However, the Barons scored 5 unanswered goals in the 1st & 2nd Periods to eventually lead to a 5-2 Barons Victory in their 1st of the 2 game series up in Western New York to take their overall record to 25-11-5 which now gives the Barons a 4 Point Lead in the West Division, a 5 point lead over 2nd Place & Mid-West Division Leading Charlotte Checkers and is now dead even with the Hershey Bears for the best overall record in the AHL.
What a night for Mark Arcobello who was a very easy choice for the 1st Star of the Game with an impressive 4 point night (2 goals, 2 assists) and has already surpassed his full season total from last year where he scored 22 points 26 games (He currently has 6 Goals & 17 Assists so far this season).
This road trip is important for the Barons not only to get some momentum going into the All Star Break, but to finally get some breathing room from both the Houston Aeros & Abbotsford Heat who have been sweating it out for the West Division Lead all season long to this point. Just 4 games left till the break and the Barons are off to a great start on their current 3 game road trip that will see them playing the Rochester Americans again tonight at 6:35 PM Tonight. Then it's off to Cleveland to play the Lake Erie Monsters on Saturday Night to wrap up the Road Trip.
After the road trip, the Barons will return home for a Friday/Saturday Home Weekend to play the Houston Aeros on 1/27 & the Texas Stars on 1/28 to wrap up the Pre All-Star Game portion of their schedule. Could this be the time that the Barons make a stand and show that they could be the best team in the West Division?
Here's the Oklahoma City Barons Upcoming Schedule till the All Star Break
1/20: Oklahoma City Barons VS. Rochester Americans 6:35 PM
1/21: Oklahoma City Barons VS. Lake Erie Monsters 6:30 PM
1/27: Houston Aeros VS. Oklahoma City Barons 7:00 PM
1/28: Texas Stars VS. Oklahoma City Barons 7:00 PM
From Rochester, N.Y.: Marc Arcobello matched the season high with a four point game on two goals and two assists in Oklahoma City's 5-2 win over the Rochester Americans on Thrusday at Blue Cross Arena in the opener of the three game trip.
Oklahoma City matches Hershey for the most points (55) in the AHL and builds its West Division Lead to four points over Houston and Abbotsford. The Barons have a league high 25 wins at 25-11-5. Rochester falls to 17-14-8.
Arcobello's four points matched his AHL Career high for a single game, he also had two goals and two assists on March 11, 2011 against Grand Rapids.
The Barons scored five unanswered goals after Rochester opened the scoring with a rebound goal by Szczechura at 7:53 of the first period.
The Barons responded to take a 2-1 lead after one period as Hunter Tremblay received an Arcobello pass down low and tucked it past David Leggo. Arcobello put Oklahoma City in front 2-1 at 18:41 on a point shot during a delayed penalty with the Barons utilizing an extra attacker. Chris VandeVelde, who came on to the ice in that sequence to replace Yann Dennis and Tremblay picked up assists.
Arcobello snapped the Barons 0/30 power play drought with a man advantage goal at 2:38 of the 2nd period. Phillippe Cornet in his own rebound for his 18th of the season to extend the lead to 4-1 at 5:30 of the second period, followed by Teemu Hartikainen's ninth of the campigan at 18:41 on a snap shot from a steep angle.
Travis Turnbull concluded the scoring 11 seconds later on a breakaway.
The same two teams meet on Friday in Rochester at 6:35 PM CST.
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