AMERKS RALLY IN THIRD TO STUN CRUNCH
Jones nets game-winner with 14 seconds left in regulation in thrilling 4-3 come-from-behind win over Syracuse
Nov 28, 2025Trailing 3-2 in the closing minutes of the third period, the Rochester Americans (12-9-0-0) scored twice in the final 3:55 of regulation, including the game-winning goal with 14 seconds remaining to come away with a thrilling 4-3 comeback win over the intrastate rival Syracuse Crunch (12-7-0-0) Friday night at The Blue Cross Arena.
GAME SUMMARY PHOTO GALLERY POST-GAME REPORT
With the win, the Amerks close out the month of November in a three-way tie atop the North Division with Syracuse and Laval after alternating wins with the Crunch through the first four games of the season series. Additionally, Rochester improved to 44-11-5-1 when scoring three or more goals since the start of the 2016-17 against the Crunch.
Defenseman Zac Jones played the role of hero, poking home the game-winner for his first goal as an Amerk – and first in the AHL since Feb. 22, 2025 – to cap his fifth multi-point (1+1) effort of the campaign. Isak Rosén, Noah Laaouan, and Carson Meyer all scored one goal each, with Laaouan’s serving as his first-career AHL tally and Meyer’s fourth of the year igniting the late third-period rally. Konsta Helenius, Ryan Johnson, and Riley Fiddler-Schultz all notched an assist while Jagger Joshua and Vsevolod Komarov registered a pair for a two-point outing.
Goaltender Devon Levi earned his ninth win of the season in his third straight contest and fifth in the last six games. The Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Quebec, native, who stopped 26 of the 29 shots he faced, leads the league in wins going into the final weekend of November.
Jakob Pelletier (2+0) and Wojciech Stachowiak (1+0) both scored for the Crunch while Tommy Miller added two assists. Goaltender Ryan Fanti (4-3-0) made 24 saves in his seventh appearance of the season.
FIRST PERIOD
While Syracuse jumped out to a 7-1 shot-advantage in the first six minutes, Rochester finished the period with seven of the next eight.
Two minutes after Syracuse registered its seventh shot of the night, Johnson had the puck atop the left face-off dot inside his own zone. The California native sent the puck the length of the ice before Helenius stripped Syracuse’s Miller to gain possession. Immediately after, the Finnish forward, who has five assists over his last six games, centered it for Rosén to pick the top-right corner for his sixth of the season at the 14-minute mark.
The Amerks carried the 1-0 lead into the intermission as well as 76 seconds of leftover power-play time while the shots were even at 8-8 apiece.
SECOND PERIOD
Early in the stanza, the Crunch successfully cleared off their penalty before Stachowiak stepped in front of a blind pass at the Rochester blueline. The 26-year-old carried the turnover all alone towards Levi before tucking a backhanded shot overtop the glove of the Amerks’ goaltender to even the score at 1-1.
Later in the frame, the Crunch grabbed their first lead of the night with 10:52 left in the period. Syracuse’s Nick Abruzzese played the puck up the wall to the right point for Miller. The former Toronto Marlie fired a shot, however, prior to it reaching the goal mouth, Pelletier redirected it inside the left leg of Levi.
To conclude the second period, Joshua muscled his way into the offensive zone as he played the puck down the left wall. Following four shot attempts to pressure the Crunch and after Fiddler-Schultz handed it to Joshua along wall, the latter spotted Laaouan atop the zone. The defenseman caught the pass in stride before wiring a shot past the blocker of the netminder to knot the score at 2-2.
THIRD PERIOD
The Crunch regained their lead as Pelletier scooped up a loose Miller rebound out in front of Levi and flipped in a shot for his eighth of the campaign at the 10:29 mark.
Facing a 3-2 deficit with less than four minutes to play in regulation, Anton Wahlberg and Meyer grabbed the puck in the left corner of the Syracuse zone. Jones received Meyer’s initial feed and slid a pass to his defensive partner. Komarov waited briefly then fired a shot to the front of the net for Meyer to steer past Fanti to level the contest with 3:55 left in the third.
Rochester continued to ride the wave of Meyer’s fourth goal of the slate, and it seemed the contest was seemingly headed towards overtime. However, Komarov kept a potential clearing attempt inside the right point and as time was winding down in regulation, he backhanded a shot in-between the dots for Joshua to knock down. The redirection trickled towards the crease, but Fanti missed the poke check, subsequently creating a gap between his legs and Jones managed to poke it through the completely vulnerable netminder, reclaiming the lead with 14 seconds left in regulation.
Fanti was immediately pulled for an extra-attacker, and after the goal and one final successful penalty kill, the clock expired with the Amerks sealing their 4-3 come-from-behind win.
STARS AND STRIPES
The Amerks have earned at least one point in 13 of their last 16 games versus the Crunch since the March 22, 2024… Goaltender Devon Levi earned his first win against Syracuse after being winless in his four previous contests (0-2-2) since Jan. 31, 2025 … Jagger Joshua logged his third multi-point effort in his last six outings while Vsevolod Komarov turned in his second of the slate.
UP NEXT
The Amerks open the final month of the 2025 calendar year on Wednesday, Dec. 3 with a 7:05 p.m. North Division showdown against the Utica Comets. All the action from The Blue Cross Arena will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV on FloHockey.
Goal Scorers
SYR: W. Stachowiak (7), J. Pelletier (7, 8)
ROC: I. Rosén (6), N. Laaouan (1), C. Meyer (4), Z. Jones (1 – GWG)
Goaltenders
SYR: R. Fanti – 24/28 (L)
ROC: D. Levi– 26/29 (W)
Shots
SYR: 29
ROC: 28
Special Teams
SYR: PP (0/3) | PK (3/3)
ROC: PP (0/3) | PK (3/3)
Three Stars:
1. ROC - Z. Jones
2. SYR - J. Pelletier
3. ROC - N. Laaouan