Crunch beat Amerks, 4-3

Despite erasing a two-goal deficit, the Rochester Americans (4-3-0-0) saw their comeback attempt fall just short in a 4-3 loss to the Syracuse Crunch (2-4-1-0) Monday afternoon at Upstate Medical University Arena.

The contest was the final of Rochester’s three-game road swing as well as the third of 12 scheduled meetings against the Crunch this season. Although the Amerks came away with victories in each of the previous two get-togethers against Syracuse, they suffered the loss today, pushing their record to 14-8-1-1 in their last 24 games against their longtime North Division rival.

Forward Ryan Scarfo (1+0) got the scoring started for the Amerks in the first period with his second goal of the season, and the second in as many games against Syracuse, while Michael Mersch (1+0), who appeared in his 400^th professional game, and Andrew Oglevie(1+0) each scored on the power-play. Ryan Jones (0+1), Oskari Laaksonen (0+1), Jean-Sebastien Dea (0+1), Casey Fitzgerald (0+1), Brett Murray (0+1) and Arttu Ruotsalainen (0+1) all added assists, while rookie defenseman Griffin Luce (0+0) made his American Hockey League debut.

Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (3-2-0) dropped his second straight game of the season while making 21 saves.

The Crunch offense was powered by a pair of AHL firsts, with Devante Stephens (1+1) and John Ludvig (0+1) notching their first in the league. Forward Otto Somppi (1+1) had his first multi-point outing of the season, while Peter Abbandonato (1+0) also netted his first of the season. In just his second game of the year, Spencer Martin (1-1-0) recorded his first win, stopping 31 of the 34 shots he faced in net.