GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS LOOK FOR THIRD STRAIGHT WIN TONIGHT AGAINST SPRINGFIELD
Jan 20, 2024TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
Winners in five of their last seven games, the Rochester Americans (18-13-3-1) close out their three-game week tonight as they host Malcolm Subban and the Springfield Thunderbirds (18-14-3-2) at The Blue Cross Arena. The matchup will be the second and final meeting between the two teams and will be carried live on 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV. The 5:05 p.m. contest will also be televised live locally on CW Rochester.
The Amerks, who have at least one point in six of their last seven games, show a 6-3-1-0 mark over their previous 10 contests overall. The club is tied for the third-place spot in the AHL’s North Division standings.
Winless in its last two games (0-2-0-2), Springfield sits in sixth spot the Atlantic Division with a 18-14-3-2 mark through its first 37 games.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RESULTS AGAINST SPRINGFIELD
The two teams have split the season-series in each of the last four seasons with each team posting one win as well as a loss. The Amerks suffered their first lost on home ice against Springfield last season and show a 5-1-0-0 mark at home dating back to the 2016-17 season.
Since the start of the 2016-17 season, there have been seven one-goal games, four two-goal contests and a pair of seven-plus goal outings over the previous 15 contests between Springfield and Rochester.
By way of a 4-3 shootout loss earlier this season and a 7-1 win last season, the Amerks have earned points in back-to-back road games in Massachusetts for the first time since the 2019-20 campaign.
LAST TIME OUT
The Amerks jumped out to a two-goal lead late in the second period before holding on for a 2-1 win over the Utica Comets Friday night at Adirondack Bank Center.
Forwards Brendan Warren and Lukas Rousek scored their fourth and seventh goals of the season in the first and second periods, respectively. Ethan Prow, Riley Stillman, Michael Mersch, and Kale Clague all notched an assist in the win.
Goaltender Dustin Tokarski (7-6-2) made his 15th appearance of the campaign and first since Jan. 6. The veteran netminder made 24 saves to earn his 212th career AHL victory, surpassing Nick Damore for 12th all-time.
THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENSE
Jeremy Davies and Kale Clague are among the AHL’s top scoring defensemen, having combined for seven goals and 35 points this season. Davies’ five goals are tied for 21st-most amongst all blueliners.
Davies, who scored a career-high 11 goals last season, including three game-winning tallies, is tied for 11th amongst all defensemen with 83 shots. He’s recorded at least one shot in all but three games this season. Davies, who closed out the month of October on a five-game point streak, has recorded one point in 12 of his first 31 games this season, never going more than four straight games without a point.
Clague, meanwhile, is tied for 15th among all blueliners with 16 assists in 32 games. Clague opened the campaign with three multi-point performances and enters the weekend with four points (1+3) over his last three games.
DYNAMIC DUO: ALL-STAR BOUND
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. Both were named to the North Division All-Star roster for the upcoming 2024 AHL All-Star Classic, which will take place Feb. 4-5 in San Jose, California.
Kulich’s torrid start to the season has him tied for eighth in the AHL with a team-high 16 goals despite having only appeared in 27 games for Rochester. Among the seven players ahead of him, all but one have skated in at least 34 games. Of his 16 goals, four of them have been overtime game-winners, most in the league in that category. Only Ontario’s Samuel Fagemo, who has 20 goals in 24 games this season, has scored more goals in fewer games across the AHL than Kulich.
Kulich, whose 24 goals last season were the second-most ever by an 18-year-old in league history, recently captained Czechia to a bronze medal at the 2024 World Junior Championship. He led all Czech skaters and tied for first in overall scoring with 12 points (6+6) in seven games, including his second four-point outing of the tournament in the bronze medal game.
He was named to the tournament’s All-Star Team for the second straight year in his final appearance. The 8-5 win, which saw Czechia overcome a 5-2 deficit with four goals in less than a minute, gave the Czechs their second straight medal finish after winning silver last year.
With 12 points over his last 18 games, which includes a career-best four point (2+2) effort on Nov. 18, Rosen took over the team lead in scoring with 25 points after returning from a seven-game stint with the Sabres last month. He is third amongst all Amerks in goals (9) and has matched his totaled from last season in game-winning tallies through just 31 games.
Back on Nov. 25, Kulich and Rosen both made their NHL debuts with the Buffalo Sabres against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center
The duo have combined for 132 points (63+69) in 186 regular season games. Rochester boasts an impressive 22-3-2-1 record when they each record at least one point in the same game as well as a near-perfect 8-1-0-0 mark when they both score in the same game.
ROUSEK RACKING UP THE POINTS
In his second full season in North America, forward Lukas Rousek is performing at nearly a point-per-game pace as he shows 25 points (7+18) in 30 games with the Amerks.
Rousek, a sixth-round selection (160th overall) by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2019 NHL Draft, has a team-best 18 assists and is tied for the overall scoring lead with 25 points while his seven goals rank fifth. Among all Amerks who have appeared in at least 25 games, he is third in points per game (0.83).
The third-year pro and AHL All-Star comes into the weekend having totaled 13 points (4+9) over a career-long 12-game point streak dating back to Dec. 20. It marks the longest active point streak in the league currently with only Toronto’s Alex Steeves having posted a longer point streak (16 games).
Rousek, who also skated in five games with the Sabres earlier this season, was riding an AHL-best seven-game assist streak entering last night’s game at Utica. Since the start of 2021-22 season, Rousek has recorded 85 points (24+61) in 119 games.
APPERT REACHES CENTURY MARK
The 3-2 win at Charlotte on Jan. 12 was a milestone win for Seth Appert, who became just the seventh head coach in the 68-year history of the franchise to reach 100 career victories with Rochester. He joins an impressive list that includes the likes of Amerks Hall of Famers Randy Cunneyworth, John Van Boxmeer, Joe Crozier, Mike Keenan, Chris Taylor and Brian McCutcheon.
On Dec. 16 against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Appert also became the seventh head coach in team history to be behind Rochester’s bench for 200 games.
Since the 2020-21 season, Appert has guided the Amerks to a 102-84-18-8 record as well as two straight playoff appearances, which included a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2023.
It was the team’s deepest playoff run in nearly 20 years and their first to the Conference Finals since the 2004 Calder Cup Playoffs.
WORKING OVERTIME
The 6-5 overtime loss in Cleveland earlier this month was the third game over the last 10 for Rochester that went beyond regulation, which includes three shootout decisions last month. Overall, the Amerks have gone to extra time on 13 different occasions this season, including each of the first three games of the campaign.
Never before in the near 68-year history of the franchise have the Amerks opened a season with three consecutive overtime contests.
Rochester is the only team in the league with 13 games decided beyond regulation this season. Dating back to last season, 21 of Rochester’s previous 48 regular-season games have required overtime to determine a winner.
Of the 78 games Rochester played since start of 2023, 25 have been decided beyond regulation. Jiri Kulich scored the game-winning goal in four contests over that span while Linus Weissbach sealed the victory in the shootout twice.
The Amerks show a 14-11 mark over that span, which includes an 11-5 record on the road, compared to 3-6 on home ice. In the 16 road contests decided after 60 minutes of play outside Rochester, the Amerks hold a 7-3 in overtime and are 4-2 in the shootout.
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.
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.
Tokarski, who’s 7-6-2 in his first 15 starts, 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 this weekend, the 34-year-old Tokarski is six wins away from tying Red Almas for 11th all-time in career wins (218). He’s also one game away from tying Neil Little for 16th all-time (415) and will tie Yann Danis for eighth all-time on his next shutout.
A JOLT OF JOST
Rochester’s forward group was bolstered at the end of the 2023 calendar year with the addition of veteran forward Tyson Jost, a former first-round selection (10th overall) of the Colorado Avalanche in the 2016 NHL Draft.
The St. Albert, Alberta, native made his Amerks debut on Dec. 29 against Hershey and has since recorded six points (2+4) through his first eight games, having earned at least one point in all but four games thus far.
Jost has totaled 13 points (7+6) in 21 career American Hockey League games with the Amerks, San Antonio Rampage and Colorado Eagles over parts of three seasons. He’s also recorded 138 points (56+82) over 442 career NHL games with Buffalo Sabres, Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche.
Jost spent one season at the University of North Dakota in 2016-17, amassing 35 points (16+19) in 33 games. He finished the campaign second on the club in both assists and points while ranking third in goals.
Before joining North Dakota, Jost totaled 149 points (97+65) in 97 career contests with the Penticton Vees (BCHL) from 2013-2016. During his final season, Jost was named Hockey Canada’s Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) National Player of the Year, as well as the CJHL’s MVP and Top Forward. Additionally, he was also named the BCHL MVP as he amassed 42 goals and 104 points in 48 games, leading the BCHL in assists (62).
Internationally, Jost led Canada at the 2016 Under-18 World Championship in Grand Forks, where he set a new Canadian scoring record with 15 points in seven games. He led the tournament in scoring and was named the Top Forward while also earning a gold medal with Canada at the 2015 World Junior ‘A’ Challenge.
SABRES, AMERKS SWAP GOALIES
Earlier today, the parent Buffalo Sabres reassigned rookie goaltender Devin Levi to Rochester and brought up Eric Comrie to the big club. Levi, 22, is the only goaltender drafted in 2020 or later to appear in an NHL game this season. He owns 8-7-2 record with an .889 save percentage in 19 appearances.
Levi made two appearances with the Rochester against Belleville last month, going 1-1-0 and making 70 saves. In his Amerk debut on Dec. 1, he made 40 saves before stopping all four shooters he faced in a shootout win.
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. Levi is the only two-time winner in the award’s history, which was introduced in 2014 and named in honor of former Wisconsin goaltender and Stanley Cup champion Mike Richter.
He led the nation again with a .933 save percentage, one year after he set the second-best mark in NCAA history with a .952 save percentage. He tied for third in the nation in both shutouts (6) and saves (1,183). Levi’s 16-career shutouts are a Northeastern University school record.
SUBBAN RETURNS TO ROCHESTER
Former Amerks goaltender Malcolm Subban returns to Rochester for the first time since signing an NHL contract with the St. Louis Blues this past summer. Rochester’s winner of the IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the year award in 2023, Subban posted a 20-14-5 record and two shutouts in a career-high 39 games during the regular season. He also went 8-6 an 8-6 mark in 14 games during the 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs while backstopping the Amerks to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Springfield Thunderbirds vs Rochester Americans: Head To Head Stats
Summary
|
Description |
Result |
|
| Head to Head Record 2023-24 Regular Season | Springfield 1-0-0-0 | Rochester 0-0-0-1 |
| Head to Head Record 2022-23 Regular Season | Springfield 1-1-0-0 | Rochester 1-1-0-0 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Springfield 4-2-0-1 | Rochester 3-2-1-1 |
| Springfield vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Springfield | Springfield 3-2-0-0 | Rochester 2-1-1-1 |
| Springfield vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Rochester | Springfield 1-0-0-1 | Rochester 1-1-0-0 |
| Previous Meetings This Season | Rochester 3 @ Springfield 4 (Dec 13 2023) Final SO |
How the two teams match up
|
Rochester |
Springfield |
|
| Team Record | 18-13-3-1 -- 40 points | 18-14-3-2 -- 41 points |
| Division Ranking | 4th North | 6th Atlantic |
| Conference Ranking | 10th Eastern | 8th Eastern |
| League Ranking | 18th | 16th |
| Past 10 Games | 6-3-1-0 | 3-5-1-1 |
| Streak | 2-0-0-0 | 0-2-0-0 |
| Last Game | 2-1 W @ Utica (Jan 19 2024) Final | 3-2 L vs Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Jan 15 2024) Final |
| Home Record | 7-6-2-0 | 12-6-2-2 |
| Away Record | 11-7-1-1 | 6-8-1-0 |
| GF | 114 | 115 |
| GA | 129 | 113 |
| PP (Overall) | (23/110) 20.9% | (24/139) 17.3% |
| PP (Home) | (8/44) 18.2% | (16/88) 18.2% |
| PP (Away) | (15/66) 22.7% | (8/51) 15.7% |
| PK (Overall) | (31/133) 76.7% | (27/135) 80.0% |
| PK (Home) | (13/49) 73.5% | (18/78) 76.9% |
| PK (Away) | (18/84) 78.6% | (9/57) 84.2% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (0/2) 0% | (0/1) 0% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (0/1) 100% | (0/2) 100% |
| Leading Rookie | Neuchev (4-8-12) | Bolduc (6-11-17) |
| Most PIM | Davies - 43 | Washkurak - 53 |
| Team PIM/GM | 12.0/Game | 12.0/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Rosen (9-16-25) | Gaudette (24-12-36) |
| Rousek (7-18-25) | Peca (8-24-32) | |
| Kulich (16-8-24) | Walker (13-16-29) | |
| Biro (11-11-22) | Coghlan (10-12-22) | |
| Mersch (5-16-21) | Rosen (1-20-21) | |
| Last 5 Games | 2-1 W @ Utica (Jan 19 2024) Final | 3-2 L vs Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Jan 15 2024) Final |
| 6-0 W vs Lehigh Valley (Jan 17 2024) Final | 6-3 L @ Utica (Jan 13 2024) Final | |
| 5-2 L @ Charlotte (Jan 13 2024) Final | 4-2 W @ Syracuse (Jan 12 2024) Final | |
| 3-2 W @ Charlotte (Jan 12 2024) Final | 4-3 W @ Bridgeport (Jan 10 2024) Final OT | |
| 6-5 L @ Cleveland (Jan 6 2024) Final OT | 6-3 L @ Providence (Jan 7 2024) Final | |
| Leading After 1st | 8-3-0-1 | 7-2-0-1 |
| Leading After 2nd | 10-0-0-0 | 7-1-1-0 |
| Tied After 1st | 4-5-1-0 | 4-5-3-0 |
| Tied After 2nd | 4-4-2-0 | 6-5-1-0 |
| Trailing After 1st | 6-5-2-0 | 7-7-0-1 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 4-9-1-1 | 5-8-1-2 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 7-5-1-0 | 9-4-2-1 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 10-8-2-1 | 8-10-1-1 |
| 1-Goal Games | 14-2-3-1 | 8-6-3-2 |
| 2-Goal Games | 2-5-0-0 | 5-3-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 1-2-0-0 | 3-3-0-0 |
Springfield Thunderbirds
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | Dylan Coghlan | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | X Adam Gaudette | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 63 | Matthew Peca | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | -1 |
| 41 | Will Bitten | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Mikhail Abramov | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 | Zachary Bolduc | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 77 | Drew Callin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Zach Dean | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 48 | Wyatt Kalynuk | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | X Matthew Kessel | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 18 | Mathias Laferriere | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Leo Loof | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 39 | Jamieson Rees | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 | Calle Rosen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 55 | Hunter Skinner | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 | Malcolm Subban | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | Ryan Suzuki | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | X Nathan Walker | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -1 |
| 27 | Keean Washkurak | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 47 | Malcolm Subban | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 65:00 | 3 | 2.77 | 0.850 |
Rochester Americans
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 96 | X Damien Giroux | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 28 | Michael Mersch | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 4 | Jeremy Davies | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Joseph Cecconi | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 26 | Mason Jobst | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 74 | Nikita Novikov | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Brandon Biro | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | X Filip Cederqvist | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 56 | Kale Clague | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Devin Cooley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | X Chris Jandric | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | Tyson Kozak | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 25 | Jiri Kulich | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 79 | Viktor Neuchev | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Justin Richards | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 18 | Isak Rosen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 11 | Lukas Rousek | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 61 | Riley Stillman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Linus Weissbach | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Devin Cooley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 65:00 | 3 | 2.77 | 0.927 |