(Rochester, NY) – Phil Varone’s second goal of the game 1:46 into overtime put the finishing touches on a four-point night and propelled the Rochester Americans to a thrilling 6-5 win over the North Division rival Syracuse Crunch Wednesday at The Blue Cross Arena. With the win, the Amerks have now won three straight, matching a season-high, and have won four of their last five to improve to 21-19-2-1 on the season.
Varone, who along with Cal O’Reilly and Tim Schaller were assigned to Rochester earlier in the day from the Buffalo Sabres, captured his second four-point (2+2) outing in six games with the Amerks while leading a contingent of five different players to finish with multi-point nights. Matt Donovan scored twice in the win for Rochester, marking his first multi-goal game since the 2013-14 season, while O’Reilly, Evan Rodrigues and Dan Catenacci all notched two assists. Schaller and Jerry D’Amigo rounded out the scoring for the Amerks while Linus Ullmark made 20 saves to pick up his second straight win.
Mike Blunden (2+1) and Yanni Gourde (1+2) each registered three points for the visiting Crunch and Kristers Gudlevskis stopped 21 shots to push Syracuse’s point streak to five games.
The Amerks and Crunch traded first-period goals in the most peculiar of ways after a series of unlucky bounces proved costly for each side. A fortuitous bounce gave Syracuse the 1-0 lead less than a minute into the contest as Taormina’s long range shot from the left point bounced awkwardly off Amerks defenseman Jerome Leduc before clanking off the post and in. Yanni Gourde and Anthony DeAngelo each earned the assists on Taormina’s ninth of the season just 42 seconds in.
Rochester returned the favor midway through the opening frame in similar fashion as an errant deflection saw its way through Gudlevskis, knotting the score at one apiece. Donovan hurried a shot from just inside the blueline as a penalty to Gourde was expiring. Syracuse defender Henri Ikonen made an attempt to block it, but it instead caromed off his left leg and pinballed its way through traffic to make it a 1-1 game.
The teams combined for five goals during a back and forth second period, which began much the same as the first with the Crunch striking early to regain the 2-1 lead. A Jeff Tambellini rebound popped out to the slot following a goal-mouth scramble and Blunden rifled it home just 1:06 into the second period for his first of two on the night.
Schaller tied it up exactly 7:30 later when he found himself on the receiving end off a set-up from Justin Bailey. The rookie forward outhustled a Syracuse defenseman to a loose puck deep in the Crunch zone and sent a cross-ice pass to a wide-open Schaller, who lifted the offering over Gudlevskis for the equalizer. The assist extended Bailey’s point streak to a season-high four games.
The 2-2 tie wouldn’t last, however, as Blunden added his second of the night just beyond the halfway point at 10:01 before Gourde gave Syracuse a two-goal advantage 19 seconds later.
Varone answered for the Amerks at 10:58, converting a centering feed from Rodrigues to cut the deficit in half and Donovan opened the scoring with a power-play goal 1:23 into the third to help Rochester pull even.
Syracuse retook its fourth lead of the night a short time later on another unlucky bounce that ended up in the Amerks net. A Brian Hart redirection from beyond center ice fooled Ullmark when it changed direction in the slot and skipped over the shoulder of the defenseless netminder.
Rochester rallied back yet again with 4:23 remaining in regulation after D’Amigo swept in a rebound from the top of the crease to eventually force overtime.
The Amerks prevailed just 1:46 into the extra frame when Varone circled the Syracuse zone, drew Gudlveskis out of his crease and snapped home his team-leading 12th of the season to seal the 6-5 win.
The Amerks are home again on Friday, Jan. 29 as the Binghamton Senators make their way upstate for another get-together at The Blue Cross Arena. Friday’s 7:05 p.m. matchup can be seen live on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel 26 (channel 323 for viewers in Buffalo) and will also be carried live on FOX Sports 1280 Rochester.
Goal Scorers
RCH: Donovan (5,6), Schaller (6), Varone (11, 12)
SYR: Taormina (9), Blunden (10,11 ), Gourde (6), Hart (2)
Shots
RCH: 27
SYR: 25
Goaltenders
RCH: Ullmark – W (20/25)
SYR: Gudlevskis – L (21/27)
Special Teams
Amerks Power Play: 2-6
Amerks Penalty Kill: 2-2
