MURRAY SCORES LONE GOAL IN 5-1 LOSS TO CRUNCH
Dec 7, 2022The Rochester Americans (11-8-1-1) opened up the scoring in the first period but the Syracuse Crunch (9-8-2-2) added the next five goals to hand the Amerks a 5-1 loss Wednesday at The Blue Cross Arena.
GAME SUMMARY PHOTO GALLERY POST-GAME REPORT
Despite Rochester dropping back-to-back regulation losses for the second time all season, the club has earned at least one point in seven of its last 12 games and boast an 11-8-1-1 record overall. The Amerks remain in second in the North Division standings with 24 points through their first 21 games of the campaign.
Forward Brett Murray scored his team-leading ninth goal of the season while Jeremy Davies and Michael Mersch recorded the assists. Murray has recorded nine points (4+5) over the last eight games dating back to Nov. 18 and is tied for the team-lead with 15 points on the season.
Goaltender Malcolm Subban (2-2-0) appeared in his fourth contest of the season but suffered the loss. Subban, who entered the contest with back-to-back wins, made 23 saves in the losing effort.
Simon Ryfors, Darren Raddysh and Gemel Smith all recorded multi-point efforts to lead the Syracuse offense while Gabriel Fortier, Gage Goncalves, Gabriel Dumont and former Amerk Ryan Jones all scored in the victory. Max Lagace and Hugo Alnefelt split the goaltending duties. Lagace stopped nine of the 10 shots he faced in the first period before Alnefelt made 13 saves in 38 minutes of relief to earn the win.
Nearly 13 minutes into a scoreless first period, Rochester opened the scoring as Murray tipped in a Davies shot from the left side of the goal crease past Lagace.
After collecting a pass from Mersch atop the left point, Davies skated down the wing and around the far side of the net before he fired the puck towards the slot. As Murray was tied up with a Crunch skater, he placed his stick on the ice to steer Davies’ shot in-between the left arm and post.
Later in the stanza after being unsuccessful on their first power-play of the night, the Crunch evened the score at 1-1 with 2:48 to go in the period.
Syracuse’s goal came like Rochester’s as Dumont redirected a shot from Subban’s left. Smith and Ryfors both picked up the assists on the marker.
The score remained tied at 1-1 until Jones gave the Crunch their first and only lead of the night as he picked the corner of the Amerks’ net at 14:34 from Ilya Usau and Smith.
Holding a 2-1 advantage to start the final period, Syracuse added to its lead as Fortier and Goncalves both redirected a Raddysh right point shot.
Rochester faced a three-goal deficit in the final four minutes, and as Subban was summoned for an extra-attacker, Ryfors sealed the 5-1 win with an empty-net marker at the 19:28 mark to cap a three-point night.
The Amerks remain at home on Friday, Dec. 9 when they host the intrastate rival Utica Comets in a North Division showdown at The Blue Cross Arena. Game time is slated for a 7:05 p.m. start and will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV. The contest can also be viewed live locally on The CW Rochester.
Storyline Stripes:
Amerks defenseman Matt Bartkowski appeared in his 700th professional game tonight ... Fellow blueliner Jeremy Davies has three points in his last three games after recording an assist on Rochester’s only goal ... The Amerks have claimed three of the first five meetings against the Crunch this season and are 2-1-0-0 on home ice against Syracuse.
Goal Scorers
SYR: B. Murray (9)
ROC: G. Dumont (3), R. Jones (2), G. Fortier (5), G. Goncalves (3), S. Ryfors (11)
Goaltenders
SYR: M. Lagace – 9/10 (ND) | H. Alnefelt – 14/14 (W)
ROC: M. Subban – 23/28 (L)
Shots
SYR: 28
ROC: 24
Special Tea
SYR: PP (0/5) | PK (1/1)
ROC: PP (0/1) | PK (5/5)
Three Stars
1. SYR - D. Raddysh
2. SYR - H. Alnefelt
3. SYR - G. Fortier