GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS CLOSE OUT BUSY STRETCH TONIGHT IN HERSHEY
Feb 24, 2024TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (24-18-5-2) close out their grueling stretch of seven games in 11 days tonight when they take on the league-leading Hershey Bears (40-9-0-3) in a battle of the AHL’s two oldest teams at 7:00 p.m. All the action from Giant Center will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
The Amerks, who have points in 10 of their last 15 games, currently sit in a third-place tie with the Belleville Senators, six points back of the second-place Syracuse Crunch. The club has one game in hand on Belleville.
Hershey, who last night became the first team this season to reach the 40-win mark, own the league’s best record with a 40-9-0-3 mark through 52 games. The Bears have points in eight of their last 10 contests (7-2-0-1).
HEAD-TO-HEAD RESULTS AGAINST HERSHEY
By earning a win tonight, Rochester would split the season-series with the Bears. The Amerks have posted an even record or better against Hershey in each of last five seasons dating back to the 2018-19 season.
The Amerks have collected at least one point in six of their last 14 games against Hershey overall, going 5-8-1-0 over that span dating back to the start of the 2016-17 campaign.
Tonight’s matchup between the league’s two cornerstone franchises is the first in Hershey since Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals this past spring. The Bears ended Rochester’s longest playoff run in 20 years on their way to capturing their AHL-best 12th Calder Cup.
LAST TIME OUT
Forward Mason Jobst scored for the third straight game but the Amerks fell short in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Belleville Senators Friday night at The Blue Cross Arena.
While Jobst found the back of the net for the third time this week and added his 10th point (6+4) of February, Linus Weissbach and Jeremy Davies both tallied an assist. Weissbach has notched 12 (7+5) of his last 13 points on home ice while Davies has four points (2+2) over his previous five outings.
Goaltender Dustin Tokarski (7-7-3) made his 18th appearance of the campaign and first start at home since Dec. 27. The veteran netminder stopped 32 of the 33 shots he faced prior to the shootout.
THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENSE
Jeremy Davies and Kale Clague are among the AHL’s top scoring defensemen, having combined for 11 goals and 45 points this season.
Davies, who had points in three straight games for the second time this season since closing out the month of October on a five-game point streak, scored his eighth goal of the year in Monday’s 2-1 overtime win at Toronto. He enters the weekend tied for 10th in goals by a defenseman and remains on pace to match the career-high 11 he scored last season. He’s never gone more than four straight games without a point.
Currently on recall with the Buffalo Sabres, Clague is tied for 22nd among all blueliners with 20 assists. With two assists at Utica back on Feb. 14, he has reached the 20-assist mark for the second time in his career and has eclipsed the 20-point mark for the third time since his rookie campaign.
ROUSEK RACKING UP THE POINTS
Lukas Rousek has been one of the team’s most consistent point-getters since the turn of 2024, having recorded points in 15 of 20 games in that stretch while also producing 21 points over his last 26 games since Dec. 20.
Rousek, a sixth-round selection (160th overall) by the Sabres in the 2019 NHL Draft, currently leads the team with 28 assists and 37 points while his nine goals are tied for seventh. Among all Amerks who have appeared in at least 30 games, he is tops in points per game (0.84).
The third-year pro and AHL All-Star saw his career-long point streak come to an end on Jan. 26, stopping at 13 games. He totaled 14 points between Dec. 20 and Jan. 20, the second-longest point streak in the league behind only Toronto’s Alex Steeves, who had a point in 16 straight games.
Rousek’s point streak was the longest by an Amerk in 24 years since Hall of Famer Domenic Pittis had points in 14 straight contests from Jan. 22 to March 4 during the 1999-2000 campaign.
NEW YEAR, NEW NEUCHEV
After producing just five points in his first 23 games, rookie foward Viktor Neuchev has unsurprisingly emerged as Rochester’s top scoring rookie through the middle of February.
Dating back to Dec. 29 and the turn of the New Year, Neuchev has erupted for 14 points on five goals and nine assists over his previous 15 games.
Neuchev has recorded at least one point in eight games over that span, including a season-long six-game point streak from Dec. 29 to Jan. 20 which saw him score three goals and record eight points.
Buffalo’s third-round selection (74th overall) in 2022, Neuchev’s most impressive performance of the season came back on Jan. 27, finding the back of the net for the third time in four games with the game-winning goal while also adding two assists in the 7-4 win over Laval. Since Jan. 6, Neuchev has recorded four multi-point games, which includes a pair of three-point efforts.
Of Neuchev’s seven goals this season, five have been scored on home ice and three have come against Laval. Neuchev, who had a 40-goal season while playing for Russia’s junior league during the 2021-22 campaign, currently leads all Amerks rookies with 19 points (7+12) and 54 shots in 36 games.
FITZPATRICK TAKES HIS PLACE IN HALL OF FAME
The Amerks inducted former defenseman Rory Fitzpatrick into the team’s Hall of Fame on Friday, becoming the 68th member and first-ever Rochester-born player to be enshrined.
The Irondequoit native patrolled the Rochester blueline for parts of five seasons between 2001-02 and 2004-05 followed by another two-year stint from 2008-10 where he would serve as team captain in what would be his final two seasons. In 211 career games in the red, white and blue, Fitzpatrick amassed 50 points (14+36) and 240 penalty minutes while also adding two assists in 13 playoff appearances.
In his five seasons with the Amerks, he was unanimously named the winner of the organization’s McCulloch Trophy for his commitment to the Rochester community on four different occasions, the second-most by any player in the 68-year history of the franchise. He was also twice named Rochester’s AHL Man of the Year for his community service, an award he won in back-to-back years in 2009 and again in 2010.
LEANING ON LEVI
Devon Levi has earned the start in nine of the last 12 games since being reassigned to Rochester on Jan. 20, including five straight to open the month of February. He enters the weekend having won three of his last four and five of his last seven.
Levi, who boasts a 6-3-2 record in 11 appearances with the Amerks, totaled 130 saves on 136 shots he faced over his recent three-game win streak, boasting an impressive 1.95 goals-against average and a .956 save percentage over that span.
His career-high 52 saves in Monday’s overtime win at Toronto were the most by an Amerks goaltender since Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen had 54 in a 2-1 win at Syracuse on Feb. 25, 2022.
Levi, who ranks 12th among rookie netminders with a 2.53 goals-against average, has held the opposition to three or fewer goals in nine of his 11 starts. He’s 6-1-2 this season in those games.
Levi won the Mike Richter Award, given annually to the top goaltender in men’s college hockey, for the second straight year following the 2022-23 season. The only two-time winner in the award’s history, Levi led the nation again with a .933 save percentage, and tied for third in both shutouts (6) and saves (1,183).
TOKARSKI ON THE MOVE
Veteran goaltender Dustin Tokarski, who missed the first eight games of the season due to an injury he sustained in training camp, made his season debut back on Nov. 3 against Utica.
In doing so, the two-time Calder Cup winner and AHL All-Star became just the 18th goaltender in league history to play in 400 career games, a list that also includes former Amerks Bobby Perreault (512), Michael Leighton (507), Drew MacIntyre (440) and Ed Chadwick (417).
Tokarski, who’s in his second stint with the Amerks and 10th different AHL franchise, went 1-1-0 during a brief two-game stint with Rochester as part of the COVID-shortnened 2020-21 campaign. He went 12-20-7 in 42 appearances with the Buffalo Sabres from 2021-23.
Currently in his 15th season, he joins Marcel Paille and Michael Leighton as the only goaltenders all-time to play at least 15 seasons in the AHL.
Tokarski, who’s 7-7-3 in his first 18 appearances, surpassed the 10,000-save mark for his AHL career following a 31-save effort against Utica on Nov. 10. He also reached the 12,000-save mark for his pro career the week prior when he made his season debut against the Comets.
Entering tonight, the 34-year-old Tokarski is six wins away from tying Red Almas for 11th all-time in career wins (218). He’s also two games away from tying Neil Little for 15th all-time (419) and will tie Yann Danis for eighth all-time on his next shutout.
A (JOB)ST WELL DONE
Amerks forward Mason Jobst enters tonight with 19 points (9+10) over his last 20 games, the most by an Amerk since the turn of the new year. Jobst, who appeared in his 200th professional game at Utica on Feb. 14, recorded a career-best three-assist outing last Friday against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and followed that up by scoring goals in three straight games, including his his career-high 16th goal of the season last nigtht against Belleville.
After closing out the 2022-23 campaign with career-highs in all offensive categories, the fifth-year forward has already surpassed his goal total in 18 fewer games this season. Jobst, who is the second Amerk this season to reach the 30-point mark, is second on the team in goals (16) and points (34) while his 18 assists are second-most amongst all Rochester forwards.
In 205 career games, all in the American Hockey League with Rochester, San Jose, Bridgeport, and Binghamton, the Ohio State product has notched 45 goals and 65 assists for 110 points.
SCOUTING THE BEARS
The Bears became the first team to reach the 40-win mark this season following their AHL-best 22nd home win over W-B/Scranton last night.
Hershey, which comes into the matchup having won 11 of its last 14 games dating back to Jan. 19, leads the AHL in wins (40) and have only nine regulation losses through 52 games this season, marking their best start in franchise history.
The Bears, who haven’t suffered a loss in back-to-back games all year, are one of only five teams to have scored at least 171 goals on the seaosnjoin the Texas Stars as the only two teams across the AHL to score more than 100 goals on the season. More impressively, Hershey has outscored the opposition 171-111 through its first 52 games this season, which includes 87-44 on home ice.
Hershey owns the top goaltending tandem in the AHL in rookie netminder Clay Stevenson and reigning AHL Playoff MVP Hunter Shephard, who have combined for 38 of the team’s 40 wins and anchor a stingy Hershey defense that has allowed the second-fewest goals-against in the league (111). Shepard currently ranks fourth in the AHL with 20 wins, matching the mark in nine fewer games than last season, while Stevenson’s six shutouts are the most amongst all AHL rookie netminders.
Pierrick Dube, who’s currently on recall with Washington, is tied for second in the AHL with 24 goals, while veteran forward Mike Sgarbossa, who’s in his sixth season with the Bears and also presently with the Capitals, is tied for ninth in overall scoring with 43 points (7+36) in 44 games this season.
Rochester Americans vs Hershey Bears: Head To Head Stats
Summary
|
Description |
Result |
|
| Head to Head Record 2023-24 Regular Season | Rochester 0-1-0-0 | Hershey 1-0-0-0 |
| Head to Head Record 2022-23 Regular Season | Rochester 1-1-0-0 | Hershey 1-0-0-1 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Rochester 4-3-0-0 | Hershey 3-3-0-1 |
| Rochester vs. Hershey Last 5 Years record at Rochester | Rochester 3-1-0-0 | Hershey 1-2-0-1 |
| Rochester vs. Hershey Last 5 Years record at Hershey | Rochester 1-2-0-0 | Hershey 2-1-0-0 |
| Previous Meetings This Season | Hershey 4 @ Rochester 2 (Dec 29 2023) Final |
How the two teams match up
|
Hershey |
Rochester |
|
| Team Record | 40-9-0-3 -- 83 points | 24-18-5-2 -- 55 points |
| Division Ranking | 1st Atlantic | 4th North |
| Conference Ranking | 1st Eastern | 8th Eastern |
| League Ranking | 1st | 14th |
| Past 10 Games | 7-2-0-1 | 4-3-2-1 |
| Streak | 3-0-0-1 | 0-1-0-1 |
| Last Game | 4-1 W vs Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Feb 23 2024) Final | 2-1 L vs Belleville (Feb 23 2024) Final SO |
| Home Record | 22-4-0-0 | 10-10-3-1 |
| Away Record | 18-5-0-3 | 14-8-2-1 |
| GF | 171 | 156 |
| GA | 111 | 174 |
| PP (Overall) | (40/180) 22.2% | (29/158) 18.4% |
| PP (Home) | (20/91) 22.0% | (10/74) 13.5% |
| PP (Away) | (20/89) 22.5% | (19/84) 22.6% |
| PK (Overall) | (23/186) 87.6% | (35/170) 79.4% |
| PK (Home) | (8/90) 91.1% | (16/72) 77.8% |
| PK (Away) | (15/96) 84.4% | (19/98) 80.6% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (1/2) 50% | (1/3) 33.3% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (1/3) 66.7% | (1/2) 50% |
| Leading Rookie | Miroshnichenko (9-16-25) | Neuchev (7-12-19) |
| Most PIM | McIlrath - 71 | Davies - 63 |
| Team PIM/GM | 9.5/Game | 11.0/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Sgarbossa (7-36-43) | Rousek (9-28-37) |
| Snively (10-32-42) | Jobst (16-18-34) | |
| Limoges (14-22-36) | Biro (12-17-29) | |
| Frank (21-14-35) | Rosen (11-17-28) | |
| Dubé (24-10-34) | Kulich (17-10-27) | |
| Last 5 Games | 4-1 W vs Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Feb 23 2024) Final | 2-1 L vs Belleville (Feb 23 2024) Final SO |
| 3-2 L @ Laval (Feb 21 2024) Final SO | 4-1 L vs Belleville (Feb 21 2024) Final | |
| 4-2 W @ Belleville (Feb 19 2024) Final | 2-1 W @ Toronto (Feb 19 2024) Final OT | |
| 3-2 W @ Toronto (Feb 17 2024) Final OT | 7-3 L vs Utica (Feb 18 2024) Final | |
| 6-3 L @ Springfield (Feb 10 2024) Final | 5-3 W vs Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Feb 16 2024) Final | |
| Leading After 1st | 21-1-0-1 | 11-4-1-1 |
| Leading After 2nd | 29-0-0-1 | 14-0-0-1 |
| Tied After 1st | 16-3-0-1 | 5-6-2-1 |
| Tied After 2nd | 8-3-0-1 | 6-5-4-0 |
| Trailing After 1st | 3-5-0-1 | 8-8-2-0 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 3-6-0-1 | 4-13-1-1 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 19-3-0-2 | 8-7-1-0 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 20-5-0-1 | 15-10-4-2 |
| 1-Goal Games | 18-1-0-3 | 15-3-5-2 |
| 2-Goal Games | 9-2-0-0 | 4-5-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 6-5-0-0 | 2-3-0-0 |
Rochester Americans
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | Tyson Jost | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -1 |
| 13 | Linus Weissbach | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 79 | Viktor Neuchev | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 11 | Lukas Rousek | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Brandon Biro | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 78 | X Jacob Bryson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Joseph Cecconi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 21 | X Filip Cederqvist | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 56 | X Kale Clague | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 1 | Devin Cooley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Jeremy Davies | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 26 | Mason Jobst | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 44 | Tyson Kozak | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 28 | Michael Mersch | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 81 | Brett Murray | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 74 | Nikita Novikov | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 18 | Isak Rosen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 61 | Riley Stillman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | Brendan Warren | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Devin Cooley | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 58:51 | 3 | 3.06 | 0.909 |
Hershey Bears
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | Mike Vecchione | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 65 | Garrett Roe | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Lucas Johansen | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 23 | X Mike Sgarbossa | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 44 | Bogdan Trineyev | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 28 | Ethen Frank | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 38 | Henrik Rybinski | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 21 | Joe Snively | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Riley Sutter | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 26 | Logan Day | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | X Pierrick Dubé | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Hardy Häman Aktell | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 25 | Ryan Hofer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 | Jimmy Huntington | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Vincent Iorio | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 12 | Alex Limoges | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | Aaron Ness | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 22 | Chase Priskie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | Clay Stevenson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | Clay Stevenson | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 59:51 | 2 | 2.00 | 0.929 |