Written by Aidan Charde
Recap: Johnstown Tomahawks on Dec. 6 and 7
The Rochester Jr. Americans earned yet another sweep last weekend, this time taking down the Johnstown Tomahawks.
For the 20th time this season, the Jr. Amerks struck first in game one with forward Hugo Branthsson’s 12th goal of the year. It was the only goal Rochester could manage despite utterly dominating the Tomahawks for the full 20 minutes, with the Jr. Amerks outshooting their opponent 17–3 in the period.
That would be a trend all game, in fact, as goalie Danick Leroux saw a mere 10 pucks come his way, a franchise record for fewest shots allowed. Meanwhile, the Jr. Amerks added on with an unassisted goal from forward Calle Karlsson before the Tomahawks cut the lead in half.
Johnstown did manage to tie the game on their first and only shot attempt in the third period, but the Jr. Amerks were able to lock in and secure a win with the game-winner from forward Keanan Dewberry and an empty netter from Karlsson as time expired to give Rochester the 4–2 victory. Karlsson’s goal with under one second remaining is the latest goal in franchise history.
As has become the trend this season, the Jr. Amerks got on the board first once again in game two thanks to Karlsson’s third goal of the weekend. Forward Landon Brownlee added a second before the Tomahawks managed to net their first. Once again, blistering pace was key as Rochester outshot Johnstown 12–5 in the frame.
Forward Gabe Cull gave the Jr. Amerks a 3–1 lead in the second period, but the Tomahawks were able to tie the game once again, this time at three. Defenseman Alex Zakrzewski put away a highlight reel shot, threading the needle between two defenders and the goalie to give Rochester the lead from the blue line.
Early in the third period, forward Owen King scored an insurance goal that proved to be the game-winner as Johnstown added one more to make the final score 5–4.
Rochester gets to return home for a whiteout weekend against the New Hampshire Mountain Kings this week.
Preview: New Hampshire Mountain Kings on Dec. 13 and 14
WHEN: Dec. 13 at 7:30 p.m. | Dec. 14 at 7 p.m.
WHERE: Rochester Ice Center | Fairport, NY
PROMOTIONS: Dec. 13 – Holiday Celebration | Dec. 14 – Whiteout Game (Wear White)
WATCH: NAHL.tv
FOLLOW: @JrAmerksNAHL
History
Last season’s two expansion teams could not have had a different start to their time in the NAHL. After both sitting in the middle of the division through the first half of the season, Rochester took off and became one of the best teams in the league while New Hampshire struggled and fell to the bottom. This New Hampshire team is different, already over 75% of the way to their total points last season, but the Jr. Amerks dominated the first time they met this season. All-time, Rochester is 8–1–1 against the Mountain Kings with a 2–0–0 record this year.
Mega Promo Weekend
The Jr. Amerks are pulling out all the stops this weekend to make the game the best deal in town. Along with the full-season promotions of $7 tickets, $2 beers and free admission for kids, the arena will be serving $1 hot dogs, $1 pizza slices, $0.50 cookies and $0.50 popcorn all weekend long. In addition, fans are asked to wear white on the 14th for a whiteout game, where there will be a free rally towel giveaway and an appearance from Toronto Blue Jays utility man and Jr. Amerks youth alum Ernie Clement. You can get your tickets here.
Speed kills
The Jr. Amerks played fast and hard last weekend and it led to two wins over Johnstown. For starters, Rochester out-shot Johnstown 68–26 over the course of the weekend, including the 10-shot performance on Friday. It also led to two more first goals, something the team has done 21 times this season and in 17 of the last 18 games. When Rochester scores first, they have a record of 15–4–2 and they are 16–2–2 when leading after the first period.
Karlsson leads team without a streak
Forward Calle Karlsson has easily been the team’s best scorer this year, leading the team with 32 points on 14 goals and 18 assists. But he has had a strange trend in his game this year: While he has many games with several points, including four three-point games, he has yet to score in more than four consecutive games. For context, there are only six other times a Jr. Amerks player has tallied three or more points in a game. Meanwhile, there are eight occurrences of players holding streaks four games or longer.
Special teams, special players, special plays
The Jr. Amerks penalty kill percentage dropped slightly last weekend from .865 to .861, but it still ranks in the top 10 in the NAHL so far. It has made massive improvements over the past few weeks as well, rising up from .837 after the 6–0 loss against Elmira a month ago. The power play has been special as well, falling just short of 19% for the highest mark since October 4. Rochester has scored on the power play in the last five straight games and allowed no goals in five of the last six on the penalty kill.
New Hampshire comes in strong but off a brutal series
It is not common that you see a team swing as hard between weekends as the Mountain Kings did over the last two weeks. Following a three-game sweep of the first-place Maine Nordiques that included two shutouts from Nov. 27–30, the Mountain Kings were destroyed by the last-place Danbury Hat Tricks 6–2 and 10–5 last weekend. Two former Jr. Amerks players had a big role in that series, with forward Andrew Gibbons and defenseman Chance Uzzell combining for 10 of the Hat Tricks’ 16 goals on the weekend. It was a strange turnaround for a New Hampshire team that had entered winners of the last eight in a row.
