GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS GO FOR SWEEP IN REMATCH WITH ROCKET
Oct 30, 2021TODAY'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (3-2-0-0) and Laval Rocket (4-3-0-0) square off for the second time in less than 24 hours today as the North Division rivals meet in the back-end of a two-game set this afternoon at Place Bell. The 1:00 p.m. contest will be the final of a four-game Canadian road-swing for the Amerks and will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM ESPN Rochester as well as AHLTV.
The Amerks and the Rocket will meet a total of eight times during the 2021-22 campaign, with today’s matchup representing the second of four in Laval. Following today’s contest, the teams remain idle until the Rocket make their first trip of the campaign to Rochester on Dec. 11.
HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPTSHOT
Rochester enters tonight showing a 14-3-0 all-time record against Laval and winners in 10 of the last 11 games dating back to the 2017-18 campaign.
Over the last 17 games in the head-to-head series with the Rocket, the Ameks have scored three or more goals in 13 contests, which includes eight of the nine games in Laval.
In last night’s meeting with the Rocket, Michael Mersch (2+0), Brandon Davidson (1+1) and Jack Quinn (0+2) all recorded a pair of points to help the Amerks to a 4-3 victory and improve to 8-1-0-0 all-time in Laval.
While Mersch and Quinn each produced their second and third multi-point efforts of the season, respectively, Davidson collected his first since Dec. 18, 2019 as a member of Stockton Heat. Casey Fitzgerald scored the game-winning goal with his second marker of the campaign to complete the scoring while goaltender Aaron Dell (2-0-0) made his second appearance of the season and he made 32 saves.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Through the first three games of their four-game Canadian road swing, the Amerks have posted a 2-1-0-0 record while scoring 14 goals, two of which have come on the power-play. Also, 17 different Rochester skaters have recorded at least one point and eight have posted multi-point performances.
The Amerks started the road trip with a convincing 7-3 win over the Toronto Marlies Saturday afternoon at Coca-Cola Coliseum. The win was the Amerks second in as many games and the first time Rochester has faced a Canadian team since the 2019-20 season.
Following the victory, Rochester dropped a 7-3 decision to the North Division rival Belleville Senators Wednesday night at CAA Arena. The regulation loss was the Amerks’ first in 10 road games all-time against Belleville having entered the matchup with a 6-0-3-0 record.
After being held without a point in the first two games of the season, Michael Mersch, a four-time 20-goal scorer, has responded with six points (4+2) and two multi-point outings to move into second on the team in scoring.
Along with Mersch, veteran blueliner Brandon Davidson has points in consecutive games to start the road trip. In last night’s win over Laval, Davidson collected his first multi-point game since Dec. 18, 2019 as a member of Stockton Heat. With five points (1+4) in his last five outings, which includes an assist in each of the last three contests, Davidson is currently four points off the AHL lead for most by a defenseman.
QUINN-TISSENTIAL QUALITIES
Jack Quinn comes into the weekend as one of 10 AHL rookies currently leading his respective team in scoring.
Coming off goals in three straight games and three multi-point efforts in five games to open the season, the Ottawa, Ontario, native has totaled 11 points (4+7) in his last eight games dating back to last season.
Quinn has been held scoreless just once and his three-game goal-scoring streak to open the campaign was tied for the longest in the AHL.
Just five games into the 2021-22 season, Quinn has already doubled his goal total from last season and is now within one point of matching his career point total in 10 fewer games.
He is the third eighth overall pick of the Sabres in the last five years to spend time in Rochester, joining Alexander Nylander (2016) and Casey Mittelstadt (2017), and the second to make his pro debut with the Amerks.
HEAD OF THE ROOKIE CLASS
The Amerks currently own three of the AHL’s top scoring rookies in Jack Quinn, JJ Peterka and Linus Weissbach, who have combined for 17 points
(7+10) through their first five games of the season.
Quinn, Buffalo’s eighth overall pick in 2020, comes into the weekend tied for
second in goals (4) and second in points (8) among all AHL rookies. His eight points also place him inside the league’s top five scorers overall.
Peterka, meanwhile, is tied for fourth among all first-year players with four assists while his five points are also fourth-most. He and Quinn, taken just 26 picks apart from one another by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2020 NHL Draft, make up the only rookie duo across the AHL to rank first and second on their respective team in scoring.
After going scoreless in his pro debut, Weissbach has recorded four points over his last four games, including a two-goal effort Saturday in Toronto. Buffalo’s seventh-round selection in 2017, Weissbach comes into the matchup tied for eighth in goals (2) and tied for 11th in scoring among all AHL rookies. He’s in his first pro season following four years at the University of Wisconsin, where he recorded 114 points (34+84) in 127 career games.
SCOUTING THE ROCKET
Laval, playing its third of a three-game homestand, comes into the matchup with a 4-3-0-0 record through its first seven games of the season.
Last night’s 4-3 loss was the first loss on home ice this season for Laval. Prior to the defeat, the Rocket entered coming off a 5-0 shutout win over the Toronto Marlies on Wednesday. Leading point-getter Laurent Dauphin scored twice while former Amerk Jean-Sebastien Dea scored his third of the season.
Laval is one of five Eastern Conference teams with three wins at home outscoring the opposition 17-10 through four games at Place Bell.
Dauphin currently leads the AHL with six goals and is tied for sixth among the league’s top point-getters with seven points. The veteran forward opened the season with four goals through his first five games and has been held scoreless twice this season.
SERIES NOTABLES
Today’s contest features three players selected in the first round of their NHL Draft in Rochester’s Jack Quinn (8th overall, 2020) and Mark Jankowski (21st overall, 2012) and Laval’s Ryan Poehling (25th overall, 2017).
Laval forward Jean-Sebastien Dea spent the previous two seasons with the Amerks. In 72 games from 2019-2021, Dea produced 21 goals, 33 assists for 54 points.
Rocket goaltender Cayden Primeau is the nephew of former Amerk Wayne Primeau, who was a member of the 1996 Calder Cup-winning team. Cayden enters today tied for the AHL lead with three wins in six starts.
Prior to last night’s contest, Casey Fitzgerald and Sean Malone are the only two Amerks that were on Rochester’s roster during the last meeting with the Laval.
In 17 combined games all-time against the Rocket, Malone (16 games, 4+4) and Fitzgerald (2 games, 1+0) have posted nine points.
Michael Mersch has goals in three straight games coming into today.
Laval Rocket vs Rochester Americans: Head To Head Stats
Summary
|
Description |
Result |
|
| Head to Head Record 2021-22 Regular Season | Laval 0-1-0-0 | Rochester 1-0-0-0 |
| Head to Head Record 2020-21 Regular Season | Laval 0-0-0-0 | Rochester 0-0-0-0 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Laval 3-11-2-1 | Rochester 14-3-0-0 |
| Laval vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Laval | Laval 1-6-1-1 | Rochester 8-1-0-0 |
| Laval vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Rochester | Laval 2-5-1-0 | Rochester 6-2-0-0 |
| Previous Meetings This Season | Rochester 4 @ Laval 3 (Oct 29 2021) Final |
How the 2 teams match up
|
Rochester |
Laval |
|
| Team Record | 3-2-0-0 -- 6 points | 4-3-0-0 -- 8 points |
| Division Ranking | 3rd North | 5th North |
| Conference Ranking | 7th Eastern | 9th Eastern |
| League Ranking | 14th | 18th |
| Past 10 Games | 3-2-0-0 | 4-3-0-0 |
| Streak | 1-0-0-0 | 0-1-0-0 |
| Last Game | 4-3 W @ Laval (Oct 29 2021) Final | 4-3 L vs Rochester (Oct 29 2021) Final |
| Home Record | 1-0-0-0 | 3-1-0-0 |
| Away Record | 2-2-0-0 | 1-2-0-0 |
| GF | 21 | 25 |
| GA | 22 | 18 |
| PP (Overall) | (2/19) 10.5% | (4/27) 14.8% |
| PP (Home) | (0/3) 0.0% | (4/17) 23.5% |
| PP (Away) | (2/16) 12.5% | (0/10) 0.0% |
| PK (Overall) | (3/14) 78.6% | (4/34) 88.2% |
| PK (Home) | (1/6) 83.3% | (3/20) 85.0% |
| PK (Away) | (2/8) 75.0% | (1/14) 92.9% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (1/4) 25% | (1/3) 33.3% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (1/3) 66.7% | (1/4) 75% |
| Leading Rookie | Quinn (4-4-8) | Fairbrother (1-3-4) |
| Most PIM | MacInnis - 18 | Fairbrother - 23 |
| Team PIM/GM | 15.6/Game | 22.9/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Quinn (4-4-8) | Dauphin (6-1-7) |
| Mersch (4-2-6) | Ouellet (2-4-6) | |
| Davidson (1-4-5) | Dea (3-2-5) | |
| Malone (1-4-5) | Pezzetta (2-3-5) | |
| Peterka (1-4-5) | Beaudin (1-4-5) | |
| Last 5 Games | 4-3 W @ Laval (Oct 29 2021) Final | 4-3 L vs Rochester (Oct 29 2021) Final |
| 7-3 L @ Belleville (Oct 27 2021) Final | 5-0 W vs Toronto (Oct 27 2021) Final | |
| 7-3 W @ Toronto (Oct 23 2021) Final | 3-0 L @ Bridgeport (Oct 24 2021) Final | |
| 5-3 W vs Syracuse (Oct 22 2021) Final | 4-0 W @ Providence (Oct 23 2021) Final | |
| 6-2 L @ Utica (Oct 17 2021) Final | 5-4 W vs Manitoba (Oct 20 2021) Final | |
| Leading After 1st | 2-0-0-0 | 2-0-0-0 |
| Leading After 2nd | 3-0-0-0 | 4-0-0-0 |
| Tied After 1st | 1-0-0-0 | 1-2-0-0 |
| Tied After 2nd | 0-0-0-0 | 0-0-0-0 |
| Trailing After 1st | 0-2-0-0 | 1-1-0-0 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 0-2-0-0 | 0-3-0-0 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 0-2-0-0 | 2-1-0-0 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 3-0-0-0 | 2-2-0-0 |
| 1-Goal Games | 1-0-0-0 | 1-1-0-0 |
| 2-Goal Games | 1-0-0-0 | 0-0-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 0-0-0-0 | 0-2-0-0 |