The Rochester Americans scored twice in the first period and Andrey Makarov did the rest, stopping all 28 shots he faced for his second shutout of the season as the Amerks ushered in the New Year with a 3-0 win over the visiting Iowa Wild Friday night at The 
Blue Cross Arena. The win is the second in a row and third in four games for the Amerks, who concluded their season-long eight-game homestand with a 5-3-0-0 record and improved to 14-19-1-0 overall.
The game marked just the second time in Iowa’s history the Wild traveled to Rochester to play the Amerks, following a 3-2 overtime loss last year in their inaugural season. The win also improves the Amerks to 3-0-0 lifetime against the Wild.
Makarov, starting his fifth consecutive game, now has three wins over that stretch as his personal record jumps to 10-10-1 overall. Tim Schaller finished with an empty net goal and an assist, while Brodie Reid and Jerry D’Amigo each added goals for the Amerks, who now have consecutive wins for the first time since late October. Reid has scored in all three contests since joining the Amerks, while D’Amigo’s goal is his first in seven games with Rochester.
Johan Gustafsson started in net for Iowa and turned aside 21 shots in the losing effort.
The Amerks opened the scoring 4:51 into the first period on Reid’s sixth goal of the season and third with Rochester. The play began with a fancy move from Dan Catenacci, who slipped the puck around an Iowa defenseman and swung a pass to Reid in the right circle. Reid’s shot beat Gustafsson to the right post, providing the Amerks with an early lead.
Rochester tallied its second score of the night with just 1:46 remaining in the opening frame when D’Amigo cruised through the middle all alone and lifted a wrist-shot over Gustafsson’s shoulder, putting the Amerks in front 2-0. Playing in his seventh game with his new club, the goal was D’Amigo’s first as an Amerk.
Looking to cut into the Amerks lead, Iowa took its timeout and pulled Gustafsson for the extra man with just over two minutes remaining. Rochester quickly put an end to any comeback hopes, however, when Schaller scored into the empty net from center ice with 1:20 left in regulation.
