GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS MEET COMETS TONIGHT IN UTICA
Jan 19, 2024TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (17-13-3-1) make their way east tonight for an intrastate showdown with the Utica Comets (14-13-4-3) at Adirondack Bank Center. The North Division contest is slated for a 7:00 p.m. start and will be carried live on 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
The Amerks, who have at least one point in five of their last six games, show a 5-4-1-0 mark over their previous 10 contests overall. They sit in fourth-place in the AHL’s North Division standings after winning four of their last six games dating back to a 3-2 shoout win at Utica on Dec. 30.
Riding an eight-game point streak (4-0-1-3), Utica sits three points back of Rochester in sixth place with a 14-13-4-3 mark through its first 34 games.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RESULTS AGAINST UTICA
Rochester has won eight of the previous nine games on the road against the Comets, the only excpetion being a 6-0 loss on Nov. 11. The Amerks have outscored Utica 30-18 during that stretch.
The Amerks boast a near-even 11-10-1-1 record in Utica over the past five seasons, recording at least one point in 13 of 23 games over that span.
The Amerks have scored at least one power-play goal in 20 of the 38 games (28-for-130) against Utica since Seth Appert took over as head coach.
After tonight, theintrastate rivals will meet six more times over the course of the 2023-24 campaign, including again next Friday night in Rochester.
LAST TIME OUT
The Amerks scored 91 seconds into the opening period and Eric Comrie turned in a 32-save effort in a dominating 6-0 win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms Wednesday night at The Blue Cross Arena.
Tyson Kozak and Viktor Neuchev both tallied a goal and an assist while Aleksandr Kisakov had a pair of assists. Brandon Biro (1+1) and Mason Jobst (1+1) also produced two points for Rochester, which has points in five of its last six games. Linus Weissbach and Brett Murray both scored a goal while Jeremy Davies, Lukas Rousek, Isak Rosen, Zach Metsa, Jiri Kulich, and Michael Mersch all chipped in an assist.
Comrie (2-1-0) earned his first AHL shutout since April 24, 2021, in stopping all 32 shots he faced, including 12 in each of the first and second periods.
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 34 points this season. Davies’ five goals are tied for 20th-most amongst all blueliners.
Davies, who scored a career-high 11 goals last season, including three game-winning tallies, is tied for ninth 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 18th among all blueliners with 15 assists in 31 games. Clague opened the campaign with three multi-point performances and enters the weekend with eight points (1+4) in last nine 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 sixth in the AHL with a team-high 16 goals despite having only appeared in 26 games for Rochester. Among the five players ahead of him, all but one have skated in at least 33 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 17 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 total from last season in game-winning tallies (3) through just 30 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 has combined for 132 points (63+69) in 184 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 24 points (6+18) in 29 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 second on the club in points (24) while his five goals rank fifth. Among all AHL players who have appeared in at least 20 games, he is fourth in points per game (0.83).
The third-year pro and AHL All-Star comes into the weekend having totaled 12 points (3+9) over a career-long 11-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, is similarly riding an AHL-best seven-game assist streak since Dec. 29. Since the start of 2021-22 season, Rousek has recorded 84 points (23+61) over 118 career AHL games with Rochester.
APPERT REACHES CENTURY MARK
Last Friday’s win at Charlotte 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 wins 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 101-84-18-8 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 nine 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 47 regular-season games have required overtime to determine a winner.
Of the 77 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 AMONG ELITE COMPANY
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 6-6-2 in his first 14 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 week, the 34-year-old Tokarski is tied with Nick Damore for 12th all-time in career wins (211). He also ranks 18th all-time in games played (413) and one game away from tying Yann Danis for 17th all-time . He is also one shutout away from tying Danis for eighth all-time.
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 seven games, having earned at least one point in all but three games thus far.
Jost has totaled 13 points (7+6) in 20 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.
COMRIE COMES EAST
Goaltender Eric Comrie was the latest to be assigned to the Amerks from the parent Buffalo Sabres, officially joining the team on New Year’s Day.
Comrie began the campaign with the Sabres, showing a 1-5-0 record and a .863 save percentage in seven appearances. In 54 career NHL games with Buffalo, Winnipeg, New Jersey and Detroit, Comrie has posted a 23-24-2 record to go along with a pair of shutouts.
The former second-round selection (59th overall) of Winnipeg in 2013 has appeared in 213 games at the AHL level. The Edmonton, Alberta, native boasts a 93-95-21 record and 11 shutouts since the start of 2013-14 with Rochester, Manitoba, Tucson and St. John’s.
Comrie posted his first shutout with Rochester on Wednesday and first in the AHL since April 24, 2021 as he and the Amerks blanked Lehigh Valley.
With his first start of the season for the Amerks on Jan. 5 versus Cleveland, Comrie became the fifth different netminder to appear in a game this season for the Amerks. It marked the third straight year Rochester has had five or more goaltenders play in its crease and first since a three-year stretch between 1995 and 1998.