GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS OPEN BUSY WEEK TONIGHT AGAINST LAVAL
Mar 9, 2022TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (27-21-3-2) open a grueling stretch of four games in five nights tonight when they welcome the Laval Rocket (25-19-3-0) back to Rochester for a North Division showdown at The Blue Cross Arena. Game time slated for a 7:05 p.m. start and will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
The Amerks have earned at least one point in seven of their last 13 games. The Senators have a 5-5-0-0 record in their previous 10 outings while showing a record of 9-12-1-0 through their first 22 road games this season.
HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPSHOT
Tonight’s contest is the fifth of eight meetings between the North Division rivals and first since the Amerks suffered a 5-1 defeat back on Feb. 20 in the previous get-together. The loss was Rochester’s first this season to Laval and also the first game between the two teams not decided by a goal.
Rochester enters tonight showing a 16-4-0 all-time record against Laval Prior to the 5-1 loss on Feb. 20, the Amerks had won eight straight and 12 of the previous 13 games against the Rocket dating back to the start of the 2017-18 campaign.
The Amerks are 7-3-0-0 all-time since the start of the 2017-18 season on home ice versus Laval. Rochester has outscored the Rocket 28-25 while holding Laval to two or fewer goals in all but three games thus far.
WATCH: TONIGHT'S FACE-OFF FIRST LOOK
VIEW FROM ROCHESTER
Rochester remains in the thick of what is shaping up to be a very tight race to the finish among its fellow North Division opponents. The Amerks have played the most games (53) in the Division with some teams having as many as six games in hand on Rochester entering this week, including that of Laval.
The Amerks currently sit in fourth place with 23 games remaining and the top five teams in the North Division are guaranteed to clinch a playoff spot.
After scoring just four times through the first three months of the season, JJ Peterka has notched 26 points (9+17) in 24 games to begin 2022, including goals in back-to-back games on three different occasions over that span.
Having returned to the lineup this past Friday after missing the previous 17 games, Jack Quinn is second among all AHL rookies in goals (19) and tied for sixth in points (38) while his team-high seven power-play goals are also second-most among all rookies.
Rochester has the AHL’s eighth-best offense. Averaging under four goals per game, the club have scored the fourth-most goals in the AHL with 178 and rank second in the North Division behind only the Utica Comets.
POWER-PLAY EFFICIENCY
Rochester’s power-play has gone 45-for-194 with a 23.2% conversion rate that is currently fourth-best in the AHL. The Amerks’ 45 goals on the man-advantage are most among all North Division teams and are 10 shy of the AHL lead behind Ontario.
The Amerks have scored at least one power-play goal in 27 of their first 53 games this season and have registered multiple power-play tallies in 11 overall, including a season-high four goals in the 7-3 win over Hershey back on Nov. 26.
WATCH: SETH APPERT AFTER MORNING SKATE
PETERKA FLOURISHING IN SECOND HALF
With his primary assist on Feb. 19 against Syracuse, forward JJ Peterka took over the team’s scoring lead while also becoming the first Amerk this season and 14th player in the league to reach the 40-point mark.
Since Jack Quinn suffered a lower-body injury with the Buffalo Sabres on Jan. 20, Peterka has helped carried the load for the Amerks offense as he has produced seven goals and 13 assists for 20 points in the last 20 games.
More impressively, Peterka, who was taken 34th overall in the 2020 NHL Draft by the Sabres, has netted 26 points (9+17) in 24 games to start the New Year. The 20-year-old has also registered seven multi-point games over that stretch which also featured three, three-point outings.
Peterka made his highly anticipated NHL debut on Dec. 28 as Buffalo hosted New Jersey before visiting the New York Islanders the very next day. Following his return to the Amerks, he totaled five points on two goals and three assists in two games before being honored as the AHL’s Rookie of the Month of the Week for the period ending Jan. 2, 2022.
Peterka has been held scoreless just seven times since Dec. 19 and hasn’t gone more than one game without recording a point during that same span. More impressively, the Amerks are a near-perfect 10-2-0-0 this season when Peterka registers a multi-point game, including 5-0-0-0 on home ice.
With a team-high 46 points (13+33) through 47 games, Peterka is the first Amerks rookie to reach the 45-point mark since Justin Bailey had 45 points (20+25) in 70 games during the 2015-16 season. Peterka also leads the team and is tied for sixth in the AHL with 33 assists.
Coming into the week, he’s one of only five AHL rookies currently leading his respective team in scoring.
QUINN-TESSENTIAL QUALITIES
Quinn became the first AHL player this season and just the 17th player in Amerks franchise history to score four goals in a game in the 6-5 overtime loss to Belleville on Jan. 15. More impressively, he scored all four goals consecutively, including the game-tying tally with 3.3 seconds remaining in regulation.
He’s the first Amerk to have a four-goal game since Rochester native Derek Whitmore single-handedly outscored Hamilton on Nov. 25, 2011 (5-2 W).
With 19 goals through his first 26 games, he’s on pace to become the first Amerk to score 20 goals in the fewest number of games since Luke Adam reached the mark in 31 games during the 2013-14 campaign.
He 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 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 has been held scoreless just five times all season and hasn’t gone more than one game without recording a point. He has recorded 12 multi-point performances this year. More impressively, the Amerks are a near-perfect 10-1-1-0 this season when Quinn registers a multi-point game, including 6-0-1-0 on home ice.
On Nov. 12, Quinn became the first AHL rookie since Frank Vatrano in 2015-16 to score eight goals through his first 10 games of the season.
Quinn is one of only three AHL rookies with at least seven power-play goals this season, joining San Jose’s Scott Reedy and San Diego’s Alex Limoges.
A PRODUCTIVE FEBRUARY FOR MURRAY
After being held scoreless in four games in January, Brett Murray responded with his best offensive showing of the season in February, leading the Amerks with 12 points on seven goals and five assists while appearing in all 13 games during the month.
Murray has scored more than half of his 14 goals since February. He opened the month with four goals in his first five games, including a season-best three straight games from Feb. 5 to Feb. 9.
He also began and ended the month with multi-point efforts, highlighted by a career-best four-point effort (1+3) in the 5-3 win at Toronto on Feb. 27.
RACE TO 20
After the cancellation of the remainder of the 2019-20 season and a truncated 2020-21 campaign failed to produce a 20-goal scorer for just the fourth time in franchise history, the Amerks could potentially have several by season’s end with seven players currently with 10 or more goals.
Michael Mersch and Quinn will both reach the mark on their next goal, despite Quinn appearing in 20 fewer games than Mersch. Murray remains on pace with a career-high 14 goals through his first 29 games of the season while Peterka and Arttu Ruotsalainen are right on his heels with 13 and 12, respectively, coming into the week.
THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENSE
Rochester has two of the league’s top point-producing defensemen in Ethan Prow (9+24) and Oskari Laaksonen (4+22), who enter the weekend fifth and 22nd in scoring amongst all blueliners, respectively.
Prow, who reached the 30-point mark for the third straight year in the AHL, is also tied for ninth with 24 assists, which are just two more than Laaksonen. His nine goals traily only Belleville’s Michael Del Zotto and Grand Rapids’ Ryan Murphy for most by a defenseman this season. After scoring last Saturday in Belleville, Prow has recorded 15 points (5+10) over his last 19 games. Additionally he has totaled 114 points (36+78) over his last 165 AHL contests dating back to the 2018-19 campaign.
Laaksonen, who boasts 11 points (2+9) in his last 25 games since the turn of the New Year, also ranks second among defensemen with 18 power-play assists, trailing only Ontario’s Jordan Spence in that category, as all but four of his 22 assists this season have come on the man-advantage. Equally as impressive, 21 of his 26 points have come on the power-play.
His best performance of the season came back on Jan. 12 when he recorded a career-high four assists in the 7-6 win over Utica, including three in the first period and three of which came on the power-play. He finished two assists shy of tying the franchise record for most in a single game.
Prior to earning his second recall of the season to the Buffalo Sabres, rookie defenseman Mattias Samuelsson recorded two assists in the overtime loss to Belleville on Jan. 15, giving him 15 points (2+13) in 22 games. Samuelsson is tied for 17th in scoring among AHL rookie defensemen while his 13 assists are 14th-most.
FANTASTIC FOUR
The Amerks currently own four of the AHL’s top scoring rookies in JJ Peterka, Jack Quinn, Brandon Biro and Linus Weissbach, all of whom have combined for 149 points (51+98) through Rochester’s first 53 games this season.
Quinn, the Buffalo Sabres’ eighth overall pick in 2020, ranks second among all first-year players in goals (19) and is tied for sixth in points (38) in 26 games.
Quinn became the 101st AHL player this season to make his NHL debut when he took the ice against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan. 11. He finished with team-highs in shots (3) and shot attempts (6) while earning 16:30 of total ice time.
He then returned to the Sabres a day after scoring his 18th goal of the season for Rochester and was rewarded with his first two NHL points, including a goal against Vezina Trophy winner and Stanley Cup champion Braden Holtby in the Sabres’ 5-4 loss to the Dallas Stars on Jan 20.
With his first goal in 13 games last Friday against Belleville, Weissbach has notched eight points (1+7) in his last 10 games. He finished the month of February with 11 points (1+10) in 13 games, including a season-high three-assist effort on Feb. 27 at Toronto to bring the month to a close.
With Peterka already at 46 points and both Biro and Quinn closing in on the mark, the Amerks are guaranteed to have multiple rookies finish the regular season with 40 or more points for the first time since the 2006-07 season.
MOVIN' ON UP
Players that have appeared in at least one game this season for both Rochester and Buffalo:
FORWARDS (8)
Brandon Biro*
Mark Jankowski
Peyton Krebs
Ryan MacInnis
Brett Murray
JJ Peterka*
Jack Quinn*
Arttu Ruotsalainen
DEFENSEMEN (3)
Casey Fitzgerald*
Ethan Prow*
Mattias Samuelsson
GOALTENDERS (3)
Aaron Dell
Michael Houser
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
* = Made NHL debut
WINNING BY NUMBERS
Rochester enters tonight as one of only three AHL teams to have scored at least 54 goals in all three periods this season. Additionally, the Amerks have scored the fourth-most first and third-period goals among any other team and have outscored the opposition 54-52 through the opening 20 minutes.
The Amerks have scored four or more goals in all but five of their 27 wins this season, two of which have come on home ice. Additionally, 12 of Rochester’s 14 road victories have come with three or more goals despite being outscored 108-92 through their first 28 road games.
SERIES NOTABLES
Of the 14 different defensemen the Amerks have used this season, 13 have notched at least one point while 10 have recorded at least one goal. Additionally, of the 24 different forwards to appear in one game for Rochester, 19 have scored a goal and 21 have produced a point.
Over his last 28 games since the turn of the New Year, Amerks forward Arttu Ruotsalainen has tallied 28 points on 12 goals and 16 assists, a stretch which began with a three-point effort versus Hartford on Jan. 2. Ruotsalainen has also turned in a multi-point effort in eight games over that same span, including three consecutive two-goal games for the first time in his AHL career. The Finnish forward has recorded at least one shot in 44 of 46 games with Rochester dating back to the start of the 2020-21 campaign.
Over the last 20 games in the head-to-head series with the Rocket, the Amerks have scored three or more goals 15 times, which includes 10 of the last 11 games in Laval.
Rochester is one of just three teams to have three different rookies (Quinn, Peterka, Weissbach) reach the 10-goal mark, joining the Charlotte Checkers and Toronto Marlies.
Laval Rocket vs Rochester Americans: Head To Head Stats
Summary
|
Description |
Result |
|
| Head to Head Record 2021-22 Regular Season | Laval 1-2-1-0 | Rochester 3-1-0-0 |
| Head to Head Record 2020-21 Regular Season | Laval 0-0-0-0 | Rochester 0-0-0-0 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Laval 4-12-3-1 | Rochester 16-4-0-0 |
| Laval vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Laval | Laval 1-6-2-1 | Rochester 9-1-0-0 |
| Laval vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Rochester | Laval 3-6-1-0 | Rochester 7-3-0-0 |
| Previous Meetings This Season | Laval 5 @ Rochester 1 (Feb 20 2022) Final Laval 3 @ Rochester 5 (Dec 10 2021) Final Rochester 6 @ Laval 5 (Oct 30 2021) Final OT Rochester 4 @ Laval 3 (Oct 29 2021) Final |
How the two teams match up
|
Rochester |
Laval |
|
| Team Record | 27-21-3-2 -- 59 points | 25-19-3-0 -- 53 points |
| Division Ranking | 4th North | 3rd North |
| Conference Ranking | 8th Eastern | 7th Eastern |
| League Ranking | 16th | 14th |
| Past 10 Games | 4-6-0-0 | 5-5-0-0 |
| Streak | 0-1-0-0 | 0-1-0-0 |
| Last Game | 6-5 L @ Belleville (Mar 5 2022) Final | 5-2 L vs Springfield (Mar 7 2022) Final |
| Home Record | 13-9-2-1 | 16-7-2-0 |
| Away Record | 14-12-1-1 | 9-12-1-0 |
| GF | 178 | 152 |
| GA | 191 | 154 |
| PP (Overall) | (45/194) 23.2% | (30/169) 17.8% |
| PP (Home) | (19/90) 21.1% | (19/86) 22.1% |
| PP (Away) | (26/104) 25.0% | (11/83) 13.3% |
| PK (Overall) | (35/190) 81.6% | (29/169) 82.8% |
| PK (Home) | (17/97) 82.5% | (13/87) 85.1% |
| PK (Away) | (18/93) 80.6% | (16/82) 80.5% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (2/12) 16.7% | (3/12) 25% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (3/12) 75% | (2/12) 83.3% |
| Leading Rookie | Peterka (13-33-46) | Dello (4-8-12) |
| Most PIM | Pekar - 56 | Martel - 64 |
| Team PIM/GM | 13.2/Game | 13.1/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Peterka (13-33-46) | Dea (16-11-27) |
| Mersch (19-20-39) | Harvey-Pinard (10-16-26) | |
| Quinn (19-19-38) | Ylönen (10-14-24) | |
| Biro (9-27-36) | Roy (7-15-22) | |
| Prow (9-24-33) | Ouellet (5-16-21) | |
| Last 5 Games | 6-5 L @ Belleville (Mar 5 2022) Final | 5-2 L vs Springfield (Mar 7 2022) Final |
| 3-2 W @ Belleville (Mar 4 2022) Final OT | 3-0 W vs Abbotsford (Mar 5 2022) Final | |
| 6-3 L vs Syracuse (Mar 2 2022) Final | 4-2 L vs Abbotsford (Mar 4 2022) Final | |
| 5-3 W @ Toronto (Feb 27 2022) Final | 4-2 L vs Cleveland (Mar 2 2022) Final | |
| 4-0 L vs Toronto (Feb 26 2022) Final | 2-1 W vs Cleveland (Feb 28 2022) Final SO | |
| Leading After 1st | 18-3-0-1 | 12-3-0-0 |
| Leading After 2nd | 17-1-0-0 | 18-1-0-0 |
| Tied After 1st | 4-4-3-1 | 6-6-1-0 |
| Tied After 2nd | 6-1-3-2 | 2-2-1-0 |
| Trailing After 1st | 5-14-0-0 | 7-10-2-0 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 4-19-0-0 | 5-16-2-0 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 5-11-2-0 | 11-7-2-0 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 22-10-1-1 | 13-11-1-0 |
| 1-Goal Games | 13-4-3-2 | 11-2-3-0 |
| 2-Goal Games | 7-6-0-0 | 3-5-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 2-5-0-0 | 4-5-0-0 |
Laval Rocket
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Jean-Sébastien Dea | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| 41 | X Ryan Poehling | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | -1 |
| 12 | Lukas Vejdemo | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Rafaël Harvey-Pinard | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 43 | Xavier Ouellet | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 22 | Alex Belzile | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | -1 |
| 28 | Shawn St. Amant | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 26 | Jesse Ylönen | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | -1 |
| 48 | Peter Abbandonato | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 49 | X Cédric Desruisseaux | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 16 | Cameron Hillis | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Tobie Paquette-Bisson | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | -1 |
| 21 | Terrance Amorosa | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Louie Belpedio | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 21 | -2 |
| 20 | Gabriel Bourque | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 18 | Danick Martel | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 1 |
| 14 | Sami Niku | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 23 | X Michael Pezzetta | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 6 | Corey Schueneman | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 27 | X Laurent Dauphin | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 29 | X Mattias Norlinder | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 31 | Cayden Primeau | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | X Brandon Baddock | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 17 | Jean-Christophe Beaudin | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 5 | Tory Dello | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | Gianni Fairbrother | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 |
| 19 | Alexandre Fortin | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -3 |
| 37 | Brandon Gignac | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 |
| 40 | X Michael McNiven | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | X Carl Neill | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 15 | Kevin Roy | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 |
| 37 | X Mathew Santos (total) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SPR | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 | |
| LAV | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 25 | Devante Smith-Pelly | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 24 | Joël Teasdale | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | Cayden Primeau | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 177:25 | 9 | 3.04 | 0.893 |
| 40 | X Michael McNiven | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 63:12 | 6 | 5.70 | 0.769 |
Rochester Americans
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 | Michael Mersch | 3 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 1 |
| 22 | Jack Quinn | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Ethan Prow | 5 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | -1 |
| 2 | Oskari Laaksonen | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | -2 |
| 72 | Ryan MacInnis | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 17 | Sean Malone | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 10 | Brandon Biro | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -1 |
| 88 | Brandon Davidson | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | X Casey Fitzgerald | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 13 | Linus Weissbach | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | -1 |
| 77 | JJ Peterka | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | -1 |
| 24 | X Mattias Samuelsson | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 44 | Josh Teves | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | -1 |
| 52 | Mitch Eliot | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | Matej Pekar | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 91 | Ryan Scarfo | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | Jimmy Schuldt | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 1 |
| 29 | Dominic Franco | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 |
| 26 | Mason Jobst | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 19 | X Peyton Krebs | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Arttu Ruotsalainen | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 47 | Nick Boka | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 23 | Lukas Craggs | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 |
| 80 | Aaron Dell | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Ben Holmstrom | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 81 | Brett Murray | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 21 | Ara Nazarian | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | Nick Pastujov | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | Patrick Polino | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 32 | X Mat Robson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Peter Tischke | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | Brendan Warren | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32 | X Mat Robson | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 60:00 | 3 | 3.00 | 0.906 |
| 80 | Aaron Dell | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 59:31 | 3 | 3.02 | 0.914 |
| 1 | Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 120:34 | 9 | 4.48 | 0.850 |