Coming off a week in which they lost more than they won, a rare occurrence this season, the Amerks were looking to use back-to-back matchups against teams in their division in an effort to continue leading the division. While Belleville is close to Rochester, Binghamton sits in last in their division, and these matchups would help them to continue building on their success as a team.
| # |  Top Scorers | GP | Goals | Assists | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 39 | J.S. Dea | 57 | 15 | 24 | 39 |
| 17 | Sean Malone | 58 | 12 | 18 | 30 |
| 22 | Zach Redmond | 59 | 5 | 25 | 30 |
| 15 | Andrew Oglevie | 55 | 15 | 14 | 29 |
| 19 | C.J. Smith | 50 | 12 | 15 | 27 |
December 27: vs. Belleville (W 4-3)
In the first meeting of the year between these teams, the offense played a prominent role for both sides, with Jordan Murray opening the scoring on the power-play only a few minutes into the game. Zach Redmond (5) responded for the Amerks under two minutes later with a PP goal of his own that tied it at 1 after the opening period.
You love to see it 😍
🍎: @_CJ_Smith_
🍏: @LPilut pic.twitter.com/KwFcTdqe0X— Rochester Americans (@AmerksHockey) December 28, 2019
Scoring in the second began as it ended in the first, when Eric Cornel (6) scored at the 4:14 mark, giving Rochester their first lead of the night. A five-minute period during the second saw Joseph LaBate and Vitaly Abramov score, which put Belleville up 3-2 after forty minutes of play.
🚨 TIE GAME!! 🚨
Thank you @LPilut 😉 pic.twitter.com/NBWun3B7LP
— Rochester Americans (@AmerksHockey) December 28, 2019
While most of the third saw the Amerks earn chances, Lawrence Pilut, with his fourth of the season, tying the game at 12:09, and with only two seconds to go, Taylor Leier (3) scored the game-winner on the power-play, as Rochester won 4-3 on home ice.
NOW THAT'S AN AMERKS WIN THANKS TO LEIERJET🤩🤩
(we won't judge if you watch this on repeat because we definitely are)#UnitedWeROC pic.twitter.com/LC7M3Ohcdk
— Rochester Americans (@AmerksHockey) December 28, 2019
The Amerks performed well on the power-play, finished 2-for-5, and Johansson finished the game with 33 saves in net, as they looked to continue the streak tomorrow.
December 28: @ Binghamton (L 2-0)
Similar to past meetings between the Devils and Amerks this season, the defense played a larger role than offense, with no goals scored in the opening period, although the Amerks led 11-8 in shots after one. It wasn’t until halfway through the second when Fabian Zetterlund scored to give Binghamton the lead and would be the only goal through the first two periods. Although Rochester held a slim 24-21 lead in shots, they trailed by one heading into the third, and despite the chances they possessed, Zetterlund scored once again, doubling the lead for Binghamton at 13:16 of the third period, and would be enough to earn the win, as Rochester was shut out on the road after they had shut out the Devils in their prior meeting. Hammond stopped 27 of 29 shots faced in the game and has 10 wins through 18 games played this season.
Despite winning one game this week, Rochester remains the top of their division, with a 20-7-2-2 record, for a total of 44 points through 31 games this season. This upcoming week will see the team play three games on the road, against Utica (42 pts) on New Year’s Eve, then travel to Toronto (41 pts) and Belleville (39 pts) on back-to-back nights. While the Amerks are 3-1 against Utica this year, they fell to the Comets in their last matchup, while Rochester and Toronto split their matchups thus far. After winning last week against Belleville at home, the Amerks will face the Senators for the second time in as many weeks on the road. With their previous success against these opponents, a strong week will grow their current North division lead.
| Date | Opponent | Time/Result |
|---|---|---|
| 10/04/19 |  vs. Syracuse Crunch | W 3-2 (OT) |
| 10/11/19 |  @ Springfield Thunderbirds | W 2-1 |
| 10/12/19 |  @ Providence Bruins | L 3-2 |
| 10/13/19 |  @ Hartford Wolf Pack | W 3-2 (SO) |
| 10/18/19 |  vs. Cleveland Monsters | L 4-3 (SO) |
| 10/19/19 |  @ Utica Comets | L 7-1 |
| 10/23/19 |  vs. Hershey Bears | W 5-1 |
| 10/26/19 | @ Syracuse Crunch | W 7-6 (OT) |
| 10/27/19 | @ Springfield Thunderbirds | L 2-1 (OT) |
| 10/30/19 | vs. Providence Bruins | L 4-3 |
| 11/01/19 |  vs. Binghamton Devils | W 4-2 |
| 11/02/19 | @ Utica Comets | W 6-0 |
| 11/08/19 | vs. Binghamton Devils | L 4-3 (SO) |
| 11/13/19 | vs. Syracuse Crunch | W 4-3 |
| 11/15/19 | vs. Cleveland Monsters | W 4-3 (OT) |
| 11/16/19 | @ Utica Comets | W 4-3 |
| 11/22/19 | vs. Hartford Wolf Pack | W 4-0 |
| 11/23/19 | @ Binghamton Devils | W 4-2 |
| 11/29/19 |  vs. Toronto Marlies | L 3-2 (OT) |
| 11/30/19 | @ Cleveland Monsters | W 3-2 |
| 12/04/19 | vs. Toronto Marlies | W 4-0 |
| 12/06/19 |  vs. Charlotte Checkers | W 4-0 |
| 12/07/19 | vs. Charlotte Checkers | L 3-1 |
| 12/11/19 |  vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins | W 4-2 |
| 12/13/19 |  @ Laval Rocket | W 3-2 |
| 12/14/19 | @ Laval Rocket | W 5-0 |
| 12/18/19 | @ Binghamton Devils | L 2-1 |
| 12/20/19 | vs. Binghamton Devils | W 3-0 |
| 12/21/19 | vs. Utica Comets | W 4-3 |
| 12/27/19 |  vs. Belleville Senators | W 4-3 |
| 12/28/19 | @ Binghamton Devils | L 2-0 |
| 12/31/19 | @ Utica Comets | L 3-2 |
| 01/03/20 | @ Belleville Senators | W 4-3 (OT) |
| 01/04/20 | @ Toronto Marlies | L 5-2 |
| 01/08/20 | vs. Binghamton Devils | L 4-3 (SO) |
| 01/10/20 | vs. Belleville Senators | L 5-1 |
| 01/11/20 | @ Syracuse Crunch | L 5-4 |
| 01/17/20 | vs. Cleveland Monsters | L 4-3 (SO) |
| 01/18/20 |  @ Lehigh Valley Phantoms | L 4-0 |
| 01/19/20 | @ Hershey Bears | L 4-1 |
| 01/22/20 | @ Cleveland Monsters | W 3-2 (OT) |
| 01/24/20 | vs. Laval Rocket | W 5-2 |
| 01/25/20 | @ Syracuse Crunch | W 3-2 |
| 01/31/20 | vs. Syracuse Crunch | W 4-2 |
| 02/01/20 | @ Binghamton Devils | W 3-2 |
| 02/05/20 | @ Cleveland Monsters | W 4-2 |
| 02/07/20 | vs. Syracuse Crunch | L 5-2 |
| 02/08/20 | @ Toronto Marlies | L 4-0 |
| 02/11/20 | @ Charlotte Checkers | L 4-2 |
| 02/12/20 | @ Charlotte Checkers | L 5-2 |
| 02/15/20 | @ Syracuse Crunch | W 4-3 (SO) |
| 02/16/20 | vs. Utica Comets | W 3-2 |
| 02/19/20 | vs. Belleville Senators | L 3-2 (OT) |
| 02/21/20 | vs. Lehigh Valley Phantoms | W 3-2 (OT) |
| 02/22/20 | vs. Cleveland Monsters | L 3-2 (OT) |
| 02/26/20 | vs. Utica Comets | L 3-2 (SO) |
| 02/28/20 | vs. Laval Rocket | W 4-2 |
| 02/29/20 | @ Syracuse Crunch | L 4-2 |
| 03/04/20 | vs. Utica Comets | L 3-1 |
| 03/06/20 | @ Belleville Senators | W 5-3 |
| 03/07/20 | @ Belleville Senators | W 4-2 |
| 03/11/20 | vs. Binghamton Devils | L 5-2 |
| 03/13/20 | vs. Syracuse Crunch | 7:05 PM |
| 03/15/20 | @ Cleveland Monsters | 3:00 PM |
| 03/17/20 | @ Toronto Marlies | 1:30 PM |
| 03/20/20 | vs. Springfield Thunderbirds | 7:05 PM |
| 03/21/20 | vs. Springfield Thunderbirds | 7:05 PM |
| 03/25/20 | vs. Toronto Marlies | 7:05 PM |
| 03/28/20 | @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins | 7:05 PM |
| 03/29/20 |  @ Bridgeport Sound Tigers | 3:00 PM |
| 04/01/20 | vs. Utica Comets | 7:05 PM |
| 04/03/20 | vs. Syracuse Crunch | 7:05 PM |
| 04/04/20 | @ Syracuse Crunch | 7:00 PM |
| 04/08/20 | @ Utica Comets | 7:00 PM |
| 04/10/20 | vs. Bridgeport Sound Tigers | 7:05 PM |
| 04/11/20 | @ Binghamton Devils | 7:05 PM |