AMERKS HOLD OFF CRUNCH FOR FIRST WIN OF NEW YEAR
Rathbone records two points; Fiddler-Schultz, Novikov score for second straight game in 3-2 win over Syracuse
Jan 7, 2026The Rochester Americans (17-11-3-1) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the opening period before holding on for a 3-2 victory over the Syracuse Crunch (18-11-2-1) Wednesday at Upstate Medical University Arena.
Rochester, which has points in 10 of its last 14 games dating back to Nov. 22, has won two straight against Syracuse this season and three of the first five meetings overall. The Amerks go into Friday’s game against first-place Laval five points back of the North Division lead while having a game in hand on the Rocket.
Defenseman Jack Rathbone (1+1) earned his second multi-point game in his last three games and fourth overall for the Amerks, who registered 17 of their 30 shots in the opening period. Riley Fiddler-Schultz and Nikita Novikov each scored for the second time in as many games for their eighth and fifth goals of the season, respectively.
Trevor Kuntar, Noah Laaouan and Jake Leschyshyn all added an assist to conclude the scoring for Rochester, which is tied for second amongst all Eastern Conference teams in wins this season (11).
Goaltender Devon Levi improved to 12-6-4 on the season as he stopped 30 of the 32 shots he faced in his 22nd appearance of the campaign. Levi’s 22 games played are tied for most in the AHL this season while his 12 wins are tied for third.
Dylan Duke and Jakob Pelletier both scored for the Crunch, who show a 1-3-1-1 mark since Dec. 20. Goaltender Brandon Halverson (11-6-2) made 27 saves in his 18th appearance of the season and third against the Amerks.
FIRST PERIOD
Following an icing violation, Fiddler-Schultz won a draw to the left of Levi before skating out of the zone towards center ice. At the same time, Rathbone retrieved the puck and flipped it out to Kuntar in the neutral zone. The Amerks’ forward tapped a pass to Fiddler-Schultz, who would beat Halverson with a shot past the netminder’s glove for his second in as many contests just 3:23 into the game.
Just over a half minute after Fiddler-Schultz opened the scoring, Rathbone stepped in front of a Crunch skater to gain possession after Rochester won a face-off in the right circle of the Syracuse net. Rathbone carried the puck to his left and fired in his fourth of the campaign to double the Rochester lead to 2-0.
The Amerks continued to press the Crunch as they made it a 3-0 advantage near the halfway point as Novikov, who also scored in Saturday’s contest versus the Marlies, was the recipient of Laaouan’s pass at the left point. With bodies crashing near the crease, Novikov patiently waited before beating Halverson at the 10:11 mark.
Rochester, which carried a 17-8 shot-advantage into the intermission break, scored three times in the opening period on the road against Syracuse for the first time since Jan. 7, 2023, exactly two years to the day.
SECOND PERIOD
Nearly six minutes into the game and holding a 3-0 lead, Levi had Tristan Allard skating towards him all alone on a breakaway. The Amerks’ netminder stayed patient to deny the attempt, gloving the shot to keep the Crunch off the board.
Syracuse slowly began to mount momentum and drew its second tripping infraction of the contest. As the second-period clock was winding down, Mitchell Chaffee fired a shot from atop the zone before Duke converted Nick Abruzzese’s rebound with seven seconds left, cutting the Rochester lead to 3-1.
THIRD PERIOD
Early in the final stanza, Wyatt Newpower kept the puck from exiting the offensive zone before he launched a shot towards the crease. Before the puck reached Levi, Pelletier redirected it overtop the netminder’s blocker to make it a one-goal game just 1:48 into the third.
Less than two minutes later, the Crunch nearly knotted the score as both Tommy Miller and Matteo Pietroniro were turned aside by the right leg of Levi.
The Crunch continued to search for the equalizer and pulled Halverson for an extra skater. The Amerks were unable to score into the vacant net on three separate occasions but drew a slashing infraction, which ultimately sealed any hopes of a potential comeback.
STARS AND STRIPES
Riley Fiddler-Schultz and Nikita Novikov both have goals in back-to-back games for Rochester whereas Trevor Kuntar (1+1) and Noah Laaouan (0+2) have a pair of points in each of their last two games … Dating back to Dec. 29, Jack Rathbone has logged four points (2+2) over his previous three contests … Devon Levi has won each of his last two games against the Crunch.
UP NEXT
The Amerks return home for a North Division showdown against the first-place Laval Rocket on Friday, Jan. 9 at 7:05 p.m. All the action from The Blue Arena will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV on FloHockey. Additionally, the game will be televised live locally on CW Rochester.
Goal Scorers
ROC: R. Fiddler-Schultz (8), J. Rathbone (4) N. Novikov (5 – GWG)
SYR: D. Duke (15), J. Pelletier (17)
Goaltenders
ROC: D. Levi – 30/32 (W)
SYR: B. Halverson – 27/30 (L)
Shots
ROC: 30
SYR: 32
Special Teams
ROC: PP (0/1) | PK (1/2)
SYR: PP (1/2) | PK (1/1)
Three Stars:
1. ROC - J. Rathbone
2. SYR - D. Duke
3. SYR - J. Pelletier