The Hamilton Hammers continue to search for answers after dropping two more games over the weekend, extending their winless streak to five games (0-4-1). After being swept in a three-game series against the Toronto Marlies, Hamilton fell 4-1 to the Rochester Americans on Friday before suffering a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to the Syracuse Crunch on Sunday.
Rochester Americans 4 – Hamilton Hammers 1
The Rochester Americans controlled much of Friday night’s game, jumping out to an early lead with two first-period goals.
Jake Richard opened the scoring with his second goal of the season, assisted by Jason Polin, who collected his third assist of the year. Later in the period, Zac Funk scored his first goal of the season, with Caleb Jones earning his third assist.
Rochester added another goal in the second period when Trevor Kuntar scored his third of the season from Carson Meyer and Gavin McCarthy.
Hamilton finally got on the board in the third period when Daniil Prokhorov scored his first career AHL goal. Ethan Bear picked up his second assist of the season, while Quinn Finley recorded the first AHL point of his career with the secondary assist.
Jason Polin sealed the victory with an empty-net goal, his third goal of the season.
Despite the loss, Vitek Vanecek made 38 saves on 41 shots, keeping Hamilton within striking distance for much of the night.
Special Teams Showing Signs of Improvement
The Hammers finished 1-for-3 on the power play against Rochester.
Their recent power-play results:
- vs. Belleville: 3-for-7
- vs. Toronto: 0-for-6
- vs. Toronto: 1-for-4
- vs. Toronto: 1-for-4
- vs. Rochester: 1-for-3
Daylan Kuefler led Hamilton with seven shots on goal, while Cam Thiesing added four.
Syracuse Crunch 4 – Hamilton Hammers 3
Sunday afternoon brought another tough loss for Hamilton despite a much stronger offensive performance.
The Hammers welcomed Liam Foudy and Cole Eiserman back into the lineup after both missed Friday’s game due to illness.
Unfortunately, the game got off to a disastrous start.
Starting goaltender Vitek Vanecek allowed three goals on the first three shots he faced and lasted just 6:09 before head coach Jay McKee made the change.
Josh Kotai entered the game in relief and was outstanding, stopping 15 of 16 shots the rest of the way. Based on his performance, don’t be surprised if Kotai gets the start Wednesday night when Hamilton visits the Toronto Marlies.
Hamilton battled back throughout the afternoon but ultimately came up just short.
The crowd of 3,893 fans provided a strong atmosphere at FirstOntario Centre despite the disappointing result.
For Syracuse, Lucas Mercuri finished with a goal and an assist, while Matteo Pietroniro also recorded a goal and an assist. Goaltender Olivier Rodrigue stopped 30 of 33 shots to earn the win.
For Hamilton:
- Alex Jefferies recorded two assists.
- Mitchell Chaffee, Liam Foudy, Cole Eiserman, Ethan Bear, Pierre Engvall, and Cam Thiesing each recorded one point.
Mitchell Chaffee led the Hammers with nine shots on goal, while Cole Eiserman, Alex Jefferies, and Kashawn Aitcheson each had three.
Power Play Becoming a Major Concern
Perhaps the biggest storyline coming out of the weekend is Hamilton’s struggling power play.
Against Syracuse, the Hammers went 0-for-9 with the man advantage.
Since opening night, Hamilton’s top power-play unit has converted just 3 of its last 26 opportunities, and the lack of production is becoming a serious concern.
With talented offensive players throughout the lineup, the Hammers have the personnel to be much more dangerous. The biggest question now is whether coaching adjustments, personnel changes, or a different power-play structure can spark the unit before the losing streak grows even longer.
Looking Ahead
Hamilton won’t have much time to dwell on the weekend.
The Hammers travel to Toronto on Wednesday for another meeting with the Marlies before heading to Laval for back-to-back road games on Friday and Saturday.
The series against Laval could provide plenty of power-play opportunities. Entering Monday, the Rocket had accumulated 129 penalty minutes through six games, making them one of the most penalized teams in the North Division. Only Coachella Valley had more penalty minutes, with 146 through five games.
Hamilton closes out October with a home game against the Hartford Wolf Pack on October 29 before travelling to Syracuse to face the Crunch again on October 30.
I’ll be hosting live watch-along broadcasts for both games in Laval as well as the October 30 matchup against Syracuse on Hamilton Sports Central.
The Hammers have shown flashes of strong five-on-five play throughout the opening weeks of the season, but until the power play begins converting its chances and the team receives steadier goaltending early in games, Hamilton’s search for its next victory is likely to continue.
