GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS SEARCH FOR BACK-TO-BACK WINS TO COMPLETE ROAD TRIP
Rochester defeated Hamilton 4-1 Friday night for the team’s first road victory of the season and now travel to Syracuse
Oct 17, 2026By Griffin Della Penna | @GriffinDP_
Fresh off the heels of a 4-1 victory in Hamilton against the brand-new Hammers Friday evening, the Rochester Americans (3-1-0-1) finish a three-game road swing tonight versus the Syracuse Crunch (1-3).
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The Amerks earned their first road victory of the campaign last night and look to parlay that into the first of potentially back-to-back wins in this young season. Coverage begins tonight inside Upstate Medical University Arena at 5:00 p.m. on WGR Rochester and AHLTV on FloHockey.
Tonight’s iteration of the I-90 rivalry marks the second of 12 meetings between the two North Division foes, who recently played in Rochester back on Oct. 9 when the Amerks had a convincing 7-1 victory. You won’t have to wait long to see these teams battle it out again as Syracuse will host Rochester again on Friday, Oct. 23 in the Salt City.
Syracuse stumbles into this one having dropped three-straight following a third-period collapse to Belleville last Saturday. The Crunch currently sit at the bottom of the standings, while Rochester is one point behind Laval and Cleveland for the top spot in the North.
Here is everything you need to know prior to puck drop in the 315:
DROPPING THE HAMMER
Following a shootout loss in Belleville and a 2-1 defeat in Utica, Rochester utilized a complete team effort to get that coveted first win outside of Blue Cross Arena less than 24 hours ago in Hamilton.
The offense continued to see production from all four lines while the backend remains one of the top scoring defenses in the AHL. Goals from Jake Richard and Zac Funk late in the first period provided an early cushion for the Amerks, before tacking on additional markers from Trevor Kuntar in the second and a Jason Polin empty netter in the final minute of regulation. Rochester peppered Hammers goaltender Vitek Vaněček all night long, registering 42 shots on goal with 17 in the final 20 minutes of action.
The Amerks remain perfect on Friday’s this season at 3-0-0-0, but now the attention flips to finishing off the weekend on a high note with similar success. Just like last Saturday in Utica, Syracuse enters tonight off a full week of rest looking to take advantage of Rochester on the tail-end of a back-to-back. Factor in the Amerks converting a touchdown (and PAT) in the season opener, you’d expect an improved effort from the Crunch as they get of the schneid.
A CRUNCH CATASTROPHE
This is certainly not the start Syracuse head coach Joel Bouchard imagined for his group. In his three previous seasons behind the bench, the Crunch haven’t finished with less than 86 points and are widely known as one of the most difficult to teams to play with their physicality and defensive-minded structure. While it’s incredibly early to hit the panic button, the DNA of the Crunch might be different than in years past.
After bolstering the sixth-best scoring defense last year, Syracuse has allowed 16 goals in just four games, ranking 28th in the AHL. Pair that with the Crunch scoring just six goals this season, that formula won’t win you many hockey games.
Since a 2-0 shutout victory at Laval on opening night, Syracuse is being outscored by 12 goals in this recent losing streak. Those low-scoring defensive battles have always been the type of matchups that the Crunch have relished in, but Bouchard needs to see his group clean up the mistakes in his own zone for that to be considered a strength of this year’s team.
Two goals continue to be the magic number for the Amerks in this rivalry. Rochester is 3-33-6-3 over the last decade when netting two or fewer goals but is 49-13-5-1 when scoring at least three goals in that same sample size. We will see if that trend continues to be a measuring stick for success later tonight.
KUNTAR’S HEATING UP
In his first season in Rochester, it took Trevor Kuntar 12 games to register four points. Fast-forward to 2026-27, and the Buffalo native is averaging a point-per-game through five contests. Kuntar picked up his third goal of the season in Hamilton after coming down the left wing and sending a pass in front of the crease to Carson Meyer that went of a Hammers skate and into the net.
While it’s impressive to be tied for the team lead in goals, his 200-foot game has been far more impactful. The two-way forward will play his 200th AHL game on Saturday and is a menace every time he’s on the ice, consistently getting under his opponents’ skin as we saw repeatedly in Hamilton. His relentless style of play has received praise from the Sabres front office and resulted in a two-year contract extension this past offseason.
Following a career-high 37 points (21+16) last season, expect Kuntar to eclipse that total with how well he's playing.