The San Antonio Rampage are sure getting used to this winning on the road thing. Tom Rowe’s charges won their fifth straight away from home with a hard-fought 4-1 matinee victory over the Hamilton Bulldogs in front 5.505 fans at FirstOntario Centre.
After a high-sticking call on Hamilton’s Justin Courtnall, Rampage defender Colby Robak opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 9:16 mark of the first period.
Greg Rallo and Ryan Martindale drew the assists on the defender’s sixth of the season.
Bulldogs winger Patrick Holland beat Jacob Markstrom, who finished with 30 stops, to even the game with 1:12 remaing in the opening frame.
San Antonio regained the lead just 23 seconds into the second period when Drew Shore notched his fifth goal in the last six games from linemates Bobby Butler and Garrett Wilson.
Defenseman Dylan Olsen scored his first goal for the Rampage early in the third period, with the assists going to Rallo and Quinton Howden, to give San Antonio and Markstrom a two-goal cushion.
Rallo was named the game’s First Star for his two-assist effort.
The Alien rebuffed all sixteen Hamilton shot attempts in the final frame to preserve the win and raise his record to 11-10-3.
Rookie pivot Vincent Trocheck scored his fifteenth goal into an empty net, from John Lee, to ice the game with 1:36 left on the clock.
Goaltender Robert Mayer made 26 saves in taking the loss for the Bulldogs.
San Antonio has now gone eleven games without losing in regulation to pull within four points of the final playoff spot in the AHL’s Western Conference.
The Rampage get a few days off before Friday’s key meeting with the Rochester Americans.