GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS HOST MARLIES ON TEDDY BEAR TOSS NIGHT
Rochester facing only North Division team they have yet to beat this season
Feb 22, 2025
By Andrew Mossbrooks | @ Mossbrooks48
The Rochester Americans (32-14-3-1) will go for a third straight win Saturday evening when the team hosts the Toronto Marlies (27-14-2-5) at Blue Cross Arena.
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The Amerks have wins over five of the other six teams in the North Division. The only exception to this comes from Toronto, whom Rochester has gone 0-2-1-0 against this season. Saturday is the fourth of six scheduled meetings between the teams this season. The final two meetings will come via a home-and-home weekend to close out the 2024-25 AHL regular season in April.
LAST TIME OUT
Rochester’s power-play was firing on all cylinders Friday night, converting five times to lead the way in a dominant 6-3 win over the Belleville Senators.
11 different Amerks registered points in the win, with Konsta Helenius (1+2) and Isak Rosen (0+3) leading the way with three-point affairs. In goal, Michael Houser made his first start at Blue Cross Arena since Nov. 16, 2024 and stopped 28 shots to record the win. Houser improved to 5-4-1 on the season.
Elsewhere, the Toronto Marlies were unable to solve Syracuse’s Matt Tomkins in goal, getting shutout by a 5-0 final to the Crunch. The Marlies went 0-for-4 on their power-play, while Dennis Hildeby surrendered a season high five goals against on 32 shots. After an all-star season in 2023-24, Hildeby has failed to keep his save percentage above .900 and has given us four or more goals in four of his last five starts.
Last night was just the second time Toronto has been shut out this season, with the other also coming against the Crunch.
A DAY TO REMEMBER
On Friday night, in his 116th professional game, Amerks defenseman Ryan Johnson had a moment he won’t soon forget. Skating in from the left-wing side, Johnson shot a puck that eluded former Amerk Malcolm Subban, going through the legs of the veteran goaltender and thus, giving Johnson his first professional goal.
“It almost felt like we won in overtime in a playoff game,” said Amerks head coach Michael Leone when describing the celebration on the bench for Johnson’s goal. “I’m so happy for him. He’s meant a lot to our team with how hard he plays. He drives us. He defends and competes so hard. Hopefully we get him on a hot streak.”
Johnson has also strung together points in three straight games with an assist in each of the prior two contests, giving the second-year pro his second career three-game point streak. The Newport Beach, California, native hadn’t scored in over two years, last doing so when he had four goals in the 2022-23 NCAA campaign with the University of Minnesota.
“That was wild,” said Johnson. “I’ve never seen a reaction like that before. It was way better than I thought it would be. Seeing the support from the guys and our culture; the way guys play so selflessly. This group has supported me non-stop. The goal wasn’t too special given the shot, but I’m just so thankful for the guys and seeing how excited everyone was. It was really special.”
WE’VE GOT THE POWER
After going two for its last 19 on the power-play over the previous six games, Rochester resurrected its man advantage in a way not seen all too recently, as five different Amerks found the back of the net on the man-advantage. The Amerks’ power-play converted on five of six opportunities. Their percentage skyrocketed from 17.6% efficiency to 19.6%. On Friday, the Amerks woke up with the 20th ranked power-play in the league. Today they skate in owning the ninth-best man-advantage.
On home ice, the Amerks had the second-worst power-play in the AHL. Their performance Friday helped them leapfrog six other teams to place 24th on home ice. The five power-play goals not only marks a season-high, but is the first time Rochester has scored on that many power-plays in over seven years. The last time a night like this happened was Feb. 16, 2018, where the Amerks scored six against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in what ended as a 12-3 dismantling of the Penguins.
Brett Murray was one of the scorers from last night, potting his 23rd goal of the season to tie a previous career-high set during the 2022-23 campaign. Murray also leads the AHL with 12 power play goals.
Zachary Metsa also scored on the man-advantage, giving Metsa goals in consecutive games for the first time this season.
Josh Dunne scored his first power-play goal of the season on an excellent tip off a shot from Helenius, who scored a power-play goal of his own later in the contest, and Mason Jobst got the night started with a breakaway goal on the man advantage.
MARLIE(S) AND ME
The Amerks face Toronto on home ice for just the second time this season and the first since Oct. 18 (127 days ago). That night, Alex Steeves scored twice and Toronto rallied from a 2-0 deficit to pull out a 4-2 win. The next two meetings would both be decided by one goal, including their last encounter in Toronto back on Nov. 17, when former Amerk Alex Nylander scored in overtime to secure a 2-1 win for the Marlies.
Anton Wahlberg is the only Amerk with multiple points in the season series, scoring a goal and an assist against Toronto. Devon Levi, who is expected to start Saturday’s game, has yet to face Toronto this season, though the 23-year-old prospect fared excellent against the Marlies a year ago, posting a 3-0-0 record.
Marlies leading scorer Alex Steeves continues to lead the AHL as a whole with 29 goals, but was recalled to the Maple Leafs earlier this week. In his absence, Nylander is next in line with 17 goals and 33 points.
Collectively, the Marlies aren’t scoring a ton of goals, but they do post a proficient power-play that operates as the sixth-best in the AHL.
Their goaltending trio of Artur Akhtyamov, Hildeby, and two-time Stanley Cup champion Matt Murray have combined to surrender the seventh-fewest goals in the league.