Amerks late game heroics lead to win over Crunch

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- The Rochester Americans were back in action on Friday night against their thruway rival Syracuse Crunch at the Blue Cross Arena. Despite being down late in the third period, the Amerks we're able to pull out victory from the jaws of defeat in a 4-3 win over the Crunch.

The night got off to a feisty start as Amerks defenseman Mason Geertsen and Crunch defenseman Matteo Pietroniro took off the gloves and threw a couple jabs at each other only three minutes into the match. Geertsen took exception to a Pietroniro hit that sent Amerks left winger Graham Slaggert into the glass pillar at the end of the Crunch bench, which caused the exchange.

Amerks defenseman #4 Mason Geertsen and Crunch defenseman #75 Matteo Pietroniro fighting Photo credit: Micheline Veluvolu / Rochester Americans

Much like Wednesday night, the Amerks were being outshot through the midway point of the first period, Crunch putting seven shots on Rochester goalie Devon Levi, while Rochester only put three within the vicinity of Crunch goalie Ryan Fanti.

Despite the slow start, Rochester put up the first goal of the night at the fourteen-minute mark of the first. Amerks center Konsta Helenius stole the puck from Crunch defenseman Tommy Miller behind the Crunch net, Helenius fed the puck to right winger Isak Rosen who put the puck in the top right corner of the net to give Rochester the early lead. Defenseman Ryan Johnson was also credited with the secondary assist putting him into double digits in points on the season.

Through one period of play, the Amerks and Crunch were even in shots on goal, with both teams putting up eight each.

Three minutes into the start of the second, the Crunch tied the game after a poor outlet pass by Rosen led to a breakaway goal for Crunch left winger Wojciech Stachowiak, which was his seventh of the campaign.

Nine minutes into the second, Syracuse took the lead after left winger Jakob Pelletier deflected a Tommy Miller shot from the blue line past Levi.

With two minutes left in the period, Amerks defenseman Noah Laaouan put one past Fanti for his first AHL goal to tie the game at two apiece. Defenseman Jagger Joshua obtained his 10th point of the season with the primary assist, left winger Riley Fiddler-Schultz was credited with the secondary assist.

"It was just a surreal moment, I feel like I've had a couple chances the past couple games and I've just been missing the net," Laaouan said post-game.

Amerks defenseman #36 Noah Laaouan celebrating after scoring his first AHL goal. Photo credit: Micheline Veluvolu / Rochester Americans

Through two, Rochester led in shots by one after putting up thirteen in the second period of play, for a two-period total of twenty-one. Syracuse put twelve on goal for a two-period total of twenty.

Halfway through the third there were only four shots combined between each team, one for Rochester, three for the Crunch.

Shortly after the halfway point of the third, Pelletier put in his second goal of the night once again off of a deflected shot by Tommy Miller that stopped right in front of Levi to put Syracuse back in the lead.

Carson Meyer who is one of Rochester's recent additions, being waived earlier in the month by the Buffalo Sabres, tied the game at three at the sixteen-minute mark of the third period with his fourth goal in his seventh AHL game this season. Defenseman Vsevolod Komarov and left winger Anton Wahlberg put their names on the score sheet with the primary and secondary assists respectively.

Amerks right winger #72 Carson Meyer celebrating next to teammate #24 Anton Wahlberg after scoring the game-tying-goal. Photo credit: Micheline Veluvolu / Rochester Americans

The game was looking like it was heading into overtime, but with thirteen seconds left in regulation, Amerks defenseman Vsevolod Komarov shot was deflected off of defenseman Jagger Joshua. The deflected puck landed right in front of defenseman Zac Jones who tapped the puck through the pads of Fanti for what turned out to be the game winning goal and a 4-3 Amerks win. Coming into the night Jones led the team in points with seventeen, all of which had come from assists.

"I got lucky enough to get a stick on it," Jones said post-game after recording his first goal of the season. "Syracuse has got a very good team over there and that's a team down the road that we're going to have to fight with for a playoff spot."

Amerks defenseman #39 Zac Jones celebrating after scoring the game-winning-goal. Photo credit: Micheline Veluvolu / Rochester Americans

Following tonight's game, Rochester gets a rare weekend off before their next contest, head coach Michael Leone emphasized the importance of getting the win tonight before heading into their short break.

"This is a five-game segment for us, and we were 0-1 so it was really important to get the win," Leone said. "We've played a lot of games, we haven't had a lot of practice time, teaching through video. The guys are going to have off a couple days just to get away rink, just because it's been a grind with the schedule. We're in a really good spot, we're happy with where we're at, we'll regroup for another big week coming up."

The Amerks with the win tonight improve to 12-9-0-0 on the season and are now in a three-way-tie for first place in the AHL's north division at 24 points. The teams' they are tied with are the Laval Rocket and the Crunch. The win tonight also brings the season series between Rochester and Syracuse to a tie at two games apiece. These two teams will not meet again until 2026 when Rochester will travel to Syracuse to take on the Crunch on January 7. The Amerks return from their mini break on Wednesday, December 3 when they host the Utica Comets at the Blue Cross Arena, faceoff for Wednesday night's match is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.