Written By Aidan Charde
Recap: Philadelphia Rebels on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1
The Rochester Jr. Americans bounced back in a big way with a gutsy sweep against the Philadelphia Rebels last weekend, improving to 9–8–0 and keeping pace with the East Division.
If you just watched the first period of game one, you may think it was set to be a bad series for Rochester. Despite logging 13 shots on goal and getting nearly four straight minutes of powerplay action, the Jr. Amerks could not get any momentum and went scoreless in the frame. Meanwhile, a costly turnover gave the Rebels a chance, which they converted past goalie Jensen Carlstrom to take a 1–0 lead in the first.
But the tide turned mightily from there. Less than one minute into the second period, forward Ryan Shaw scored unassisted to tie the game. One minute later, Rochester had the lead on yet another Shaw goal, turning a 1–0 deficit to a 2–1 lead before two minutes came off the clock.
The period did slow down from there with the Jr. Amerks being unable to convert another time in the frame, although the Rebels made the most of a late powerplay to tie the game at two apiece.
Not to be outdone by Shaw’s speedy pair of goals, forwards Keanan Dewberry and Colin Dustin decided they wanted a spot in the record books too. In the third period, Dewberry scored on the powerplay to give Rochester the lead, which was followed up 24 seconds later by one from Dustin — the fifth-fastest pair of goals in team history.
And yet the biggest moment of the night had still not occurred. As the clock ticked down, Shaw buried his third goal of the game: The first hat trick of his career, the first for the team this season and the first-ever home hat trick for the Jr. Amerks.
It was an exciting night that provided the team with a much-needed burst of momentum that they looked to carry into game two. Unfortunately, the Rebels jumped out to a first period lead yet again and extended it early in the second period to take a 2–0 lead.
Entering the game, Rochester had only come back from eight two-goal deficits in history (including playoffs), so they needed some magic to capture two points. It came in the form of forward Jackson Schouten, who was playing his 100th career NAHL game, corralling a puck that took an awkward bounce off the boards and putting it in the net for his first goal with the Jr. Americans.
That moment shifted the momentum in the second period, which saw a 17-shot outpouring and two more goals before the period ended, the second of the weekend for Dustin to tie it before forward Ryan Flaherty gave Rochester a 3–2 lead.
However, the Rebels did not go down without a fight and tied the game at three in the third period. That score held through the rest of the period and overtime, sending the game to a shootout.
Goalie Florian Wade was perfect on his first three shots faced, so it came down to Dewberry, who put it past the Philadelphia goalie for the team’s second shootout win of the season and sent Rochester fans home happy.
The Jr. Amerks now embark on another four-game road trip, starting this weekend against the Northeast Generals.
Preview: Northeast Generals on Nov. 7 and 8
WHERE: Canton Ice House | Canton, MA
WHEN: Nov. 7 at 8 p.m. | Nov. 8 at 7 p.m.
WATCH: NAHL.tv
FOLLOW: @JrAmerksNAHL
History
The Jr. Amerks were dominant against the Generals for their first two seasons of competition, holding a 12–2–0 record and a +35 goal differential. The script was flipped earlier this season, though, with the Generals winning both games in Rochester.
By the numbers
Rochester
9–8–0 | 18 pts | 7th place | 50 GF | 43 GA | 2W streak
Northeast
11–4–2 | 24 pts | 2nd place | 71 GF | 50 GA | 2W streak
(Hat) Trick or Treat!
On a rainy Halloween night, Ryan Shaw got the monkey off Rochester’s back with his three goal performance. It was the sixth hat trick in team history, first of the season and first of Shaw’s career. But most notably, it was also the first of the team’s six hat tricks to happen on home ice. It was not for lack of trying; entering the game, the Jr. Amerks had 30 instances of a player scoring two or more goals in one game, including four times this year. After three years, the home fans have now been able to witness the feat.
Brick Wall Wade
Florian Wade came through last weekend with his monster 30-save performance in the shootout win, his first with Rochester in nearly one year. Wade has only played three games in the red, white and blue this season, but has seemingly recaptured some of his 2023-24 form, when he carried Rochester through the bulk of the season as the lone goalie. He has a 0.913 save percentage and his goals allowed average of 1.946 is seventh-best in the league among goalies with three or more starts.
Weekend warriors
As the season has gone on, a few trends have started to emerge for the team. Forwards Ryan Flaherty, Colin Dustin and Owen King should have eyes on them on Saturdays, as 10 of their combined 12 goals have come on the second day of the series. Meanwhile, while the team’s powerplay is still a work in progress, there is no split where it performs better than away Saturdays — their 17.9% success rate on the season jumps to 23.1%. The penalty kill also jumps up from 84.1% to 90.9%, but that difference is even stronger on away Fridays, where they have a remarkable 92.3% kill rate.
Scoring success
The Northeast Generals have been one of the best teams in the NAHL this season primarily by way of a non-stop offensive pace that has scored the third-most goals in the league this season (71) and second-most goals per game (4.18). It should come as no surprise that they have two goal scorers in double digits already, alongside 10 players with 10 or more points on the year. Despite having only two players in the top 20 scorers in the league, they have six in the top 40. Also, 16 of 18 players on the team who have played over 10 games have five or more points this year. It will take strong defense to stick with the Generals this season.
