AMERKS OPEN BUSY WEEK TONIGHT IN UTICA

Mar 10, 2021

TONIGHT'S GAME OVERIEW

The Rochester Americans (6-3-0-0) begin a busy stretch of three games in four nights tonight when they meet up with the intrastate rival Utica Comets (5-2-0-1) in a North Divison showdown at the Adirondack Bank Center.

The 7:00 p.m. contest will be the fifth of 14 scheduled meetings between the two teams. Rochester is 2-2-0-0 in the season series against the Comets after doubling up Utica with a 4-2 decision in the teams’ previous get-together last Wednesday. 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

A second-period surge and a three-point night from leading point-getter Jean-Sebastien Dea would solidify the Amerks’ sixth win of the year and third over the Syracuse Crunch in a 4-2 victory over their North Division rivals Saturday at Upstate University Medical Arena.

With the win Saturday night, the Amerks pushed their record to 15-8-1-1 in their last 25 games against the Crunch.

Forwards Andrew Oglevie (1+0) and Arttu Ruotsalainen (1+0) both notched their third goals of the season, respectively, while Jack Quinn and defenseman Casey Fitzgerald each chipped in an assist. Rookie blueliner Mattias Samuelsson added a pair of assists on the night for his first two-assist game of his career and second multi-point outing of the campaign overall.

Captain Steven Fogarty (1+0) tallied his fifth goal of the year – and fourth on the power-play – in just nine games, a mark that just last season took him 20 games to reach. The veteran forward is now tied for the league lead in power-play goals this season.

For the second consecutive game, goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (5-2-0) recorded a win for his fifth of the season while stopping 27 of the 29 shots he faced. Luukkonen is tied for fourth in the AHL in wins and has made 30 or more saves in four of his last six appearances dating back to a career-best 43-save performance at Cleveland on Feb. 12.

WATCH: SETH APPERT AFTER MORNING SKATE

POWER UP

Nine games into the campaign, Rochester’s power-play has gone 12-for-38 with a 31.6% conversion rate that is currently third-best in the AHL. The Amerks’ 12 goals on the man-advantage are tied with Stockton for the most in the league coming into tonight.

The Amerks have scored at least one power-play goal in seven of their first nine games this season and have registered multiple power-play tallies in five of their last eight outings overall.

THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENSE

Rochester owns three of the AHL’s top scoring rookie defensemen in Oskari Laaksonen, Mattias Samuelsson and Ryan Jones, all of whom have combined for 17 points (2+15) while appearing in all nine games so far this season.

Laaksonen is currently tied for the league-lead in assists among all first-year defensemen while also having the seventh-most points. He has points in five of his first nine games, including a season-high three assists in the 4-3 overtime win over Syracuse back on Feb. 10.

Samuelsson has recorded three assists in his last two appearances.

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).

Jack Quinn, Buffalo’s eighth overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, rounds out Rochester’s rookie class this season. The highly touted 19-year-old is coming off an explosive 52-goal season for the Ottawa 67’s in 2019-20, during which he became just the eighth player since 2000-01 to reach the 50-goal mark in his NHL Draft Year. He finished the season second in the Ontario Hockey League in goals and tied for fifth with 15 power-play tallies while also adding 37 assists.

He made his professional debut with Rochester back on Feb. 18 against Utica, recording an assist on the game-tying third-period goal before scoring the shootout-clinching goal on a dazzling effort in the second round. Quinn is the third eighth overall pick of the Sabres in the last five years to spend time in Rochester, joining Alexander Nylander  (2016) and Casey Mittelstadt (2017), and the second to make his pro debut with the Amerks following Nylander, who spent parts of three seasons in Rochester.

STAND AND DEA-LIVER

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 the team’s top point-getter this season. By posting a season-high three points on a goal and two assists Saturday in Syracuse, the Laval, Quebec, native became the first Amerks skater this season to reach double digits in points with 12 (4+8) through eight games.

Dea, who has notched at least one point in seven of his first eight games this season, has already recorded four multi-point games after posting six in 57 contests last season. Averaging more than a point per game, Dea is tied for third in the AHL in points and ninth in assists (8). He also paces all Rochester skaters with an on-ice rating of plus-seven, which ranks 17th among league leaders in that category.

FINN-ISHING TOUCH

In his first season in North America, forward Arttu Ruotsalainen has posted seven points through his first nine games on three goals and four assists. The Oulu, Finland, native began the slate by recording a point in each of his first four games and comes into the week riding a three-game point streak, including goals in back-to-back games for the first time this season.

Luukkonen, who’s started four straight and seven of the last eight games for Rochester, is tied for fourth among all goaltenders with four wins.

SCOUTING THE COMETS

but have won four of its last six games. The Comets, who boast a 4-1-1-0 record since suffering a 6-1 loss on Feb. 6, have scored 31 goals this season, which is tied for fourth in the North Division. Utica has only played in eight games this season, which are fewest in the Divison thus far this season

Utica’s well-balanced offense features four different players with seven or more points. Among those include third-year pro Jonah Gadjovich, who’s currently tied for third in the AHL with a team-high seven goals, five of which have come against Rochester. He’s found the back of the net in each game against the Amerks this season, including twice back on Feb. 26.

SERIES NOTABLES

Amerks defenseman Dylan Blujus spent the past three seasons with the Comets, recording 33 points (9+24) in 123 games. Utica assistant coach Daniel Tkaczuk had a brief seven-game stint with the Amerks in 2009-10.

Rochester has collected at least one point in 21 of the last 30 games against Utica dating back to the start of the 2017-18 campaign, going 16-9-2-3 over that span.

The Amerks and Comets come into the matchup ranked first and second in the North Division with a 31.6% and 25.0% success rate on the power-play, respectively. They’re also the only two teams in the division to record double digits in power-play goals (12, ROC) (10, UTI).