Article Written By Aidan Charde
Recap: Maine Nordiques on Oct. 24 and 25
The Rochester Jr. Americans dropped both contests against the Maine Nordiques last weekend, falling to 7–8–0 on the season.
The Jr. Amerks defense continued its strong play since the series against Johnstown, but it was not enough as the offense scored just once all weekend. In game one, the Jr. Amerks were outshot 35–19, an abnormal result for a team used to being the ones tiring out the goalie. Regardless, neither team managed a goal in the first period and Rochester got on the board first with a powerplay goal from forward Corson Maguire in the second.
Maine tied the contest early in the second period, but the teams stayed knotted at one for nearly the entire rest of the game. Unfortunately, with under three minutes to go, the Nordiques found the back of the net to take the lead and added a second on an empty net strike with a minute left.
Game two was more eventful, even if there was not much scoring, as the teams combined for 84 penalty minutes with a handful of misconducts handed out. Despite a strong performance in the net from goalie Florian Wade, the Nordiques scored twice in a span of five minutes during the second period, the only two goals of the game, to take a 2–0 win and drop Rochester back below .500.
The Jr. Amerks remain tied for seventh place in the division, but are not far out of the race for contention. Just seven points separate them from the second-place Nordiques, so the team does not have a long way to go in order to threaten the top of the division.
Preview: Philadelphia Rebels on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1
WHERE: Rochester Ice Center | Fairport, NY
WHEN: Oct. 31 at 7:30 p.m. | Nov. 1 at 7 p.m.
WATCH: NAHL.tv
FOLLOW: @JrAmerksNAHL
History
This is the second time in three weeks that the Rebels and Jr. Amerks will face off against each other, but the venue has swapped. The Jr. Amerks won both games in Philadelphia prior to the series against Maine, so Rochester is certainly eyeing a second sweep. It is not unlikely either, as the Jr. Amerks are 11–4–1 all-time against the Rebels.
By The Numbers
Rochester
7–8–0 | 14 pts | T – 7th place | 41 GF | 38 GA | 2L streak
Philadelphia
6–10–1 | 13 pts | 9th place | 40 GF | 51 GA | 1W streak
Defense still stymies
Looking at the team’s record and divisional ranking, it would be easy to assume the Jr. Amerks were struggling mightily on defense. That could not be further from the truth, though: Through 15 games, Rochester is one of 11 teams allowing under three goals per game and their 2.53 GA/G is eighth-best in the NAHL. Of course, that also includes one massive outlier and excluding that single game would give the Jr. Amerks the second-best mark in the NAHL. But even with it, the team remains one of the hardest to score against in the entire league.
Looking to build momentum
Every time it looks like the Jr. Amerks are starting to build momentum, it comes to a quick halt. The team has only swept one series this year and has two multi-game win streaks in two months. Last year, the team had more win streaks lasting three or more games (six) than losing streaks at all (five). The good news is this is the team to do it against — Rochester has won seven of their last eight games against Philadelphia.
Special teams helping
Although the Jr. Amerks powerplay has not been great this season, it has also been a clear indicator of success: Friday’s game was the first time this season where the Jr. Amerks scored a man-up goal and lost (they are otherwise 4–1–0). Meanwhile, the team is 3–4–0 when they do not allow a goal on the penalty kill, a number the team would certainly like to improve, but not a terrible mark. However, they have only been perfect on the penalty kill once in the past seven games, so there has been little chance to change that record of late.
Rebels rough on the road
The Philadelphia Rebels earned their first road win of the season last weekend (excluding the NAHL Showcase) when they beat the New Jersey Titans 2–0 in a home-and-home series. That is great news for Rochester, who has historically been one of the best teams in the NAHL on home ice.
