The Rochester Americans opened a home-and-home series with the intrastate rival Syracuse Crunch on Friday night at the Blue Cross Arena and picked up a 4-3 victory on a last-second goal.
With the game tied at three with just over two seconds remaining, Brett Murray slid one past Syracuse goaltender Max Lagace to give Rochester the victory.
Linus Weissbach netted two goals for the Amerks, which both came in the third period, and Tyson Kozak recorded his first American Hockey League goal.
Darren Raddysh, Gemel Smith, and Gabriel Fortier found the back of the net for the Crunch.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 17-of-20 shots for Rochester, while Lagace turned aside 28-of-32 shots for Syracuse.
The Amerks finished 1-for-4 on the power play, while the Crunch when 1-for-3.
The two teams will meet again on Saturday night at the Upstate Medical University Arena. The game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].