ICECAPS
St. John’s

5-3

AMERICANS
Rochester

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings: 

[one_half]Andrighetto – McCarron – Terry
Hudon – Audette – Scherbak
Matteau – Eisenschmid – Farnham
Broll – MacMillan – Gregoire[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Barberio – Hanley
Lernout – Samuelsson
Parisi – Didier[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders:

Lindgren
Danis

Scratches: Connor Crisp, Daniel Carr, Jonathan Racine, Ryan Johnston, Max Friberg (DTD), Jacob de la Rose (upper body injury)

Injured Reserve: Martin Reway

Game Report

After what probably felt like ages for players, coaches, staff, and Newfoundland hockey fans, the IceCaps finally took the ice at Mile One Centre Friday night for the home opening game of their 2016-17 season.  The night was made particularly special with the presence of Montreal Canadiens icon Guy Lafleur on hand for the ceremonial puck drop.

The game, the first in a back-to-back against the Rochester Americans, started out as most of the IceCaps game have gone so far this season: a goal against, early in the first period.  Just a few minutes later, Justin Bailey gave the Amerks a two goal lead on the power play as the home team couldn’t seem to stay out of the penalty box early on.

Special teams have been stellar for St. John’s during their first six games, and Nikita Scherbak continued that late in the first with a power play goal to get his team on the board.  He was assisted by Stefan Matteau and Mark Barberio.  Charlie Lindgren was calm and steadfast in net, fighting off many quality Americans scoring opportunities.

The second period was played pretty evenly, but finally Jeremy Gregoire was able to tally his second goal of the season to tie the score at 2-2.  Evan Rodrigues answered with his second of the night late in the period to allow Rochester to regain the lead just before intermission.

But the St. John’s players seemed determined to give their fans a good show on opening night, and scored three unanswered goals in the final frame.  Philip Samuelsson got his first goal of the season, Sven Andrighetto extended his goal streak to four games, and Matteau capped off the night with an empty-netter.

The IceCaps look to continue their winning ways on home ice Saturday night with another matchup against the Rochester Americans.

▲     Sven Andrighetto, Charlie Lindgren, Nikita Scherbak, Mark MacMillan, Stefan Matteau, Jeremy Gregoire

▼     Tom Parisi, Bobby Farnham

1. Mark MacMillan  STJ
2. Evan Rodrigues  RCH
3. Charlie Lindgren  STJ

Quotes courtesy of AHL Report

Guy Lafleur Opens Up on Weber – Subban Trade https://t.co/R8S0ooLFg7 pic.twitter.com/Nb04jo94q9

— AHL Report (@TheAHLReport) October 29, 2016

Opening Night ceremonial puck drop with @CanadiensMTL legend Guy Lafleur @IceCapsAHL @RocketSports @AllHabs @TheAHLReport #dreamcometrue pic.twitter.com/XrHIBII6g8

— NL PHOTOGUY (@NL_Photoguy) October 29, 2016

Rochester lineup featuring former Canadiens prospects Mac Bennett and Brady Vail. #Habs #GoIceCapsGo

— AHL Report (@TheAHLReport) October 28, 2016

Follow @theAHLReport on Twitter