GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS LOOK TO TAKE DOWN UNDEFEATED COMETS
Nov 20, 2021TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (8-5-0-0) clash with the undefeated Utica Comets (12-0-0-0) for the second time this week as the intrastate rivals begin a back-to-back set tonight at the Adirondack Bank Center. Game time is slated for a 7:00 p.m. start and will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM ESPN Rochester as well as AHLTV.
Tonight’s matchup will serve as the third meeting of the season between the North Division rivals and second in the last three days after the Comets came away with a 3-2 victory in the previous matchup on Wednesday.
HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPSHOT
Nine points separates the two teams in the American Hockey League’s North Division standings. The Amerks have won eight of their last 12 games, which includes four on home ice.
Dating back to the start of the 2016-17 campaign, Rochester has collected at least one point in 30 of the last 47 games against Utica going 23-17-3-4 over that span.
Utica has claimed both meetings thus far against the Amerks, outscoring Rochester 9-4 despite being outshot each time. The Amerks held Utica to a season-low 12 shots on Wednesday, including only two in the third period. Comets forward Reilly Walsh leads all skaters with four points (1+3).
VIEW FROM ROCHESTER
With three players currently performing at more than a point-per-game pace, the Amerks have the AHL’s third-best offense and are one of only three teams averaging more than 3.90 goals per game. Collectively, Rochester’s 51 goals this season are most in the North Division and are second-most in the league behind only the Ontario Reign (52).
Third-year goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was selected as the AHL Player of the Week for the period ending Nov. 14, 2021. In three starts last week, Luukkonen went 2-1-0 while totaling 112 saves and posting a 1.68 goals-against average and a .957 save percentage and registering the first shutout of his AHL career. Luukkonen, who made five straight starts to open the month of November, has allowed two or fewer goals in three of his last five appearances, good for a 2.02 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage over that span. His 229 saves also rank among league leaders.
With his second-period assist Wednesday, veteran forward Michael Mersch has totaled 13 points (7+6) and four multi-point outings over his last 11 games. The Amerks captain began that stretch with a five-game goal-scoring streak, the longest of his career and the longest in the AHL this season, while his five-game point marked his longest since posting a career-best seven-game point streak from Mar. 27 to April 10, 2015.
Rookie forward JJ Peterka enters tonight with nine points (3+6) over his last eight games dating back to Oct. 30. With 14 points (4+10) on the season, he ranks second among all Amerks in overall scoring.
Defenseman Mattias Samuelsson has six points through his first seven games of the season, which includes five assists in the last five contests.
With a goal Wednesday and an assist on Friday, defenseman Ethan Prow has seven points (1+6) over his last nine games, including a goal and four helpers in his last six outings.
QUINN-TISSENTIAL QUALITIES
Jack Quinn was named the AHL’s Rookie of the Month for October after leading all first-year players with 10 points (5+5) through the first month of the regular season. In just six games to begin the season, Quinn already surpassed his offensive output from his truncated 2020-21 campaign, and became the first AHL player to reach the 10-point mark this season.
Quinn continued his torrid start to the season by scoring his team-leading ninth goal of the year in last Saturday’s 4-0 win over Cleveland. With an assist last night, Quinn has totaled 20 points (9+11) in his last 16 games dating back to last season. He has goals in five of his last eight games.
Quinn has been held scoreless just three times through his first 13 games and comes into tonight having recorded six multi-point performances this year. Entering the weekend, he remains one of only three AHL rookies currently leading his respective team in scoring.
Last Friday, Quinn became the first AHL rookie since Frank Vatrano in 2015-16 to score eight goals through his first 10 games of the season.
FANTASTIC FOUR
The Amerks currently own four of the AHL’s top scoring rookies in Jack Quinn, JJ Peterka, Peyton Krebs and Linus Weissbach who have combined for 46 points (17+29) through the team’s 13 games this season.
Buffalo’s eighth overall pick in 2020, Quinn comes into the weekend leading all AHL rookies in goals (9) and ranking second in points (17). He’s also tied for the league-lead in goals and is tied for third in scoring overall among the AHL’s top point-getters.
Peterka, meanwhile, is tied for fourth amongst all first-year players with a team-high 10 assists while his 14 points are tied for third-most. He and Quinn, taken just 26 picks apart from one another by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2020 NHL Draft, currently make up the only rookie duo across the entire AHL to rank first and second on their team in scoring.
After recording his first two points (0+2) as an Amerk last week, Krebs has produced seven assists in eight games this season, tying for eighth among all AHL rookies.
With three points on a goal and two assists, Weissbach comes into the weekend riding a career-best three-game point streak. Weissbach, who was Buffalo’s seventh-round selection (192nd overall) in the 2017 NHL Draft, has totaled eight points through his first 13 games.
SCOUTING THE COMETS
By way of a 4-1 win over Charlotte last night, the Comets established a new American Hockey League record, picking up their 12th consecutive victory to begin the 2021-22 season. It bested the 37-year-old mark set by the 1984-85 Amerks, who won their first 11 games that year to set the standard.
The Comets, in their first year of affiliation with New Jersey, have outscored their opponents by a 49-21 margin on the year, including 29-11 on home ice. Utica has held the opposition to two or fewer goals-against in all but two games this season.
Goaltender Akira Schmid leads all netminders with a 1.38 goals-against average and a .951 save percentage. His counterpart, Nico Daws, currently owns an AHL-best seven wins and hasn’t allowed more than three goals.
SERIES NOTABLES
Tonight’s contest features three players selected in the 2020 NHL Draft, which includes Utica’s and Niko Daws (3rd round, 84th overall) and Rochester’s Jack Quinn (1st round, 8th overall) and JJ Peterka (2nd round, 34th overall).
Comets forward and assistant captain Brian Flynn spent two seasons with the Amerks, recording 33 points (16+17) in 50 games from 2011 to 2013.
Both Rochester (8-1-0-0) and Utica (6-0-0-0) enter tonight with winning records this season when being outshot by an opponent.
Utica head coach Kevin Dineen is the younger brother of former Amerks assistant coach Gord Dineen.
Last night, Amerks forward Brett Murray scored twice for his first multi-goal game of the season and first since April 3, 2021. With five goals over his last five games, it marks the best five-game stretch of his pro career. Three of his five goals this season have come on the power-play, tying for most on the team and eighth in the AHL.
Rochester Americans vs Utica Comets: Head To Head Stats
Summary
|
Description |
Result |
|
| Head to Head Record 2021-22 Regular Season | Rochester 0-2-0-0 | Utica 2-0-0-0 |
| Head to Head Record 2020-21 Regular Season | Rochester 4-6-0-1 | Utica 7-3-0-1 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Rochester 17-17-2-5 | Utica 24-12-2-3 |
| Rochester vs. Utica Last 5 Years record at Rochester | Rochester 9-9-1-2 | Utica 12-7-0-2 |
| Rochester vs. Utica Last 5 Years record at Utica | Rochester 8-8-1-3 | Utica 12-5-2-1 |
| Previous Meetings This Season | Utica 3 @ Rochester 2 (Nov 17 2021) Final Rochester 2 @ Utica 6 (Oct 17 2021) Final |
How the 2 teams match up
|
Utica |
Rochester |
|
| Team Record | 12-0-0-0 -- 24 points | 8-5-0-0 -- 16 points |
| Division Ranking | 1st North | 4th North |
| Conference Ranking | 1st Eastern | 6th Eastern |
| League Ranking | 1st | 11th |
| Past 10 Games | 10-0-0-0 | 6-4-0-0 |
| Streak | 12-0-0-0 | 1-0-0-0 |
| Last Game | 4-1 W vs Charlotte (Nov 19 2021) Final | 5-4 W vs Lehigh Valley (Nov 19 2021) Final SO |
| Home Record | 7-0-0-0 | 4-3-0-0 |
| Away Record | 5-0-0-0 | 4-2-0-0 |
| GF | 49 | 51 |
| GA | 21 | 46 |
| PP (Overall) | (6/32) 18.8% | (9/45) 20.0% |
| PP (Home) | (3/17) 17.6% | (4/24) 16.7% |
| PP (Away) | (3/15) 20.0% | (5/21) 23.8% |
| PK (Overall) | (5/39) 87.2% | (10/49) 79.6% |
| PK (Home) | (1/19) 94.7% | (7/32) 78.1% |
| PK (Away) | (4/20) 80.0% | (3/17) 82.4% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (2/7) 28.6% | (1/11) 9.1% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (1/11) 90.9% | (2/7) 71.4% |
| Leading Rookie | Thompson (4-3-7) | Quinn (9-8-17) |
| Most PIM | Greer - 31 | MacInnis - 23 |
| Team PIM/GM | 10.8/Game | 13.9/Game |
| Leading Scorers | De Leo (1-11-12) | Quinn (9-8-17) |
| Schnarr (4-6-10) | Peterka (4-10-14) | |
| Zetterlund (3-6-9) | Mersch (7-6-13) | |
| Clarke (3-6-9) | Malone (2-8-10) | |
| Gambardella (6-2-8) | Laaksonen (1-8-9) | |
| Last 5 Games | 4-1 W vs Charlotte (Nov 19 2021) Final | 5-4 W vs Lehigh Valley (Nov 19 2021) Final SO |
| 3-2 W @ Rochester (Nov 17 2021) Final | 3-2 L vs Utica (Nov 17 2021) Final | |
| 4-1 W @ Belleville (Nov 14 2021) Final | 4-0 W vs Cleveland (Nov 13 2021) Final | |
| 5-3 W @ Laval (Nov 13 2021) Final | 4-3 L vs Cleveland (Nov 12 2021) Final | |
| 3-1 W vs Syracuse (Nov 11 2021) Final | 5-1 W @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Nov 10 2021) Final | |
| Leading After 1st | 4-0-0-0 | 6-1-0-0 |
| Leading After 2nd | 7-0-0-0 | 5-0-0-0 |
| Tied After 1st | 6-0-0-0 | 1-0-0-0 |
| Tied After 2nd | 3-0-0-0 | 1-1-0-0 |
| Trailing After 1st | 2-0-0-0 | 1-4-0-0 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 2-0-0-0 | 2-4-0-0 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 4-0-0-0 | 0-4-0-0 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 7-0-0-0 | 8-1-0-0 |
| 1-Goal Games | 3-0-0-0 | 4-2-0-0 |
| 2-Goal Games | 3-0-0-0 | 1-0-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 5-0-0-0 | 0-1-0-0 |
Rochester Americans
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | Sean Malone | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | -1 |
| 2 | Oskari Laaksonen | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | Casey Fitzgerald | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 81 | Brett Murray | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -2 |
| 7 | Ethan Prow | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -4 |
| 22 | Jack Quinn | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 88 | Brandon Davidson | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 28 | Michael Mersch | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 |
| 13 | Linus Weissbach | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 10 | Brandon Biro | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | X Lukas Craggs | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 |
| 29 | X Dominic Franco | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 14 | Mark Jankowski | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 26 | Mason Jobst | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 19 | Peyton Krebs | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 72 | Ryan MacInnis | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 12 | Matej Pekar | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | -1 |
| 77 | JJ Peterka | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Mattias Samuelsson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 91 | Ryan Scarfo | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 |
| 4 | Jimmy Schuldt | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 44 | Josh Teves | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 16 | Peter Tischke | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | Brendan Warren | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 118:34 | 9 | 4.55 | 0.750 |
Utica Comets
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | Reilly Walsh | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| 9 | X Alexander Holtz | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 77 | Aarne Talvitie | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Brian Flynn | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 | Joe Gambardella | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | X Tyce Thompson | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 20 | X Fabian Zetterlund | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 82 | Nikita Okhotiuk | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Robbie Russo | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | Ryan Schmelzer | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 92 | Graeme Clarke | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 7 | Chase De Leo | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 25 | Nolan Foote | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 0 |
| 33 | Frederik Gauthier | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 17 | A.J. Greer | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 1 |
| 39 | Samuel Laberge | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | Marian Studenic | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 88 | Kevin Bahl | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 90 | X Jesper Boqvist | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | Nico Daws | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Jeremy Groleau | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 93 | Akira Schmid | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Nate Schnarr | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 44 | Luke Stevens | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Michael Vukojevic | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 23 | Tyler Wotherspoon | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 93 | Akira Schmid | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 60:00 | 2 | 2.00 | 0.926 |
| 35 | Nico Daws | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 59:50 | 2 | 2.01 | 0.926 |