GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS GO FOR SWEEP IN REMATCH WITH CHECKERS
Dec 17, 2022TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (13-9-1-1) go for the weekend sweep tonight with a rematch against the Charlotte Checkers (12-10-2-1) at Bojangles' Coliseum. Game time is slated for a 6:00 p.m. start and will be carried on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
Tonight's matchup is the second between the two teams following last night's 4-2 Amerks win in the opening contest of the season series between the two clubs. Following tonight's contest, the teams remain idle before the Checkers make the trek to the Flower City for a pair of contests to close out the month of January.
HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPSHOT
Rochester's 4-2 victory last night was the first over Charlotte in the Queen City since Jan. 20, 2018, snapping a six-game skid against the Checkers.
Coming into last night, the home team has won three of the four matchups in each of the previous two season series between Rochester and Charlotte.
Rochester enters the second game of the weekend set with the Checkers showing a 3-10-0 record against Charlotte since the start of the 2018-19 campaign.
Both the Amerks (13) and Checkers (12) come into the matchup with nearly identical records with at least 12 wins and nine regulation losses on the season for each team. Each club also has at least three losses in regulation as well as one defeat in overtime on home ice.
LAST TIME OUT
45-save effort from goaltender Malcolm Subban, the Amerks doubled up the Checkers for a 4-2 victory in the first of back-to-back meetings between the two teams Friday at Bojangles' Coliseum.
Forwards Brett Murray (1+2), Brandon Biro (0+2), Lukas Rousek (1+1), Jiri Kulich (1+1) all produced a multi-point effort before Filip Cederqvist rounded out the scoring with his third goal of the campaign.
Murray factored in on each of Rochester's three first-period goals for his fourth straight multi-point effort while becoming the first Amerk this season to reach the 10-goal mark.
Subban (4-2-0), who picked up his fourth win in five games, carried a shutout into the third period. His 45-save effort was a regular-season career-high and the most since he stopped 46 of 47 in Game 3 of Providence's first-round series against the Hartford Wolf Pack during the 2015 Calder Cup Playoffs.
SABRES, STARS SWAP DEFENSEMEN
The Sabres acquired defenseman Joseph Cecconi from the Dallas Stars Thursday evening in exchange for Oskari Laaksonen. A fifth-round pick of Dallas in 2015, Cecconi has skated in 177 career AHL games with Texas, totaling 33 points (4+29), including two assists in 12 games this season.
Cecconi, who made his Amerk debut last night by recording two shots, won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2017 WJC playing alongside former Amerk forwards Tage Thompson and Casey Mittelstadt.
WELL BALANCED OFFENSE
Despite missing six games due to injury, third-year forward Brandon Biro is atop the team's scoring lead following four straight two-point outings. He currently paces the Amerks in assists (15) and points (21) through 18 games. Dating back to last season, Biro has totaled 23 points (8+15) over his last 23 games and hasn't gone more than one game without a point over that span. He also leads the team with eight multi-point games.
With six points (3+3) over his last nine games, which includes a two-point outing on Nov. 23 versus the Providence Bruins, Linus Weissbach is four points back from the team-lead with 17 points through 24 games. More impressively, he has already scored half as many goals from last season and has matched his career-high of two game-winning goals.
Brett Murray, one of three Amerks with at least 18 points on the season, is also on pace to surpass the career-high 15 goals he scored in 2021-22. Murray enters the weekend with a team-leading 10 goals in only 23 games this season, including five over his last eight appearances. Murray has been one of Rochester's top point-getters over the last 10 games, showing 12 points (5+7) and three straight multi-point efforts over that span.
Despite being two of the youngest players in the AHL, rookie forwards Jiri Kulich (6+10) and Isak Rosen (3+11) remain among the team's scoring leaders. Kulich's 16 points tie him for 15th among all AHL rookies while Rosen's 11 assists are tied for ninth-most. Both will represent their respective countries at the upcoming 2023 World Junior Championship in Canada.
HOME-COOKING FOR THE AMERKS
The Amerks have earned at least one point in eight of their first 11 home contests so far this season, boasting a 7-3-1-0 mark and 15 points within the friendly confines of The Blue Cross Arena. Rochester opened the season with five straight home wins, marking the team's best start since 2006-07.
Five of the seven victories this season in the Flower City have come when the team trailed entering the final 20 minutes of regulation while all seven wins have come by way of four or more goals. Rochester has outscored its opposition 19-15 after the start of the third period and has outshot the visitors 102-88.
Prior to the Dec. 7 loss to Syracuse, Rochester was the only AHL team with only one regulation loss on home ice.
SCOUTING THE CHECKERS
The Checkers come into the matchup sitting in fifth-place of the Atlantic Division standings with a 12-10-2-1 overall record. Charlotte boasts a 3-6-1-0 record in the last 10 games, including a 1-5-0-0 mark in December. The Checkers have posted two different four-game winning streaks this season.
Back for his second stint with the Checkers organization, 14-year veteran forward Riley Nash tops all Charlotte skaters with 14 assists and 23 points through 25 games this season.
Nash has scored seven of his nine goals this season over his last 16 games dating back to Nov. 11, never going more than one game without a point.
The former first-round selection (21st overall) in the 2007 NHL Draft, has posted seven multi-point efforts this season. Nash has appeared in 230 career games between Charlotte and Syracuse, recording 130 points while also notching 176 points (63+113) in 627 NHL contests.
SERIES NOTABLES
So far this season, the Amerks have used 13 different defensemen, which is third-most in the AHL behind Toronto and Cleveland. Eleven of the 13 have recorded at least one point while seven have scored. Ethan Prow is the only defenseman to appear in all 24 games this season and has skated in 94 of the 100 games dating back to the start of the 2021-22 campaign.
Checkers captain Zac Dalpe, who is currently on recall with the parent Florida Panthers, scored 16 goals as part of a 28-point campaign with the Amerks in 2014-15, his only season in Rochester. He also appeared in 21 games for the Buffalo Sabres that season, recording three points (1+2).
Amerks defenseman Chase Priskie spent parts of two seasons (2019-20 and 2021-22) with the Checkers, notching 62 points (14+48) in 106 games. In six games against Rochester those two seasons, Priskie recorded one goal and five assists to go along with a plus-six on-ice rating.
Checkers forward Dominic Franco played his first two pro seasons with the Amerks, recording 13 points (4+9) in 54 games. He's currently with the ECHL's Florida Everblades, where he's tallied 14 points in 16 games.
Rochester Americans vs Charlotte Checkers: Head To Head Stats
Summary
|
Description |
Result |
|
| Head to Head Record 2022-23 Regular Season | Rochester 1-0-0-0 | Charlotte 0-1-0-0 |
| Head to Head Record 2021-22 Regular Season | Rochester 1-3-0-0 | Charlotte 3-1-0-0 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Rochester 3-10-0-0 | Charlotte 10-3-0-0 |
| Rochester vs. Charlotte Last 5 Years record at Rochester | Rochester 2-4-0-0 | Charlotte 4-2-0-0 |
| Rochester vs. Charlotte Last 5 Years record at Charlotte | Rochester 1-6-0-0 | Charlotte 6-1-0-0 |
| Previous Meetings This Season | Rochester 4 @ Charlotte 2 (Dec 16 2022) Final |
How the 2 teams match up
|
Charlotte |
Rochester |
|
| Team Record | 12-10-2-1 -- 27 points | 13-9-1-1 -- 28 points |
| Division Ranking | 5th Atlantic | 2nd North |
| Conference Ranking | 7th Eastern | 6th Eastern |
| League Ranking | 16th | 14th |
| Past 10 Games | 3-6-1-0 | 6-4-0-0 |
| Streak | 0-4-0-0 | 2-0-0-0 |
| Last Game | 4-2 L vs Rochester (Dec 16 2022) Final | 4-2 W @ Charlotte (Dec 16 2022) Final |
| Home Record | 8-4-1-0 | 7-3-1-0 |
| Away Record | 4-6-1-1 | 6-6-0-1 |
| GF | 72 | 78 |
| GA | 81 | 83 |
| PP (Overall) | (21/99) 21.2% | (17/87) 19.5% |
| PP (Home) | (13/46) 28.3% | (14/47) 29.8% |
| PP (Away) | (8/53) 15.1% | (3/40) 7.5% |
| PK (Overall) | (19/93) 79.6% | (20/71) 71.8% |
| PK (Home) | (10/47) 78.7% | (8/32) 75.0% |
| PK (Away) | (9/46) 80.4% | (12/39) 69.2% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (0/3) 0% | (0/6) 0% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (0/6) 100% | (0/3) 100% |
| Leading Rookie | Sourdif (3-5-8) | Kulich (6-10-16) |
| Most PIM | Bitetto - 39 | Weissbach - 26 |
| Team PIM/GM | 11.7/Game | 8.6/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Nash (9-14-23) | Biro (6-15-21) |
| Tierney (3-13-16) | Murray (10-8-18) | |
| Dalpe (10-5-15) | Rousek (7-11-18) | |
| Levtchi (7-6-13) | Weissbach (9-8-17) | |
| Hutsko (6-7-13) | Kulich (6-10-16) | |
| Last 5 Games | 4-2 L vs Rochester (Dec 16 2022) Final | 4-2 W @ Charlotte (Dec 16 2022) Final |
| 6-1 L @ Lehigh Valley (Dec 10 2022) Final | 4-3 W @ Toronto (Dec 10 2022) Final SO | |
| 2-1 L @ Lehigh Valley (Dec 9 2022) Final | 5-2 L vs Utica (Dec 9 2022) Final | |
| 4-2 L @ Hershey (Dec 6 2022) Final | 5-1 L vs Syracuse (Dec 7 2022) Final | |
| 6-4 W vs Lehigh Valley (Dec 3 2022) Final | 4-3 L @ Cleveland (Dec 3 2022) Final | |
| Leading After 1st | 3-0-0-1 | 7-2-0-0 |
| Leading After 2nd | 7-1-0-0 | 8-1-1-0 |
| Tied After 1st | 7-4-1-0 | 2-3-1-1 |
| Tied After 2nd | 3-1-0-1 | 0-2-0-1 |
| Trailing After 1st | 2-6-1-0 | 4-4-0-0 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 2-8-2-0 | 5-6-0-0 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 7-8-1-0 | 5-3-0-0 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 4-1-1-1 | 8-4-1-1 |
| 1-Goal Games | 8-3-2-1 | 7-3-1-1 |
| 2-Goal Games | 2-3-0-0 | 4-1-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 2-2-0-0 | 0-1-0-0 |
Rochester Americans
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 81 | Brett Murray | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 |
| 25 | Jiri Kulich | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Lukas Rousek | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Brandon Biro | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 71 | Filip Cederqvist | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 13 | Linus Weissbach | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 43 | Matt Bartkowski | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 96 | Anders Bjork | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Joseph Cecconi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 52 | Mitch Eliot | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 51 | Aleksandr Kisakov | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | Tyson Kozak | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Sean Malone | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 28 | Michael Mersch | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | Chase Priskie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 7 | Ethan Prow | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 18 | Isak Rosen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 |
| 47 | Malcolm Subban | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Peter Tischke | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 47 | Malcolm Subban | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 60:00 | 2 | 2.00 | 0.957 |
Charlotte Checkers
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Henry Bowlby | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 36 | Patrick Giles | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -2 |
| 16 | Riley Nash | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Logan Hutsko | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Riley Bezeau | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 22 | Anthony Bitetto | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0 |
| 26 | Connor Bunnaman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 32 | Lucas Carlsson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Dennis Cesana | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -2 |
| 15 | Michael Del Zotto | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 11 | Dominic Franco | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Mack Guzda | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Ethan Keppen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 27 | Santtu Kinnunen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Anton Levtchi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Alex Lyon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Gerry Mayhew | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -4 |
| 29 | Cameron Morrison | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 24 | Justin Sourdif | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 7 | Zach Uens | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -3 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 34 | Alex Lyon | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 53:29 | 1 | 1.12 | 0.963 |
| 1 | Mack Guzda | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5:50 | 2 | 20.57 | 0.600 |