For the first time in nearly 11 months, the Rochester Americans (0-1-0-0) made their long awaited return to the ice at The Blue Cross Arena, where they nearly erased a two-goal deficit before ultimately coming up short in a 3-2 loss to the Utica Comets (1-0-0-0) to open their 65^th season in the American Hockey League.

After signing a tryout agreement earlier this week, Patrick McGrath opened the scoring for Rochester late in the first period before Arttu Ruotsalainen capped of the night with a power-play goal. Two-time Calder Cup champion and goaltender Dustin Tokarski stopped 31 of the 34 shots he faced but suffered the loss.

Along with McGrath, Ruotsalainen and Tokarski, Oskari Laaksonen, Dylan Blujus, Matej Pekar, Steven Fogarty, Ryan Jones, Mattias Samuelsson, Patrick Polino, Dominic Franco and Nick Welsh all made their Amerks debuts.

On the strength of multi-point efforts from Oskari Laaksonen (0+3), Remi Elie (2+0) and Jean-Sebastien Dea (0+2), the Rochester Americans (1-1-0-0) survived a late push from the Syracuse Crunch (1-0-1-0) and earned a 4-3 overtime victory over their North Division rivals Wednesday night at The Blue Cross Arena.

While Rochester was led offensively by Laaksonen, Elie and Dea, team captain Steven Fogarty capped off the win with his first goal as an Amerk 1:39 into the extra session as second-year winger Brett Murray chipped in his first marker of the campaign. Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 20 saves to record his first win in his season debut with the club.

Another night of multi-point efforts from four different skaters coupled with a dominant four-goal second-period propelled the Rochester Americans (2-1-0-0) to a convincing 7-3 victory over the Cleveland Monsters (0-1-0-0) Friday at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

Rochester was led offensively by C.J. Smith (2+1), Jean-Sebastien Dea (2+0), Mattias Samuelsson (1+1) and Ryan Jones (0+2), all of whom recorded multi-point efforts, the most through Rochester’s first three games of the young season for the Amerks. Remi Elie (0+1) and Oskari Laaksonen (0+1) both tacked on an assist to push their point streaks to two games apiece, while Arttu Ruotsalainen (0+1) added a helper to extend his to three. Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (2-0-0) made 43 saves in his second straight start, establishing a new career-high.

A power-play goal with 5:55 left in regulation by captain Steven Fogarty sent the Rochester Americans (3-1-0-0) into overtime before Jean-Sebastien Dea sealed the 4-3 come-from-behind victory in the third round of the shootout Thursday night against the Utica Comets (3-1-0-1) at The Blue Cross Arena.

With the win, Rochester’s third consecutive after dropping the season opener to the Comets, the club has collected at least one point in 20 of the last 28 games against Utica dating back to the start of the 2017-18 campaign, going 15-8-2-3 over that span.

Ryan Scarfo’s first goal as an Amerk broke a 2-2 tie midway through the third period and the Rochester Americans held on the rest of the way as the team opened its three-game road swing with a 3-2 win over the Syracuse Crunch Saturday at Upstate Medical University Arena.

After going 4-5-1-0 against the Crunch during the 2017-18 campaign, the Amerks are now 14-7-1-1 in their last 23 contests against Syracuse and tonight’s win made it their fourth straight since dropping the season opener. The win improved Rochester to 4-1-0-0 on the young season and moved the Amerks into a two-way tie with the Hershey Bears for second place in the American Hockey League’s North Division standings.

Rookie defenseman Ryan Jones (1+1) scored his first pro goal to give the Amerks their first lead of the contest halfway through the first period and assisted on Scarfo’s eventual game-winner to turn in his second multi-point effort of the campaign. Brett Murray (1+1) followed suit in the second stanza, racking up his second point of the night with a tally and notching his first multi-point game of the year. Scarfo sealed the victory with his second AHL game-winning goal of his career. Jean-Sebastian Dea (0+1) extended his point streak to four games with an assist, while Michael Mersch (0+1) added

Despite a pair of goals by captain Steven Fogarty, the Rochester Americans (4-2-0-0) were on the wrong side of a 7-2 score against the Utica Comets (4-1-0-1) Friday night at the Adirondack Bank Center.

The matchup was the middle contest of Rochester’s three-game road swing as well as the third of 14 scheduled meetings against the Comets this season. While Rochester saw its four-game win streak come to an end, the club has collected at least one point in 20 of the last 29 games against Utica dating back to the start of the 2017-18 campaign, going 15-9-2-3 over that span.

Along with Fogarty getting on the scoresheet, Michael Mersch, C.J. Smith and Oskari Laaksonen all recorded an assist in the game. The assist gives Mersch helpers in back-to-back games while Smith (2+4) and Laaksonen (0+6) each picked up their sixth points of the season.

Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (3-1-0) took his first loss of the campaign in the crease while making 32 saves. The Finnish netminder has made 30-plus saves in each of his last three appearances.

Despite erasing a two-goal deficit, the Rochester Americans (4-3-0-0) saw their comeback attempt fall just short in a 4-3 loss to the Syracuse Crunch (2-4-1-0) Monday afternoon at Upstate Medical University Arena.  
 
The contest was the final of Rochester’s three-game road swing as well as the third of 12 scheduled meetings against the Crunch this season. Although the Amerks came away with victories in each of the previous two get-togethers against Syracuse, they suffered the loss today, pushing their record to 14-8-1-1 in their last 24 games against their longtime North Division rival.
 
Forward Ryan Scarfo (1+0) got the scoring started for the Amerks in the first period with his second goal of the season, and the second in as many games against Syracuse, while Michael Mersch (1+0), who appeared in his 400th professional game, and Andrew Oglevie (1+0) each scored on the power-play. Ryan Jones (0+1), Oskari Laaksonen (0+1), Jean-Sebastien Dea (0+1), Casey Fitzgerald (0+1), Brett Murray (0+1) and Arttu Ruotsalainen (0+1) all added assists, while rookie defenseman Griffin Luce (0+0) made his American Hockey League debut.
 
Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (3-2-0) dropped his second straight game of the season while making 21 saves.

On the strength of a pair of goals from defenseman Casey Fitzgerald and two assists by Steven Fogarty, the Rochester Americans (5-3-0-0) avenged last Friday’s setback by doubling up the first-place Utica Comets (5-1-0-1) with a 4-2 win in a North Division matchup Wednesday at The Blue Cross Arena.

With his first-career two-goal outing, including his first shorthanded marker, Fitzgerald is the first Amerks blueliner to score twice in a game since former defenseman Casey Nelson netted a pair as part of a three-point game back on Nov. 1, 2019 against Binghamton.

Fogarty recorded his second two-point game of the season while Brett Murray and Arttu Ruotsalainen scored their third and second goals of the slate, respectively. Murray has collected five points (2+3) in the last five games. Michael Mersch, who was held without a point in his first three outings with the club, picked up an assist to push his point streak to four games.

Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (4-2-0) earned his third straight win in the Flower City while making 31 saves. The Finnish netminder has made 30-plus saves in four of his first six games of the season, which included a career-high 43 stops back on Feb. 12 in a 7-3 triumph at Cleveland.

A second-period surge and a three-point night from leading point-getter Jean-Sebastien Dea would solidify the Rochester Americans’ (6-3-0-0) sixth win of the year and third over the Syracuse Crunch (2-5-1-0) in a 4-2 victory over their North Division rivals Saturday at Upstate University Medical Arena.  
 
Captain Steven Fogarty (1+0) notched his fifth goal of the year – and fourth on the power-play – in just nine games, a mark that just last season took him 20 games to reach. The veteran forward is now tied for the league lead in power-play goals this season with Cleveland’s Trey Fix-Wolansky and Utica’s Kole Lind.

Dea (1+2) tallied his fourth multi-point effort of the campaign with a pair of assists and a late goal, making him the first Amerk to reach double digits points in 2020-21 and moving him into five-way tie for second in the league in scoring with 12 points through his first eight games. More impressively, Dea has recorded at least one point in all but one game so far this season, including opening the campaign with three straight multi-point effort for this first time in his seven-year pro career.

Forwards Andrew Oglevie (1+0) and Arttu Ruotsalainen (1+0) both notched their third goals of the season, respectively, while Jack Quinn (0+1) and defensemen Casey Fitzgerald (0+1) and Mattias Samuelsson (0+2) each added assists on the night. 

Despite coming back from a two-goal deficit, the Rochester Americans (6-3-0-1) fell 3-2 in their second shootout effort of the season to the Utica Comets (6-2-0-1) Wednesday night at the Adirondack Bank Center.

Rochester has collected at least one point in 22 of the last 31 games against Utica dating back to the start of the 2017-18 campaign, going 16-9-2-4 over that span. 

Forward Jack Quinn (1+0) scored his first professional goal late in the second period to ignite the comeback and defenseman Griffin Luce (0+1) recorded his first point as an Amerk – and first in the American Hockey League.

Rookie goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (5-2-1), who made his fifth straight and seventh in the last eight games for Rochester, finished with 35 saves in the loss.

The Rochester Americans (6-3-1-1) erased a two-goal deficit to force overtime before suffering a 4-3 setback to the Syracuse Crunch (7-5-1-0) Friday at The Blue Cross Arena.

The contest was Rochester’s first in 16 days and the fifth of 12 scheduled meetings with Syracuse this season. The Amerks show a 3-0-1-0 record in their last four games inside the Flower City and a 15-8-2-1 mark in the last 25 contests with the Crunch.

Rookie froward Brandon Biro factored in on all three Amerks goals, scoring twice, including the game-tying marker in the third period, while also adding an assist in the middle frame on Oskari Laaksonen’s first American Hockey League goal. Remi Elie notched his second multi-point effort of the season as he collected a pair of helpers. Mattias Samuelsson, Casey Fitzgerald and Jack Quinn all notched an assist. Quinn extended his point streak to three games (1+2) dating back to Mar. 6.

Goaltender Stefanos Lekkas, who signed a professional tryout (PTO) on Mar. 15, made his Amerks/AHL debut. The 25-year-old netminder made 25 saves but took the defeat.

The Cleveland Monsters scored twice in the opening eight minutes and rode a near-perfect performance from veteran goaltender Brad Thiessen on their way to a 5-1 win over the Rochester Americans Wednesday at The Blue Cross Arena.

The loss snaps Rochester’s home point streak at four games (3-0-1-0) and drops the Amerks to 6-4-1-1 on the season.

Veteran forward Michael Mersch provided the lone tally for the Amerks, spoiling Thiessen’s bid for his first shutout since April 3, 2019 with a power-play goal late in the third period. Brandon Biro, coming off a three-point effort Friday against Syracuse, notched an assist as did fellow rookie forward Patrick Polino, who registered his first pro point on Mersch’s third of the season. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonnen made 24 saves while making his ninth start in 12 games for Rochester.