GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS LOOK TO EXTEND SERIES LEAD TODAY IN GAME 2
May 13, 2023TODAY'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (4-2) put their AHL-best four-game win streak on the line this afternoon when they meet the Toronto Marlies (3-2) in Game 2 of the North Division Finals at Coca-Cola Coliseum. The 4 p.m. matinee 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 1-0.
SERIES NOTES
The Amerks claimed the series opener by way of a 4-3 win in Game 1 on Thursday, scoring twice on the power-play and once shorthanded while surving a late third-period push from the Marlies.
Jiri Kulich extended his goal-scoring to four straight games, tied for the longest active streak in the AHL postseason and longest amongst rookies, while Malcolm Subban made 20 saves to backstop Rochester to its first-ever playoff win over the Marlies. The Toronto native has now won four straight dating back the second-round series against the Syracuse Crunch.
The third-round series brings an all-too-familiar foe in the Marlies, who are making their 12th postseason appearance in franchise history. Subsequently, it’s also the fourth playoff meeting between Rochester and Toronto and the first since the 2019 Calder Cup Playoffs.
Toronto, which came into the series on the heels of three consecutive first-round sweeps of the Amerks dating back to 2012, received multi-point efforts from captain Logan Shaw (0+3) and Joseph Blandisi (1+1) in Game 1.
A win tonight would give the Amerks a 2-0 series lead for the first time since sweeping Hamilton in the opening round of the best-of-seven series in 2005.
PLAYOFF LEADERS
With a goal in each of his first four AHL playoff games thus far, Jiri Kulich currently leads the league’s first-year players with four goals and is tied for second in rookie postseason scoring with five points. His four-game goal-scoring streak is currently tied for the longest active streak in the AHL with Toronto’s Kyle Clifford. Both players also have five points over that span.
Isak Rosen, a fellow first-round selection of the Buffalo Sabres, has a pair of multi-point games and is also tied for second amongst all AHL rookies with five points (2+3). Both of his playoff goals have come on the power-play.
Amerks captain Michael Mersch presently leads all Rochester skaters and is tied for 11th in the AHL with seven points (4+3) while goaltender Malcolm Subban, who’s earned the start in all six postseason contests, is tied for third amongst all goaltenders with four playoff wins.
Lawrence Pilut, who scored the series-clinching goal versus Syracuse, is tied for fifth in scoring amongst all AHL blueliners with six points (3+3) in as many playoff contests. With points in four straight games, Pilut carries the longest active point streak by a defenseman into this afternoon’s matchup.
Fellow defenseman Ethan Prow is riding three-game assist streak after a two-assist effort in Thursday’s Game 1 win. Coming into today, Prow, who reached the 40-point mark for the second straight year and third time in his last four AHL seasons, is tied for fifth amongst all defensemen with four assists in six games.
HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPSHOT
With tonight’s Game 1 marking the 10th 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.
Toronto has won eight consecutive Game 1’s dating back to 2017 and are 9-0 all-time in the playoffs against Rochester.
Toronto Marlies vs Rochester Americans: Head To Head Stats
Summary
|
Description |
Result |
|
| Head to Head Record 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs | Toronto 0-1-0-0 | Rochester 1-0-0-0 |
| Head to Head Record 2022-23 Regular Season | Toronto 4-3-0-1 | Rochester 4-4-0-0 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Toronto 3-1-0-0 | Rochester 1-2-1-0 |
| Toronto vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Toronto | Toronto 1-1-0-0 | Rochester 1-1-0-0 |
| Toronto vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Rochester | Toronto 2-0-0-0 | Rochester 0-1-1-0 |
| Previous Meetings This Season | Rochester 4 @ Toronto 3 (May 11 2023) Final |
How the two teams match up
|
Rochester |
Toronto |
|
| Team Record | 4-2-0-0 -- 8 points | 3-2-0-0 -- 6 points |
| Division Ranking | 1st North | 2nd North |
| Conference Ranking | 3rd Eastern | 4th Eastern |
| League Ranking | 5th | 9th |
| Past 10 Games | 4-1-0-1 | 3-2-0-0 |
| Streak | 4-0-0-0 | 0-1-0-0 |
| Last Game | 4-3 W @ Toronto (May 11 2023) Final | 4-3 L vs Rochester (May 11 2023) Final |
| Home Record | 2-0-0-0 | 1-2-0-0 |
| Away Record | 2-2-0-0 | 2-0-0-0 |
| GF | 23 | 20 |
| GA | 18 | 19 |
| PP (Overall) | (7/21) 33.3% | (3/16) 18.8% |
| PP (Home) | (4/9) 44.4% | (3/12) 25.0% |
| PP (Away) | (3/12) 25.0% | (0/4) 0.0% |
| PK (Overall) | (4/20) 80.0% | (4/18) 77.8% |
| PK (Home) | (1/4) 75.0% | (4/10) 60.0% |
| PK (Away) | (3/16) 81.3% | (0/8) 100.0% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (2/3) 66.7% | (0/4) 0% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (0/4) 100% | (2/3) 33.3% |
| Leading Rookie | Kulich (4-1-5) | Abruzzese (1-4-5) |
| Most PIM | Cecconi - 16 | Blandisi - 18 |
| Team PIM/GM | 11.5/Game | 11.4/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Mersch (4-3-7) | Shaw (4-4-8) |
| Pilut (3-3-6) | Blandisi (2-5-7) | |
| Jobst (2-4-6) | Clifford (4-2-6) | |
| Murray (2-4-6) | Abruzzese (1-4-5) | |
| Kulich (4-1-5) | Chyzowski (2-1-3) | |
| Last 5 Games | 4-3 W @ Toronto (May 11 2023) Final | 4-3 L vs Rochester (May 11 2023) Final |
| 5-4 W @ Syracuse (May 6 2023) Final OT | 4-1 W @ Utica (May 5 2023) Final | |
| 4-0 W vs Syracuse (Apr 30 2023) Final | 5-2 W @ Utica (May 3 2023) Final | |
| 8-5 W vs Syracuse (Apr 28 2023) Final | 7-2 L vs Utica (Apr 29 2023) Final | |
| 3-0 L @ Syracuse (Apr 22 2023) Final | 6-5 W vs Utica (Apr 27 2023) Final OT | |
| Leading After 1st | 4-0-0-0 | 1-0-0-0 |
| Leading After 2nd | 4-0-0-0 | 1-0-0-0 |
| Tied After 1st | 0-0-1-0 | 0-1-0-0 |
| Tied After 2nd | 0-0-1-0 | 2-0-0-0 |
| Trailing After 1st | 0-1-0-0 | 2-1-0-0 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 0-1-0-0 | 0-2-0-0 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 0-0-0-0 | 3-2-0-0 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 4-1-1-0 | 0-0-0-0 |
| 1-Goal Games | 2-0-1-0 | 1-1-0-0 |
| 2-Goal Games | 0-0-0-0 | 0-0-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 1-1-0-0 | 2-0-0-0 |
Toronto Marlies
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Logan Shaw | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| 36 | Joseph Blandisi | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 26 | Nick Abruzzese | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 43 | Kyle Clifford | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 81 | Mac Hollowell | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 6 | Marshall Rifai | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 18 | Jordie Benn | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | Ryan Chyzowski | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 48 | Carl Dahlström | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 85 | Semyon Der-Arguchintsev | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 22 | Max Ellis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Pontus Holmberg | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 9 | Marc Johnstone | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 50 | Erik Källgren | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 | Topi Niemelä | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 32 | Matteo Pietroniro | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 |
| 90 | Graham Slaggert | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 46 | Alex Steeves | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 53 | Radim Zohorna | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | SL | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | Erik Källgren | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 56:55 | 4 | 4.22 | 0.800 |
Rochester Americans
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 81 | Brett Murray | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -1 |
| 26 | Mason Jobst | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Jiri Kulich | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Kohen Olischefski | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 18 | Isak Rosen | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 17 | Sean Malone | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 |
| 20 | Lawrence Pilut | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Ethan Prow | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 13 | Linus Weissbach | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 | Matt Bartkowski | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Joseph Cecconi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 4 | Jeremy Davies | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 |
| 52 | Mitch Eliot | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | Tyson Kozak | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 28 | Michael Mersch | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 48 | Zach Metsa | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Lukas Rousek | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 | Malcolm Subban | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | SL | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 47 | Malcolm Subban | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 60:00 | 3 | 3.00 | 0.870 |