The Rochester Amerks hosted the sixth outdoor game in AHL history on Friday night, and a standing-room-only crowd at Frontier Field was treated to a thrilling finish -- and a big win for the home team.
Mike Zigomanis, Johan Larsson and Matt Ellis scored on the Amerks' last three shootout attempts to erase a 2-0 deficit and send Rochester to a 5-4 win over the Lake Erie Monsters in the "Frozen Frontier" before 11,015 fans.
The snow wasn’t falling much during the game, but those at the Frozen Frontier likely appreciated the plentiful supply of hot chocolate stands with a game time temperature of 18 degrees.
Friday’s game at Frontier Field was the start of a 10-day, outdoor hockey festival.
The weekend schedule includes games featuring men's and women's college teams from Rochester and elsewhere in upstate New York and a Buffalo Sabres-Rochester Amerks alumni game.
A 3-on-3 pond hockey tournament, open skate sessions and a full slate of local high school games are scheduled for the weekend of Dec. 20-22.
Local youth and adult leagues will also get their chance on the ice along with public ice skating.
You can check out the schedule of events at: www.frozenfrontier2013.com
Saturday morning update: Shortly following Friday's game, the Buffalo Sabres recalled Amerks forward Matt Ellis in time for Saturday afternoon's Sabres home game with Calgary.
