Despite two goals from Rochester Americans forward Tim Schaller, the Amerks fell to the Utica Comets by a 5-2 score Wednesday night at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. The loss snapped Rochester’s two-game winning streak, moving them to 12-12-1-1 on the season with a five-game homestand set to begin Friday night.
Schaller’s two-goal night gives him three goals in the last two games and four on the season. Jerry D’Amigo collected two assists on the night and has recorded an assist on all three of Schaller’s goals in the last two outings. Jerome Leduc, who was appearing in his 200th career AHL game, also finished with an assist. Amerks goaltender Nathan Lieuwen made his third consecutive start and stopped 33 of 37 Utica shots. 
Alexandre Grenier, Mike Zalewski, Linden Vey, Jordan Subban and Brendan Gaunce each scored for Utica, with Zalewski, Subban and Gaunce each adding an assist. Netminder Richard Bachman stopped 28 of 30 shots to earn the win in goal.
Utica opened the scoring early in the game, getting on the board just 1:44 into the contest. Grenier took a pass from Subban at his own blue line, skated through the neutral zone and into the Rochester end before putting a wrist shot past Lieuwen for the goal.
Minutes later, Zalewski broke into the Amerks zone on a partial breakaway after attacking up the right wing boards and beat Lieuwen with a hard shot low to the stick side. Irondequoit native David Shields, who was skating in just his second game with the Comets, earned his first point of the season with an assist on the Zalewski goal.
After Vey gave the Comets a 3-0 lead early in the second period by converting on a great cross-ice feed from Nicklas Jensen, Schaller scored twice in a row to cut the Rochester deficit to one goal.
Midway through the period, a D’Amigo stretch pass up the middle of the ice sprung Schaller on a breakaway, and the Amerks forward beat Bachman with a quick shot for the goal. Less than six minutes later, Schaller scored his second of the night. As he rushed up the left side, he used his body to shield a Utica defender from the puck and shoveled it through the goaltender for his third goal in the last two games. D’Amigo and Leduc picked up the assists on the play.
Before the second period came to an end, however, Subban scored on a wrist shot through traffic from the top of the circles to give the Comets a 4-2 lead heading into the second intermission.
The Amerks came up with multiple power play opportunities late in the third period, but Bachman was the difference, stopping all 14 Rochester shots in the final frame. Gaunce added an empty-net goal to seal the 5-2 Utica win.
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