GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS BEGIN HECTIC STRETCH TONIGHT AGAINST ROCKET
Feb 24, 2023TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (23-20-3-1) embark on their busiest stretch of the season and open their second straight three-game weekend tonight against the North Division rival Laval Rocket (21-20-7-2) at The Blue Cross Arena. All the action will be carried on 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV. It will also be televised locally on tape-delay on CW Rochester.
Tonight's matchup is the fifth between the two teams this season and the third in Rochester. Following tonight's contest, the North Division rivals will meet twice more north of the border to begin March as the Amerks make their final trip to Laval before concluding the season series on March 15.
HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPSHOT
After the Amerks claimed the first three meetings in 2021-22, the Rocket have responded with points in seven of the previous nine meetings between the two teams, posting a 6-2-1-0 record over that span.
Both teams show a 2-2-0-0 mark through the first four games of the season series, each winning once at home and on the road. Anders Bjork leads all Rochester skaters with four points (2+2) in four games.
Rochester boasts an 19-8-1-0 record all-time against the Rocket, which includes a near-perfect 9-3-0-0 mark at home dating back to the start of the 2017-18 campaign.
LAST TIME OUT
The Amerks forced overtime to earn one point against the Syracuse Crunch but were unable to fully complete the comeback as they fell 3-2 in the extra frame in the weekend finale this past Sunday at The Blue Cross Arena.
Forward Vinnie Hinostroza scored his fifth goal of the season and third against Syracuse from Sean Malone while Jiri Kulich notched his 12th. Anders Bjork and Isak Rosen both recorded an assist on Kulich’s marker.
Goaltender Michael Houser (5-5-1) made consecutive starts at home for the first time since making three straight between May 14-16 to close out the condensed 2020-21 season. Over his last three appearances, Houser, who made 26 saves, has posted a 2-0-1 record. Last Friday's game against Toronto marked Houser's 100th AHL appearance.
SUBBAN SHOULDERING THE WORKLOAD
After suffering a defeat in his season-debut on Nov. 18, Subban has gone 11-9-1 since over his last 21 starts, including seven straight wins between Dec. 10 to Jan. 14. The seven-game win streak was the longest of his pro career and the third-longest streak among all AHL goaltenders behind Toronto's Joseph Woll and Calgary's Dustin Wolf.
He was the first Amerks goaltender to post seven straight wins since Jonas Johansson won nine consecutive contests during the 2019-20 campaign.
Subban had arguably his best performance of the season during a 75-save weekend in Rochester’s two-game sweep over the Charlotte Checkers in mid-December. A night after stopping a regular-season career-high 45 saves, Subban was flawless in a 30-save shutout on Dec. 17, his first in the AHL since April 8, 2017, with the Providence Bruins.
Subban, who picked up his 100th career win in the 5-4 overtime victory over Utica on Dec. 28, has topped the 30-save mark six times in his last 17 starts.
BIRO PILING UP THE POINTS
Despite missing six games due to injury, third-year forward Brandon Biro has blazed his way atop the team's scoring lead following a productive December in which he led the team with 16 points (6+10) in 10 games. He recorded multi-point efforts in seven of his 10 appearances, including six straight between Dec. 9 and Dec. 30 before closing out the month with an assist in the 3-2 win in Toronto.
Biro, who made his NHL debut with the Buffalo Sabres last season, currently shares the team lead in points (31) and ranks second in assists (22) through 37 games and his seven-game point streak to close out the 2022 calendar year was the longest of his career.
Dating back to last season, Biro has totaled 72 points on 21 goals and 51 assists over his last 85 games and hasn't gone more than seven games without a point since Nov. 27, 2021.
JOBST HAVING A CAREER YEAR
Mason Jobst has made the most of his second opportunity with the Amerks as the fourth-year pro is in the process of assembling a career-year.
Through 37 games this season, the Speedway, Indiana, native has already established career-highs in all offensive categories, including goals (7), assists (13) and points (20).
With an assist in the 5-4 overtime win in Belleville on Feb. 4, Jobst reached the 20-point mark for the first time in his pro career, becoming then the ninth different Amerk to eclipse the mark.
Since the turn of the New Year, Jobst has amassed four goals and seven points over his previous 11 games, including his first career hat trick in the 7-5 loss to the first-place Toronto Marlies back on Jan. 14. Jobst single-handedly outscored Toronto in the second period with back-to-back goals before netting what was the go-ahead goal in the third period.
Jobst has totaled 33 points (11+12) over 63 career games with the Amerks dating back to last season.
PROWESS ON THE BLUELINE
Entering the Jan. 19 game against Laval, Ethan Prow was the only Amerks defenseman to appear in every game this season. Overall, he has skated in 116 of the 122 games dating back to the start of the 2021-22 campaign.
In 46 games this season, Prow is tied for 17th in scoring amongst all AHL defensemen with 27 points while his team-high 23 assists are currently tied for 12th-most at his position. This season marks the fourth straight in which the veteran defenseman has reached the 20-assist mark and the fifth consecutive year with 20 or more points, which includes an abbreviated campaign overseas in 2020-21.
The seventh-year pro has posted 15 points (2+13) in his last 21 outings dating back to Dec. 28 and comes into tonight with eight assists over his last 11 games.
He leads all Amerks defensemen with five multi-point outings, including a two-goal effort in the 4-3 win at Syracuse back on Jan. 7, and has never gone more than five games all season without a point.
SERIES NOTABLES
So far this season, the Amerks have used 36 different players. All but four players have recorded a point while 23 have scored. Laval, meanwhile, has used 37 players of which 33 have at least one point and 28 have scored.
Laval's goaltending duo of Kevin Poulin and Cayden Primeau have a combined 9-8-1 record in 18 career games against Rochester. Michael Houser (1-0-0) has faced Laval twice during the regular season and appeared in two games during last year's playoff run.
Laval forward Anthony Richard has a team-best 23 goals and 50 points in 43 games. Earlier this season, he posted the second-longest goal-scoring streak in the AHL and his eight-game point streak was tied for the eighth-longest. A 2023 AHL All-Star selection, Richard has eight points (1+7) over his last five outings and enters the weekend tied for sixth in the AHL in goals and eighth in points, respectively.
Rocket goaltender Cayden Primeau who is currently in his fourth season with Laval, is the nephew of former Amerk Wayne Primeau, a member of the 1996 Calder Cup-winning team.