Amerks host Syracuse for first time since 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs series
Nov 29, 2024
The Rochester Americans (8-7-3-0) conclude their four-game homestand at Blue Cross Arena on Black Friday as they play host to the Syracuse Crunch (8-6-1-2) for the first time this season.
Friday starts a home-and-home weekend between the Amerks and Crunch, with the scene shifting to Syracuse Saturday night where the Amerks will put a bow on their November slate of play. Friday also marks the first of 12 meetings between Rochester and Syracuse this season. It’s the first time the two rivals will be meeting since Game 5 of the North Division Semifinals in last year’s playoffs, where Syracuse topped the Amerks to advance, subsequently ending Rochester’s 2023-24 season.
Jack Rathbone led the way offensively with a goal and an assist on Wednesday, but the Amerks were unable to protect a two-goal lead, falling 5-4 to the surging Cleveland Monsters. In addition to Rathbone, Brendan Warren, Graham Slaggert, and Josh Dunne each scored, but the Amerks surrendered three unanswered goals to Cleveland, including two in the third period. With the loss, Rochester has dropped seven of its last eight games, going 1-4-3-0 over that span.
“It hurts for sure,” said Amerks head coach Michael Leone. “I think it was another game where if you look at how we played five on five, again, it was really good. Any time you get four goals in a game, you should win the game. If you just look at their goals, they’re self-inflicted. We have got to figure out how to get out of those situations. It’s too bad because in this stretch of games that we played, we’ve played really good hockey and we’re not getting rewarded. We have to find a way to get through.”
Elsewhere on Thanksgiving Eve, Syracuse thumped Belleville, 7-1, picking up points for the seventh time in the team’s last 10 games. Tristan Allard led the way with three points (2+1), serving as one of 14 different Crunch skaters to record a point. The win bumped Syracuse into a tie in points with Rochester, though holding a game in hand has the Crunch owning the tiebreaker. The Tampa Bay Lightning affiliate is in the midst of playing five of six games on home ice, with the lone road trip coming in Rochester Friday night.
Rathbone is third on the Amerks blueline in scoring with six points (3+3), but leads the team’s defense with a plus-seven…
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