GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS CONCLUDE HOMESTAND TONIGHT AGAINST CRUNCH
Jan 19, 2022TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (19-11-1-1) close out their four-game homestand tonight as they welcome back the Syracuse Crunch (13-11-3-1) for an intrastate showdown at The Blue Cross Arena. Game time is slated for a 7:05 p.m. start and will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
The Amerks have earned points in 13 of their last 19 games dating back to Nov. 19 and are 5-3-1-1 over their previous 10 games to move within four points of Utica for first place in the AHL’s North Division standings.
HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPSHOT
The North Division rivals have split the season series thus far with two wins each despite Rochester outscoring the Crunch 11-10 through the first four games overall. Syracuse, however, has claimed the last two meetings while holding the Amerks to just a single goal in back-to-back games for the first time all season.
The Amerks have scored a power-play goal in 15 of their last 25 games against Syracuse, going 25-for-91 (27.5%) with the man-advantage over that span. Additionally, Rochester has collected at least one point in 23 of the last 37 games against the Crunch dating back to the start of the 2018-19 campaign, going 19-14-3-1.
WATCH: TONIGHT'S FACE-OFF FIRST LOOK
AMERKS LEADING THE WAY
The Amerks own two of the league’s top point-getters in rookie forward Jack Quinn and veteran forward Michael Mersch. The duo are tied for the team lead and rank third in the AHL with 17 goals each, trailing only the tandem of Chicago Wolves forwards Andrew Poturalski and Stefan Noesen for most in the AHL.
Quinn, who’s coming off back-to-back four-point outings, including his first-ever four-goal game, leads all AHL rookies in both goals (17) and points (34) while his team-high six power-play goals are also second-most among all first-year players.
Mersch, who earned his 300th professional point in Saturday’s overtime loss to Belleville, ranks sixth in the AHL in scoring coming into the week.
Coming off their 10th game of the season with five or more goals Saturday against Belleville, the Amerks have the AHL’s-best offense and are currently averaging just under four goals per game. Rochester leads the league with 123 goals scored and are one of only 10 teams this season to surpass the 100-goal mark so far in 2021-22.
WATCH: SETH APPERT FOLLOWING MORNING SKATE
POWER-PLAY EFFICIENCY
Now 32 games into the season, Rochester’s power-play has gone 32-for-118 with a 27.1% conversion rate that is currently tops in the AHL. The Amerks’ 32 goals on the man-advantage are most among all North Division teams and are tied for the AHL lead with the Springfield Thunderbirds.
The Amerks have scored at least one power-play goal in 20 of their first 32 games this season and have registered multiple power-play tallies in eight overall, including a season-high four goals in the 7-3 win over Hershey back on Nov. 26.
Rochester scored a power-play in seven straight games between Nov. 17 and Dec. 8, the longest such streak in the AHL this season.
QUINN-TESSENTIAL QUALITIES
Quinn became the first AHL player this season and just the 17th player in Amerks franchise history to score four goals in a game in the 6-5 overtime loss to Belleville on Jan. 15. More impressively, he scored all four goals consecutively, including the game-tying tally with 3.3 seconds remaining in regulation.
Became the first Amerk to have a four-goal game since Derek Whitmore on Nov. 25, 2011.
With 17 goals through his first 23 games, he’s on pace to become the first Amerk to score 20 goals in the fewest number of games since Luke Adam reached the mark in 31 games during the 2013-14 campaign.
He 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 has been held scoreless just four times all season and hasn’t gone more than one game without recording a point. He comes into the week having recorded 11 multi-point performances this year. More impressively, the Amerks are a near-perfect 10-0-1-0 this season when Quinn registers a multi-point game, including 6-0-1-0 on home ice.
On Nov. 12, Quinn became the first AHL rookie since Frank Vatrano in 2015-16 to score eight goals through his first 10 games of the season.
WATCH: ARTTU RUOTSALAINEN FOLLOWING MORNING SKATE
MERSCH LEADING BY EXAMPLE
With an assist on Jan. 7 against Hartford, Mersch became the first Amerk this season and just the fourth player in the AHL to reach the 30-point mark. He’s now reached the mark six times in his eight-year pro career.
Mersch has totaled 20 points (10+10) and four multi-point efforts over his last 18 games dating back to Nov. 24. He’s been held scoreless just five times over that span to move into sixth in the AHL in scoring with 33 points (17+16) on the season. 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 streak marked his longest since posting a career-best seven-game point streak back in 2015.
With 17 goals this season, Mersch has doubled his output from the previous season in three fewer games and is on pace to reach the 20-goal mark for the fifth time in eight years and the first time since the 2018-19 season as a member of the Texas Stars.
He’s also on pace to reach the 20-goal mark in the fewest amount of games since 2015-16 when he scored 20 in 35 games with the Ontario Reign. He finished that season with 24 goals in only 52 appearances while also appearing in 17 games with the Los Angeles Kings.
Mersch has appeared in all but one of Rochester’s 60 games dating back to last season, including the lone player to appear in all 32 contests in 2021-22.
THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENSE
Rochester has one of the top-scoring defenseman in the AHL in Oskari Laaksonen, who recorded a career-high four asists in last Wednesday’s 7-6 win over Utica, including three in the first period and three of which came on the power-play. He finished two assists shy of tying the franchise record for most in a single game.
Laaksonen, who boasts six points (1+5) in his last six games since the turn of the New Year, is leads all Rochester blueliners and is tied for third among all AHL defensemen in scoring with 21 points (3+18) in 29 games. He also paces the league with 16 power-play assists as all but two of his 18 assists this season have come on the man-advantage. Equally impressive, 18 of Laaksonen’s 21 points have been on the power-play.
Rookie defenseman Mattias Samuelsson, who’s currently on recall with the Buffalo Sabres, recorded two assists in Saturday’s overtime loss to Belleville, giving him 15 points (2+13) in 20 games. He produced multi-point efforts in back-to-back outings for the first time in his pro career on Dec. 8 and Dec. 10. He ranks fifth in scoring among all AHL rookie defensemen while his 13 assists are fourth-most.
He made his NHL season debut in Buffalo’s 3-1 win at Ottawa on Tuesday.
Coming off his first three-point outing since the 2019-20 season, Ethan Prow is tied for 11th amongst league blueliners with 14 assists and 18 points.
The veteran defenseman has totaled exactly 100 points (31+69) over his last 144 American Hockey League games dating back to the 2018-19 campaign.
FANTASTIC FOUR
The Amerks currently own four of the AHL’s top scoring rookies in Jack Quinn, JJ Peterka, Peyton Krebs and Brandon Biro, all of whom have combined for 100 points (32+68) through the first 32 games this season.
Coming off a his first four-goal game this past Saturday, Quinn, Buffalo’s eighth overall pick in 2020, is back atop the AHL rookie scoring lead, pacing all first-year players in both goals (17) and points (34) in 23 games. Quinn became the 101st AHL player this season to make his NHL debut when he took the ice in Buffalo’s 6-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning last Tuesday night. He finished with team-highs in shots (3) and shot attempts (6) while earning 16:30 of total ice time. He also became Buffalo’s eighth player taken within the first two rounds of the NHL Draft under the age of 25 to appear in a game with the Sabres this season.
Peterka ranks fifth in rookie scoring with 26 points (6+20) despite missing each of the last four contests due to COVID-19 protocols. He is tied for first among all first-year players with a team-high 20 assists while his .96 points per game is sixth-best among rookies that have played 20 or more games. He and Quinn, taken just 26 picks apart from one another by Buffalo in the 2020 NHL Draft, currently make up one of only three rookie duos across the entire AHL to rank inside the top three on their respective team in scoring.
Biro has 16 points (5+11) over his last 14 games dating back to Nov. 27. He also has five multi-point efforts in 10 games over that span, which includes a season-high three-point (1+2) performance last Wednesday against Utica. He comes into the week riding a three-game point streak, showing one goal and five assists in that stretch.
MOVIN' ON UP
Players that have appeared in at least one game this season for both Rochester and Buffalo:
FORWARDS (7)
Mark Jankowski
Ryan MacInnis
Brett Murray
Arttu Ruotsalainen
Peyton Krebs
Jack Quinn*
JJ Peterka*
DEFENSEMEN (3)
Casey Fitzgerald*
Ethan Prow*
Mattias Samuelsson
GOALTENDERS (3)
Aaron Dell
Michael Houser
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
* = Made NHL debut
SERIES NOTABLES
Of the 14 different defensemen the Amerks have used this season, 12 have notched at least one point while eight have recorded one goal. Additionally, of the 20 different forwards to appear in one game for Rochester, 18 have scored a goal and 19 have produced a point.
Rochester enters tonight having scored 41 and 40 goals in the first and third periods of play this season, respectively. Both are most in the AHL. Conversely, the Crunch have only scored 21 times in the opening 20 minutes of regulation, which are tied for fewest in the Eastern Conference.
Crunch defenseman Ryan Jones spent the 2020-21 campaign with the Amerks, recording seven points (1+6) while being the lone skater to appear in all 29 games last season.
Syracuse forward Remi Elie was with Rochester from 2018-2021, tallying 55 points (31+24) in 99 career games.
Crunch defenseman Jason Garrison played his first two pro seasons with the Amerks from 2008-2010, playing under current head coach Benoit Groulx.
Groulx was the Amerks head coach for two seasons (2008-2010), leading the team to a berth in the 2010 Calder Cup Playoffs.
Syracuse Crunch vs Rochester Americans: Head To Head Stats
Summary
|
Description |
Result |
|
| Head to Head Record 2021-22 Regular Season | Syracuse 2-2-0-0 | Rochester 2-2-0-0 |
| Head to Head Record 2020-21 Regular Season | Syracuse 7-4-1-0 | Rochester 5-5-2-0 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Syracuse 24-15-5-3 | Rochester 23-19-4-1 |
| Syracuse vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Syracuse | Syracuse 10-10-2-2 | Rochester 14-8-2-0 |
| Syracuse vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Rochester | Syracuse 14-5-3-1 | Rochester 9-11-2-1 |
| Previous Meetings This Season | Rochester 1 @ Syracuse 3 (Jan 8 2022) Final Syracuse 2 @ Rochester 1 (Jan 5 2022) Final Rochester 4 @ Syracuse 2 (Nov 27 2021) Final Syracuse 3 @ Rochester 5 (Oct 22 2021) Final |
How the two teams match up
|
Rochester |
Syracuse |
|
| Team Record | 19-11-1-1 -- 40 points | 13-11-3-1 -- 30 points |
| Division Ranking | 2nd North | 5th North |
| Conference Ranking | 2nd Eastern | 10th Eastern |
| League Ranking | 6th | 18th |
| Past 10 Games | 5-3-1-1 | 7-2-1-0 |
| Streak | 1-0-1-1 | 2-0-1-0 |
| Last Game | 6-5 L vs Belleville (Jan 15 2022) Final OT | 2-1 W vs Belleville (Jan 17 2022) Final |
| Home Record | 10-4-1-1 | 7-6-0-1 |
| Away Record | 9-7-0-0 | 6-5-3-0 |
| GF | 123 | 82 |
| GA | 119 | 88 |
| PP (Overall) | (32/118) 27.1% | (24/108) 22.2% |
| PP (Home) | (18/65) 27.7% | (14/59) 23.7% |
| PP (Away) | (14/53) 26.4% | (10/49) 20.4% |
| PK (Overall) | (22/112) 80.4% | (21/97) 78.4% |
| PK (Home) | (10/65) 84.6% | (14/46) 69.6% |
| PK (Away) | (12/47) 74.5% | (7/51) 86.3% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (4/16) 25% | (6/16) 37.5% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (6/16) 62.5% | (4/16) 75% |
| Leading Rookie | Quinn (17-17-34) | Koepke (7-11-18) |
| Most PIM | Fitzgerald - 41 | Dumont - 36 |
| Team PIM/GM | 12.4/Game | 11.8/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Quinn (17-17-34) | Dumont (12-12-24) |
| Mersch (17-16-33) | Hudon (11-11-22) | |
| Peterka (6-20-26) | Koepke (7-11-18) | |
| Malone (9-13-22) | Day (2-14-16) | |
| Biro (5-16-21) | Fortier (6-7-13) | |
| Last 5 Games | 6-5 L vs Belleville (Jan 15 2022) Final OT | 2-1 W vs Belleville (Jan 17 2022) Final |
| 4-3 L vs Belleville (Jan 14 2022) Final SO | 4-3 W vs Utica (Jan 15 2022) Final OT | |
| 7-6 W vs Utica (Jan 12 2022) Final | 4-3 L @ Utica (Jan 14 2022) Final OT | |
| 3-1 L @ Syracuse (Jan 8 2022) Final | 3-2 L @ Laval (Jan 12 2022) Final | |
| 5-2 W vs Hartford (Jan 7 2022) Final | 3-1 W vs Rochester (Jan 8 2022) Final | |
| Leading After 1st | 14-3-0-1 | 6-1-1-0 |
| Leading After 2nd | 13-1-0-0 | 8-1-1-0 |
| Tied After 1st | 2-2-1-0 | 4-5-1-1 |
| Tied After 2nd | 2-1-1-1 | 3-3-1-0 |
| Trailing After 1st | 3-6-0-0 | 3-5-1-0 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 4-9-0-0 | 2-7-1-1 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 5-6-0-0 | 9-8-2-1 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 14-5-1-1 | 4-3-1-0 |
| 1-Goal Games | 9-3-1-1 | 6-3-3-1 |
| 2-Goal Games | 5-4-0-0 | 5-5-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 1-1-0-0 | 1-1-0-0 |
Syracuse Crunch
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Simon Ryfors | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | -3 |
| 45 | Cole Koepke | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 55 | X Charles Hudon | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 10 | -4 |
| 40 | Gabriel Dumont | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | -3 |
| 16 | Otto Somppi | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Alex Barré-Boulet | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 78 | X Jaydon Dureau | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 88 | Antoine Morand | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 43 | X Tyler Bird | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 51 | Maxim Cajkovic | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -2 |
| 74 | Sean Day | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -1 |
| 9 | Gabriel Fortier | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| 57 | Alex Green | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 |
| 26 | X Tristin Langan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Jesse Lees | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Darren Raddysh | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | -1 |
| 60 | Hugo Alnefelt | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Fredrik Claesson | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Shawn Element | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 81 | Remi Elie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -1 |
| 25 | X Cal Foote | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 5 | Jason Garrison | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 39 | Gage Goncalves | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 15 | Jimmy Huntington | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Ryan Jones | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | -2 |
| 22 | P.C. Labrie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 33 | Max Lagace | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | Amir Miftakhov | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | X Andrej Sustr | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 92 | X Odeen Tufto | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 85 | X Daniel Walcott | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33 | Max Lagace | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 59:45 | 1 | 1.00 | 0.944 |
| 60 | Hugo Alnefelt | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 119:21 | 5 | 2.51 | 0.904 |
| 35 | Amir Miftakhov | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 58:34 | 3 | 3.07 | 0.897 |
Rochester Americans
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | Jack Quinn | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| 17 | Sean Malone | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 2 |
| 14 | X Mark Jankowski | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 77 | JJ Peterka | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | Oskari Laaksonen | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 72 | Ryan MacInnis | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 | -1 |
| 44 | Josh Teves | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 13 | Linus Weissbach | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 28 | Michael Mersch | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Ethan Prow | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Brandon Biro | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 26 | Mason Jobst | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 19 | X Peyton Krebs | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1 | X Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Arttu Ruotsalainen | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 |
| 47 | Nick Boka | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 23 | Lukas Craggs | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 88 | Brandon Davidson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 48 | X David Drake | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | X Wyatt Ege | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 52 | Mitch Eliot | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | X Casey Fitzgerald | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| 29 | Dominic Franco | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 41 | X Michael Houser | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 81 | X Brett Murray | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -2 |
| 12 | Matej Pekar | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 24 | X Mattias Samuelsson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 91 | Ryan Scarfo | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 4 | Jimmy Schuldt | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 16 | Peter Tischke | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 45 | Brendan Warren | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41 | X Michael Houser | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 174:25 | 6 | 2.06 | 0.917 |
| 1 | X Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 60:00 | 3 | 3.00 | 0.875 |