GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS OPEN FIVE-GAME HOMESTAND SUNDAY AGAINST LAVAL
Amerks clash with Rocket in battle for North Division supremacy
Feb 16, 2025
By Andrew Mossbrooks | @ Mossbrooks48
The Rochester Americans (30-13-3-1) return home following a triumphant effort in Utica to host the Laval Rocket (30-12-2-1) for a Sunday matinee at Blue Cross Arena.
The two teams meet four more times this season, including Sunday. Through the previous four encounters, Rochester has gone 2-1-1-0. Each team has hosted the other twice, with the visiting team coming out on top in each of those games.
Sunday marks the first time the Amerks have faced Laval in over two months, with their last meeting taking place back on Dec. 11, 2024. In that game, Riley Fiddler-Schultz, Ethan Prow, and Isak Rosén connected for three goals in under six minutes during the second period of play to skate out of Place Bell with a 3-1 win.
LAST TIME OUT
Trailing 3-2 with less than three minutes to play, Rosén’s team-leading 25th goal of the season came with the net empty during 6-on-5 play to allow Rochester to tie things late in Utica Saturday night.
That goal set the stage for overtime, where on a power-play, Noah Östlund would fire home the biggest goal of his young pro career, putting the overtime winner in the back of the net for the Amerks to complete the rally, topping Utica by a 4-3 final at Adirondack Bank Center.
Östlund’s night ended with a goal and an assist as the Swedish rookie has 12 points over his last 12 games (4+8). His fellow countryman, Rosén, led the way with a goal and two assists and leads the season series against Utica with a whopping 13 points (7+6) through 10 games. Defensemen Jack Rathbone and Vsevolod Komarov each scored in the second period, while Felix Sandström finished the night with 29 saves to reach double-digit win totals and subsequently extend his career-high win streak to seven games.
It's been a quiet weekend for the Rocket, who last played Wednesday night. On the road, Laval was stunned by a quick start from Belleville, who blanked Laval by a 5-0 final. The Rocket were the last team in the Eastern Conference to avoid being shutout prior to Wednesday’s game.
Cayden Primeau made 15 saves in his first loss with the Rocket after starting with the team in January and going 10-0-0.
BATTLE BETWEEN THE BEST
With their win Saturday night, the Amerks now have sole possession of first place in the North Division for the first time this season. Despite all of Rochester’s success over the last couple of months, the team has skated in the shadows of the Rocket, who maintained pace to anchor down first in the North. The Amerks capitalized on not only a Utica team they’ve found a winning formula against (9-1-0-0 season series), but also on the fact that Laval hadn’t played this weekend, giving them no room to earn more points.
The Rocket do skate into the Flower City with two games in hand, however the Amerks have won each of the past two meetings against Montreal’s AHL affiliate.
Both Rochester and Laval join the Atlantic Division’s Hershey Bears as the only teams with 30 wins in the AHL. The red, white, and blue have won seven of their past eight games. On the other side, the visiting Rocket have gone 8-2-0-0 over their past 10 outings and trail only Rochester in road success this season, yielding a 15-7-1-0 mark and an 11-5-1-0 record when playing stateside.
After Sunday, the Amerks meet again with Laval twice in the great White North March 7-8, before the season series concludes back at Blue Cross Arena April 11.
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Sunday’s matinee marks the start of a season long five-game homestand for the Amerks. From today through Feb. 26, Rochester welcomes five different teams (Laval, Cleveland, Belleville, Toronto, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) to the Flower City. All told, seven of the Amerks’ 11 games in February take place on home ice.
Rochester’s loss to Syracuse Friday evening snapped a seven-game point streak on home ice, with the team having gone 6-0-0-1 leading into the weekend. Overall, Rochester is 10-7-2-1 in front of the hometown crowd this season. The Amerks and Texas Stars each have 20 home games played, marking the fewest played so far across the league.
Rochester will have two separate three-game homestands in March, then a four-game stretch in April just prior to the end of the 2024-25 AHL regular season.
CAN’T STOP ISAK
With a three-point performance Saturday, Rosén continues to rank among the top players in production across the AHL. The third-year pro now has 43 points on the season (25+18), ranking him sixth in league scoring. His 25 goals trail only Toronto’s Alex Steeves (28) for the league lead. Rosén is seven points back of his 50-point breakout campaign from a year ago and has played 23 fewer games to date.
All season, the Sabres’ prospect has gone consecutive games without a point just five times. His longest drought of the campaign came in November, reaching five games without a point. Since the New Year, the former first-round pick has churned out 17 points (12+5) in 16 games.
Rosén posted four multi-goal games in the month of January alone. The Stockholm, Sweden, native has one goal in three games played against Laval this season, but posted three goals and seven points in the eight-game series in 2023-24.
In 177 games wearing a Rochester jersey, Rosén has amassed 130 points (59+71).