Written by Aidan Charde
Recap: March 20 and 21 vs. New Jersey Titans
An injury-riddled Rochester Jr. Americans roster dropped both games against the New Jersey Titans, but clinched the East Division’s second seed last weekend with out-of-town help.
Forwards Ryan Shaw and Owen King, defensemen Dexter Kichline and Sam Schulte, and goalie Florian Wade were among those that missed the weekend, taking out several of the team’s stars and top scorers. It showed in game one, as the Titans took control early in the first period to take a 1–0 lead.
Forward Stone Rolston was able to keep Rochester in the fight, tying the game up later in the frame, but the Titans managed a second goal as the period ticked to a close and added a second shortly after the second period began to jump up to a 3–1 lead.
Forward Colin Dustin, who had a career weekend, cut the deficit in half with a goal at the end of the second period, but it proved to be all the offense Rochester could muster; the Titans hit an empty-netter to walk away with a 4–2 win.
Despite the ultimate result, it was an invigorating third period for Rochester, who dominated puck control, outshooting New Jersey 11–3 in the final frame. That feeling carried over into game two, but the Titans quashed any positivity with two goals in the opening five minutes.
However, the most dangerous lead in hockey did not last long, as the Jr. Amerks had two goals in two minutes by defenseman Leo Mantenuto and forward Keanan Dewberry to tie the game 2–2 late in the period, taking a promising tie into the locker room.
New Jersey came out firing in the second, retaking the lead five minutes in, but Dustin struck again to tie the game on a beautiful powerplay strike. After the rest of the period passed without another goal, forward Adam Gionta gave Rochester its first lead of the weekend 90 seconds into the third period.
Unfortunately, New Jersey regrouped to tie the game and jump back into the lead with 10 minutes remaining, and the Jr. Amerks could not find an equalizer, dropping game two 5–4. The silver lining for Rochester was that the Maine Nordiques, who needed to win out for a chance to jump Rochester in the standings, fell 4–1 to the Elmira Aviators, locking Rochester into the second seed in the division.
The Jr. Amerks get four more games, all away, to get into postseason form before taking a week off during the first round of the playoffs. They will host the first two games of round two on April 17 and 18 against the highest remaining seed.
Preview: March 27 and 28 vs. Maryland Black Bears
WHERE: Piney Orchard Ice Arena | Odenton, MD
WHEN: March 27 at 7 p.m. | March 28 at 6:30 p.m.
WATCH: NAHL.tv
FOLLOW: @JrAmerksNAHL
History
The Black Bears have been the team to beat in the division ever since Rochester joined, but the Jr. Amerks have kept it close. With a 7–8–3 record, they are the only squad Rochester holds a losing record against, but despite the extra losses, they are even on goal differential.
By the Numbers
Rochester
36–18–1 | 73 pts | 2nd place | 204 GF | 148 GA | L3 streak
Maryland
46–5–4 | 96 pts | 1st place | 237 GF | 129 GA | W14 streak
Stat of the Series
Maryland has been a wagon all year, losing just nine times and winning 14 straight entering this weekend. However, 40% of its regulation losses came at the hands of the Jr. Amerks — a 3–1 loss in September and a 6–2 loss in January.
East Division playoff update
The top two spots in the division have been locked in, led by the Maryland Black Bears (96 pts) and Jr. Amerks (73 pts). The New Jersey Titans (65 pts) and Maine Nordiques (64 pts) are fighting for seeding, but the Nordiques hold a game in hand amid a rough losing streak. The Northeast Generals (55 pts) need some help to clinch a playoff spot this weekend, but are likely safe, while the Danbury Hat Tricks (59 pts) look to fend off a late push by the Johnstown Tomahawks (55 pts) and New Hampshire Mountain Kings (52 pts). The Elmira Aviators (49 pts) are one loss shy of elimination, where they would join the Philadelphia Rebels (46 pts).
Depth shines despite losses
Three straight home losses is never a great thing, but Rochester has seen plenty of production from its depth scorers without its top skaters playing. Colin Dustin’s four points led the way, including two goals that got him to 20 on the season. He is the ninth Jr. Amerk to hit that mark in team history and second this season. Defenseman Leo Mantenuto had his second multi-point game of the year on Saturday, while defenseman Michael Gravina’s three points were the second-most on the team over the weekend.
Little to play for but pride
Rochester cannot move in the standings over the next four games, so the team is just playing for pride at this point, but the games remain meaningful: Knocking Maryland from its 14-game win streak would be hugely motivating, and entering the playoffs on a win streak is always ideal. It does not always matter, though, as last year, the Jr. Amerks lost three of their last four regular season games before coming one goal short of playing in the Robertson Cup Championship Game.
Special teams back on track
The Jr. Amerks penalty kill had a brutal seven-game stretch where they allowed 12 goals on 34 chances, dropping their kill rate from 84.5% to 81.8% over three weeks. Fortunately, the team has gotten back on track with just a single goal allowed since March 7. The team went a perfect 10-for-10 over five games before allowing one of four chances through on Saturday. Furthermore, the team is getting penalized far less, which is helping those rates. During their seven-game skid, they had an average of 4.86 penalty kills per game. Since March 7, that number has dropped to 2.33 per game.
Black Bears hibernating?
Maryland may be entering on a 14-game win streak, but like Rochester, they have nothing to play for. They locked up the division long ago and clinched the NAHL’s regular season title last weekend. On Friday, it looked like the team was shutting down for the regular season, going down 4–1 to the last place Rebels in the first period. While they did come back to win both games against Philadelphia, they had some lackluster starts against a team that has nearly half as many points on the season.
