the same disciplined play, with plenty of offensive pressure from the visiting team. Things got a bit physical after Max Friberg was cross-checked hard into the glass, which the officials decided was fair play. Lernout immediately came to his captain’s defense and dropped the gloves to demonstrate his displeasure.
Nikita Scherbak potted his 12th goal of the season by wristing a puck blocker side over Linus Ullmark to give the IceCaps a 3-0 lead, which is how the game would end eventually. Lindgren earned the third shutout of his rookie season.
It was a definitive win for the IceCaps, and one that they need to build on as they begin this six-game road trip. They travel to Toronto now to take on the Marlies in a back-to-back series on Saturday and Sunday.
▲ Charlie Lindgren, Jacob de la Rose, Brett Lernout, Chris Terry, Nikita Scherbak, Daniel Audette
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