GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS START HOME-AND-HOME AGAINST CRUNCH
Rochester visits Syracuse for final time this season
Mar 29, 2025
By Andrew Mossbrooks | @ Mossbrooks48
After winning their third straight game Friday night, the Rochester Americans (38-18-3-3) take to the road where they’ll make one final visit to Syracuse during the regular season to face the Crunch (29-20-8-4) Saturday night.
CALDER CUP PLAYOFF PRIMER: MARCH 29, 2025
It’s meeting 11 of 12 on the season and the front half of a home-and-home series, as the scene will shift to Blue Cross Arena Sunday afternoon for the 12th and final encounter between these cross-town rivals. It will also mark the final time the Amerks face an intrastate opponent this season after wrapping up their 12-game set with Utica last week.
It’s the second straight Saturday and third in the month of March that Rochester and Syracuse meet at Upstate Medical University Arena. Seven days ago, a complete 60-minute effort by the red, white, and blue led them to a 4-1 win, with Noah Östlund providing the standout performance via his first professional hat trick.
LAST TIME OUT
The Amerks did exactly what they were supposed to do on paper: dominate a lowly Bridgeport team. On Friday night, Devon Levi slammed the door shut, providing 28 saves to register his league-leading sixth shutout of the season, while six different Amerks found the back of the net in a 6-0 win over the struggling Islanders at The Blue Cross Arena.
Both Graham Slaggert and Zachary Metsa posted a goal and an assist, with Metsa’s serving as the game-winning conversion just 1:33 into the contest. The Amerks posted back-to-back three-goal periods in the first and second, with Mason Jobst scoring shortly after Metsa, then Riley Fiddler-Schultz tacking on a power-play goal.
In the second, Östlund and Josh Dunne each scored shorthanded, doing so 2:13 apart in the middle of the frame. Slaggert’s goal was scored for good measure late in the second. The pair of shorties marked the first time Rochester scored two shorthanded goals in a game since Nov. 2, 2019, which was also a 6-0 win.
Like Rochester, the Crunch were also in action against a team outside the playoff race, though their meeting with Utica was a much closer affair. The only offense Syracuse got Friday was Conor Geekie’s first goal on home ice in the final minute of the second period. Thanks to shutdown defense, that was all the Crunch needed to top the Comets as Brandon Halverson posted a 20-save shutout in a 1-0 win.
Halverson’s shutout was his fifth of the season. The veteran goaltender, along with Rochester’s Levi, are both top-10 in the AHL for goals-against-average and save percentage.
SANDSTRÖM STARTS
Amerks head coach Michael Leone confirmed Friday night that seasoned goaltender Felix Sandström will draw the net in Syracuse for his 17th start of the season.
Sandström made his return to the crease last Saturday against the Crunch, marking his first appearance in five weeks. The Gavle, Sweden, native’s workload was kept to a minimum, as he made 16 saves on 17 shots to help secure the win.
Sandström is 11-4-1 on the season and currently riding an eight-game win streak, with all of those victories coming on the road. Last weekend was the first time the 10th-year pro allowed fewer than two goals since Nov. 8 against Hartford.
Sandström is 2-0-0 against the Crunch this season. His last loss in goal came in Charlotte on Dec. 6, a total of 113 days ago.
THE ROAD AHEAD
The Amerks start the final 10 games of their regular season as they inch closer to the Calder Cup Playoffs. While the Amerks look to be as close of a lock as possible to securing a playoff berth, the bulk of their remaining opponents cannot say the same, meaning Rochester will be in a situation where they’ll face a desperate hockey club almost every night for the remainder of the regular season.
Seven of Rochester’s 10 remaining games come against teams in playoff positioning. The only team the Amerks have left to play that don’t currently occupy a spot are the Belleville Senators. That said, Ottawa’s AHL affiliate is only two points out, trailing Syracuse sitting at 70 points. The Amerks will also play Belleville more than any other opponent, with three straight meetings against the Sens starting next Friday.
Other scheduled opponents like Syracuse, Springfield, Cleveland, and Toronto are all still vying to solidify that they will be in the playoffs. Springfield currently occupies the final spot in the Atlantic, as do the Crunch in the North. Both have teams breathing on them from the outside looking in. Toronto and Cleveland hold the third and fourth spots in the North, respectively, but are still dealing with pushes from Syracuse and Belleville. They’d also both like to avoid that four seed, which would put them in the three-game play-in round right after the regular season ends.
The only remaining adversary the Amerks face that is officially playoff bound will be Laval when they come to town April 11. That game could have massive playoff implications with the North Division title still hanging in the balance.
SEE YA, SYRACUSE
Rochester is ahead 6-3-0-1 in the season series, which includes a sweeping of the Crunch in a home-and-home to close out the month of November, splitting a two-game set before Christmas and turning in a pair of wins heading into the All-Star break.
Prior to the 5-2 defeat back on Dec. 18, the Amerks had won four straight meetings against the Crunch dating back to last season and blanked Syracuse twice over that span, including Levi's first pro shutout in a 3-0 win on Nov. 29.
Rochester owns a 3-30-5-2 record against the Crunch dating back to the start of the 2016-17 regular season when they score two or fewer goals. On the other hand, when the Amerks score three or more goals over that same span, the club shows a 41-11-5-1 mark.
Dylan Duke has become an Amerk killer during his rookie season, as the Syracuse forward leads the season series with six goals against Rochester. Duke is third overall in team scoring with 33 points (16+17), while veteran blueliner Derrick Pouliot is the overall points leader at 48 (7+41).
Isak Rosén (9+11), who remains on recall with the parent Buffalo Sabres, leads all Amerks in scoring against the Crunch dating back to last season, having appeared in all 22 games in that span. Rosén, who capped the 4-3 come-from-behind overtime win back on Feb. 1, has tallied two of his five game-winning goals against the Crunch this season.