CRUNCH RALLY IN THIRD, TOP AMERKS IN SHOOTOUT
Rochester goes 0-1-1-1 over its road swing after 3-2 shootout loss in Syracuse
Jan 19, 2026The Rochester Americans (19-13-4-2) scored twice in the second period to take a 2-1 lead only to see the Syracuse Crunch (22-14-2-1) rally in the closing minutes of regulation before prevailing in the shootout for a 3-2 win Monday afternoon at Upstate Medical University Arena.
Despite shootout defeat, Rochester, which has points in 15 of its last 20 games dating back to Nov. 22, 2025, has won four of the first seven games with the Crunch this season. The Amerks earned a standing’s point but remain in fourth place in the North Division standings, three points back of Syracuse and Laval while holding a game in hand on the Crunch.
Forward Jake Leschyshyn (1+1) and defenseman Zac Jones (1+1) both produced a multi-point effort while Riley Fiddler-Schultz chipped in offensively with an assist. Leschyshyn found the back of the net for the first time since Nov. 26 whereas Jones notched his career-high 36th and 37th points of the season as well as his third goal in two games against the Crunch. Fiddler-Schultz has collected has six goals and 12 points over his last 13 games.
Isak Rosén, Carson Meyer, and Viktor Neuchev all were unsuccessful on their shootout attempts.
Goaltender Devon Levi (13-7-6), who entered the day having won each of his last three games against the Crunch, made 28 saves in the losing effort.
Conor Geekie and Jakob Pelletier both scored in regulation before Maxim Groshev converted the lone shootout tally for the Crunch. Netminder Ryan Fanti (5-6-1) evened his record on the slate to 8-8-1 as he made 30 saves plus three more in the skills competition.
FIRST PERIOD
In a period of waves, Syracuse registered five of first six shots of the game while also dishing a few heavy hits on Rochester skaters. The Amerks flipped the script as they seemed to find their road legs as they had four straight shots before Trevor Kuntar sparked a hit along the end boards.
The Crunch, though, countered as Jarred Tinordi muscled an Amerk to the ice just as Jakob Pelletier played the puck back out in front of his own net for Matteo Pietroniro. The blueliner waited then provided a long stretch pass for Nick Abruzzese along the right wall. Abruzzese quickly snapped a pass in the slot for Geekie to wire past the glovehand of Levi for his 11th of the campaign at the 14:59 mark.
Rochester went into the intermission trailing 1-0 while also seeing Syracuse hold a 10-5 shot-advantage.
SECOND PERIOD
Geekie retrieved loose puck as it was bobbled behind the Amerks’ defense to the left of Levi. The Crunch All-Star skated towards the net, but was stonewalled by Levi, keeping the game 1-0 less than five minutes into the frame.
Near the halfway point, Rochester drew an interference penalty in the offensive zone. On the ensuring man-advantage, Leschyshyn won a face-off back to Rosén to the right of the Syracuse net. Rosén rimmed it around the boards for Fiddler-Schultz to tap back to the left point for Jones. As Leschyshyn was gaining ground near the goal crease, Jones shot the puck towards the net for the center to steer in for his ninth of the slate.
After successfully clearing a high-sticking infraction and a media timeout, Leschyshyn won another offensive zone faceoff. The forward, who appeared in 300th AHL game last week against the Crunch, slid the puck back to Jones, who then picked the upper corner on a long range shot that sailed past Fanti to give Rochester its first lead of the contest at the 17:39 mark.
Rochester, which recorded the most shots in a second period against the Crunch (15) since Nov. 30, 2024 (19), carried the 2-1 cushion into the second intermission.
THIRD PERIOD
For a majority of the final frame, the Amerks held the Crunch to just two shots entering the waning minutes.
After the stoppage and a center-ice face-off, Syracuse won the draw and Pietroniro provided a long-stretch pass through the neutral zone for Pelletier. As the Quebec native found some room on the left wing, he went against the grain and roofed a shot past his fellow countryman to even the score at 2-2 with 4:16 left in the stanza.
Both teams pressed hard to earn the regulation victory as they finished with a combined 14 shots, but the horn sounded, and the game needed extra time to determine a winner.
OVERTIME
The Amerks won the opening draw of the overtime period, but the Crunch had a pair of grade-A chances and were denied by Levi on each occasion. Rochester had its best chances of the frame, but Rosén’s attempt was turned aside.
The clubs each had another chance for the win, but Levi and Fanti kept the game knotted at 2-2, thus the shootout was needed.
SHOOTOUT
In the opening round, both Abruzzese and Rosén saw their shots gloved by the opposing netminder.
Geekie was unsuccessful on the next Crunch attempt before Meyer’s shot caromed wide of the crease.
Groshev skated ever so slowly with the puck in the third round, and after nearly going backwards with it, he snapped a shot over the right shoulder of Levi to ultimately give Syracuse the win after Fanti denied Neuchev.
UP NEXT
The Amerks return home as they embark on a season-long six-game homestand beginning on Friday, Jan. 23 for a 7:05 p.m. contest against the intrastate rival 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. Additionally, the game will be televised locally on CW Rochester.
Goal Scorers
ROC: J. Leschyshyn (9), Z. Jones (6)
SYR: C. Geekie (11), J. Pelletier (19), M. Groshev (SO GWG)
Goaltenders
ROC D. Levi – 28/30 (SOL)
SYR: R. Fanti – 30/32 (W)
Shots
ROC: 32
SYR: 31
Special Teams
ROC: PP (1/1) | PK (4/4)
SYR: PP (0/4) | PK (0/1)
Three Stars:
1. SYR - J. Pelletier
2. SYR - M. Groshev
3. SYR - C. Geekie