GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS LOOK TO COMPLETE SWEEP OF MARLIES TONIGHT
A win tonight would move the Amerks on to the Conference Finals for the first time in 19 years
May 17, 2023TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (5-2) look to close out the top-seeded Toronto Marlies (3-3) as the North Division Final shifts to Rochester for Game 3 at Blue Cross Arena. The 7:05 p.m. matchup will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHL TV. Rochester currently leads the best-of-five series 2-0 and has won five straight.
SERIES NOTES
The Amerks upped their series lead to 2-0 by way of a convincing 7-4 victory in Game 2 on Saturday which saw Rochester score four times in less than three minutes during a dominant second period and seven different goal-scorers find the back of the net.
Jiri Kulich extended his goal-scoring streak to an AHL-best five straight games, becoming the first AHL rookie to score a goal in five consecutive playoff games since Brendan Ranford in 2014. His five-game goal streak is also the longest in an AHL postseason since Peter Holland scored in six straight playoff games for Toronto that same year.
A win tonight would give the Amerks a series sweep for the first time since eliminating Hamilton in the opening round of 2005 and earn the team a trip to the Conference Finals for the first time in 19 years.
Rochester shows a 10-4 record when they have a chance to sweep an opponent in the postseason. Including last season’s 2-0 series win over Belleville, the Amerks have won each of their last seven games to sweep an opponent.
A victory tonight would also extend their win streak to six games, the club’s longest in the postseason since 2004 when they won seven straight games.
PLAYOFF LEADERS
With a goal in each of his first five AHL playoff games, Jiri Kulich currently leads all first-year AHL players with five goals and is tied for fifth in rookie postseason scoring with six points. Kulich, whose 22 goals in the regular season were the second-most by an 18-year-old in league history, also paces all players with four power-play goals and two game-winning goals.
Isak Rosen, a fellow first-round selection of the Buffalo Sabres, is also tied for fifth amongst all AHL rookies with six points (2+4). Both of his playoff goals have come on the power-play.
Amerks captain Michael Mersch presently leads all Rochester skaters and is tied for seventh in the AHL with nine points (5+4) while goaltender Malcolm Subban, who’s earned the start in all seven postseason contests, is tied for second amongst all goaltenders with five straight playoff wins.
Lawrence Pilut, who scored the series-clinching goal versus Syracuse, is third in scoring amongst all AHL blueliners with seven points (3+4) in as many playoff contests. With points in five straight games, Pilut carries the longest active point streak by a defenseman into this tonight’s matchup.
Fellow defenseman Ethan Prow is currently riding four-game assist streak dating back to Game 4 of the North Division Semifinals against the Crunch. Coming into tonight, Prow, who reached the 40-point mark for the second straight year and third time in his last four AHL seasons, is tied for fourth amongst all defensemen with five assists in seven games.
HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPSHOT
With tonight’s Game 3 marking the 11th meeting overall in 2022-23, the Amerks and Marlies have been fairly acquainted over the year. Over the last five seasons, Rochester shows a 7-5-0-0 mark in Toronto, which includes a 2-2-0-0 record during the 2022-23 campaign.
Both teams finished with four regulation wins in the head-to-head series, with each scoring seven goals in the first period and double digits in the third (ROC-10, TOR-17). Despite being outscored 30-27 and outshot 235-234 overall, Rochester outshot and outscored the Marlies 85-70 and 9-6 in the first and second periods, respectively.
Rochester went 5-for-35 (14.3%) on the power-play this season against the Marlies while also showing an 74.2% success-rate on the penalty kill (23-for-31).
In 25 of the last 36 meetings between the two teams dating back to the 2016-17 season, the team that scored first has come away with the victory. Additionally, in 24 of the last 28 meetings, the winning team has scored at least four goals dating back to the 2017-18 season.
Over the last 25 games, Rochester has scored at least one goal in the first period 18 times, which includes a four-goal outing in the series-opener on Oct. 23, 2021. Toronto, on the other hand, has scored 23 times in the final 20 minutes of regulation, which includes a five-goal frame on Jan. 14, 2023.
Of the 32 different players to appear in at least one game for Rochester against Toronto, 21 recorded at least one point, which included goaltender Michael Houser, and 14 scored one or more goals.
Forward Lukas Rousek (4+4) was a point-per-game player this season against the Marlies as he finished with eight points (4+4) in eight games, which topped all Amerks. Mersch notched one goal and a team-leading six assists in seven contests against Toronto.
Goaltender Malcolm Subban manned the pipes for three games opposite Marlies this season, posting a 1-2-1 record with a 4.25 goals-against average and a .851 save percentage.
Both teams closed out the regular season with a win in the final weekend.
SHARING THE WEALTH
The Amerks finished the regular season with three different 20-goal scorers for the second straight year.
Jiri Kulich (24) and Brett Murray (23) each cracked the mark, both doing so back on March 26 versus Cleveland, while Linus Weissbach also reached his first 20-goal campaign in last Friday’s 7-4 loss to Belleville.
With Kulich, Murray and Weissbach all successfully reaching the 20-goal mark this season, the Amerks have now had at least one player from all but two seasons (excluding the COVID-19 shortened 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons) in the 67-year history of the franchise score 20 or more goals dating back to Bronco Horvath’s team-leading 37 tallies during the Amerks’ inaugural 1956-57 campaign.
The last time Rochester had at least five different 20-goal scorers in the same season was during the 2018-19 campaign when the team had six.
EARNING THEIR STARS AND STRIPES
With 19 points (7+12) over his last 26 games, Linus Weissbach finished nine points back of the team-lead with 47 points (20+27) in 69 games. By scoring his 19th goal and 41st point of the season on April 5 against Syracuse, he established career-highs in both categories, surpassing the marks he set during his rookie campaign in 2021-22.
Brett Murray, who was just one point away from his first 50-point campaign, captured career-highs in all offensive categories from last season, including goals (23), assists (26) and points (49). The fourth-year pro end the season with 23 points (9+14) in his last 28 games and recorded at least one shot in all but five games during that span dating back to Nov. 23.
With 12 points (5+7) over the last 27 games, Sean Malone reached the 30-point mark in back-to-back campaigns for the first time in his career. In 53 contests in his fifth season with the Amerks, Malone finished with 14 goals and 17 assists.
Amerks captain Michael Mersch showed 35 points (16+19) over the last 47 games dating back to Dec. 17. More impressively, with 45 points in 61 games, he reached the 40-point mark for the sixth time in his nine-year pro career. The former Calder Cup winner is also a five-time 20-goal scorer, reaching the mark four times in his first five seasons and again last season when he scored a career-high 26 goals.
In 66 games, defenseman Jeremy Davies established a career-high with 11 goals, reaching the mark for the first time in his pro career while also becoming the first Amerks defenseman this season to do so. Over the last 28 games, Davies collected five goals and seven assists for 12 points.
Rookie Isak Rosen posted 22 points (11+11) in 37 games since Jan. 21. In the 7-1 victory over Springfield, Rosen, the Sabres’ first-round selection (14th overall) in the 2021 NHL Draft, notched his first-career three-point game as well as his first-ever two-goal outing. Overall, four of his 14 goals on the season came while on the power-play. Rosen was one of only two rookies this season to reach the 30-point mark.
Mitch Eliot tied his previous career-high in goals (3) at Providence on Feb. 26, reaching the mark in 24 fewer games than the 2021-22 campaign.
ROUSEK MADE UP FOR LOST TIME
After an injury limited him to just 19 regular-season games during his rookie campaign, forward Lukas Rousek took his first full season by storm.
A 2023 AHL All-Star selection, Rousek led the Amerks in assists (40) and points (56) in 70 games while his 16 goals were tied for fifth-most.
Rousek, a sixth-round selection of the Buffalo Sabres in 2019, made his NHL debut on March 27 against Montreal, scoring a goal and adding an assist while logging 9:03 of time in the 4-3 shootout loss.
He scored his first NHL goal on his first shot on his first shift, the first Sabres player to do so since Ethan Prow.
He's the 27th player in Sabres franchise history to score a goal in their NHL debut with Buffalo and the 186th overall to record the first goal of their career as a member of the Sabres.
Rousek also added an assist later in the game, and by doing so, became the first Sabres skater to record a goal an assist in their NHL debut with Buffalo since former Amerk Maxim Afinogenov on Nov. 10, 1999 vs. Boston.
Rousek, who rejoined Amerks last Saturday following his third recall of the season to Buffalo, finished with 45 points (12+33) over his final 55 games, including 17 points (5+12) in his last 17 appearances.
KEEPING IT KULICH
Ever since returning from an impressive showing at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship in January, Jiri Kulich not only emerged as one of the team's most consistent point-getters for the second half of the season, but as arguably the top prospect in the Buffalo Sabres pipeline.
The third of Buffalo's three first-round picks in last year's NHL Draft, Kulich led the Amerks and finished tied for sixth amongst all AHL rookies with 24 goals while his 46 points are tied for 11th-most.
With Kulich becoming the first player this season to score 20 goals, it marked the first time the Amerks had a rookie 20-goal scorer in back-to-back seasons (Jiri Kulich in 2022-23, Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka in 2021-22) since Drew Stafford in 2006-07 and Clarke MacArthur in 2005-06.
Kulich, the youngest regular player in the AHL this season, was only the fourth player in league history to score more than 20 goals during his 18-year-old season (turning 19 after Jan. 1) and first since Robert Dome of Syracuse recorded 21 in 1997-98. Kulich also became just the second Amerks player in franchise history to reach the mark as an 18-year-old since Jozef Cierny scored 27 during his only season in Rochester in 1992-93.
WORKING OVERTIME
Rochester’s April 7 overtime win at Syracuse was the eighth time over a stretch of 11 games -- and the 20th overall -- that went beyond regulation.
The Amerks went 7-6 in overtime this season and showed a 4-3 mark in shootouts.
Rochester (.550) finished as one of 16 teams in the AHL this season with a .500 or better winning percentage in overtime games.
Rochester tied an AHL record with 29 overtime games in 2017-18.
MARLIES REGULAR SEASON IN REVIEW
With a 42-24-4-2 record in the regular season, the Marlies won the franchise’s seventh Division title. Toronto, which lost 11 of its last 13 games, including a season-long seven straight, finished nine points ahead of Rochester in the AHL’s North Division standings.
In his first season with Toronto, Logan Shaw captained the Marlies while leading the team with 48 assists and 69 points. Shaw was the winner of the Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award by the AHL after skating in 69 of the club’s 72 games, including his 600th game as a professional on Mar. 12. He also represented the club at the 2023 AHL All-Star Classic.
Shaw has totaled 104 goals and 126 assists for 230 points in 381 career AHL games with Toronto, Belleville, Manitoba, San Diego, Springfield, Portland and San Antonio.
Coming into the series opener, Toronto had won eight consecutive Game 1’s dating back to 2017 and were 9-0 all-time in the playoffs against Rochester