Written by Aidan Charde
Last Time Out: Danbury Hat Tricks on Dec. 19 and 20
Prior to the winter break, the Rochester Jr. Americans powered to a dominant sweep of the Danbury Hat Tricks in the Ice Center’s newest arena in front of a packed crowd.
Game one took some time to get going, but after defenseman Sam Schulte — acquired via trade days earlier — buried one in the net, it opened the floodgates. Forwards Konner Powell and Colin Dustin each scored in the next five minutes to make it 3–0 Rochester.
A scoreless second period followed, but forward Owen King made it a 4–0 game midway through the third before forward Corson Maguire nailed a shot of his own to give Rochester the 5–0 victory.
In game two, the Jr. Amerks got out to another blistering start, shooting 20 times in the first period and converting thrice once again. Schulte opened the scoring for the second straight night while forwards Adam Gionta and Cam Doran made it 3–0, all within less than two minutes.
It was not easy sailing, though, as a four-goal frame from Danbury brought them back into the fold. Fortunately, Danbury’s scores were offset by a pair from Rochester, defenseman Michael Gravina and forward Ryan Shaw. With a narrow lead, King scored twice in the third period to ice the game and take a 7–5 win in front of the largest crowd in team history.
Preview: Maryland Black Bears on Jan. 9 and 10
WHERE: Piney Orchard Ice Arena | Odenton, MD
WHEN: Jan. 9 at 7:30 p.m. | Jan. 10 at 7 p.m.
WATCH: NAHL.tv
FOLLOW: @JrAmerksNAHL
History
Despite Maryland occupying the top spot in the division for most of Rochester’s time in the NAHL, the teams have been evenly matched so far. The Black Bears are the only team the Jr. Amerks have a losing record against: 6–7–3, but a goal differential of exactly 0.
By the Numbers
Rochester
21–10–0 | 42 pts | 3rd place | 110 GF | 80 GA | W7 streak
Maryland
28–3–3 | 59 pts | 1st place | 147 GF | 73 GA | W5 streak
Stat of the Series
Neither team has earned a sweep of the other since March 22 and 23, 2024.
Schulte brings new life
Rochester’s defensive squad has been a force to be reckoned with all season, but they have contributed little offense so far. That all changed in just two games after defenseman Sam Schulte showed up and scored two goals and five assists in his first two games. Coming into the series against Danbury, Schulte had the same amount of goals as every Rochester defenseman combined. Additionally, Schulte is well on his way to two historic marks: The team record for fewest games to reach 10 points is three, and he is on pace to tie it this weekend. Meanwhile, the defenseman is already one of the best trade acquisitions in team history. He has a long way to go to catch up to Ryan Shaw, who has scored 82 points since being traded, but his seven points put him in third for players acquired via trade, behind Liam Varmecky (13) and Wyatt Stefan (eight).
Wade performing at his peak
After missing the second half of last season and the first several weeks this year, goalie Florian Wade has been more than acceptable in the net. His goals allowed average of 1.926 and save percentage of .925 are both in the top-5 in the league. He also has the second-fewest goals allowed among qualified goalies in the NAHL, allowing just 20 in 11 games. He captured his second shutout of the season last weekend, his first on home ice, and is living up to his nickname of Brick Wall Wade.
Special teams surge into new year
For the first month of the season, Rochester’s powerplay struggled mightily while its penalty kill was among the best in the league — marks of 7.1% and 94.9%, respectively, after Oct. 3. Since then, though, the team has evened out to much more normal rates on both sides. The team’s powerplay is at a season-high 21.6% thanks to 15 goals in their last 13 games. Meanwhile, Rochester’s penalty kill has gone down to a still-impressive 83.1%. They allowed 19 goals in 17 games following the high mark on Oct. 3 to drop down to 81.1%, but have rebounded as of late with six consecutive games holding their opponent scoreless with a man up.
Impressive opponent
The Maryland Black Bears are the best team in the NAHL, and it is not even close right now. They have 59 points, nine more than any other squad, have scored the most goals in the NAHL (147) and allowed the second-fewest (73) — making their goal differential of +74 the largest in the league, 18 higher than the second-best. After losing in the season-opener to the Jr. Amerks 3–1, Maryland went 17 consecutive games without a regulation loss and held a record of 15–0–2. However, though they come into the game winners of five in a row, they scraped by the ninth-place Elmira Aviators 4–3 in each of their last two games.
