GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS CLOSE OUT HOMESTAND TONIGHT AGAINST PHANTOMS
Nov 19, 2021TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (7-5-0-0) close out their four-game homestand tonight as they welcome the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (3-8-3-0) to The Blue Cross Arena for the only time this season. Game time for the first of just two meetings between the two teams this season is slated for a 7:05 p.m. start and will be carried live on ESPN Rochester (95.7 FM) as well as AHLTV.
The Amerks come into the matchup having won seven of their last 11 games, which includes three on home ice, and currently sit in fourth place in the AHL’s North Division standings. The Phantoms, meanwhile, have dropped three straight to fall to the basement of a very competitive Atlantic Division.
WATCH: TONIGHT'S FACE-OFF FIRST LOOK
HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPSHOT
Tonight’s contest is the first against the Phantoms in Rochester since the Amerks earned a 3-2 overtime win back on Feb. 21, 2020. The Amerks show a 2-0-1-0 record against Lehigh Valley over the last five years on home ice compared to an 0-2-0-1 mark in Allentown over that same timeframe.
Rochester has earned at least one point in five of the last seven games against Lehigh Valley dating back to Dec. 30, 2016, going 3-2-1-1 over that span. In each of the seven contests over that stretch, the winning team has scored at least three goals.
Both teams are 2-3-0-0 in their last five games coming into tonight.
WATCH: SETH APPERT FOLLOWING MORNING SKATE
VIEW FROM ROCHESTER
With four players currently performing at more than a point-per-game pace, the Amerks have the AHL’s third-best offense and are one of only three teams averaging more than 3.80 goals per game. Collectively, Rochester’s 46 goals this season are second-most in the North Division and are tied for third-most in the league behind only the Ontario Reign (52) and Laval Rocket (49).
Third-year goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was selected as the AHL Player of the Week for the period ending Nov. 14, 2021. In three starts last week, Luukkonen went 2-1-0 while totaling 112 saves and posting a 1.68 goals-against average and a .957 save percentage and registering the first shutout of his AHL career. Luukkonen, who has made five straight starts to open the month of November, has allowed two or fewer goals in three of his last five appearances, good for a 2.02 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage over that span. His 229 saves also rank among league leaders.
With his second-period assist Wednesday, veteran forward Michael Mersch has totaled 13 points (7+6) and four multi-point outings over his last 10 games. The Amerks captain began that stretch with a five-game goal-scoring streak, the longest of his career and the longest in the AHL this season, while his five-game point marked his longest since posting a career-best seven-game point streak from Mar. 27 to April 10, 2015.
Rookie forward JJ Peterka saw his season-long six-game point streak come to an end in Wednesday’s 3-2 loss to first-place Utica. He totaled eight points (2+6) over that span and is tied for second on the team in scoring.
Defenseman Mattias Samuelsson has five points through his first six games of the season, which includes four assists in the last four contests.
With a goal Wednesday, forward Ethan Prow has six points (1+5) over his last eight games, including a goal and three assists in his last five outings.
WATCH: MATTIAS SAMUELSSON FOLLOWING MORNING SKATE
QUINN-TISSENTIAL QUALITIES
Jack Quinn was named the AHL’s Rookie of the Month for October after leading all first-year players with 10 points (5+5) through the first month of the regular season. In just six games to begin the season, Quinn already surpassed his offensive output from his truncated 2020-21 campaign, and became the first AHL player to reach the 10-point mark this season.
Quinn continued his torrid start to the season by scoring his team-leading ninth goal of the year in Saturday’s 4-0 win over Cleveland. Dating back to last season, the Ottawa, Ontario, native has totaled 19 points (9+10) in his last 15 games. He has goals in five of his last seven games.
Quinn has been held scoreless just three times through his first 12 games and comes into tonight having recorded six multi-point performances this year. Entering the weekend, he remains one of only three AHL rookies currently leading his respective team in scoring.
Last Friday, Quinn became the first AHL rookie since Frank Vatrano in 2015-16 to score eight goals through his first 10 games of the season.
ROOKIE TRIFECTA
The Amerks currently own three of the AHL’s top scoring rookies in Jack Quinn, JJ Peterka and Peyton Krebs, who have combined for 36 points
(12+24) through the team’s first 12 games of the season.
Buffalo’s eighth overall pick in 2020, Quinn comes into the weekend leading all AHL rookies in goals (9) and ranking second in points (16). He’s also tied for the league-lead in goals and is tied for fourth in scoring overall among the AHL’s top point-getters.
Peterka, meanwhile, is tied for second amongst all first-year players with a team-high 10 assists while his 13 points are tied for third-most. He and Quinn, taken just 26 picks apart from one another by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2020 NHL Draft, currently make up the only rookie duo across the entire AHL to rank among their respective team’s top three individual scorers.
After recording his first two points (0+2) as an Amerk last week, Krebs has produced seven assists in seven games this season, tying for seventh among all AHL rookies. Krebs, who was acquired by Buffalo as part of the blockbuster trade that sent former Sabres captain Jack Eichel to the Vegas Golden Knights, has recorded four of his seven assists on the power-play.
SCOUTING THE PHANTOMS
Lehigh Valley comes into the matchup with only three wins through its 14 games so far this season. The Phantoms, who began the campaign by going winless in their first seven games (0-5-2-0), have a league-worst eight regulation losses and currenty stuck in a three-game skid
The Phantoms will be without the services of their leading goal-scorer Max Willman, who was promoted to the big club on Thursday. The third-year pro has seven goals in 12 games this season, including three in his last four.
Second-year forward Morgan Frost currently tops all Lehigh Valley skaters with a team-high 10 assists and 11 points through 14 games with the Phantoms. The Aurora, Ontario, native spent all of 2020-21 season on Philadelphia’s taxi sqaud, but has produced 40 points on 14 goals and 26 assists in 55 career games for Lehigh Valley over the last two seasons.
SERIES NOTABLES
Tonight’s contest features three players selected in the 2020 NHL Draft, which includes Lehigh Valley’s Tyson Foerster (1st round, 23rd overall) and Rochester’s Jack Quinn (1st round, 8th overall) and JJ Peterka (2nd round, 34th overall).
In addition to Quinn, Peterka and Foerster, Rochester’s Mark Jankowski (21st overall, 2012) and Peyton Krebs (17th, 2019) and Lehigh Valley’s German Rubstov (22nd overall, 2016), Morgan Frost (27th overall, 2017) and Cam York (14th overall, 2019) all were taken in the first round of the NHL Draft.
Lehigh Valley captain and five-time AHL All-Star Cal O’Reilly spent two seasons with the Amerks, recording 71 points on 15 goals and 56 assists in 94 games from 2015 to 2017. O’Reilly served as Rochester’s captain during both seasons and represented the Amerks at the 2016 AHL All-Star Classic.
Phantoms forward Max Willman is a former draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres. He was selected in the fifth round in 2014, the same draft year as current Amerks forward Ryan MacInnis and current Sabre Victor Olofsson.
Lehigh Valley Phantoms vs Rochester Americans: Head To Head Stats
Summary
|
Description |
Result |
|
| Head to Head Record 2021-22 Regular Season | Lehigh Valley 0-0-0-0 | Rochester 0-0-0-0 |
| Head to Head Record 2020-21 Regular Season | Lehigh Valley 0-0-0-0 | Rochester 0-0-0-0 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Lehigh Valley 4-1-1-0 | Rochester 2-2-1-1 |
| Lehigh Valley vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Lehigh Valley | Lehigh Valley 3-0-0-0 | Rochester 0-2-0-1 |
| Lehigh Valley vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Rochester | Lehigh Valley 1-1-1-0 | Rochester 2-0-1-0 |
How the 2 teams match up
|
Rochester |
Lehigh Valley |
|
| Team Record | 7-5-0-0 -- 14 points | 3-8-3-0 -- 9 points |
| Division Ranking | 4th North | 8th Atlantic |
| Conference Ranking | 6th Eastern | 15th Eastern |
| League Ranking | 11th | 30th |
| Past 10 Games | 6-4-0-0 | 3-5-2-0 |
| Streak | 0-1-0-0 | 0-2-1-0 |
| Last Game | 3-2 L vs Utica (Nov 17 2021) Final | 4-3 L vs Charlotte (Nov 17 2021) Final |
| Home Record | 3-3-0-0 | 1-2-3-0 |
| Away Record | 4-2-0-0 | 2-6-0-0 |
| GF | 46 | 33 |
| GA | 42 | 44 |
| PP (Overall) | (8/43) 18.6% | (6/63) 9.5% |
| PP (Home) | (3/22) 13.6% | (1/23) 4.3% |
| PP (Away) | (5/21) 23.8% | (5/40) 12.5% |
| PK (Overall) | (9/44) 79.5% | (10/54) 81.5% |
| PK (Home) | (6/27) 77.8% | (2/28) 92.9% |
| PK (Away) | (3/17) 82.4% | (8/26) 69.2% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (0/0) 0% | (0/0) 0% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (0/0) 0% | (0/0) 0% |
| Leading Rookie | Quinn (9-7-16) | York (1-3-4) |
| Most PIM | MacInnis - 23 | Wilson - 40 |
| Team PIM/GM | 14.1/Game | 15.4/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Quinn (9-7-16) | Frost (1-10-11) |
| Mersch (7-6-13) | Willman (7-2-9) | |
| Peterka (3-10-13) | Mayhew (6-2-8) | |
| Malone (2-7-9) | Wilson (2-6-8) | |
| Laaksonen (1-7-8) | Zamula (1-6-7) | |
| Last 5 Games | 3-2 L vs Utica (Nov 17 2021) Final | 4-3 L vs Charlotte (Nov 17 2021) Final |
| 4-0 W vs Cleveland (Nov 13 2021) Final | 2-1 L vs Springfield (Nov 13 2021) Final OT | |
| 4-3 L vs Cleveland (Nov 12 2021) Final | 6-3 L @ Providence (Nov 12 2021) Final | |
| 5-1 W @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Nov 10 2021) Final | 4-1 W @ Hershey (Nov 10 2021) Final | |
| 4-1 L vs Toronto (Nov 5 2021) Final | 5-3 W @ Charlotte (Nov 7 2021) Final | |
| Leading After 1st | 5-1-0-0 | 1-1-0-0 |
| Leading After 2nd | 5-0-0-0 | 3-1-1-0 |
| Tied After 1st | 1-0-0-0 | 1-2-2-0 |
| Tied After 2nd | 1-1-0-0 | 0-2-1-0 |
| Trailing After 1st | 1-4-0-0 | 1-5-1-0 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 1-4-0-0 | 0-5-1-0 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 0-4-0-0 | 1-5-0-0 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 7-1-0-0 | 2-3-3-0 |
| 1-Goal Games | 3-2-0-0 | 0-3-3-0 |
| 2-Goal Games | 1-0-0-0 | 1-2-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 0-1-0-0 | 1-2-0-0 |