Amerks beat Syracuse 3-1

The Rochester Americans beat the Syracuse Crunch 3-1 tonight at The Blue Cross Arena. The win is the Amerks third straight and second in a row against the I-90 divisional rivals. The win also improves the Amerks to 12-22-0-3 (27points) on the season. The Amerks were lead Michal Repik (1+1), Tanner Glass (0+2) and Janis Sprukts (0+2) all with two point performances. In goal for the Amerks was Mike Brodeur who stopped 29 of 30 shots on goal to earn first star honors, the day he was signed by the Amerks to a one-year contract. Repik and Glass earned second and third stars, respectively. Glass started the game by fighting Crunch forward Kevin Harvey just two seconds into the opening frame to set a high tempo for the Amerks. The Amerks were first to tickle the twine when Stefan Myer slid the puck to the back of the net on the power play. Meyer’s 10th goal of the season and team leading 18th point was assisted by Sprukts and Repik at the 13:48 mark of the first. The goal puts Meyer on a three game point streak, collecting 4 points (3+1). The Crunch tied the game at one with the five-on-three man advantage when Andrey Plekhanov knocked in a loose puck at the 15:44 mark of the second. Assisting on the power play goal was Derek MacKenzie and Steve Kelly. The Amerks regained the lead at 1:46 mark of the third when Amerks captain, Rory Fitzpatrick netted his second goal of the season. Fitzpatrick received a pass from Tanner Glass in the slot and deposited the puck over the right shoulder of Crunch goalie Sebastian Dahm. This is Fitzpatrick’s first game since Dec. 5 and he recorded the game winner. The Amerks extended their lead to 3-1 when Dahm gave a juicy rebound right to Repik’s stick who threw the puck in the net at the 10:20 mark of the third.