AT&T Center – The San Antonio Rampage had tired legs to begin the hockey game on Saturday night. After the first 20 minutes, they would take control of the game en route to another home win.
Jonathan Racine had his first multi-point game as the Rampage defeated the Rochester Americans (16-23-1-0, 33 points) 5-3 in front of 7,499 fans at the AT&T Center on Saturday night.
San Antonio started the scoring as Andrew Yogan put home a rebound past Rochester goaltender Matt Hackett at the 7:07 mark of the opening period to put the Rampage up 1-0. Rochester responded when Mikhail Grigorenko sent a shot towards the top corner of the net, beating Rampage netminder Dan Ellis to tie the game going to the second period.
The Americans took the lead in the middle frame with a goal from Zac Dalpe, who lifted the puck over Ellis’ shoulder at 7:56 of the period to put Rochester ahead 2-1. Bobby Butler knotted game up at two goals apiece with his 16th goal of the year just five minutes later.
Mark Mancari gave the Rampage the lead for good with a goal just over a minute later for his eighth tally of the season. San Antonio took a 4-2 lead into the third period with a goal from Connor Brickley late in the period.
San Antonio extended their lead in the final stanza with a goal from Ryan Martindale as he tipped in a shot from Jonathan Racine to put the Rampage up by three goals. Rochester cut into the lead when Grigorenko put home his second of the night to make it 5-3, which stood as the final score.
“We moved the puck pretty good and we kept it simple,” San Antonio head coach Tom Rowe said. “When we keep it simple and don’t try to force things that aren’t there, we usually get some pretty good results.”
Ellis made 30 saves on 33 shots he faced, while Hackett stopped 23 of 28 shots. San Antonio finished 0-f0r-4 on the power play and stopped all five Rochester chances on the man advantage.
The Rampage are now 22-13-3-0 (47 points) on the season and will return to the ice on Tuesday when they welcome the Texas Stars to the AT&T Center at 7 p.m.
