GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS CLOSE OUT HOMESTAND TONIGHT AGAINST CRUNCH
Jan 31, 2024TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
he Rochester Americans (20-14-3-1) bring the month of January to a close close tonight when they host the intrastate rival Syracuse Crunch (23-13-2-2) in the finale of a four-game homestand at The Blue Cross Arena. The North Division showdown will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester and will be televised live on CW Rochester.
The Amerks, who won four of their last five games and collected points in eight of their last 10 overall, enter the week in third place in the AHL’s North Division standings, six back of Syracuse. Rochester, however, has two games in hand on the Crunch coming into the week.
Syracuse, which is 7-3-0-0 over its last 10 games, is looking to avoid back-to-back regulation losses for the first time since the final week of December.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RESULTS AGAINST SYRACUSE
The season series has favored the visiting team as all four meetings thus far has been won by the road team. Rochester is also looking for its first regulation win over the Crunch this season.
The Amerks have scored at least one power-play goal in 24 of their 40 games (34-for-141) against Syracuse since Seth Appert took over as head coach prior to the 2020-21 season.
Isak Rosen leads the Amerks with four points (1+3) against Syracuse this season, having recorded at least one point in three of the first four games opposite the Crunch. Veteran netminder Dustin Tokarski has posted back-to-back wins against his former team, with both coming in Syracuse.
LAST TIME OUT
The Amerks erupted for a season-high four goals in the first period and never looked back on their way to a decisive 7-4 win over the Laval Rocket Saturday at The Blue Cross Arena.
Tyson Jost (0+3), Brett Murray (2+2) and Viktor Neuchev (1+2) combined for 10 points while Linus Weissbach (1+1), Mason Jobst (0+2) and Nikita Novikov (1+1) also turned in multi-point efforts. Justin Richards and Michael Mersch both scored their fifth and sixth goals of the season, respectively, while Zach Metsa and Kale Clague chipped in an assist.
Goaltender Eric Comrie (3-1-0) made his fourth appearance with Rochester, turning aside 31 of the 35 shots he faced to pick up his third win of the year.
THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENSE
Jeremy Davies and Kale Clague are among the AHL’s top scoring defensemen, having combined for eight goals and 37 points this season despite Davies missing the past four games due to injury.
Davies, who scored a career-high 11 goals last season, including three game-winning tallies, is tied for 16th amongst all defensemen with 83 shots. He’s recorded at least one shot in all but three games this season. Davies, who closed out the month of October on a five-game point streak, has recorded one point in 15 of his first 33 games this season, never going more than four straight games without a point.
Clague, meanwhile, is tied for 18th among all blueliners with 17 assists. With an assist this past Saturday against Laval, Clague has now reached the 20-point mark in all three seasons in which he’s played at least 35 games.
DYNAMIC DUO: ALL-STAR BOUND
Jiri Kulich and Isak Rosen both return for their second seasons in Rochester after putting up one of the most impressive and productive seasons as teenagers in the history of the AHL during the 2022-23 campaign. Both were named to the North Division All-Star roster for the upcoming 2024 AHL All-Star Classic, which will take place this weekend in San Jose, Cali.
Kulich’s torrid start to the season has him tied for 15th in the AHL with a team-high 16 goals despite having only appeared in 30 games for Rochester. Among the players ahead of him, all but one have skated in at least 31 games. Of his 16 goals, four of them have been overtime game-winners, most in the league in that category. Only Ontario’s Samuel Fagemo, who has 20 goals in 24 games this season and is currently on recall with the LA Kings, has scored more goals in fewer games across the AHL than Kulich.
Kulich, whose 24 goals last season were the second-most ever by an 18-year-old in league history, recently captained Czechia to a bronze medal at the 2024 World Junior Championship. He led all Czech skaters and tied for first in overall scoring with 12 points (6+6) in seven games, including his second four-point outing of the tournament in the bronze medal game.
He was named to the tournament’s All-Star Team for the second straight year in his final appearance. The 8-5 win, which saw Czechia overcome a 5-2 deficit with four goals in less than a minute, gave the Czechs their second straight medal finish after winning silver last year.
With 13 points over his last 21 games, which includes a career-best four point (2+2) effort on Nov. 18, Rosen has a share of the team scoring lead with 26 points after returning from a seven-game stint with the Sabres last month. He is third amongst all Amerks in goals (10) and has matched his totaled from last season in game-winning tallies through just 34 games.
Back on Nov. 25, Kulich and Rosen both made their NHL debuts with the Buffalo Sabres against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center
The duo have combined for 133 points (64+69) in 191 regular season games. Rochester boasts an impressive 22-3-2-1 record when they each record at least one point in the same game as well as a near-perfect 8-1-0-0 mark when they both score in the same game.
ROUSEK RACKING UP THE POINTS
Lukas Rousek has been the team’s most consistent point-getter over the last month, performing at nearly a point-per-game pace as he shows 26 points (7+19) in 33 games with the Amerks.
Rousek, a sixth-round selection (160th overall) by the Sabres in the 2019 NHL Draft, has a team-best 19 assists and is tied with Rosen for the overall scoring lead while his seven goals are sixth. Among all Amerks who have appeared in at least 28 games, he is third in points per game (0.79).
The third-year pro and AHL All-Star saw his career-long 13-game point streak come to an end last Friday night. Dating back to Dec. 20, he totaled 14 points (4+10). It marked the longest point streak in the league with only Toronto’s Alex Steeves having posted a longer point streak (16 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. Since the start of 2021-22 season, Rousek has recorded 86 points (24+62) in 122 games.
APPERT REACHES CENTURY MARK
The 3-2 win at Charlotte on Jan. 12 was a milestone win for Seth Appert, who became just the seventh head coach in the 68-year history of the franchise to reach 100 career victories with Rochester. He joins an impressive list that includes the likes of Amerks Hall of Famers Randy Cunneyworth, John Van Boxmeer, Joe Crozier, Mike Keenan, Chris Taylor and Brian McCutcheon.
On Dec. 16 against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Appert also became the seventh head coach in team history to be behind Rochester’s bench for 200 games.
Since the 2020-21 season, Appert has guided the Amerks to a 104-85-18-8 record as well as two straight playoff appearances, which included a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2023.
It was the team’s deepest playoff run in nearly 20 years and their first to the Conference Finals since the 2004 Calder Cup Playoffs.
NEW YEAR, NEW NEUCHEV
After producing just five points in his first 22 games, rookie foward Viktor Neuchev has unsurpsingly emerged as one of the team’s leading scorers through the month of January.
Dating back to Dec. 29 and the turn of the New Year, Neuchev has erupted for 11 points on four goals and seven assists over his previous eight games, easily making him a contender for the AHL’s Rookie of the Month for January.
Neuchev has recorded at least one point in seven 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 this past weekend, finding the back of the net for the third time in four games with the game-winning goal along with two assists in the 7-4 win over Laval. The three-point effort marked a season-high and was Neuchev’s third multi-point outing in six games to begin the 2024 calendar year.
Of Neuchev’s six goals this season, five have been scored on home ice and three have come against Laval.
He currently leads all Amerks rookies with 16 points (6+10) in 29 games.
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 7-6-2 in his first 15 starts, 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 this week, the 34-year-old Tokarski is six wins away from tying Red Almas for 11th all-time in career wins (218). He’s also one game away from tying Neil Little for 16th all-time (415) and will tie Yann Danis for eighth all-time on his next shutout.
A JOLT OF JOST
Rochester’s forward group was bolstered at the end of the 2023 calendar year with the addition of veteran forward Tyson Jost, a former first-round selection (10th overall) of the Colorado Avalanche in the 2016 NHL Draft.
The St. Albert, Alberta, native made his Amerks debut on Dec. 29 against Hershey and has since recorded 10 points (2+8) through his first 11 games, having earned at least one point in all but five games thus far.
Jost has totaled 17 points (7+10) in 24 career AHL games with the Amerks, San Antonio Rampage and Colorado Eagles over parts of three seasons. He’s also recorded 138 points (56+82) over 442 career NHL games for Buffalo, Minnesota and Colorado, including 29 this season with the Sabres.
Jost spent one season at the University of North Dakota in 2016-17, amassing 35 points (16+19) in 33 games. He finished the campaign second on the club in both assists and points while ranking third in goals.
Before joining North Dakota, Jost totaled 149 points (97+65) in 97 career contests with the Penticton Vees (BCHL) from 2013-2016. During his final season, Jost was named Hockey Canada’s Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) National Player of the Year, as well as the CJHL’s MVP and Top Forward. Additionally, he was also named the BCHL MVP as he amassed 42 goals and 104 points in 48 games, leading the BCHL in assists (62).
Internationally, Jost led Canada at the 2016 Under-18 World Championship in Grand Forks, where he set a new Canadian scoring record with 15 points in seven games. He led the tournament in scoring and was named the Top Forward while also earning a gold medal with Canada at the 2015 World Junior ‘A’ Challenge.
SABRES, AMERKS SWAP GOALIES
Earlier this week, the Buffalo Sabres loaned rookie goaltender Devin Levi from Buffalo and recalled netminder Eric Comrie to the big club.
Levi, who is 2-1-0 in three starts with the Amerks, joins Eric Comrie, Michael Houser, Devin Cooley and Dustin Tokarski to man the blue paint for Rochester this season. It marks the third straight year Rochester has had five or more goaltenders play in its net and first since a three-year stretch between 1995 and 1998.
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. Levi is the only two-time winner in the award’s history, which was introduced in 2014 and named in honor of former Wisconsin goaltender and Stanley Cup champion Mike Richter.
He led the nation again with a .933 save percentage, one year after he set the second-best mark in NCAA history with a .952 save percentage. He tied for third in the nation in both shutouts (6) and saves (1,183). Levi’s 16-career shutouts are a Northeastern University school record.
The Quebec native finished his two seasons at Northeastern with a 38-22-6 record and 16 shutouts in 66 career appearances.
Syracuse Crunch vs Rochester Americans: Head To Head Stats
Summary
|
Description |
Result |
|
| Head to Head Record 2023-24 Regular Season | Syracuse 2-0-1-1 | Rochester 2-2-0-0 |
| Head to Head Record 2022-23 Regular Season | Syracuse 6-5-1-0 | Rochester 6-3-2-1 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Syracuse 26-15-6-2 | Rochester 23-19-6-1 |
| Syracuse vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Syracuse | Syracuse 10-9-4-2 | Rochester 15-9-1-0 |
| Syracuse vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Rochester | Syracuse 16-6-2-0 | Rochester 8-10-5-1 |
| Previous Meetings This Season | Syracuse 3 @ Rochester 1 (Dec 27 2023) Final Rochester 3 @ Syracuse 2 (Dec 23 2023) Final OT Rochester 5 @ Syracuse 4 (Nov 4 2023) Final SO Syracuse 7 @ Rochester 2 (Nov 1 2023) Final |
How the two teams match up
|
Rochester |
Syracuse |
|
| Team Record | 20-14-3-1 -- 44 points | 23-13-2-2 -- 50 points |
| Division Ranking | 3rd North | 2nd North |
| Conference Ranking | 9th Eastern | 5th Eastern |
| League Ranking | 18th | 8th |
| Past 10 Games | 7-2-1-0 | 7-3-0-0 |
| Streak | 1-0-0-0 | 0-1-0-0 |
| Last Game | 7-4 W vs Laval (Jan 27 2024) Final | 3-1 L @ Utica (Jan 27 2024) Final |
| Home Record | 9-7-2-0 | 12-5-2-1 |
| Away Record | 11-7-1-1 | 11-8-0-1 |
| GF | 128 | 128 |
| GA | 140 | 109 |
| PP (Overall) | (23/117) 19.7% | (27/153) 17.6% |
| PP (Home) | (8/51) 15.7% | (14/76) 18.4% |
| PP (Away) | (15/66) 22.7% | (13/77) 16.9% |
| PK (Overall) | (33/139) 76.3% | (26/171) 84.8% |
| PK (Home) | (15/55) 72.7% | (12/71) 83.1% |
| PK (Away) | (18/84) 78.6% | (14/100) 86.0% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (2/10) 20% | (2/11) 18.2% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (2/11) 81.8% | (2/10) 80% |
| Leading Rookie | Neuchev (6-10-16) | Groshev (9-12-21) |
| Most PIM | Stillman - 45 | Element - 70 |
| Team PIM/GM | 11.7/Game | 13.8/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Rosen (10-16-26) | Goncalves (7-28-35) |
| Rousek (7-19-26) | Thompson (4-24-28) | |
| Kulich (16-8-24) | Robert (11-15-26) | |
| Biro (11-12-23) | Chaffee (11-14-25) | |
| Jobst (9-14-23) | Dumont (9-13-22) | |
| Last 5 Games | 7-4 W vs Laval (Jan 27 2024) Final | 3-1 L @ Utica (Jan 27 2024) Final |
| 4-0 L vs Utica (Jan 26 2024) Final | 4-2 W vs Laval (Jan 26 2024) Final | |
| 7-3 W vs Springfield (Jan 20 2024) Final | 5-2 W vs Utica (Jan 20 2024) Final | |
| 2-1 W @ Utica (Jan 19 2024) Final | 4-2 W vs Providence (Jan 19 2024) Final | |
| 6-0 W vs Lehigh Valley (Jan 17 2024) Final | 5-4 W vs Utica (Jan 15 2024) Final OT | |
| Leading After 1st | 9-3-0-1 | 13-1-1-0 |
| Leading After 2nd | 12-0-0-0 | 15-1-1-0 |
| Tied After 1st | 5-5-1-0 | 5-4-1-1 |
| Tied After 2nd | 4-4-2-0 | 5-2-1-0 |
| Trailing After 1st | 6-6-2-0 | 5-8-0-1 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 4-10-1-1 | 3-10-0-2 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 8-6-1-0 | 11-7-0-2 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 11-8-2-1 | 11-6-2-0 |
| 1-Goal Games | 14-2-3-1 | 7-2-2-2 |
| 2-Goal Games | 2-5-0-0 | 7-5-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 2-2-0-0 | 6-5-0-0 |
Syracuse Crunch
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 39 | Gage Goncalves | 4 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 3 |
| 36 | Felix Robert | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| 23 | Maxim Groshev | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Gabriel Fortier | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| 84 | X Emil Lilleberg | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| 21 | Jack Thompson | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | -1 |
| 16 | Shawn Element | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 85 | Daniel Walcott | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 18 | Joe Carroll | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | -1 |
| 45 | Cole Koepke | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 5 | Philippe Myers | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| 72 | Declan Carlile | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 40 | Gabriel Dumont | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 54 | Lucas Edmonds | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Devante Stephens | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
| 14 | Tristan Allard | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 27 | Mitchell Chaffee | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 24 | Max Crozier | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 62 | Jack Finley | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 76 | X Roman Schmidt | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 80 | Ilya Usau | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 60 | Hugo Alnefelt | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 78 | X Jaydon Dureau | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | X Haydn Fleury | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 52 | X Pyotr Kochetkov | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 94 | Zachary Massicotte | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 89 | Waltteri Merelä | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 90 | Matt Tomkins | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 90 | Matt Tomkins | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 123:13 | 4 | 1.95 | 0.926 |
| 52 | X Pyotr Kochetkov | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 59:57 | 2 | 2.00 | 0.905 |
| 60 | Hugo Alnefelt | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 65:00 | 4 | 3.69 | 0.818 |
Rochester Americans
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | Isak Rosen | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | -3 |
| 25 | Jiri Kulich | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Lukas Rousek | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | -2 |
| 10 | Brandon Biro | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | Jeremy Davies | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | -2 |
| 52 | Aleksandr Kisakov | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 81 | Brett Murray | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 20 | X Olivier Nadeau | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 16 | Justin Richards | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -2 |
| 78 | X Jacob Bryson | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 3 | Joseph Cecconi | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -1 |
| 56 | Kale Clague | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -3 |
| 96 | X Damien Giroux | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 23 | X Ryan Johnson | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 28 | Michael Mersch | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 22 | Zach Metsa | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 7 | Ethan Prow | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -4 |
| 93 | X Matthew Savoie | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -1 |
| 21 | X Filip Cederqvist | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -5 |
| 1 | Devin Cooley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | X Riley Fiddler-Schultz | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 |
| 29 | X Michael Houser | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | Mason Jobst | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -5 |
| 44 | Tyson Kozak | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 79 | Viktor Neuchev | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 74 | Nikita Novikov | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 |
| 19 | Graham Slaggert | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -2 |
| 61 | Riley Stillman | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | -4 |
| 34 | Dustin Tokarski | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | Brendan Warren | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 13 | Linus Weissbach | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 34 | Dustin Tokarski | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 183:28 | 9 | 2.94 | 0.897 |
| 29 | X Michael Houser | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11:56 | 1 | 5.03 | 0.800 |
| 1 | Devin Cooley | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 48:04 | 6 | 7.49 | 0.778 |