GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS, MARLIES OPEN HOME-AND-HOME SERIES TONIGHT
Mar 15, 2024TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (27-21-6-2) return to Blue Cross Arena for the front-end of a home-and-home series with the Toronto Marlies (25-19-9-2) tonight at 7:05 p.m. The North Division matchup will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
The Amerks, who have points in 16 of their last 23 games dating back to Jan. 17, currently lead the fifth-place Marlies by three points in the AHL's North Division standings. Rochester has won three of its last four games and have not suffered back-to-back regulation defeats since Jan. 31 and Feb. 2.
Toronto makes its first trip to Rochester this season with a 25-19-9-2 record having lost four of its last six games. The Marlies have at least two games in hand on each team ahead of them.
SEASON SERIES SNAPSHOT
Tonight is the first meeting between the two clubs in Rochester since the Amerks ended Toronto’s season in Game 3 of the North Division Finals last spring. The two teams have met twice in Toronto earlier this season.
Rochester’s three third-period goals against the Marlies back on Oct. 14 were the first by the club since a three-goal frame in the final 20 minutes on Mar. 24, 2019 at Toronto (also a 5-4 overtime win).
In the last 25 regular season games against Toronto, 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.
LAST TIME OUT
The Amerks jumped out to a three-goal lead in the second period against the Syracuse Crunch before holding on for a 3-2 victory Wednesday at Upstate Medical University Arena.
Mason Jobst (0+3) paced the club with his eighth multi-point effort, assisting on each of Rochester’s three goals for his second three-assist effort of the season. Michael Mersch, Calle Själin, and Riley Stillman all notched a goal while Isak Rosén, Damien Giroux, and Nikita Novikov totaled one assist each.
Goaltender Devon Levi (10-7-5) earned his 16th start in the last 19 games since being reassigned to Rochester on Jan. 20. The rookie netminder, who has held the opposition to three or fewer goals in 14 of his 18 starts, boasts a 10-1-3 this season in those games.
MURRAY MAKING HIS MARK
This past Sunday against Utica, Brett Murray became just the 36th forward in the 68-year history of the franchise to appear in 250 games for Rochester. Since joining the organization ahead of the 2019-20 campaign, the Bolton, Ontario, native has recorded 71 goals and 82 points for 153 points while also posting 16 points (7+9) in 24 postseason contests.
Murray, who is third amongst all Amerks this season in goals (15), is two points away from reaching the 30-point mark for the third consecutive season. Since Feb. 24, Murray has produced four goals and two assists over his last eight outings with the team while also totaling 17 shots over that span.
ROUSEK RACKING UP THE POINTS
Lukas Rousek has been one of the team’s most consistent point-getters since the turn of 2024, having recorded points in 16 of 24 games in that stretch while also producing 22 points over his last 30 games since Dec. 20.
Rousek, a sixth-round selection (160th overall) by the Sabres in the 2019
NHL Draft, currently leads the team with 28 assists and is second in points (38) and tied for seventh in goals (10). Among all Amerks who have appeared in at least 30 games, he is second in points per game (0.79).
Currently on recall with Buffalo, the AHL All-Star saw his career-long point streak come to an end on Jan. 26, stopping at 13 games. He totaled 14 points between Dec. 20 and Jan. 20, the second-longest point streak in the league behind only Toronto’s Alex Steeves, who had a point in 16 straight games.
Rousek’s point streak was the longest by an Amerk in 24 years since Hall of Famer Domenic Pittis had points in 14 straight contests from Jan. 22 to March 4 during the 1999-2000 campaign.
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 middle of March.
Dating back to Dec. 29 and the turn of the New Year, Neuchev has erupted for 16 points on six goals and 10 assists over his previous 21 games.
Neuchev has recorded at least one point in 10 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 five multi-point games, which includes a pair of three-point efforts.
Of Neuchev’s eight goals this season, six 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 22 points (8+14) and 63 shots in 43 games.
WORKING OVERTIME
The 4-3 overtime win against Syracuse last Friday was the fourth game over the last 11 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 19 different occasions, the most by any team this season, including each of the first three games of the campaign.
Five of the last 11 games against Syracuse have required extra time to determine a winner, including three which saw the Crunch overcome a pair of 2-0 deficits before defeating Rochester in overtime on back-to-back nights.
Four of Jiri Kulich’s team-high five game-winning goals this season have come by way of overtime while Isak Rosen, Brandon Biro, Jeremy Davies, and Zach Metsa have each netted the clinching goal during the extra frame.
Never before in the near 68-year history of the franchise have the Amerks opened a season with three consecutive overtime contests.
Of Rochester’s 12 games in February, five were decided past regulation. The club was 1-3 in overtime in the month and showed an 0-1 record in the shootout.
Dating back to Jan. 20 of last season, 29 of Rochester’s previous 95 regular-season games have required overtime to determine a winner. Of the Amerks 44 wins during that same span, 16 have come came following the end of regulation.
The Amerks show a 8-6 record in overtime this season and are 3-2 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 16 of the last 19 games since being reassigned to Rochester on Jan. 20, including five straight to open the month of February. He enters the week having won four of his last five and seven of his last 11 dating back to Feb. 14.
Levi, who boasts a 10-5-3 record in 18 appearances with the Amerks, totaled 130 saves on 136 shots he faced over his recent three-game win streak, boasting an impressive 1.95 goals-against average and a .956 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 ranks 12th among rookie netminders with a 2.49 goals-against average and wins (10), has held the opposition to three or fewer goals in 15 of his 18 starts. He’s 10-2-3 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.
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 7-8-3 in his first 19 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 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 15th all-time (419) 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 25 points (9+16) over his last 25 games, the most by an Amerk since the turn of the new year. Jobst, who hasn't gone more than one game 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 Saturday in Syracuse to take over the team's scoring lead.
Jobst has totaled 91 points (34+57) in 136 career games as an Amerk and has amassed 116 points (45+71) over 210 career American Hockey League games with Rochester, San Jose, Bridgeport, and Binghamton.
SERIES NOTABLES
Amerks captain Michael Mersch enters tonight having played 599 professional games. Mersch, who has 146 points (62+84) with the Amerks since the start of the 2020-21 season, became the 58th forward in franchise history to skate in at least 200 games back on March 1 at Belleville.
Both Rochester (14-5-1-2) and Toronto (15-2-3-0) come into the matchup sporting winning records when leading after the first period. The Marlies are 17-1-3-0 this season when carrying a lead into the second period while the Amerks remain a near-perfect 17-0-0-1 in that regard.
In the first meeting of the season between Rochester and Toronto back on Oct. 14, nine different players recorded multi-point outings while both teams scored a pair of power-play goals.
Since the start of the 2022-23 campaign, Rochester has gone 8-for-40 (20.0%) on the power-play against the Marlies while also showing a 73.7% success-rate on the penalty kill (28-for-38).
In 25 of the last 38 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 25 of the last 30 meetings, the winning team has scored at least four goals dating back to the 2017-18 season.
Both games between the Amerks and Marlies earlier this season have been decided in overtime. Including this season, there have been five instances where the two clubs played in consecutive games in overtime and/or a shootout. Never before have the two clubs played in three straight contests decided beyond regulation.