GAME PREVIEW: ROAD TRIP ENDS WITH MONDAY MATINEE IN SYRACUSE
Five things to know as close out road swing today against Crunch
Jan 18, 2026By Andrew Mossbrooks | @ Mossbrooks48
The Rochester Americans (19-13-4-1) will end a three-game road trip Monday afternoon as they visit the Syracuse Crunch (21-14-2-1).
Here are five things to know ahead of the Monday matinee at Upstate Medical University Arena.
EMPTY-HANDED IN THE HANDSHAKE CITY
The Amerks were unable to generate offense Saturday night in Utica, falling by a 3-0 final to the Comets.
It marked just the second shutout loss of the season for Rochester and the first loss at the AHL level for rookie goaltender Scott Ratzlaff, who made 21 saves in his fourth appearance for the Amerks. Despite Utica sitting at the bottom of the North Division, the team has won each of its last three games against the Amerks this season.
Elsewhere in Lehigh Valley, the Crunch posted their second straight multi-goal third period to pull away from the Phantoms, escaping Pennsylvania with a 4-1 win. This came 24 hours removed from the team’s 5-2 win against Utica Friday. With four points on the weekend, a win over Rochester would put the Crunch in a tie with Laval atop the division.
LOOKING TO SALVAGE
While the Amerks did squeeze a point out of Belleville Friday night, the team is at risk of having their first winless road trip of the season. The Amerks are in the midst of their sixth different road trip of three or more games already in the 2025-26 campaign and have won at least won game in each of the previous five.
Prior to the shutout loss in Utica, the Amerks rallied from down 3-0 to earn a point against the Senators in a 5-4 overtime loss Friday. Isak Rosén earned his first career hat trick on the night.
Rochester has been one of the better road teams in the AHL over each of the last three seasons, finishing top 10 in the league in both 2023-24 and 2024-25 with over 20 wins on the road.
In the current campaign, the Amerks are tied for the fourth-most away victories in the AHL, showing a 12-7-2-0 mark outside the Flower City.
FULP INTO THE FOLD
Saturday saw the Amerks debut of defenseman Aidan Fulp, who the team recalled from ECHL-Jacksonville earlier that day.
Fulp, 25, was recalled while leading Jacksonville’s defense in scoring with 17 points (3+14) through 22 games. The third-year pro played his first game with Rochester, but has 84 prior games of AHL experience having played for Bridgeport.
Before turning pro, the Westfield, Indiana, native wore a letter at Western Michigan University, where he was teammates with Amerks forward Matteo Costantini. Prior to that, he was captain of USHL-Dubuque in his final season of three with the Fighting Saints.
POWER SUPPLY
The start of 2026 has not been kind to Rochester’s power-play, with the team going 3-for-23 through the first seven games of the new year, including a 0-for-9 mark on this current road trip. Even with the recent struggles, the Amerks’ man-advantage still ranks fourth in the league at 25.3% for the season overall, also leading the North Division.
The Amerks had also gone the longest of any team to not allow a shorthanded goal against while on the power-play. Saturday in Utica was the first time all season Rochester surrendered a shorthanded goal, while the team has scored three of their own.
Rochester has scored 19 of its 35 power-play goals on the road. The Amerks also lead the Eastern Conference with 145 power-play opportunities.
THE STORY WITH SYRACUSE
The Amerks face-off against the Crunch more than any other team this season, with Monday serving as meeting seven of 12 in the 2025-26 campaign. The Amerks have taken advantage of their intrastate Rival thus far, winning four of the six previous meetings, including three straight dating back to Zac Jones’ go-ahead goal when he converted in the final 14 seconds of play on Nov. 28 in a 4-3 win for the red, white, and blue.
This marks the third time in 12 days the Amerks collide with the Crunch. On Jan. 7, Rochester led 3-0 and survived a rallying attempt from Syracuse to take a 3-2 win out of Upstate Medical University Arena. One week later, it was a pair of goals from Jones and perfect goaltending from Devon Levi that led Rochester to blanking Syracuse in a 3-0 win on home ice.
The Crunch return home following their 4-1 win at Lehigh Valley Saturday night, where Nick Abruzzese (1+1) and Jakob Pelletier (0+2) each posted multi-point games. Syracuse has won three of its last four games and host three of their next four contests.
Following Monday, the Amerks and Crunch won’t meet again until the start of March.