Amerks Suffer First Regulation Loss at Home to Crunch
November 1, 2023 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release
(Rochester, NY) -The Rochester Americans (5-2-1-0) fell behind 4-1 in the second period before dropping a 7-2 decision to the intrastate rival Syracuse Crunch (5-2-0-0) Wednesday at The Blue Cross Arena.
Despite the defeat, Rochester's first regulation at home this season, the Amerks remain in first place in the AHL's North Division standings with 11 points. Tonight's matchup was the first in eight games where Rochester has been held to two or fewer goals to begin the season.
Forward Brett Murray scored his second goal of the season in the first period while Jiri Kulich recorded his team-leading seventh tally during the final minute of the second frame. Michael Mersch, Ryan Johnson, Matt Savoie and Isak Rosen all earned an assist in the defeat.
Goaltender Devin Cooley (3-1-1) suffered his first regulation loss of the season as he made 21 saves before Michael Houser (2-1-0) finished the contest in the final 12 minutes in relief.
Joe Carroll, Felix Robert, and Gage Goncalves logged a pair of points with a goal and an assist each while Jack Thompson and Maxim Groshev both added two helpers for Syracuse. Devante Stephens, Lucas Edmonds, Gabriel Dumont, and Daniel Walcott capped off the scoring with one goal each.
Pyotr Kochetkov (3-0-0) stopped 19 of the 21 shots he faced while picking up his third consecutive victory in-between the pipes for the Crunch.
Following the first 20 minutes of play where the teams exchanged goals, Syracuse grabbed a quick 3-1 lead as they scored twice in a span of 3:23 with goals from Robert and Carroll in the first five minutes of the second frame.
The Crunch cushioned their lead at the 15:28 mark before Rochester ended the three-goal run in the final 60 seconds of the period.
Rosen grabbed the puck just inside the left point before the Swedish forward passed it down the wall for Savoie. The Amerks rookie retrieved the puck, and as he cut towards the face-off dot, snapped a quick feed at the hashmarks to Kulich. With bodies providing a screen in-front of Kochetkov, Kulich ripped his seventh goal of the season to make it a two-goal deficit.
After the break, Syracuse made sure Kulich's goal did not spark any comeback as they scored three more goals to finish the 7-2 score.
The Amerks look to rebound as they welcome the Utica Comets to The Blue Cross Arena on Friday, Nov. 1 for a 7:05 p.m. contest. The North Division showdown will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
Stars and Stripes:
Olivier Nadeau made his professional debut tonight, recording one shot ... Nadeau is the sixth different skater for Rochester this season to appear in his first regular season AHL game ... With his team-leading seventh goal of the campaign, Jiri Kulich is tied for second in the AHL in goals while his 10 points are tied for eighth ... Through the first eight games of the 2023-24 season, Kulich has more than three times the number of goals through the same number of games last season ... Matt Savoie has a point in each of his first four contests of his conditioning assignment while Michael Mersch pushed his point streak to five games as he notched an assist on Brett Murray's goal.
Goal Scorers
SYR: L. Edmonds (3), F. Robert (6), J. Carroll (1), D. Walcott (4), G. Dumont (2), D. Stephens (2), G. Goncalves (1)
ROC: B. Murray (2), J. Kulich (7)
Goaltenders
SYR: D. Cooley - 21/27 (L) | M. Houser - 4/5 (ND)
ROC: P. Kochetkov - 19/21 (W)
Shots
SYR: 32
ROC: 21
Special Teams
SYR: PP (2/3) | PK (3/3)
ROC: PP (0/3) | PK (1/3)
Three Stars:
1. SYR - J. Carroll
2. SYR - F. Robert
3. SYR - G. Goncalves
American Hockey League Stories from November 1, 2023
- Amerks Suffer First Regulation Loss at Home to Crunch - Rochester Americans
- Griffins Pick up Point in 4-3 Shootout Loss to Cleveland - Grand Rapids Griffins
- Brandon Bussi Shines in P-Bruins' Win Over Penguins - Providence Bruins
- Monsters Claim 4-3 Shootout Victory Over Griffins - Cleveland Monsters
- Penguins Suffer 3-1 Loss to Bruins - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
- J.R. Avon First Pro Goal Earns Standings Point - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Priskie Pushes Bears to 4-3 OT Win Over Phantoms - Hershey Bears
- Crunch Dominate Americans, 7-2 - Syracuse Crunch
- Comets Parent Helps Topple Rocket, 4-1 - Utica Comets
- A Dream Come True for Sam Jardine - Calgary Wranglers
- Brad Pascall Named to Spengler Cup Management Group - Calgary Wranglers
- Ads Announce Second Phase of Promotional Schedule - Milwaukee Admirals
- Tucson Roadrunners Weekly - Tucson Roadrunners
- San Diego Gulls Recall Goaltender Tomas Suchanek from Tulsa - San Diego Gulls
- Syracuse Crunch to Raise Funds for Cancer Research with Shave for Change Initiative - Syracuse Crunch
- Anaheim Ducks Recall Alex Stalock from San Diego - San Diego Gulls
- Syracuse Crunch to Hold Military Appreciation Night Presented by Visions Federal Credit Union November 10 - Syracuse Crunch
- Gaudette, Roy, Sogaard Named AHL Award Winners for October - AHL
- T-Birds F Adam Gaudette Named AHL Player of the Month - Springfield Thunderbirds
- Amerks Hosting Hockey Fights Cancer Night November 10 against Utica - Rochester Americans
- San Diego Gulls Assign Defenseman Luka Profaca to Tulsa - San Diego Gulls
- Jake Wise Making the Most of his Opportunity with Charlotte - Charlotte Checkers
- Monsters Return Home to Host Hockey Fights Cancer and Salute to Service Night - Cleveland Monsters
- Game Preview: Bears vs. Phantoms, 7 p.m. - Hershey Bears
- American Hockey League Joins NHL, NHLPA in 25th Annual Hockey Fights Cancer© Initiative - AHL
- Firebirds Score Five Times in Second Period to Down Canucks - Coachella Valley Firebirds
- Canucks End Road Trip Witth 8-3 Loss to Coachella Valley - Abbotsford Canucks
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
