HAMILTON, Ont. Brian ONeill Vikings Jersey . -- The only role that the Hamilton Bulldogs have left to play is that of the spoiler, and on Saturday, they nearly made victims of the Rochester Americans. Phil Varone scored the shootout winner as the Americans overcame a third-period collapse for a crucial 4-3 win against the Bulldogs in American Hockey League action. Hamilton head coach Sylvain Lefebvre said he was pleased with his teams performance, even if it came in a losing effort. "Kudos to the guys, because although we came up short, it was great to see them show some grit and fight back against a team that needed those points," he said. Colton Gillies, Kevin Porter and Brady Irwin scored in regulation for the Americans (35-27-10), who extended their lead on the ninth-place Charlotte Checkers to three points in the Western Conference playoff race. Andrey Makarov made 35 saves for Rochester. Connor Crisp, Joonas Nattinen and Gabriel Dumont had goals for the Bulldogs (32-35-7) and Robert Mayer stopped 38 shots. Varone skated in slowly and out-waited Mayer before sliding the puck in at the far post. All three Rochester skaters scored in the shootout, while all three Hamilton attempts were denied by Makarov. The first quality chance in regulation time was by the Bulldogs five minutes into the first period, as the combination of Christian Thomas and Sven Andrighetto had several opportunities to shovel the puck past Makarov at point-blank range. But the Rochester goaltender successfully fought through a crowd to kick their weak shots aside. A burst of speed from Andrighetto paved the way as Hamilton opened the scoring at 15:01 of the first period. He raced past the defender along the right wing and managed to get a low shot off that Makarov could only kick into the path of the supporting Crisp, who easily slotted the puck into the gaping net. Just over two minutes later, the Americans tied it when Tim Schaller gloved down a clearing attempt by Nathan Beaulieu and found Gillies unmarked in the low slot. The forward had plenty of time and space in which to operate, and chipped a high shot over Mayers far shoulder at 17:07. Rochester capitalized on a strange bounce to take the lead just 11 seconds into the second period. A routine dump-in play by Matt McKenzie turned into something more when the puck ricocheted off a stanchion behind Mayers net and slid to Porter in front. He scored easily with Mayer scrambling to recover his position. Rochester doubled its lead at 7:08 of the period when Schaller received a centring pass and fired a low slap shot that Mayer knocked to his left, where Irwin was waiting to slot the puck in from close range. Despite trailing by two goals, the Bulldogs crucially killed two penalties, a 5-on-3 midway through the second and a double-minor to end the period, to keep the possibility of a comeback alive. "Penalty kills are always huge, when you can escape, especially the four-minute call," said Crisp. "We got some help there with the penalty against Rochester, but since Ive been with this team, our penalty killing has been really good." The Bulldogs closed to within a goal early in the third period, when Nattinen and Jack Nevins combined to overpower the Americans in the low slot. After Nevins outmuscled two Rochester defenders to get a backhanded shot on net, Nattinen gathered the loose puck and out-waited Makarov before lifting a high shot over his near shoulder at 5:07. Nattinen spoke highly of his young linemate, who he believes to have all the tools to succeed in the AHL. "(Nevins) seems like a really good player," he said. "You can see though, that hes used to playing bigger minutes. Hes good with the puck and makes good decisions. "He can definitely play in this league." Dumont completed the Bulldogs comeback at 10:56, springing a 2-on-1 break alongside Louis Leblanc and deciding to keep the puck, before snapping a hard wrist shot high and past Makarov at the far post. Hamilton piled the pressure on Rochester in the final minutes of the third, and it took the considerable effort of Makarov, and his left post, to send the game to extra time. Hamilton was 0-for-2 on the power play while Rochester went 0-for-4. Custom Minnesota Vikings Jerseys . Louis Blues just continue to roll -- especially against the Nashville Predators. Daniel Carlson Jersey . Nix is a career .218 hitter in 425 games over six seasons. The 31-year-old right-handed hitter batted .270 with a homer this spring for Tampa Bay. http://www.vikingsteamofficial.com/daniel-carlson-jersey/ . -- Colin Kaepernick insists he just happened to pull on a pair of socks with dollar bill prints all over them Wednesday morning -- before he learned he had struck a new fortune with the San Francisco 49ers.The next 48 hours may be significant to determining if the Canadian Football Leagues 2014 training camp, and possibly regular season, starts on schedule, as executives and legal counsel for the league and the Canadian Football League Players Union are set to meet in Toronto Thursday and Friday for critical talks to finally find common ground on a new collective bargaining agreement. With the two sides making little progress over the last six months, however, it appears the players union is prepared for another deadlock. "The (PAs strike) ballots are ready to be mailed out," said a source with knowledge of the negotiations, but who spoke on conditions of anonymity. Sources have told TSN that the CFLPA has steadily prepared for the possibility of a strike vote for weeks, by accumulating addresses of its members, and reviewing labour laws in provinces with CFL teams. "This is not a negotiation tactic - this is something the players feel they need to explore if no progress is made Thursday and Friday," the source said. The CFLs current CBA ends May 29. Talks between the league and players are poised on a tipping point because neither side can agree on functional revenue-sharing model. When the two sides met previously in Toronto weeks ago, talks eventually began leaning towards general discussion of revenue-sharing possiibilities. Jalyn Holmes Jersey. League representatives said they would review the developments, only to return later insisting that discussions on any revenue-sharing model could go no further. The CFL apparently has a counter-proposal prepared for the players - different from the reported $100,000 yearly salary cap increase over the life of a new eight-year CBA - but will not reveal the new bottom line unless the players abandon any revenue-sharing model. Apart the disagreement on the feasibility of any revenue-sharing models, previous talks have stalled over the issue of financial transparency: The players have requested the CFL reveal all its numbers, but the league has remained reluctant. "If the owners are anticipating more money and more deals over the course of a new CBA then the players would like to know what exactly (the owners) are anticipating," the source explained. If talks hit an impasse again by the weekend, the union will prepare its members for a strike vote. Some provinces in Canada, Quebec in particular, require strike votes take place after a CBA expires. Nevertheless, the union will encourage its members, regardless of particular labour laws, to stay off the field." "Its going to be tough to prepare for a season, unless one team is prepared to play against itself," the source added. Stitched NFL JerseysJerseys NFL ChinaNike NFL Jerseys ChinaCheap Jerseys ChinaChina JerseysWholesale Authentic JerseysCheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale ' ' '