GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS HOST FIRST-PLACE COMETS TONIGHT
Jan 29, 2022TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (21-12-2-1) close out the month of January tonight in the second of a four-game homestand against the first-place Utica Comets (23-5-5-0) at The Blue Cross Arena. Game time is slated for a 6:05 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 16 of their last 23 games dating back to Nov. 19 and are 3-0-2-1 in the last six games on home ice. Utica, meanwhile, enters tonight with 5-3-2-0 mark over its last 10 contests.
HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPSHOT
It’s been an even split through the first six games of the season series thus far between the intrastate rivals with each team earning three wins. After Utica claimed the first three, Rochester has responded with three straight wins of its own, including a 7-6 victory in the previous get-together between the two teams back on Jan. 12
Dating back to the start of the 2016-17 campaign, Rochester has collected at least one point in 34 of the last 51 games against Utica, going 26-18-3-4 over that span.
WATCH: TONIGHT'S FACE-OFF FIRST LOOK
AMERKS LEADING THE WAY
The Amerks own two of the league’s top nine point-getters in veteran forward Michael Mersch and rookie sensation Jack Quinn. Both Mersch and Quinn, who is currently on recall with the parent Buffalo Sabres, are tied for fourth in the league with 18 goals, while the duo rank seventh and ninth in the AHL in overall scoring, respectively.
Quinn scored his 18th goal of the season early in the second period against Syracuse on Jan. 19, giving him seven goals and 11 points in his first seven games since returning to the lineup on Jan. 5. Quinn paces all AHL rookies in both goals (18) and points (35) while his team-high six power-play goals are also second-most among all first-year players.
Mersch pushed his point streak to seven games with his 19th assist of the year in last night’s win over Syraucse. He also has points in eight of his last nine games as he inches closer to the 40-mark for the fifth time in his career.
With five players currently performing at or just below a point-per-game pace, Rochester has the AHL’s third-best offense. Averaging just under four goals per game, the Amerks have scored the most goals in the AHL with 134. Rochester has scored four goals or more in 20 of its 21 wins this season dating back to its 5-3 home-opening win over Syracuse on Oct. 22.
POWER-PLAY PROFICIENCY
Now 36 games into the season, Rochester’s power-play has gone 35-for-130 with a 26.9% conversion rate that is currently second-best in the AHL. The Amerks’ 35 goals on the man-advantage are most among all North Division teams and are three shy of the AHL lead behind the Ontario Reign.
The Amerks have scored at least one power-play goal in 22 of their first 36 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.
He’s the first Amerk to have a four-goal game since Rochester native Derek Whitmore single-handedly outscored Hamilton on Nov. 25, 2011 (5-2 W).
With 18 goals through his first 24 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 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 has 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.
Quinn is one of only three AHL rookies with at least six power-play goals this season, joining San Jose’s Scott Reedy and Springfield’s Dylan Sikura.
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 24 points (11+13) and four multi-point efforts over his last 22 games dating back to Nov. 24. He’s been held scoreless just five times over that span to move into seventh in the AHL in scoring with 37 points (18+19) 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 current seven-game point streak equals his longest since posting a career-best seven-game point streak in 2015.
With 18 goals this season, Mersch has more than 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.
When he reaches the 20-goal mark, he will have done so in the second- fewest number 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 65 games dating back to last season, including the lone player to appear in all 36 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 assists in the 7-6 win over Utica back on Jan. 12, 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 eight points (1+7) in his last nine games since the turn of the New Year, leads all Rochester blueliners and is tied for fifth among all AHL defensemen in scoring with 23 points (3+20) in 32 games. He also paces the league with 17 power-play assists as all but three of his 20 assists this season have come on the man-advantage. Equally as impressive, 19 of Laaksonen’s 23 points have come on the power-play.
Prior to earning his first recall of the season to the Sabres, rookie defenseman Mattias Samuelsson recorded two assists in the overtime loss to Belleville on Jan. 15, 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. Samuelsson is tied for seventh in scoring among all AHL rookie defensemen while his 13 assists are sixth-most.
With his Sabres season debut at Ottawa on Jan. 18, he became the 13th different player to appear in a game for both Buffalo and Rochester.
After producing his first three-point outing since the 2019-20 season on Jan. 15 against Belleville and an assist on Friday, Ethan Prow is tied for 11th amongst defensemen in points (20) and ninth in assists (16). The veteran defenseman has totaled 101 points (31+70) over his last 148 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 108 points (35+73) through the first 36 games this season.
Coming off his first four-goal game on Jan. 15, Quinn, Buffalo’s eighth overall pick in 2020, is back atop the AHL rookie scoring lead, pacing all first-year players in both goals (18) and points (35) in 24 games. Quinn became the 101st AHL player this season to make his NHL debut when he took the ice against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan. 11. He finished with team-highs in shots (3) and shot attempts (6) while earning 16:30 of total ice time. He then returned to the Sabres a day after scoring his team-leading 18th goal for Rochester and was rewarded with his first two NHL points, including a goal against Vezina Trophy winner and Stanley Cup champion Braden Holtby in the Sabres’ 5-4 loss to the Dallas Stars on Jan 20.
Peterka is fourth in rookie scoring with 30 points (8+22) after picking up his eighth multi-point game last Saturday in Cleveland. He is second among all first-year players with a team-high 22 assists. 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 been one of the team’s most consistent point-getters as of late with 19 points (5+14) over his last 18 games dating back to Nov. 27. He also has five multi-point efforts in 14 games over that span, which includes a season-high three-point (1+2) performance on Jan. 12 against Utica. He comes into the weekend showing one goal and eight assists over his last seven games
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, 13 have notched at least one point while eight have recorded at least 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 as the only team in the AHL to have scored at least 43 goals in all three periods this season. Additionally, the Amerks have scored the most first and third-period goals among any other team and have outscored the opposition 43-32 through the opening 20 minutes.
Over his last 11 games, Amerks forward Arttu Ruotsalainen has tallied 12 points on five goals and seven assists, a stretch which began with a three-point effort versus Hartford on Jan. 15. Ruotsalainen has also turned in a multi-point effort in four games over that same span and had a career-best eight shots against Utica on Jan. 12. The Finnish forward has recorded at least one shot in 31 straight games with Rochester dating back to the start of the 2020-21 campaign.
In the opening game of the season series between Utica and Rochester, the lineup featured four selections from the 2020 NHL Draft in Jack Quinn (1st round, 8th overall), JJ Peterka (2nd round, 34th overall), Alexander Holtz (1st round, 7th overall) and Nico Daws (3rd round, 84th overall). All four have since made their NHL debuts this season.
In the first three games with Utica, Rochester was held to under three goals and combined to score two goals in the opening 20 minutes of play. In the three games since, the Amerks have scored four or more goals in each and the club has totaled six tallies in the first period.
Rochester has gone 8-for-27 in six games on the power-play against Utica thihs season, which is good for a 27.7% success rate.
Utica Comets vs Rochester Americans: Head To Head Stats
Summary
|
Description |
Result |
|
| Head to Head Record 2021-22 Regular Season | Utica 3-2-1-0 | Rochester 3-3-0-0 |
| Head to Head Record 2020-21 Regular Season | Utica 7-3-0-1 | Rochester 4-6-0-1 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Utica 25-14-3-3 | Rochester 20-18-2-5 |
| Utica vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Utica | Utica 13-6-2-1 | Rochester 9-9-1-3 |
| Utica vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Rochester | Utica 12-8-1-2 | Rochester 11-9-1-2 |
| Previous Meetings This Season | Utica 6 @ Rochester 7 (Jan 12 2022) Final Utica 3 @ Rochester 4 (Dec 8 2021) Final OT Rochester 4 @ Utica 2 (Nov 24 2021) Final Rochester 3 @ Utica 5 (Nov 20 2021) Final Utica 3 @ Rochester 2 (Nov 17 2021) Final Rochester 2 @ Utica 6 (Oct 17 2021) Final |
How the 2 teams match up
|
Rochester |
Utica |
|
| Team Record | 21-12-2-1 -- 45 points | 23-5-5-0 -- 51 points |
| Division Ranking | 2nd North | 1st North |
| Conference Ranking | 2nd Eastern | 1st Eastern |
| League Ranking | 6th | 1st |
| Past 10 Games | 4-3-2-1 | 5-3-2-0 |
| Streak | 1-0-0-0 | 3-0-1-0 |
| Last Game | 2-1 W vs Syracuse (Jan 28 2022) Final | 4-3 L vs Charlotte (Jan 28 2022) Final OT |
| Home Record | 11-4-2-1 | 14-2-2-0 |
| Away Record | 10-8-0-0 | 9-3-3-0 |
| GF | 134 | 124 |
| GA | 131 | 85 |
| PP (Overall) | (35/130) 26.9% | (23/99) 23.2% |
| PP (Home) | (19/69) 27.5% | (15/55) 27.3% |
| PP (Away) | (16/61) 26.2% | (8/44) 18.2% |
| PK (Overall) | (24/121) 80.2% | (21/110) 80.9% |
| PK (Home) | (10/67) 85.1% | (7/58) 87.9% |
| PK (Away) | (14/54) 74.1% | (14/52) 73.1% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (8/27) 29.6% | (5/18) 27.8% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (5/18) 72.2% | (8/27) 70.4% |
| Leading Rookie | Quinn (18-17-35) | Holtz (11-11-22) |
| Most PIM | Fitzgerald - 43 | Greer - 52 |
| Team PIM/GM | 11.7/Game | 11.3/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Mersch (18-19-37) | De Leo (10-25-35) |
| Quinn (18-17-35) | Zetterlund (13-15-28) | |
| Peterka (8-22-30) | Walsh (5-21-26) | |
| Biro (5-19-24) | Schnarr (12-11-23) | |
| Laaksonen (3-20-23) | Holtz (11-11-22) | |
| Last 5 Games | 2-1 W vs Syracuse (Jan 28 2022) Final | 4-3 L vs Charlotte (Jan 28 2022) Final OT |
| 7-3 L @ Cleveland (Jan 22 2022) Final | 4-0 W vs Providence (Jan 25 2022) Final | |
| 4-1 W @ Cleveland (Jan 21 2022) Final | 6-3 W vs Syracuse (Jan 22 2022) Final | |
| 3-2 L vs Syracuse (Jan 19 2022) Final OT | 4-1 W @ Syracuse (Jan 21 2022) Final | |
| 6-5 L vs Belleville (Jan 15 2022) Final OT | 4-3 L @ Laval (Jan 19 2022) Final | |
| Leading After 1st | 15-3-0-1 | 10-0-4-0 |
| Leading After 2nd | 14-1-0-0 | 16-0-2-0 |
| Tied After 1st | 3-2-2-0 | 10-1-1-0 |
| Tied After 2nd | 3-1-2-1 | 4-0-2-0 |
| Trailing After 1st | 3-7-0-0 | 3-4-0-0 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 4-10-0-0 | 3-5-1-0 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 5-7-1-0 | 7-4-2-0 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 16-5-1-1 | 14-1-3-0 |
| 1-Goal Games | 10-3-2-1 | 7-3-5-0 |
| 2-Goal Games | 5-4-0-0 | 6-2-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 2-1-0-0 | 8-0-0-0 |
Utica Comets
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | Reilly Walsh | 6 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 6 |
| 7 | Chase De Leo | 4 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 3 |
| 26 | Ryan Schmelzer | 6 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 4 |
| 5 | Robbie Russo | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | -1 |
| 9 | Alexander Holtz | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 27 | X Marian Studenic | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 2 |
| 77 | Aarne Talvitie | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 20 | Fabian Zetterlund | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | Brian Flynn | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| 25 | Nolan Foote | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 17 | 0 |
| 15 | Joe Gambardella | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | A.J. Greer | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 0 |
| 92 | Graeme Clarke | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -1 |
| 14 | Tyler Irvine | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | -1 |
| 2 | Michael Vukojevic | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -1 |
| 39 | Samuel Laberge | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -2 |
| 16 | Nate Schnarr | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | -3 |
| 12 | X Tyce Thompson | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 82 | Nikita Okhotiuk | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 1 |
| 23 | Tyler Wotherspoon | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 6 |
| 33 | Frederik Gauthier | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -1 |
| 88 | Kevin Bahl | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| 90 | X Jesper Boqvist | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | Nico Daws | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Jeremy Groleau | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 11 | Joe Masonius | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Patrick McGrath | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 34 | Mareks Mitens | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Nick Rivera | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 93 | Akira Schmid | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | X Luke Stevens | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Colton White | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | Nico Daws | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 165:47 | 7 | 2.53 | 0.897 |
| 93 | Akira Schmid | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 137:20 | 7 | 3.06 | 0.904 |
| 34 | Mareks Mitens | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 58:35 | 7 | 7.17 | 0.750 |
Rochester Americans
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | Sean Malone | 5 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 2 | -2 |
| 2 | Oskari Laaksonen | 5 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 0 |
| 22 | X Jack Quinn | 5 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 8 | -3 |
| 5 | X Casey Fitzgerald | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | -1 |
| 19 | X Peyton Krebs | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | -2 |
| 28 | Michael Mersch | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| 24 | X Mattias Samuelsson | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 | -1 |
| 81 | Brett Murray | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| 10 | Brandon Biro | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Arttu Ruotsalainen | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 26 | Mason Jobst | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 72 | Ryan MacInnis | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 77 | JJ Peterka | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -3 |
| 52 | Mitch Eliot | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Matej Pekar | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 12 | -1 |
| 7 | Ethan Prow | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -3 |
| 44 | Josh Teves | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 45 | Brendan Warren | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 88 | Brandon Davidson | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 4 | Jimmy Schuldt | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -3 |
| 13 | Linus Weissbach | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Lukas Craggs | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -2 |
| 29 | Dominic Franco | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -4 |
| 41 | X Michael Houser | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | X Mark Jankowski | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 1 | X Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | Patrick Polino | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 32 | Mat Robson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 91 | Ryan Scarfo | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -4 |
| 16 | Peter Tischke | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41 | X Michael Houser | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31:15 | 1 | 1.92 | 0.900 |
| 32 | Mat Robson | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 123:27 | 9 | 4.37 | 0.859 |
| 1 | X Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 203:50 | 15 | 4.42 | 0.821 |