AMERKS TOPPLE COMETS TO EXTEND HOME POINTS STREAK
Rosen scores twice to reach 20-goal mark, Aube-Kubel notches two points in Amerks debut
Jan 29, 2025Thirteen different Rochester Americans (25-12-3-1) recorded at least one point and six produced multi-point efforts in a 7-4 throttling of the Utica Comets (14-21-2-2) Wednesday at Blue Cross Arena.
GAME SUMMARY PHOTO GALLERY POST-GAME REPORT
With the win, the Amerks, who have an 8-1-0-0 mark against the Comets through the first nine games of the season series, have won 17 of their last 23 contests while earning at least one point in 28 of their last 37 games dating back to Oct. 23. Rochester has outscored Utica 40-21 on the campaign, which includes a six, seven and an eight-goal performance, while also going 4-0-0-1 in its last five home games overall.
Isak Rosén (2+0), who after tonight is tied for fourth in the AHL in goals (20), scored twice to reach the 20-goal mark for the second consecutive season while becoming the first Amerk to do so in 2024-25. Riley Fiddler-Schultz, Nikita Novikov, and Nicolas Aubé-Kubel, who made his Amerks debut after being loaned by the Buffalo Sabres earlier in the week, each chipped in a goal and assist while Zachary Metsa and Josh Dunne tallied a pair of helpers in the win. Jack Rathbone, Lukas Rousek, Ryan Johnson, Mason Jobst, and Kale Clague all posted an assist while Viktor Neuchev and Anton Wahlberg rounded out the scoring with their seventh goals of the season.
Goaltender Devon Levi improved to 13-4-2 through his first 19 appearances with Rochester this season. The netminder, who has helped the Amerks to at least one standings point in 35 of his 45 games since making his debut in December of 2023, finished with 22 saves.
FIRST PERIOD
Early in the first period, Rochester drew the game’s initial penalty at the 4:53 mark before the home club capitalized while on the man-advantage.
After his shot went wide of Comets goaltender Nico Daws, Rosén stepped in front of an attempted clearing attempt by Utica before the Swedish forward rifled a shot past the netminder for his team-leading 19th goal of the season. The unassisted tally 63 seconds into the power-play was his fourth on the man-advantage in his last five games since Jan. 19.
While Utica evened the score at one on Nolan Foote’s marker, the Amerks scored twice in a span of 1:23 to take a 3-1 lead.
The first of the two tallies came following Dunne’s face-off win from the left dot inside the Utica zone after he won the draw back to Metsa. The Amerks’ second-year blueliner snapped a shot towards Daws, and as the rebound sat atop the crease, Aubé-Kubel tucked it between the legs of the goaltender for his first with the Amerks and first in the AHL since Nov. 1, 2023.
To close out the frame, Rathbone provided Fiddler-Schultz with an outlet pass near the center ice. The Edmonton, Alberta, native dumped the puck down the right wall before Neuchev stripped a Comet to gain possession as he flashed towards Daws. The Russian winger raced in-between the hashmarks and then snapped a shot through the pads to double the Amerks lead with 6:51 left in the frame.
SECOND PERIOD
While Utica was unable to capitalize on its first two power-plays of the night, they scored moments after each opportunity to tie the score at 3-3 on Nathan Légaré and Adam Beckman’s goals.
On the ensuing shift after Beckman’s goal at the 11:15 mark, Vsevolod Komarov handed the puck to his left for Clague to begin an outlet pass from just inside the Amerks zone. Jobst was on the receiving end of the feed before he moved it to Wahlberg, who was tripped as he was on the way to the net. As the 19-year-old winger was falling to ice, he tucked in a shot past the glove of Daws to restore the Rochester lead.
THIRD PERIOD
Holding a 4-3 cushion to start the final period, Rochester upped its lead by a pair of goals just 71 seconds into the frame as Rosén fired a long-range shot from just inside the right point from Metsa and Novikov.
Nearly two minutes later while on a delayed Utica penalty, Johnson sent a pass off the end boards to Rousek from the top of the Comets blueline. After retrieving the feed, Rousek centered it into the center of the zone for Fiddler-Schultz to make it a three-goal game 3:15 into the stanza.
The Amerks capped the scoring on the night as Novikov grabbed a pass from Aubé-Kubel at the left point, skated towards the middle of the ice and threaded a shot through multiple screens out in front of Daws with 10:22 remaining.
Joseph Gambardella brought Utica within three as he scored his fourth of the season from former Amerks defenseman Austin Strand, however, it would be as close as they came before the final horn sounded.
STARS AND STRIPES
Brett Murray, who was named to the AHL All-Star Roster earlier in the week, became the 24th different Amerk to appear in at least 300 games with the franchise … The Amerks improved to 8-0-0-0 when defenseman Nikita Novikov has scored a goal since the start of the 2023-24 season … Including tonight, Isak Rosén, who has scored each of Rochester’s last three game-winning goals, has four this season, which is tied for the team-lead with Murray.
UP NEXT
The Amerks conclude the month of January with the front-end of a home-and-home with the Syracuse Crunch on Friday, Jan. 31 at The Blue Cross Arena. Game time is slated for a 7:05 p.m. start and will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV on FloHockey.
Goal Scorers
UTC: N. Foote (12), N. Légaré (5), A. Beckman (8), J. Gambardella (4)
ROC: I. Rosén (19, 20 – GWG), N. Aubé-Kubel (1), V. Neuchev (7), A. Wahlberg (7), R. Fiddler-Schultz (9), N. Novikov (5)
Goaltenders
UTC: N. Daws – 23/30 (L)
ROC: D. Levi – 22/26 (W)
Shots
UTC: 26
ROC: 30
Special Teams
UTC: PP (0/3) | PK (0/1)
ROC: PP (1/1) | PK (3/3)
Three Stars:
1. ROC - R. Fiddler-Schultz
2. ROC - I. Rosén
3. ROC - N. Aubé-Kubel