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Home , Jett Woo, Josh Teves, Michael DiPietro, Remi Elie, Rochester Americans, Syracuse Crunch

AMERKS DAILY PRESS CLIPS

Sunday, M ay 16, 2021

Amerks Edged By Comets In Goaltending Duel By Staff Report Amerks.com

The (10-15-2-1) held a 2-1 lead in the second period against the (19-10-3-0) before allowing four straight goals and ultimately falling 5-3 to their intrastate rivals Saturday night at The .

Rookie’s Brent Gates, Jr. (1+1) and (0+2) both chipped in a pair of points as did defenseman Nick DeSimone (0+2) in the defeat. Patrick Polino and each scored to complete the scoring for the Amerks, who finished with a 5-5- 2-0 record over the 12-game season series with Syracuse. With his 10th of the season, Elie became the first Amerk this season to reach the 10-goal mark. It is also the first time in Elie’s career he has reached the mark.

In his third appearance with Rochester since making his NHL debut, Michael Houser (0-3-0) made 22 saves but was dealt with the loss. In three starts in the Amerks crease, Houser has made 82 saves while posting a 2.79 goals-against average to go with a .911 save percentage.

Antoine Morand and Chase Priskie each registered a pair of assists while Henry Bowlby posted a multi-goal night as he netted two goals for Syracuse. Gabriel Fortier, Jimmy Huntington and Otto Somppi rounded out the scoring.

First-year goaltender Tyler Johnson made his first appearance in a game since Jan. 31, 2020 as a member of the University of Windsor (QUAA), making 20 saves to earn his first-career professional win.

Trailing 2-1 at the end of the first period, the Crunch countered the Amerks lead with four straight goals to take a 5-2 advantage with 5:21 left in regulation.

Before the conclusion of the middle frame, Bowlby tied the score at two goals apiece with his first of two markers on the night.

With less than five minutes remaining in the stanza, Morand centered a pass to Bowlby between the face-off circles. With Houser still looking to his left, the forward tucked a under the cross bar to make it a 2-2 score going into the third period.

Syracuse regained the lead 2:04 into the third period following a redirection goal from Huntington.

The Crunch won a face-off to the right of Houser and Priskie sent a pass to fellow blueliner Jack Thompson at the point. The rookie defenseman fired a shot towards the net and Huntington steered it into the cage.

Near the midway point of the third, Bowlby skated down the right wing and tucked a backhand between the arm of Houser. The goal gave Syracuse a two-goal cushion.

Rochester was penalized with just over seven minutes left in regulation, and much like Huntington’s tally, Fortier redirected a shot out in front of the goal crease to make it 5-2 score.

Following the goal with 5:21 left to play and facing a three-goal deficit, Houser was summoned for an extra skater.

DeSimone sent an outlet pass from his own zone to Samuelsson at far blueline. The first-year defenseman tucked into the offensive zone before leaving a drop pass for Gates, Jr. Picking up the puck near the top of the circle, Gates, Jr. slipped a shot behind Johnson for Rochester’s third of the night.

The Amerks pulled Houser again for the final two minutes of regulation but it was too-little-too-late, as they fell 5-3.

The game did not start off well for the Amerks in the first 20 minutes of play, but they were able to take a 2-1 lead going into the intermission break thanks to goals from Polino and Elie.

Rochester took a roughing penalty and a delay of game infraction in the first 65 seconds of the period. Syracuse was unable to capitalize during the first minute of the two-man advantage, but after re-establishing its offense, Somppi fired a shot past the blocker to open the scoring 2:13 into the contest.

The power-play marker was the first the Amerks had allowed after beginning the month of May 15-for-15.

Just 21 seconds after Somppi’s tally, Polino evened the score with his first professional shorthanded goal.

With the lone helper on Polino’s third tally of the season, Mersch has tallied 10 points (5+6) over his last 13 outings, including a season-high four-point effort on April 23 versus Syracuse.

Six minutes after Polino’s shorthanded goal, the Amerks continued to ride the special teams’ momentum as Elie gave the home team its first lead of the night at the 13:35 mark of the period.

During the man-advantage, a Crunch defenseman broke his stick, ultimately giving Rochester a two-man advantage. As Elie was parked to the right of Johnson, Elie was on the receiving end of a one-time feed from Gates, Jr. before rifling a shot over blocker with 6:25 left in the period.

In the middle period, the teams combined for 23 shots after each had six in the first 20 minutes of play, but Syracuse scored its first of four straight to take a 5-2 lead.

Rochester tallied once more before the final horn but Johnson held on for the victory.

The Amerks bring their historic 65th season in the to a close on Sunday, May 16 with one final go- around against the intrastate rival at The Blue Cross Arena. Game time for Rochester’s 2020-21 season finale is slated for a 5:05 p.m. start and will be carried live on The Sports Leaders 95.7 FM/950 AM ESPN Rochester as well as AHLTV. The North Division matchup will also be tape-delayed on CW Rochester beginning at 10:00 p.m.

Syracuse Crunch closes out season w ith 5-3 win over Rochester By Staff Report Syracuse.com

The Syracuse Crunch topped the Rochester Americans, 5-3, in their season finale tonight at the Blue Cross Arena.

Henry Bowlby led the team with two goals, while Tyler Johnson earned his first pro win in his first pro start. The Crunch finish the season with a 19-10-3-0 record and close out the 12-game season series against the Amerks, 7-4-1-0.

Johnson earned the win with 20 saves in net for the Crunch. Michael Houser stopped 22-of-27 shots between the pipes for the Amerks. Syracuse went 2-for-4 on the power play and 1-for-2 on the penalty kill.

The Crunch opened scoring 2:13 into the during a 5-on-3 advantage when Otto Somppi one-timed a feed from Chase Priskie in the right circle. Just 21 seconds later, Patrick Polino evened the score with a shorthanded goal on an odd-man rush.

The Amerks took the lead at the 13:35 mark of the first period with a power-play goal of their own. Remi Elie ripped a one- timer from the right side off a pass from Brent Gates Jr.

Syracuse tied the game at 2-2 with 4:57 remaining in the middle frame. Antoine Morand centered the puck for Bowlby to chip in top shelf from the slot.

The Crunch scored three-straight in the third period to build up three-goal lead. At 2:04, Jimmy Huntington redirected Jack Thompson’s point shot. Halfway through the frame, Bowlby potted his second of the game when he drove down the right wing and backhanded a shot past Houser. Syracuse tallied its second power-play goal of the night at 14:39 when Gabe Fortier was in the slot to tip Alex Green’s shot from the blue line.

Rochester stole one back with 2:48 remaining in the game when Gates capitalized on a mishandled puck and shoveled in a shot, but Syracuse halted a comeback and held on for the win.

Amerks Edged By Comets In Goaltending Duel By Staff Report Amerks.com

The Rochester Americans (10-14-2-1) began their final homestand of the 2020-21 campaign on the short end of a 1-0 loss to the intrastate rival Utica Comets (16-10-0-1) in a goaltending duel Friday at The Blue Cross Arena.

The matchup was the second of three get-togethers this week and the 10th meeting overall between the two teams this season. Rochester has earned at least one point in four of the last nine get-togethers thus far.

Forward Brett Murray, playing in his second game back with the Amerks following a brief two-game stint with the , and defenseman each registered four shots on net while , and all had three.

The Amerks successfully killed all three penalties tonight, including a five-minute major, marking the fourth straight game in which the club did not allow a power-play goal. Since the start of May, Rochester has gone 15-for-15 while being a man down.

In his second appearance with Rochester since making his NHL debut, goaltender Michael Houser (0-2-0) made 26 saves but was dealt with the loss. In two starts in the Amerks crease, Houser has stopped 60 of the 63 shots he faced while posting a 1.55 goals against average to go with a .952 save percentage.

With his fifth goal of the season, Curtis McKenzie tallied the lone marker in the contest from Nikita Alexandrov and . The goal, which gave Utica its third straight victory and fourth of the last five games dating back to May 7, was McKenzie’s second point in consecutive games for just the second time all season.

Rookie netminder Evan Fitzpatrick (2-0-0) stopped all 33 shots he faced to record his first-career professional shutout. Through his first three games with Utica this season, Fitzpatrick has allowed only four goals for a 1.65 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage.

After a scoreless opening 20 minutes of play, the Comets got onto the board as McKenzie steered in a Teves point shot at the 5:37 mark of the period. Alexandrov carried the puck up the right wall towards Teves and handed it to the defenseman just inside the blueline. Teves fired the shot that was seemingly going wide, but McKenzie extended his stick at the last second to redirect inside the far post past an unsuspecting Houser.

Despite Rochester outshooting Utica 22-16 through the first two periods, they trailed going into the final frame of regulation 1- 0.

During the third period, each team registered 11 shots on the opposing netminder but the made the saves to keep the score a one-goal game.

The Amerks, in a last-ditch effort to find the equalizer and force , pulled Houser for the extra attacker but Fitzgerald denied the chances to record the 1-0 shutout victory.

The Amerks continue their final three-game homestand on Saturday, May 15 as they close out their season-series with the Syracuse Crunch 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 ESPN Rochester as well as AHLTV. The North Division matchup will also be televised live on CW Rochester.

Amerks Score Late, But Come Up Short To Comets By Staff Report Amerks.com

The Rochester Americans (10-13-2-1) wrapped up the road portion of their 2020-21 regular season schedule with a 3-1 loss to the Utica Comets (15-10-0-1) Wednesday at the .

Despite the loss, however, Rochester has collected at least one point in 23 of the last 34 games against Utica dating back to the start of the 2017-18 campaign, going 17-11-2-4 over that span.

Rookie forward Brendan Warren (1+0) notched the Amerks lone tally of the night, while fellow rookie forward Dominic Franco (0+1) added the primary assist and defenseman Nick DeSimone (0+1) got the secondary helper.

Goaltender Michael Houser (0-1-0), fresh off a four-game stint with the Buffalo Sabres, got the loss as he made 34 saves on 37 shots he faced in his Amerks debut, becoming the fifth different netminder to appear in a game this season for Rochester.

Utica forward Vincent Arseneau (1+0) opened the scoring in the first period with his fourth of year, while defenseman (1+0) and forward John Stevens (1+0) rounded out the scoring for the Comets, who improved to 9-2-0-0 in their last 11 home games. Tyler Tucker finished with a team-high two assists.

Goaltender Michael DiPietro (3-1-0) earned his fourth straight start, extending his win streak to two games while fending off 33 shots from the Amerks.

Trailing 2-0 in the waning minutes of the third period, Rochester pulled Houser in favor of the extra attacker, but the Comets would capitalize despite being a man down. From in-between the bluelines, Stevens converted on a long rage shot with 2:33 remaining in regulation to give Utica its largest lead of the night.

It would take until there was just 1:16 left to go in the contest when the Amerks finally found the back of the net to spoil DiPietro’s bid for a shutout.

From between the face-off circles, Franco fired an initial shot that DiPietro turned aside. Waiting just to the left of the crease, Warren found the rebound and tipped the puck in for his third of the season to make it a 3-1 game.

Heading into the middle frame with a one-goal lead, Utica held off Rochester for another 20 minutes of play while finding its second marker of the contest.

On the rush, Nolan Stevens drove the puck through the neutral zone and connected with Woo before gaining the offensive zone. Once Woo retrieved the puck, the Comets defenseman boomed a shot from the top of the left circle towards the Amerks crease. As Woo’s chance skipped across the ice, the puck took a sharp bounce and flew over the stick-side of Houser and into the upper left corner at the 6:54 mark.

For the remaining 13:06 of the second stanza, Rochester was held to just three shots on goal heading into the final 20 minutes of play.

As the clock ticked down on the opening period, Utica held Rochester scoreless while getting on the board not even five minutes into the period.

As Cameron, who played four years of college hockey at Rochester Institute of Technology, eluded Amerks defenseman Ryan Jones from behind the net, he retrieved the puck back on a low cycle and made a feed to Arseneau, who was stationed to the left of the blue paint. The quick pass from Cameron enabled Arseneau to sneak the puck past Houser to put Utica in front 1-0.

Heading into the first intermission, the Comets held a slight 11-9 advantage in shots while both teams were unsuccessful on the power-play to begin the contest.

The same two teams exchange pleasantries again for the second time in three nights on Friday, May 14 as the Amerks kickoff their final homestand of the 2020-21 campaign with a rematch against the Comets 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 ESPN Rochester as well as AHLTV. The North Division matchup will also be tape-delayed on CW Rochester beginning at 10 p.m.

Comets w in last home game as AHL affiliate of Canucks By Steve Jones Rome Sentinel

The Utica Comets went out with a win, beating the Rochester Americans 3-1 Wednesday in the last home game as the AHL affiliate of the Canucks at the Utica Aud.

The Canucks are relocating the affiliate to in the offseason. Utica will host the AHL affiliate of the in the 2021-22 season, and will retain the Comets name. This year’s team was a powerhouse at home, with an 11-2 record at The Aud.

“It was awesome,” said Utica head coach after the game. The coaches and players saluted the crowd before leaving the home ice one last time. “My goal as a head coach is to create a team that the fans can be proud of,” one with good work ethic that is worth the price of admission. His message before the game in the locker room was clear: “I want your best. I think the boys did a great job.” He added, “They knew I wanted this one. It’s the closest we’d get to a playoff game” this season. “I was a little choked up when I left the ice.”

Vincent Arseneau started the scoring, recording his fourth of the season 4:34 into the game. Shawn Cameron sent a backhanded feed to Arseneau from behind the net to where he was cutting to the crease. Arseneau beat goalie Michael Houser to make it 1- 0 Comets. Cameron earned his second assist of the season and Mitch Eliot was credited with his fourth assist.

“It’s pretty emotional,” Arseneau said after the win. He said scoring the goal motivated him the rest of the game. In the end it was Arseneau, a crowd favorite who spent four years in Utica, who came off the ice last. “I wanted to make sure I was the last one to step off at the end.” He said Utica has been “a great hockey town. It’s so much fun.” He added: “We just want to end it on a good note. And we did it.”

The Comets built the lead to two goals just under seven minutes into the second when defenseman Jett Woo carried the puck in on the right side, slammed on the brakes and fired a wrist shot that rung the inside of the post and went in. It was Woo’s third goal of the season. Assists went to Nolan Stevens, his 12th, and Tyler Tucker, his fifth.

John Stevens put the game away with an empty net goal for Utica with 2:33 left in regulation. It was his sixth of the season. Curtis McKenzie earned an assist on the goal, his eighth of the season.

The Amerks would eventually spoil Utica goalie Michael DiPietro’s shutout bid with a rebound goal by Brendan Warren with 1:16 left but Utica held on for a 3-1 win.

DiPietro, who had 33 saves in net for Utica to earn the win, said, “The end of the game was pretty emotional for me.” DiPietro, who joined the team last season, has made it a point to be a part of the local community. “You develop a connection.” He added of the fans:

“They care so much about us so we should care about them.” And those fans showed up Wednesday, even if The Aud could only allow 400 inside. “It was still loud. That shows you the passion. The fan base is something I’ve almost never experienced with how much they care.”

“I know New Jersey is lucky, that’s for sure,” Cull said of the incoming organization.

The Comets improved to 15-10-1 on the season. They wrap up the season with road games in Rochester at 7:05 p.m. Friday and 5:05 p.m. Sunday.

Hofer called up by the Blues

Goalie Joel Hofer was called up from Utica before the game Wednesday.

Hofer, 20, recorded the shutout in the Comets’ 3-0 win over the Syracuse Crunch Monday, his second of the season. In 10 games with Utica this year, he was 4-6 with a .898 save percentage and a 3.33 goals-against-average.

Comets earn emotional w in over Amerks in final home game as ' affiliate By Spencer Davidson WKTV

In a moment that brought the past eight years full circle, the Utica Comets topped the Rochester Americans 3-1 in the team's final game at the Adirondack Bank Center as the AHL affiliate of the NHL's Vancouver Canucks, Wednesday.

Utica's first win in its inaugural season with the Canucks was on November 23, 2013, a 2-0 victory over the Amerks in the team's tenth home game at the Aud.

After getting some potential nerves out on the first couple of shifts, the Comets took control of the game 4:34 into the opening period. From behind the Amerks' net, Shawn Cameron fed a centering pass in front to Vincent Arseneau who put a one-timer inside the far post to put Utica on the board. Mitch Eliot also assisted on the play.

In the second, Jett Woo, the hero of Monday's overtime thriller against the Syracuse Crunch, joined the rush and fooled Michael Houser on a shot off the wing to extend the Comets lead to 2-0. Nolan Stevens and Tyler Tucker notched the helpers on the goal.

After a stalemate most of the third period, Rochester pulled the goalie for an extra attacker while on a power play with just over three minutes remaining. Late in the penalty kill, with 2:33 remaining in the game, John Stevens scored an empty netter to all but ice it. Tucker and Curtis McKenzie registered assists on the effort.

Brendan Warren scored for Rochester with 1:16 left in the game to end the shutout bid, but the Comets were still able to celebrate one final victory on home ice with the limited 400 fans in attendance.

Michael DiPietro was stellar in goal making 33 saves in the game, as the Comets closed out the home portion of the season with a dominant 11-2 record at the Aud.

The Comets and Amerks wrap-up the 2020-21 season with two games in Rochester on Friday and Sunday.

Utica will then begin a 10-year affiliation with the New Jersey Devils in the 2021-22 season.