(Syracuse, NY) – Evan Rodrigues’ sixth goal of the season with 5:51 remaining in the third period broke a 4-4 tie and proved to be the game-winner as the Rochester Americans hung on to defeat the Syracuse Crunch, 5-4, in a back and forth affair Friday at the War Memorial Arena. The win snaps a brief two-game slide for Rochester as all six games thus far between the North Division rivals have been decided by one goal.
William Carrier matched a season-high with a three-point night (1+2), while Tim Schaller and Justin Bailey each finished with a goal and an assist for the Amerks, who improve to 22-21-2-1 on the season and move into a three-way tie with Syracuse and St. John’s for fourth place in the North Division standings. Phil Varone and Jerome Leduc both recorded an assist and Matt Donovan topped off the scoring behind a 39-save effort from goaltender Linus Ullmark.
Adam Erne scored twice for the Crunch, who rallied back from two separate two-goal deficits, with Mike Blunden and Yanni Gourde each contributing a pair of assists. Matt Taormina and Tanner Richard rounded out the scoring for Syracuse, while Kristers Gudlevskis and Adam Wilcox combined to make 27 saves in the loss.
Rochester managed to escape a rather one-sided first period unscathed despite being outshot 18-6 by the Crunch, who at one point had 10 shots on goal before the Amerks registered their first.
Ullmark was solid from the start for the Amerks and was tested early on as Blunden nearly gave Syracuse the 1-0 lead. Stationed just off the right of the crease, Blunden took a centering feed from Gourde, switched to his backhand and threw a quick shot on goal that clanked off the left post before Rochester was able to clear the zone. Ullmark was forced to come up big again just minutes later when Richard raced in on a breakaway opportunity, but the Rochester netminder shut the door with his right pad to keep it scoreless.
After neither side could find the net in the opening frame, the Amerks and Crunch combined for four goals in the second, with Rochester striking first just 1:04 in. Schaller powered his way into the Syracuse zone along the right wing boards, and with one arm warding off the attack of Crunch defenseman Dylan Blujus, made a drop pass to Bailey, who was trailing the play. Bailey centered it to Carrier and he beat Gudlevskis from the edge of the crease to give the Amerks the 1-0 lead.
Rochester doubled its lead less than seven minutes later on the power-play as Donovan snuck a long range shot off the draw through traffic just four seconds into the man-advantage. Varone would earn the lone assist on the face-off win to set up Donovan’s seventh of the year.
The two-goal advantage would be short-lived, however, as the Crunch scored twice in a span of 1:27 to knot the contest at 2-2. Tye McGinn spotted Taormina creeping into the slot at 14:31 and Richard, who was denied earlier in the game by Ullmark, made up for it when he converted on a nifty cross-ice feed from Slater Koekkoek to send the teams into the break at two apiece.
The third period began similar to that of the second with the Amerks once again finding the net just over a minute in as Bailey cleaned up Carrier’s rebound following a goal-mouth scramble. Schaller then restored Rochester’s two-goal lead a short time later after picking the upper corner from a sharp angle to make it a 4-2 game and chase Gudlevskis to the bench.
Syracuse again rallied back, this time on the strength of back-to-back goals from Erne, who scored shorthanded at 5:25 before redirecting his second of the night on the power-play at 11:09.
Rodrigues closed out the win for Rochester exactly three minutes later when he collected his own rebound from behind the Syracuse net and tucked the game-winner under the left pad of Wilcox. The Crunch pulled Wilcox with less than a minute to play, but Ullmark was again equal to the task and was able to keep everything in front of him to preserve the win for the Amerks.
The Amerks close out their three-game road swing on Saturday, Feb. 6 when they travel to the southern tier for another get-together with the Binghamton Senators at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena. The 7:05 p.m. contest can be heard live on FOX Sports 1280 Rochester.
Goal Scorers
RCH: Carrier (5), Donovan (7), Bailey (8), Schaller (8), Rodrigues (6)
SYR: Taormina (10), Richard (7), Erne (9, 10)
Shots
RCH: 32
SYR: 43
Goaltenders
RCH: Ullmark – W (39/43)
SYR: Gudlevskis – (18/22) / Wilcox – L (9/10)
Special Teams
Amerks Power Play: 2-3
Amerks Penalty Kill: 2-3
