Amerks Continue Road Swing Tonight In Utica
Feb 26, 2021TONIGHT’S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (4-1-0-0) look to make it five straight wins tonight as they continue their three-game road swing with a North Division matchup against the Utica Comets (3-1-0-1) at the Adirondack Bank Center. The 7:00 p.m. contest will be the third of 14 scheduled meetings between the two teams this season. After suffering a season-opening 3-2 loss to the Comets, the Amerks evened the season series at one with a 4-3 shootout win in the teams’ most recent get-together back on Feb. 18 in Rochester. The game will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM ESPN Rochester as well as AHLTV.
| GAME NOTES | MEDIA KIT |
| 2020-21 AHL STANDINGS | 2020-21 NHL STANDINGS |
| 2020-21 ROCHESTER STATS | 2020-21 BUFFALO STATS |
| 2020-21 UTICA STATS | 2020-21 VANCOUVER STATS |
| WATCH LIVE ON AHLTV! | LISTEN LIVE! |
LAST TIME OUT
Ryan Scarfo’s first goal as an Amerk broke a 2-2 tie midway through the third period and the Amerks held on the rest of the way as the team opened its three-game road swing with a 3-2 win over the Syracuse Crunch this past Saturday at Upstate Medical University Arena.
With the win, Rochester’s fourth consecutive after dropping the season opener to the Comets, the club improved to 14-7-1-1 in its last 23 contests against Syracuse after going 4-5-1-0 during the 2017-18 campaign.
Rookie defenseman Ryan Jones (1+1) scored his first pro goal to give the Amerks their first lead of the contest halfway through the first period and assisted on Scarfo’s eventual game-winner to turn in his second multi-point effort of the slate.
Forward Brett Murray (1+1) notched his first multi-point game of the year while Jean-Sebastian Dea (0+1) extended his point streak to four games with an assist. Michael Mersch recorded his first point as an Amerk as he added a helper on the team’s third-period marker.
Goaltender Dustin Tokarski (1-1-0) got the nod in the crease for the first time since opening night and earned his first win as an Amerk while making 37 saves against his former team.
For just the first time this season, the Amerks power-play unit was held off the scoresheet during the victory over the Crunch. Prior to that contest, Rochester scored a pair of power-play tallies in back-to-back games after opening the season with a goals on the man-advantage. Five games into the campaign, the Amerks’ power-play has gone 7-for-18 with a 38.9% conversion rate that is currently tops in the American Hockey League coming into tonight. The Amerks’ seven goals on the man-advantage are tied for second-most in the league, trailing only the Chicago Wolves (8).
LAAKSONEN LEADING THE WAY
Newcomer Oskari Laaksonen has quickly emerged as one of the top offensive defensemen in the AHL. Averaging a point-per-game thus far, the first-year defenseman leads all Rochester blueliners with five points on five assists through his first five games of the season.
He’s currently tied for the league eague in assists among all first-year defensemen while having the second-most in points despite having registered only one shot on goal.
Laaksonen has points in four of his first five games, including a season-high three assists in the 4-3 overtime win over Syracuse back on Feb. 10.
WATCH: SETH APPERT FOLLOWING MORNING SKATE
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Rochester’s roster features 12 incoming rookies ready to make a splash in their first season in the American Hockey League, most of whom are products of the NCAA in forwards Brandon Biro (Penn State), Dawson DiPietro (Western Michigan), Dominic Franco (Army West Point) and Patrick Polino (R.P.I.); defensemen Ryan Jones (Nebraska-Omaha), Nick Welsh (St. Mary’s) Griffin Luce (Michigan) and Mattias Samuelsson (Western Michigan).
During Rochester’s 7-3 victory over Cleveland on Feb. 12, Samuelsson, recorded his professional goal as well as first multi-point effort (1+1). After earning the primary assist on C.J. Smith’s first marker of the second period, Samuelsson notched his his first goal. The unassisted-tally followed fellow rookie defenseman Nicholas Welsh’s first as a pro. To complete the rookie scoring, Ryan Jones notched his first two points as a pro with a pair of assists.
Jack Quinn, Buffalo’s eighth overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, made his professional debut last week against Utica, adding an assist before scoring the shootout-clinching goal. The highly touted 19-year-old is coming off an explosive 52-goal season for the Ottawa 67’s in 2019-20, becoming just the eighth player since 2000-01 to reach the 50-goal mark in his NHL Draft Year.
TERRIFIC TRIO
After leading the Amerks in points (39) and holding a share of the team-lead in goals (15) during the 2019-20 season, his first in Rochester, forward Jean-Sebastien Dea is again atop the team’s leaderboard this season with a team-high seven points points on three goals and four assists in just four games. Averaging nearly two points per game, Dea is tied for 11th in scoring among the AHL’s top point-getters while he also shows a team-best plus-seven on-ice rating, which is tied for seventh in the AHL.
Remi Elie scored twice in his first game of the season against Syracuse on Feb. 10 before adding an another against Utica on Feb. 18. The two-goal outing was the first career multi-goal effort for Elie, whi has now scored 19 goals in 63 career games with the Amerks dating back to 2017-18.
Despite shuffling between Rochester and the Buffalo Sabres’ taxi squad, forward C.J. Smith enters tonight’s contest with five points (2+3) through his first four games to start the campaign. Smith, who was named as one of the Amerks’ alternate captains for road games, has recorded 134 points (59+75) in 173 career contests since the start of the 2017-18 season.
In their first four games this season, the trio has accounted for eight of the Amerks’ 18 goals while combining for 24 shots and a plus-16 on-ice rating.
SCOUTING THE COMETS
The Comets have been idle since suffereing a 4-3 shootout loss to Rochester on Feb. 18. The eight days in-between games is the longest stretch of the season for Utica, which is playing just its second game at home this season.
Utica is one of four teams in the league this season to score multiple shorthanded goals. The Comets enter the matchup having collected at least one point in each of their last three games, going 2-0-0-1 over that span.
In his first five games as a Comet, reigining AHL MVP Sam Anas has recorded a team-high seven assists, which are tied for most in the AHL. Prior to the cancellation last seson, Anas led the league in both assists (50) and points (70) through 63 games as member of the Iowa Wild.
SERIES NOTABLES
Amerks defenseman Dylan Blujus spent the past three seasons with the Comets, recording 33 points (9+24) in 123 games.
Rochester has collected at least one point in 20 of the last 28 games against Utica dating back to the start of the 2017-18 campaign, going 15-8-2-3 over that span.
In last week’s meeting between the Amerks and Comets, it marked Rochester’s first Thursday game since Mar. 15, 2018 when they suffered a 6-4 lost at Bridgeport. Additionally, it was the first Thursday home contest since the club blanked Abbotsford, 3-0, on Feb. 2, 2012.