By: Aiden Locke
ROCHESTER, N.Y.— The Rochester Americans had their six game win streak snapped in an ugly 5-1 loss to the Syracuse Crunch. Rochester entered Friday night with a chance to take possession of first place in the AHL’s North Division. The loss at home keeps Rochester one point behind Laval as they enter the final third of the season.
“We were soft, we were terrible, we didn’t compete,” Amerks head coach Michael Leone said. “Just not good enough… When the game got hard we didn’t respond.”
Syracuse center Jack Finley opened the scoring 6:43 into the opening frame. A tough angle shot on the left half wall just inside the left circle by defenseman Scott Walford got re-directed by Finley in front. That goal gave the Crunch an early 1-0 lead. With multiple screens in front, Amerks goaltender Devon Levi couldn’t get an eye on the puck and it ended up in the net.
Rochester struck back nearly eight minutes later. The Amerks went shorthanded after an interference call on forward Brendon Warren. Forward Josh Dunne won the draw in Rochester’s defensive zone. Forward Anton Wahlberg drove down the left wing and flung a shot that was blocked in front. The loose puck drew Syracuse goaltender Matt Tomkins out of position. Dunne scooped up the loose puck for a backhanded goal into a practically empty net.
“It was honestly a great play from Wahlberg,” Dunne said. “Made a great drive to the net and I was in the right place at the right time.”
Levi ended the night with 23 saves on 27 shots. Tomkins shut down the Amerks with 23 saves on 24 shots faced.
Syracuse put together a big middle frame to extend the lead to 3-1. The first goal came six minutes into the period by way of forward Dylan Duke. Duke sat in the slot and was fed a beautiful pass from forward Logan Brown. Duke buried the one-timer past Levi.
“They outworked us, they won all the 50/50 pucks, they were more physical than us and that’s just not going to get it done in this division,” Amerks captain Mason Jobst said.
Syracuse added a 4th goal midway through the third. Brown picked up his second point of the night after collecting a loose puck in the slot and roofing it far side on Levi. Brown added an empty net goal towards the end of the third period to pick up a three point night for Syracuse.
The second Syracuse goal of the period was delivered by forward Conor Sheary with 36 ticks left in the frame. Forward Gage Goncalves and defenseman Derrick Pouliot set up Sheary who sat between the circles. The friendly positioning and angle for Sheary was too much for Levi to stop.
“They were dialed from the get go,” Jobst said. “They just kept things simple, they were really good on the forecheck, the majority of the game we couldn’t really establish our forecheck and get much o-zone time.”
The Amerks controlled the first two and half minutes to start the game. Rochester lived in the offensive zone during the first two shifts of the game. Their fortunes dramatically changed afterwards. Syracuse picked up the pace, physicality and energy on their way to scoring the opening goal of the game. Syracuse dominated the majority of the first period to set the tone for the night.
Syracuse found an extra gear in the second period that Rochester couldn’t match. The Crunch lived up to their name, delivering big hits up and down the ice. The Amerks were a step behind to loose pucks and outworked on the boards throughout the period. This play led to Syracuse out-shooting Rochester 12-5 in the second period.
The Crunch’s extremely physical play style and shot blocking ability is always challenging for Rochester. Despite success through this campaign, The Amerks couldn’t generate much offensively. Rochester often settled for low quality perimeter shots that we deflected away or outright blocked. Syracuse won the physicality battle, making redirects and second chance shots hard to come by for the Amerks in front of the night.
“You’ve got to play that way, it’s not a track meet, it’s not about goals,” Leone said.
The season series between these two clubs moved to 5-3 for the Amerks.
Rochester is entering one of the busiest stretches of the season. The Amerks will play six games in eight days during this stretch. The Amerks three game weekend continues Saturday in Utica, puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
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