Intrastate rivals meet in North Division Semifinal for third straight year.
Apr 24, 2025
By Andrew Mossbrooks | @ Mossbrooks48
For the third year in a row, the Rochester Americans begin their quest for the Calder Cup as they start the 2025 playoffs against the Syracuse Crunch.
The intrastate foes encounter one another in a best-of-five North Division Semifinal round. Both sides have earned series wins over the last two years, with Rochester rallying from down 2-0 to win three straight in 2023, followed by the Crunch getting payback in last spring’s postseason.
During the 2024-25 regular season, Rochester showed a 7-3-1-1 record against Syracuse, including a 3-2-1-0 mark at Blue Cross Arena. The Amerks have home-ice advantage, hosting Games 1 and 2, and a fifth game, if necessary. Both the 2023 and 2024 playoff series between the Amerks and Crunch reached a do-or-die fifth game.
Konsta Helenius scored the final goal of Rochester’s regular season as the Amerks completed their 72-game slate with a 3-2 overtime loss in Toronto Saturday evening. The final week of the season was bonus hockey for Rochester, as the team had already locked up second place in the North Division with three games remaining. The Amerks have been playoff bound since clinching a berth on April 2. After that, the team finished 2-4-1-0 down the stretch, but were without numerous key contributors in their lineup due to call-ups.
The path was much more difficult for Syracuse this season, as the Crunch didn’t secure a playoff berth until the final week of the season. Tampa Bay’s AHL affiliate went on a run to the finish line, winning eight of its final 10 contests. The Crunch did lose their final game of the regular season, dropping a 3-2 contest to Utica on their home ice. Cooper Flinton scored his first professional goal to nab the Crunch a 2-1 lead heading into the third, but goaltender Ethan Langenegger surrendered two goals in the final six minutes of regulation to drop the contest for Syracuse.
Rochester finished its 69th season in franchise history with a 42-22-5-3 record, posting 92 points for its best finish since the 2018-19 season.
Syracuse ended the campaign six points back of the Amerks with 86 and a 37-23-8-4 mark. The number is one point shy of last year’s totals where the team also finished third in the North Division.
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