GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS HOST COMETS ON HOCKEY FIGHTS CANCER NIGHT
Nov 10, 2023TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (6-2-2-0) return to home ice tonight for the front-end of a home-and-home series with the Utica Comets (3-3-2-0) at 7:05 p.m. at The Blue Cross Arena. The North Division showdown will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV. The matchup will also be televised live locally on CW Rochester.
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The Amerks and Comets, who enter their third season under the affiliation of the New Jersey Devils, will meet 12 times during the 2023-24 season.
Tonight’s matchup is the third game of a stretch in which the intrastate rivals will meet three times over a four-game span.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RESULTS AGAINST UTICA
After earning just a pair of wins through the first five games of the season series with the Comets in 2022-23, Rochester finished the campaign with a 7-3-0-0 record in 10 games.
Rochester has won seven straight games on the road against the Comets, which includes this season’s preseason contest and the first game on Oct. 29. The club has outscored Utica 27-16 during that same time. Rochester has a collected points in seven straight games against Utica since Dec. 28, going 6-0-1-0 over that span.
The Amerks have scored at least one power-play goal in 20 of the 35 games (28-for-124) against Utica since Seth Appert took over as head coach prior to the 2020-21 season.
LAST TIME OUT
The Amerks were outshot 46-23 on this past Saturday against the Syracuse Crunch but managed to come away with a 5-4 shootout victory at Upstate Medical University Arena.
Jiri Kulich and Isak Rosen both turned in multi-point efforts with each recording two points (1+1) while Justin Richards and Olivier Nadeau rounded out the scoring. Jeremy Davies, Zach Metsa, Ethan Prow, Kale Clague, and Damien Giroux all contributed with an assist. Along with Kulich converting in the shootout, Filip Cederqvist’s attempt was successful.
Goaltender Dustin Tokarski (1-1-0) earned his first win of the season as he stopped 42 of 46 shots in the win, including a dazzling save in overtime. He denied both Crunch skaters in the skills competition.
THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENSE
The Amerks own two of the league’s top six scoring defensemen in Jeremy Davies and Kale Clague, who each have nine points in as many games this season.
Davies, who scored a career-high 11 goals last season, including three game-winning tallies, is tied for 11th in goals by a defenseman while his team-high 33 shots are third-most amongst all blueliners. Davies, who closed out the month of October on a five-game point streak, has recorded at least one point in seven of his first nine games this season, never going more than a game without a point.
Clague, meanwhile, currently leads all Amerks skaters and is tied for third among all rearguards with eight assists in nine games. Clague opened the campaign with three multi-point performances through his first six games.
DYNAMIC DUO: THE SEQUEL
Jiri Kulich and Isak Rosen both return for their second seasons in Rochester after putting up one of the most impressive and productive seasons as teenagers in the history of the AHL during the 2022-23 campaign.
Kulich continued his torrid start to the season on Saturday, scoring his team-leading ninth goal in 10 games. Kulich, whose 24 goals last season were the second-most ever by an 18-year-old in league history, is currently tied for second in the AHL in goals while his 13 points tie him for sixth in overall scoring. Kulich joins Luke Adam (2013-14) and Jack Quinn (2021-22) as the only other Amerks skaters to score nine goals through their first 10 games of their respective campaigns.
Rosen began the season with the AHL’s longest active point streak after notching a point in each of his first six games.
The duo has combined for 108 points (52+56) in 148 regular season games. Rochester owns a 17-3-2-1 record when they each have at least one point and a 7-1-0-0 mark when they both score in the same game.
TOKARSKI AMONG ELITE COMPANY
Veteran goaltender Dustin Tokarski, who missed the first eight games of the season due to an injury he sustained in training camp, made his season debut last week against Utica.
Tokarski, who’s in his second stint with the Amerks and 10th different AHL franchise, went 1-1-0 during a brief two-game stint with Rochester as part of the COVID-shortnened 2020-21 campaign. He went 12-20-7 in 42 appearances with the Buffalo Sabres from 2021-23.
Last Friday night, the two-time Calder Cup winner and AHL All-Star became just the 18th goaltender in league history to play in 400 career games, a list that also includes former Amerks Bobby Perreault (512), Michael Leighton (507), Drew MacIntyre (440) and Ed Chadwick (417).
The 34-year-old Tokarski ranks 18th all-time in games played and remains the only active goaltender on the list.
Currently in his 15th season, he joins Marcel Paille and Michael Leighton as the only goaltenders all-time to play at least 15 seasons in the AHL.
In addition to being a two-time Calder Cup winner (2012, 2019), Tokarski won a Memorial Cup in 2008 followed by a gold medal with Canada in 2009.
ROSTER SHUFFLING IN ROCHESTER
Since Oct. 27, the Amerks roster has seen 10 different players either get recalled to the Buffalo Sabres (NHL) or reassigned to Rochester from the Jacksonville Icemen (ECHL).
Forwards Ridley Fiddler-Schultz and Damien Grioux made their Amerk debuts last week while Chris Jandric, Christopher Brown and Dominick Mersch were among the newcomers summoned from Jacksonville.
Brandon Biro and Lukas Rousek were recently joined by rookies Ryan Johnson and Matt Savoie, both of whom were recalled by the Sabres.
Goaltender Devin Cooley backed Buffalo’s win on Oct. 29 but has since returned to Rochester while Michael Houser was reassigned to the Icemen this week.
WORKING OVERTIME
Rochester’s overtime win against Laval on Oct. 18 was the third straight game that went beyond regulation. Never before in the near 68-year history of the franchise have the Amerks opened a season with three consecutive overtime contests.
The Amerks show a 2-2 record in overtime this season and a 1-0 mark in the shootout. Rochester is the only team in the league with five games decided beyond regulation this season.
Dating back to last season, 13 of Rochester’s previous 25 regular-season games have required overtime to determine a winner.
SERIES NOTABLES
Amerks defenseman Riley Stillman faces his younger brother, Chase, for the third time in their pro careers. Chase in his rookie season after being selected in the first round (29th overall) by the New Jersey devils in 2021. Their father, Cory Stillman, appeared in 1,025 games at the NHL level, totaling 727 points (278+449) and won a pair of Stanley Cup Championships. Bud Stefanski, their grandfather, tallied 425 points in the AHL, won the 1984 Calder Cup and was named playoff MVP.
Comets forward Kyle Criscuolo is in his first season with the New Jersey Devils organization. In parts of two seasons with Rochester, he posted 54 points (21+33) in 94 games from 2017-19 while also skating in six playoff contests. He made his NHL debut with the Buffalo Sabres in 2017-18.
Utica forward Tyce Thompson is the younger brother of former Amerk and current Buffalo Sabres forward Tage Thompson.