(Syracuse, NY) – The Rochester Americans overcame a 2-0 deficit and finished the night with a season-high five goals in the third period on their way to a convincing 7-4 win over the Syracuse Crunch Saturday at the War Memorial Arena. The Amerks improve to 30-26-2-1 on the season and have now won four straight over the Crunch while also extending their current win streak to a season-long four games.
Second-year defenseman Brady Austin paced the Amerks with three assists, marking the first three-point game of his career, while Justin Bailey and Alex Guptill each registered a goal and an assist in the win for Rochester. Eric O’Dell also scored for the second straight game, giving the newly acquired forward a point in each of his first four games with the Amerks. Evan Rodrigues, Chad Ruhwedel, William Carrier and Nick Baptiste rounded out the scoring as 12 different Amerks recorded at least one point. Linus Ullmark made 25 saves to remain perfect against Syracuse, improving to 4-0-0 against the Crunch this season while winning his third straight overall.
Amerks head coach Randy Cunneyworth has now reached the 30-win mark for the eighth time in his nine seasons as Rochester’s bench boss and needs just two more wins to become the all-time winningest coach in franchise history.
Jonathan Drouin led the Crunch with a two-goal night and Matthew Peca notched two assists in the loss for Syracuse. Joel Vermin and Jake Dotchin also scored for the Crunch. Kristers Gudlevskis made 21 saves on 25 shots before being replaced by Adam Wilcox midway through the third period.
The teams looked to enter the break scoreless, but a late goal by Drouin would spot Syracuse to a 1-0 lead with only 33 seconds remaining in the opening frame. Drouin, who rejoined the Crunch on Friday following a 19-game team-imposed suspension, took a drop pass from Peca just inside the Rochester blueline, attacked the zone with speed and snapped a shot into the top of the net just as Ullmark was bumped out of position.
Drouin provided the Crunch a two-goal advantage with his second of the night on the power-play at 9:48 of the second period. As the Crunch worked the puck around the perimeter, a Matt Taormina pass made its way across the high slot to a wide-open Drouin. The former first-round pick skated into the near circle and delivered a blast to the upper left corner on the short side for his fourth of the season.
The lead would be short-lived, however, as the Amerks fought their way back, scoring twice in a span of 3:35 to knot the contest at two apiece. O’Dell put the Amerks on the board first with his team-leading 22nd goal of the season and Bailey made it a 2-2 game just minutes later after converting a long stretch pass from Austin.
A wild, back and forth third period saw the teams combine for seven goals, beginning just 40 seconds in when Rodrigues redirected a Bobby Sanguinetti point shot past Gudlevskis to give Rochester its first lead of the night.
The Crunch answered just 14 seconds later as Vermin steered in a centering feed from Peca, but only 4:43 would pass before the Amerks would retake the lead for good. Ruhwedel connected on a one-timer from the left circle that found its way inside the far post at 5:11 and Carrier put the game out of reach at 11:51.
Syracuse got to within one with 3:14 remaining when Dotchin picked the upper corner off a setup from Dylan Blujus, but back-to-back empty net goals from Guptill and Baptiste in the closing minutes of regulation would put the finishing touches on a 7-4 win for Rochester.
Rochester brings the weekend to a close on Sunday, Mar. 13 as the Binghamton Senators travel upstate for a North Division showdown at The Blue Cross Arena. Sunday’s 5:05 p.m. contest will air live on FOX Sports 1280 Rochester and will also be televised locally on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel.
Goal Scorers
RCH: O’Dell (22), Bailey (12), Rodrigues (9), Ruhwedel (7), Carrier (13), Guptill (2), Baptiste (9)
SYR: Drouin (3, 4), Vermin (5), Dotchin (1)
Shots
RCH: 32
SYR: 29
Goaltenders
RCH: Ullmark – W (25/29)
SYR: Wilcox – L (4/5) / Gudlevskis (21/25
Special Teams
Amerks Power Play: 1-3
Amerks Penalty Kill: 2-6
