GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS LOOK FOR REDEMPTION IN REMATCH WITH B-SENS
Apr 13, 2024TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The playoff-bound Rochester Americans (36-23-6-3) look to split their weekend set in a rematch with the Belleville Senators (35-27-3-3) tonight at The Blue Cross Arena. The 5:05 p.m. contest will be carried live on The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
A win tonight would move the Amerks, who are 10-2-0-1 in their last 13 games and have points in 25 of their last 34 dating back to Jan. 17, into a first-place tie with Syracuse in the AHL's North Division standings. Rochester trails Syracuse by two points and sit just a point back of second-place Cleveland heading into the final four games of the regular season.
Rochester hasn't won a division title since 2004-05, the same year they captured the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as regular season champions.
SEASON SERIES SNAPSHOT
Dating back to the 2021-22 season, forward Michael Mersch has recorded 16 points (7+9) in 19 career games against Belleville. The Amerks captain has notched at least one point and one shot in 14 of his 19 games versus the Senators.
Since Belleville entered the league ahead of the 2017-18 season, Rochester has an all-time record of 17-22-2 against the Senators. The Amerks have posted a .500 winning percentage or better in four of the first five seasons in the head-to-head series.
Both teams have outscored the opposition in the first period this season while being outscored in the second stanza. Rochester's 77 goals in the opening period are tied for most in the AHL (Lehigh Valley).
LAST TIME OUT
The Amerks erased a two-goal first-period deficit but were unable to slow down a third-period surge by the Senators in what became a 6-3 loss in the first of back-to-back meetings between the North Division rivals Friday at The Blue Cross Arena.
Forwards Graham Slaggert (1+1) and Brandon Biro (0+2) both tallied multi-point games for the Amerks, who will look to split the weekend set in Saturday’s rematch with Belleville. Mason Jobst and Justin Richards both scored in the second and third periods, respectively. Jeremy Davies, Isak Rosén, and Damien Giroux rounded out the scoring as they all added one assist each.
Goaltender Devon Levi (13-6-3), who made his 22nd appearance of the season, stopped 18 of the 22 shots he faced. He entered the game having won six straight and seven of his last eight starts.
PLAYOFF TICKET PUNCHED
By way of Utica's overtime loss in Providence last night, the Amerks punched their ticket to the postseason for the 49th time in the 68-year history of the franchise.
The Amerks have qualified for the playoffs in each of the last five years (dating back to the 2017-18 campaign), including all three seasons under head coach Seth Appert.
Rochester's run to the Eastern Conference Final last season was the team's deepest playoff run in 23 years.
SHARING THE WEALTH
After seeing three players reach the 20-goal mark last season, the Amerks could potentially have the same or more by the season's end.
With goals in five of his last 11 games, Jiri Kulich reached the 20-goal mark for the second straight season on March 27 in Syracuse. Kulich, whose 22 goals lead all Rochester skaters, became the first Amerks player to score 20 or more goals in back-to-back seasons since Cole Schneider and Justin Bailey each did so in 2015-16 and 2016-17.
Mason Jobst, the team's leading point-getter with a career-high 48 points in 60 games this season, reached the mark for the first time in his pro career this past Sunday. He, too, has goals in five of his last 11 games and recently had a season-long six-game point streak (2+6) end back on March 22.
Linus Weissbach (16) is also making a strong push for his second straight 20-goal season as he comes into tonight with six goals in his last seven contests. Isak Rosén is also within reach after scoring his career-high 16th goal of the season reaching the mark in 10 fewer games.
NEW YEAR, NEW NEUCHEV
After producing just five points in his first 23 games, rookie foward Viktor Neuchev has unsurprisingly emerged as Rochester’s top scoring rookie through the final month of the regular season.
Dating back to Dec. 29 and the turn of the New Year, Neuchev has erupted for 23 points on nine goals and 14 assists over his previous 31 games.
Neuchev has recorded at least one point in 14 games over that span, including a season-long six-game point streak from Dec. 29 to Jan. 20 which saw him score three goals and record eight points.
Buffalo’s third-round selection (74th overall) in 2022, Neuchev’s most impressive performance of the season came back on Jan. 27, finding the back of the net for the third time in four games with the game-winning goal while also adding two assists in the 7-4 win over Laval. Since Jan. 5, Neuchev has recorded six multi-point games, which includes a pair of three-point efforts.
Of Neuchev’s 11 goals this season, eight have been scored on home ice and three have come against Laval. Neuchev, who had a 40-goal season while playing for Russia’s junior league during the 2021-22 campaign, currently leads all Amerks rookies with 28 points (11+17) and 80 shots in 53 games.
WORKING OVERTIME
The 5-4 shootout win against Bridgeport Sunday was the eighth game over the last 22 for Rochester that went beyond regulation, with three of the four producing a 2-1 score. Overall, the Amerks have gone to extra time on 23 different occasions, the most by any team this season, including each of the first three games of the campaign.
Since the start of the 2017-18 season of the 41 previous games between the two clubs, 14 contests have been decided beyond regulation, which includes a pair of shootouts this season.
Four of Jiri Kulich’s team-high five game-winning goals this season have come by way of overtime while Isak Rosén, Brandon Biro, Zach Metsa, and Michael Mersch have each the clinching goal during the extra frame.
Dating back to the start of the 2021-22 season, of Jeremy Davies’ five game-winning goals, four have come in overtime while all five have come on the road.
Never before in the near 68-year history of the franchise have the Amerks opened a season with three consecutive overtime contests.
Dating back to Jan. 20 of last season, 33 of Rochester’s previous 105 regular-season games have required overtime to determine a winner. Of the Amerks 52 wins during that span, 19 have come came following the end of regulation.
The Amerks show a 10-6 record in overtime this season and are 4-3 in the shootout.
Rochester tied an AHL record with 29 overtime games in 2017-18, showing a 9-11 record in overtime and 3-6 in the shootout.
LEANING ON LEVI
Devon Levi has earned the start in 20 of the last 30 games since being reassigned to Rochester on Jan. 20, including five straight to open February. Back with the Amerks following his last recall to Buffalo, he entered Friday having won six straight and seven of his last eight starts.
Levi, who boasts a 13-6-3 record in 22 appearances with the Amerks, held the opposition to three or fewer goals in each game over his recent six-game win streak. He totaled 188 saves on 201 shots while boasting an impressive 2.17 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage over that span.
His career-high 52 saves in the Amerks overtime win at Toronto on Feb. 19 were the most by an Amerks goaltender since Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen had 54 in a 2-1 win at Syracuse on Feb. 25, 2022.
Levi, who is tied for fifth among all rookie netminders with a .925 save percentage, has held the opposition to three or fewer goals in all but four of his 22 appearances. He’s 13-2-3 this season in those games.
Levi won the Mike Richter Award, given annually to the top goaltender in men’s college hockey, for the second straight year following the 2022-23 season.
The only two-time winner in the award’s history, Levi led the nation again with a .933 save percentage, and tied for third in both shutouts (6) and saves (1,183).
TOKARSKI ON THE MOVE
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 back on Nov. 3 against Utica.
In doing so, 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).
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.
He appeared in his 500th pro game against Hartford on March 20. He has played in 80 NHL contests and 420 AHL games.
Tokarski, who’s 10-9-3 in his first 23 appearances, surpassed the 10,000-save mark for his AHL career following a 31-save effort against Utica on Nov. 10. He also reached the 12,000-save mark for his pro career the week prior when he made his season debut against the Comets.
Entering tonight, the 34-year-old Tokarski is only three wins away from tying Red Almas for 11th all-time in career wins (218). He’s also 18 games away from tying Drew MacIntyre for 13rd all-time (440) and will tie Yann Danis for eighth all-time on his next shutout.
JOBST HAVING A CAREER YEAR
Forward Mason Jobst enters the contest with 33 points (14+19) over his last 36 games, the most by an Amerk since the turn of the new year. Jobst, who hasn't gone more than two games without a point over that span, recorded a career-best three-assist outing on Feb. 16 against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and followed that up by scoring goals in three straight games, including his career-high 16th goal of the season against Belleville on Feb. 23.
Since then, the fifth-year forward has already surpassed his goal total in 18 fewer games this season and successfully reached the 40-point mark for the first time in his career with another three-assist effort back on March 13 in Syracuse to take over the team's scoring lead.
Jobst has totaled 99 points (39+60) in 150 career games as an Amerk and has amassed 124 points (50+74) over 218 career American Hockey League games with Rochester, San Jose, Bridgeport, and Binghamton.
SERIES NOTABLES
Including four of the first seven games this season versus Belleville, Rochester has scored 11 first-period goals dating back to start the 2022-23 campaign. The Amerks have scored in seven of the last 15 first periods during that span. Belleville (17) has scored in all but four first periods over that same stretch.
In 34 of the last 41 meetings between the two teams dating back to the 2017-18 season, the Amerks have scored two or more goals while Belleville has found the back of the net in all but two games during the stretch. There has been just one shutout over the previous 41 games with Rochester coming up on the wrong side of a 2-0 score on Feb. 7, 2018.
Amerks rookie forward Anton Wahlberg completed a three-game week last Sunday with one goal and two assists, the first three points of his North American professional career. The Malmö, Sweden, native made his AHL/Amerks debut on March 30 at Cleveland before scoring his first goal against the Monsters on April 3, which also served as his home debut.
Belleville Senators vs Rochester Americans: Head To Head Stats
Summary
|
Description |
Result |
|
| Head to Head Record 2023-24 Regular Season | Belleville 5-1-0-1 | Rochester 2-4-0-1 |
| Head to Head Record 2022-23 Regular Season | Belleville 5-1-2-0 | Rochester 3-4-0-1 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Belleville 17-7-4-1 | Rochester 12-12-2-3 |
| Belleville vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Belleville | Belleville 7-4-3-1 | Rochester 8-6-0-1 |
| Belleville vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Rochester | Belleville 10-3-1-0 | Rochester 4-6-2-2 |
| Previous Meetings This Season | Belleville 6 @ Rochester 3 (Apr 12 2024) Final Rochester 1 @ Belleville 4 (Mar 2 2024) Final Rochester 4 @ Belleville 1 (Mar 1 2024) Final Belleville 2 @ Rochester 1 (Feb 23 2024) Final SO Belleville 4 @ Rochester 1 (Feb 21 2024) Final Rochester 2 @ Belleville 4 (Dec 2 2023) Final Rochester 3 @ Belleville 2 (Dec 1 2023) Final SO |
How the two teams match up
|
Rochester |
Belleville |
|
| Team Record | 36-23-6-3 -- 81 points | 35-27-3-3 -- 76 points |
| Division Ranking | 3rd North | 5th North |
| Conference Ranking | 7th Eastern | 9th Eastern |
| League Ranking | 13th | 19th |
| Past 10 Games | 7-2-0-1 | 6-3-1-0 |
| Streak | 0-1-0-0 | 5-0-0-0 |
| Last Game | 6-3 L vs Belleville (Apr 12 2024) Final | 6-3 W @ Rochester (Apr 12 2024) Final |
| Home Record | 16-12-3-2 | 18-12-2-2 |
| Away Record | 20-11-3-1 | 17-15-1-1 |
| GF | 218 | 200 |
| GA | 231 | 199 |
| PP (Overall) | (42/227) 18.5% | (46/252) 18.3% |
| PP (Home) | (17/102) 16.7% | (26/130) 20.0% |
| PP (Away) | (25/125) 20.0% | (20/122) 16.4% |
| PK (Overall) | (48/222) 78.4% | (51/238) 78.6% |
| PK (Home) | (21/92) 77.2% | (25/114) 78.1% |
| PK (Away) | (27/130) 79.2% | (26/124) 79.0% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (5/28) 17.9% | (6/28) 21.4% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (6/28) 78.6% | (5/28) 82.1% |
| Leading Rookie | Neuchev (11-17-28) | Ostapchuk (17-11-28) |
| Most PIM | Davies - 77 | Imama - 115 |
| Team PIM/GM | 10.4/Game | 14.6/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Jobst (21-27-48) | Crookshank (24-22-46) |
| Rosén (16-27-43) | Pilon (18-28-46) | |
| Biro (14-26-40) | Sokolov (18-25-43) | |
| Kulich (22-17-39) | Guenette (7-27-34) | |
| Rousek (10-28-38) | Larsson (7-24-31) | |
| Last 5 Games | 6-3 L vs Belleville (Apr 12 2024) Final | 6-3 W @ Rochester (Apr 12 2024) Final |
| 5-4 W @ Bridgeport (Apr 7 2024) Final SO | 3-2 W @ Toronto (Apr 10 2024) Final OT | |
| 3-2 W @ Providence (Apr 6 2024) Final OT | 5-2 W vs Syracuse (Apr 6 2024) Final | |
| 6-1 W vs Cleveland (Apr 3 2024) Final | 3-0 W vs Springfield (Apr 5 2024) Final | |
| 4-3 W @ Cleveland (Mar 30 2024) Final OT | 5-2 W @ Laval (Mar 30 2024) Final | |
| Leading After 1st | 18-5-2-1 | 16-5-2-1 |
| Leading After 2nd | 23-0-0-1 | 21-3-2-1 |
| Tied After 1st | 8-8-2-1 | 14-10-1-1 |
| Tied After 2nd | 8-9-5-0 | 9-5-1-0 |
| Trailing After 1st | 10-10-2-1 | 5-12-0-1 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 5-14-1-2 | 5-19-0-2 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 12-9-1-1 | 12-10-1-2 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 23-13-5-2 | 21-16-2-1 |
| 1-Goal Games | 22-3-6-3 | 14-9-3-3 |
| 2-Goal Games | 6-6-0-0 | 6-8-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 4-6-0-0 | 13-6-0-0 |
Belleville Senators
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | Rourke Chartier | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 4 |
| 22 | Garrett Pilon | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 | X Angus Crookshank | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 2 |
| 10 | Zack Ostapchuk | 7 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| 6 | Donovan Sebrango | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 19 | 4 |
| 39 | X Jiri Smejkal | 6 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| 18 | Josh Currie | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 34 | Roby Järventie | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 21 | Maxence Guenette | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 | X Matthew Highmore | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 33 | Lassi Thomson | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| 52 | Nikolas Matinpalo | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| 25 | Tyler Kleven | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 4 |
| 23 | Cole Reinhardt | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | -2 |
| 13 | Egor Sokolov | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 3 |
| 3 | Dillon Heatherington | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Jacob Larsson | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -2 |
| 5 | Wyatt Bongiovanni | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 17 | X Zack MacEwen | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| 19 | X Matthew Boucher | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 |
| 8 | Tarun Fizer | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 17 | Stephen Halliday | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | X Bokondji Imama | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 11 | Kyle Betts | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 29 | X Orrin Centazzo | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 7 | X Jarid Lukosevicius | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 46 | Ryan MacKinnon | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -2 |
| 31 | Kevin Mandolese | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 35 | Leevi Merilainen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | Oskar Pettersson | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 39 | Jamieson Rees (total) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| SPR | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | |
| BEL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| 26 | Brennan Saulnier | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 |
| 40 | Mads Sogaard | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | Kevin Mandolese | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 155:17 | 3 | 1.16 | 0.948 |
| 40 | Mads Sogaard | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 213:27 | 7 | 1.97 | 0.939 |
| 35 | Leevi Merilainen | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 60:00 | 4 | 4.00 | 0.886 |
Rochester Americans
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Linus Weissbach | 6 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| 26 | Mason Jobst | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | -1 |
| 11 | X Lukas Rousek | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| 25 | Jiri Kulich | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | -3 |
| 19 | Graham Slaggert | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | -1 |
| 22 | Zach Metsa | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 81 | Brett Murray | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | -4 |
| 10 | Brandon Biro | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -2 |
| 4 | Jeremy Davies | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 14 | -6 |
| 18 | Isak Rosén | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -6 |
| 17 | X Tyson Jost | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | -1 |
| 52 | Aleksandr Kisakov | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -3 |
| 16 | Justin Richards | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -2 |
| 56 | X Kale Clague | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 1 |
| 96 | Damien Giroux | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 27 | Devon Levi | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Michael Mersch | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -1 |
| 61 | Riley Stillman | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 1 |
| 3 | Joseph Cecconi | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -3 |
| 37 | X Chris Jandric | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 23 | Ryan Johnson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | Tyson Kozak | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 |
| 20 | X Olivier Nadeau | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 79 | Viktor Neuchev | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 74 | Nikita Novikov | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Ethan Prow | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -4 |
| 5 | Calle Själin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 34 | Dustin Tokarski | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 92 | Anton Wahlberg | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -2 |
| 45 | Brendan Warren | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | -2 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 34 | Dustin Tokarski | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 65:00 | 1 | 0.92 | 0.970 |
| 27 | Devon Levi | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 357:09 | 18 | 3.02 | 0.911 |