GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS CLOSE OUT ROAD TRIP IN CLEVELAND
Rochester aiming for fifth straight win to start busy week
Nov 6, 2024
By Andrew Mossbrooks | @Mossbrooks48
The Rochester Americans (5-3-0-0) play three games in four days, beginning Wednesday night in Cleveland as the Amerks conclude a four-game road swing with a midweek contest against the North Division rival Monsters (4-3-0-1).
Tonight is the third of eight meetings between Cleveland and Rochester, with the two sides having recently met twice two weeks ago. The Amerks won both of the prior encounters, including a 6-1 win on home ice and a 5-4 shootout victory at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
“They’re defending really well the last couple of games,” said Amerks head coach Michael Leone when asked about facing Cleveland again. “You look at their last two games and they beat a Toronto team that was undefeated in regulation and they beat Grand Rapids who are off to a good start. It’s going to be a hard game and a hard environment, but it will be a really good test for our group. We’ve got to be ready to go Wednesday night.”
LAST TIME OUT
The Amerks swept a weekend in Utica, dropping the Comets 8-1 on Friday, before outlasting their division rival in a 3-2 shootout win Saturday night.
“I'm extremely proud of the group,” said Leone following the weekend. “We started out the weekend with probably our worst period of the year, and we challenged the group about coming out and playing to our standard and our identity. And I thought we did a great job of that in the second and third period of that game. Then Saturday, you never know how that game is going to go. They were good and we knew they were going to be desperate and to come off of such a high where you score eight goals. We found a way to manage that game, and we did a really good job sticking with it. Sometimes you have to win games where you're not at your best. It showed a lot about our group.”
November has gotten off to a good start for Cleveland. The Monsters picked up a 4-2 win Saturday against Toronto to end the Marlies seven-game point streak they began the season with. The next day, Cleveland played host to the Western Conference’s Grand Rapids Griffins, where Roman Ahcan scored twice in a 3-1 win. Ahcan is one of five AHL skaters with seven or more goals this season. The Columbus Blue Jackets’ affiliate is wrapping up a four-game homestand Wednesday against Rochester before settling in on the road for three straight away from Ohio.
WINNING WAYS
The Amerks have an opportunity to lock up their fifth straight win of the season Wednesday night. Last time Rochester posted more than four consecutive wins came late last season, where from March 24-April 7, the team collected six straight victories. The Amerks are also chasing history, sitting just two wins shy of 2,500 for the franchise that began back in 1956.
Across 69 seasons, the Rochester Americans own a collective 2498-2090-401-115-72 record through a remarkable 5,176 games. Should the Amerks secure two more wins, they would become just the second team in AHL history to reach 2,500 wins, trailing only Hershey (3,107).
THAT’S KUL
Forward Jiri Kulich has been reassigned to Rochester from the Buffalo Sabres. The third-year pro began the season with the Sabres, making the team out of training camp. In eight games this season, the Kadan, Czechia, native scored one goal, his first in the NHL, on Oct. 17 in Columbus. Kulich averaged over 14 minutes of time-on-ice per game and reached a career high 17:39 on Oct. 12 against Florida.
As an Amerk, Kulich is an AHL All-Star and was twice named to the AHL Top Prosects Team in 2023 and 2024. He led Rochester in goals back-to-back seasons, becoming the first player to lead the Amerks in goal production for consecutive years since Hall of Famer Jody Gage in 1991-92, 1992-93. Since turning pro with Rochester in 2022, Kulich has scored 50 goals and 91 points over 119 games.