Amerks beat Ducks before record crowd

The Rochester Americans defeated the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks 3-1 Friday night at HSBC Arena in Buffalo in front of a franchise-record crowd of 12,126.

The crowd shattered the team’s old single-game attendance mark of 11,200 which was achieved three times, most recently for Game 3 of the 2000 Calder Cup Finals vs. Hartford.

The win was Rochester’s second in three games, and improved its record to 2-4-2-1 (seven points).

Thomas Vanek was the star of the night for Rochester, netting the first two Amerk goals. The Rochester rookie netted goals at 6:56 and 11:51 of the first period to give Rochester a 2-0 lead.

“It was nice (to score two goals), but the most important thing is we got the win. That is why we came here,” said Vanek. “I think we accomplished that and it’s a good start to the weekend.”

Vanek was the first-round selection (fifth overall) of the Buffalo Sabres in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. The native of Gras, Austria, spent the last two seasons with the University of Minnesota (WCHA).

Rochester returns to HSBC Arena on December 28th for a 7:05 p.m. contest against the Edmonton Road Runners.