GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS OPEN ATLANTIC DIVISION SWING TONIGHT IN PROVIDENCE
Apr 6, 2024TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (34-22-6-3) take a brief hiatus from the North Division as they embark on a two-game trek through New England tonight when they battle the Providence Bruins (38-19-4-3) for the final time this season. Game time from Amica Mutual Pavilion is slated for 7:05 p.m. and will be carried on 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
The Amerks, who have points in 23 of their last 31 games dating back to Jan. 17, currently sit in third-place in AHL's North Division standings with just seven games remaining in the season. Rochester is just one point back of the second-place Monsters and trail Syracuse by five entering the weekend.
Providence, which comes into the matchup looking to avoid its sixth loss in the last eight games (2-2-2-1), has already clinched a playoff spot.
SEASON SERIES SNAPSHOT
Tonight is just the 18th meeting between the Amerks and the Bruins over the last 14 years. Dating back to the 2007-08 campaign, Rochester has gone 5-9-2-1 during that span, including earning five out of a six possible points in last three meetings with Providence. During the 2022-23 season-series, the Amerks posted a 2-0-0-0 mark and outscored the Bruins 9-4 over that span.
The Amerks, who suffered a 6-3 setback on Dec. 22 in the only other matchup this season, are 1-2-1-1 in their last four visits to Providence compared to a 3-2-0-0 mark on home ice in the last five years.
Dating back to the 2007-08 season, there have been 10 one-goal games between Providence and Rochester, including a 4-3 overtime win for the Amerks in the first get-together last season on Nov. 23.
LAST TIME OUT
The Amerks scored four times in the first period before cruising to a 6-1 over the Cleveland Monsters Wednesday at The Blue Cross Arena.
Rookie defensemen Zach Metsa and Nikita Novikov both tallied a goal and two assists for the Amerks while Linus Weissbach (1+2) and Ethan Prow (0+2) each recorded a multi-assist game. Graham Slaggert, Mason Jobst, and Viktor Neuchev all scored one goal each while Joseph Cecconi, Jeremy Davies, Ryan Johnson, and Anton Wahlberg had an assist. Wahlberg’s point served as his first in the AHL.
Goaltender Devon Levi (12-5-3), who was reassigned to the Amerks from the Buffalo Sabres earlier in the day, earned his 18th start in the last 27 games since Jan. 20. The rookie netminder, who has won five straight and six of his last seven, has held the opposition to three or fewer goals in 17 of his 20 starts overall.
WAHLBERG SETTLING IN WITH AMERKS
The Buffalo Sabres reassigned forward Anton Wahlberg to the Amerks last the weekend for the team's final 10 games of the 2023-24 regular season.
A second-round pick (39th overall) by the Sabres in the 2023 NHL Draft, the 18-year-old forward spent this season with Malmo of the Swedish Hockey League, where he tallied 10 points (5+5) in 43 games.
The 6-foot-3 forward also represented Sweden at the IIHF World Junior Championship, where he had three points (1+2) in seven games and won a silver medal. Wahlberg, who made his home debut Wednesday, became the 34th player to record a point this season and 10th different rookie.
RACE TO 20
After seeing three players reach the 20-goal mark last season, the Amerks could potentially have the same or more by the season's end.
With goals in four of his last eight games, Jiri Kulich reached the 20-goal mark for the second straight season last Wednesday in Syracuse. Kulich, whose 21 goals lead all Rochester skaters, became the first Amerks player to score 20 or more goals in back-to-back seasons since Cole Schneider and Justin Bailey each did so in 2015-16 and 2016-17.
Mason Jobst, the team's leading point-getter with a career-high 45 points in 57 games this season, needs just one more goal to reach the mark for the first time in his pro career. He, too, has goals in three of his last eight games and last week he had a season-long six-game point streak (2+6) end.
Brett Murray (17) remains on pace for his second straight 20-goal season while Isak Rosen is also within reach after scoring his career-high 16th goal of the season last Sunday, reaching the mark in 10 fewer games compared to his rookie 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 final month of the regular season.
Dating back to Dec. 29 and the turn of the New Year, Neuchev has erupted for 23 points on nine goals and 14 assists over his previous 28 games.
Neuchev has recorded at least one point in 14 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 six multi-point games, which includes a pair of three-point efforts.
Of Neuchev’s 11 goals this season, eight 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 28 points (11+17) and 73 shots in 50 games.
WORKING OVERTIME
The 4-3 overtime win against Cleveland last Friday was the sixth game over the last 19 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 21 different occasions, the second-most by any team this season (Cleveland), including each of the first three games of the campaign.
In four of the last five seasons that the two clubs have played dating back to the 2017-18 season, there has been at least one game decided beyond regulation with the exception of 2019-20 slate.
Four of Jiri Kulich’s team-high five game-winning goals this season have come by way of overtime while Isak Rosen, Brandon Biro, and Zach Metsa have each netted the clinching goal during the extra frame.
Dating back to the start of the 2021-22 season, of Jeremy Davies’ five game-winning goals, four have come in overtime while all five have come on the road.
Never before in the near 68-year history of the franchise have the Amerks opened a season with three consecutive overtime contests.
Dating back to Jan. 20 of last season, 31 of Rochester’s previous 102 regular-season games have required overtime to determine a winner. Of the Amerks 50 wins during that same span, 17 have come came following the end of regulation.
The Amerks show a 9-6 record in overtime this season and are 3-3 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 18 of the last 27 games since being reassigned to Rochester on Jan. 20, including five straight to open the month of February. Back with the Amerks following his latest recall to Buffalo, he enters the weekend having won five straight and six of his last seven starts.
Levi, who boasts an 12-5-3 record in 20 appearances with the Amerks, totaled 130 saves on 136 shots he faced over a three-game win streak in February, 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 all rookie netminders with a 2.45 goals-against average, has held the opposition to three or fewer goals in 17 of his 20 starts. He’s 12-2-3 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.
Last Wednesday, he earned his second straight start and appeared in his 500th pro game. He has played in 80 NHL contests and 420 AHL games.
Tokarski, who’s 10-9-3 in his first 23 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 three wins away from tying Red Almas for 11th all-time in career wins (218). He’s also 18 games away from tying Drew MacIntyre for 13rd all-time (440) 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 30 points (12+18) over his last 33 games, the most by an Amerk since the turn of the new year. Jobst, who hasn't gone more than two games 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 effort back on March 13 in Syracuse to take over the team's scoring lead.
Jobst has totaled 96 points (37+59) in 147 career games as an Amerk and has amassed 121 points (48+73) over 217 career American Hockey League games with Rochester, San Jose, Bridgeport, and Binghamton.
SERIES NOTABLES
Last Saturday's overtime win at Cleveland was yet another milestone for Seth Appert, who became just the fourth head coach in the 68-year history of the franchise to man the Rochester bench for 241 career games. He joined an impressive list that includes the likes of Amerks Hall of Famers Randy Cunneyworth, John Van Boxmeer, and Joe Crozier.
Additionally, with the win, Appert, who has guided the Amerks to a 117-93-21-10 record and two straight playoff appearances, surpassed Mike Keenan and Chris Taylor for fifth all-time in coaching victories. He's one of just seven head coaches all-time to win 100 games with the Amerks.
Linus Weissbach’s game-winning goal in the final seconds of overtime capped a wild third-period comeback as the Amerks scored three straight unanswered goals to erase a 3-1 deficit and stun the then league-leading Bruins with a 4-3 win in the first meeting of last season back on Nov. 23 at The Blue Cross Arena.
To close out the season-series between the two clubs on Feb. 26, Rochester jumped out to a 5-0 lead at the 16:31 mark of the second period before earning a 5-1 win. The Amerks used four first-period goals, including one 43 seconds into the contest.
The Amerks enter this weekend needing just seven points to officially clinch their third straight playoff appearance. The club is two wins and four points away from matching last season's total, which finished tied for second in the North Division standings.
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