Amerks Look To Extend Win Streak Tonight Against Utica
Feb 18, 2021
TONIGHT’S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (2-1-0-0) look to make it three straight wins tonight as they welcome the Utica Comets (3-1-0-0) back to The Blue Cross Arena for a North Division showdown in the Flower City. The 7:05 p.m. contest will be the second of 14 scheduled meetings between the two teams this season after the Comets earned a 3-2 win to start the season back on Feb. 5 in Rochester. The game will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM ESPN Rochester as well as AHLTV. The matchup will also be tape-delayed and available for viewing beginning at 10 p.m. this evening on CW Rochester.
WATCH: GAME PREVIEW
LAST TIME OUT
Another night of multi-point efforts from four different skaters coupled with a dominant four-goal second-period propelled the Amerks to a convincing 7-3 victory over the Cleveland Monsters this past Friday at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Rochester was led offensively by C.J. Smith (2+1), Jean-Sebastien Dea (2+0), Mattias Samuelsson (1+1) and Ryan Jones (0+2), all of whom recorded multi-point efforts, the most through Rochester’s first three games of the young season for the Amerks.
Remi Elie (0+1) and Oskari Laaksonen (0+1) both tacked on an assist to push their point streaks to two games apiece, while Arttu Ruotsalainen (0+1) added a helper to extend his to three.
Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (2-0-0) made 43 saves in his second straight start, establishing a new career-high. The 21-year old Finland netminder shows a 6-4-3 record in his 13 career apperances in the AHL.
The Amerks scored a pair of power-play goals in Friday’s contest for the second consecutive game. Three games into the campaign, Rochester’s power-play has gone 5-for-11 with a 45.5% conversion rate that is currently tops in the American Hockey League coming into tonight. The Amerks’ five goals on the man-advantage are tied for second-most in the league.
Rochester’s penalty kill unit has also began the season strong by allowing only two goals to the opposition in 13 opportunities. The 84.6 penalty kill percentage is tied for third in North Division and tied for eighth-best in the AHL.
The club is also one of 11 teams to record a shorthanded goal.
WATCH: SETH APPERT FOLLOWING MORNING SKATE
LAAKSONEN LEADING THE WAY
Newcomer Oskari Laaksonen has quickly emerged as one of the top offensive defensemen in the AHL. Coming off his three-assist effort against Syracuse last Wednesday, the first-year defenseman has a share of the team’s scoring lead with four points through his first three games of the season.
He’s currently tied for the league-lead in assists among all defensemen while having the fourth-most in points among first-year blueliners.
Entering play tonight, he’s currently one of eight AHL defensemen to either lead his team in scoring or tied for the team lead.
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 last Friday’s 7-3 road victory over Cleveland, Samuelsson, Buffalo’s second-round selection (32nd overall) in the 2018 NHL Draft, recorded his professional goal as well as first multi-point effort (1+1). After earning the primary assist on the 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, is projected to make his professional debut tonight against Utica. The 19-year-old is coming off an explosive 52-goal season for the Ottawa 67’s in 2019-20, becoming just the seventh played in Ontario Hockey League history to reach the 50-goal mark in his NHL Draft Year.
WATCH: JACK QUINN FOLLOWING MORNING SKATE
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. Dea has recorded four points on two goals and two assists in a pair of games this season. Dea, who was also named as one of Rochester’s alternate captains for road games, also shows a team-best plus-five on-ice rating, which is tied for sixth in the AHL with linemate Remi Elie.
Elie tallied a pair of markers in his first game of the season last Wednesday night against Suracuse before adding an assist on Friday against Cleveland. The two-goal outing was the first career multi-goal effort for Elie. He has scored 18 goals in 61 career games with the Amerks since 2017-18.
Despite shuffling between Rochester and the Buffalo Sabres’ taxi squad, forward C.J. Smith enters tonight’s contest with four points through his first two games to start the campaign. Smith, also named as one of the Amerks’ alternate captains for road games, has recorded 133 points (59+74) in 171 career contests since the start of the 2017-18 season.
In their first two games this season, the trio has been on the ice for four of Rochester’s 11 goals while combining for 14 shots, six goals, five assists and a plus-13 on-ice rating.
SCOUTING THE COMETS
The Comets close out their week tonight coming off a 5-2 victory over the Syracuse Crunch last night in their home opener at Adirondack Bank Center.
Utica is one of three teams in the league this season to score two shorthanded goals this season. The Comets have been whistled for 20 penalies through their four games as well as drawn 20.
In his first four games as a Comet, reigining AHL MVP Sam Anas has recorded a team-high six assists, which are tied for most in the AHL. Prior to cancellation last season, Anas led the league in both assists (50) and points (70) through 63 games as member of the Iowa Wild.
WATCH: BRETT MURRAY FOLLOWING MORNING SKATE
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 19 of the last 27 games against Utica dating back to the start of the 2017-18 campaign, going 14-8-2-3 over that span.
Tonight is Rochester’s first Thursday game since Mar. 15, 2018 when they suffered a 6-4 lost at Bridgeport. Additionally, it is the Amerks first Thursday night home contest since the club blanked Abbotsford, 3-0, on Feb. 2, 2012.
Utica forward Sven Baertschi led all scorers in the head-to-head series last season, posting 10 points (4+6) in six games opposite Rochester.