HAMILTON, ONT. – Rochester Americans (25-29-5-1) defenceman Chad Ruhwedel had a goal and an assist to pace his club past the Hamilton Bulldogs (28-22-9-0) 3-1 at FirstOntario Centre on Friday evening.
After a scoreless first period, the ‘Dogs appeared to have broken the 0-0 tie midway through the middle frame when forward T.J. Hensick redirected a rebound past Amerks goaltender Matt Hackett, but the goal was immediately waved off as the referee deemed the puck was kicked into the net. 
The teams carried the scoreless tie through 40 minutes, then 1:42 into the third period, Rochester forward Evan Rankin squeaked a shot past Hamilton goaltender Joey MacDonald to make it a 1-0 game. Forward Allan McPherson and Ruhwedel had assists on the play.
Less than a minute later, Bulldogs defenceman Greg Pateryn tied the game 1-1 with an unassisted shot from the point – his third goal of the season.
At 13:01 of the third period, on a delayed penalty call, Ruhwedel ripped a shot from the right faceoff circle past MacDonald to notch the eventual game winner and give the Americans a 2-1 lead.
With eight seconds to play, Rochester forward Justin Mercier sealed the game with an empty-net goal to make it 3-1.
MacDonald made 27 saves on 29 shots for the Bulldogs in the loss, while Hackett stopped 29 of 30 shots faced for the Americans in the win.
Hamilton went 0-for-2 on the power play, while Rochester was 0-for-4 with a man advantage.
Dan Lawrie Insurance Premium Player of the Game (Hardest Working Player): Davis Drewiske
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