AMERKS RING IN NEW YEAR WITH 5-2 WIN IN SPRINGFIELD
Fiddler-Schultz scores twice, Metsa records three assists in seventh straight road win
Jan 3, 2025Multi-point performances from Zachary Metsa (0+3) and Riley Fiddler-Schultz (2+0) helped the Rochester Americans (20-9-3-0) storm out to a three-goal second-period lead before ultimately paving the way to a 5-2 victory over the Springfield Thunderbirds (13-15-2-1) in the first game of the new year Friday at MassMutual Center.
Rochester has now won 12 of its last 14 games and has earned at least one point in 22 of its last 28 dating back to Oct. 23 while maintaining possession of first place in the AHL’s North Division standings. Additionally, the Amerks have earned points in three straight road games in Massachusetts against the Thunderbirds dating back to the 2022-23 campaign and have won seven straight on the road while also becoming just the third team this season to reach the 20-win mark.
Along with Metsa and Fiddler-Schultz leading the Amerks with a multi-point effort, Brendan Warren and Brett Murray scored in the first and second periods, respectively, before Lukas Rousek capped the win with his fourth. Warren reached double figures in points on the season for the first time in his five-year career while Murray has netted an AHL-best nine of his team-leading 15 goals on the man-advantage, which is a new career-high.
Isak Rosen, Graham Slaggert, Olivier Nadeau, Tyson Kozak, Josh Dunne, and Nikita Novikov all notched an assist.
Goaltender Devon Levi (11-2-1) earned his fourth straight win and 10th of his last 11 outings with Rochester as he made 33 saves in his 14th appearance of the season. The netminder, who boasts a 15-2-2 record in 19 career road games with the Amerks, which includes a 7-0-0 mark this season, is tied for fourth in the AHL with 11 wins while his 2.19 goals-against-averages ranks eighth-best.
FIRST PERIOD
Less than three minutes into the opening period, Ty Tullio nearly tallied the game’s first goal as he scooped up a loose puck just outside the Springfield crease and fired a shot towards the net. Despite being turned aside, Novikov kept the puck from exiting the left point and snapped a pass to Fiddler-Schultz in the high slot. The Edmonton, Alberta, native used a Thunderbird defender as a screen and wired a shot past Vadim Zherenko with 16:59 left in the frame.
Moments after Fiddler-Schultz scored his first of two on the night, Metsa lobbied a pass into the neutral zone from the right circle of Levi. Slaggert caught the pass and raced ahead alongside Dunne on a two-on-one rush before he quickly wristed a shot onto the cage. While Zherenko made the initial save, Warren crashed into the blue paint and tucked the rebound into the net, doubling Rochester’s lead.
The Thunderbirds responded two minutes later as Drew Callin grabbed Simon Robertsson pass near a Rochester defenseman. Callin cut towards the center of the zone and then beat Levi past the blocker to cut the deficit.
The two clubs, who combined for 31 shots in the first 20 minutes of play, went into the dressing rooms with a one-goal differential but the home team almost evened the score in the dying seconds.
SECOND PERIOD
The Amerks successfully killed off their first two penalties of the night before drawing an interference infraction followed by a tripping violation three minutes apart.
On the second man-advantage, Mason Jobst won the ensuing face-off from the left circle. After almost all five skaters touched the puck in the first seconds, Metsa gave a pass to Rosén atop the left dot. The Swedish forward waited briefly as Murray parked himself outside the crease before he flung a shot to have Murray steer into the back of the cage 15 seconds into the penalty.
Just after Murray pushed Rochester’s lead to 3-1, Novikov was denied on a back-door feed from Metsa but the puck remained in the offensive zone. Dunne grabbed the puck and rimmed it back to Metsa at the right point. The Quinnipiac University product paused for Fiddler-Schultz to loop around the face-off circle then set-up the latter to rifle past Zherenko, ultimately ending his night with 12:24 left in the second period.
THIRD PERIOD
The two clubs exchanged goals 1:05 apart in the third period, with Rousek’s coming as netminder Colten Ellis, who entered following Rochester’s fourth goal on the night, was pulled for an extra attacker in the final four minutes of regulation.
By way of the goal from Kozak and Nadeau, Rousek, who is fourth amongst all Rochester skaters in points (21) this season, has his third three-game point streak of the slate.
STARS AND STRIPES
With its 20th win of the campaign, Rochester became the first team in the Eastern Conference to reach the feat and third overall in the league this season … With 10 points (1+9) over his last eight games, Zachary Metsa is tied for the second-most assists in the AHL amongst all defensemen … Metsa has tallied six assists over his first-career four-game assist-streak … Of the Amerks 10 remaining games in the month of January, six will come against Atlantic Division teams, which includes all but one coming outside the Flower City.
UP NEXT
The Amerks look for their eighth straight road win on Saturday, Jan. 4 at Total Mortgage Arena as they close out their three-game road swing with a 5:00 p.m. contest against the Bridgeport Islanders. The matchup will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV on FloHockey.
Goal Scorers
ROC: R. Fiddler-Schultz (6, 7), B. Warren (7), B. Murray (15 – GWG , L. Rousek (4)
SPR: D. Callin (6), T. Dickinson (3)
Goaltenders
ROC: D. Levi – 33/35 (W)
SPR: V. Zherenko – 17/21 (L) | C. Ellis – 10/10 (ND)
Shots
ROC: 32
SPR: 35
Special Teams
ROC: PP (1/2) | PK (4/5)
SPR: PP (1/5) | PK (1/2)
Three Stars:
1. ROC – R. Fiddler-Schultz
2. ROC – Z. Metsa
3. ROC – B. Murray