David Leggio continues to bedevil the Abbotsford Heat.
The Rochester Americans goalie was unbeatable on Friday evening, snuffing the Heat's 44-shot attack in a 5-0 victory at Blue Cross Arena.
It marked Leggio's fourth win of the season over the Heat, including a 48-save outing on Jan. 4 and a 38-save effort on Feb. 6.
The Amerks' power play gave Leggio plenty of offensive support, going 3-for-8 on the night.
Cody McCormick opened the scoring on the man advantage at 5:18 of the first period, and he made it 2-0 at even strength just 17 seconds later to chase Heat starting goalie Leland Irving.
Irving was replaced by Danny Taylor, who was reassigned to the Heat by the Calgary Flames on Wednesday. But he couldn't stop the bleeding – power-play markers by Brayden McNabb and Luke Adam sandwiched an even-strength tally by Nick Tarnasky as Rochester cruised to victory despite being out-shot 44-26.
The 10th loss in 11 games for Abbotsford (27-25-8, 62 points) allowed the Amerks (30-22-3, 63 points) to leap-frog them in the Western Conference standings. Rochester now sits seventh in the conference, while the Heat are outside the playoff picture in 10th place.
Friday's result marked the second straight shutout defeat for the Heat, who fell 2-0 to the Hamilton Bulldogs on Tuesday. They haven't scored since Greg Nemisz's goal at 9:18 of the second period last Saturday vs. the Houston Aeros – a goalless streak of 150 minutes, 42 seconds.
The schedule brings no reprieve for the Abby club, as they visit the Toronto Marlies on Saturday before returning to Rochester for a rematch with the Amerks on Sunday.