GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS OPEN THREE-GAME WEEKEND TONIGHT AGAINST TORONTO
Feb 17, 2023TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (22-19-2-1) kick off their first three-in-three of the season tonight in the first half of a home-and-home series against the North Division-leading Toronto Marlies at The Blue Cross Arena. Game time is 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 claimed two of the last three meetings and three of the five overall so far this season. Toronto, however, prevailed in the previous get-together by way of a 7-5 victory which saw the Marlies score three straight unanswered goals over the final four minutes of regulation.
HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPSHOT
After going just 2-3-0-1 in the six-game series in 2021-22, the Amerks come into tonight having recorded points in five of the last seven games between the two teams. The Amerks have earned wins in four of the last six affairs in Toronto dating back to last season and over the last five years show a 7-4-0-0 record north of the border compared to a 4-4-1-1 mark in Rochester.
Mason Jobst (3+2) and Michael Mersch (1+4) are averaging at least a point per game in the season series against the Marlies with Jobst scoring the first hat trick of his pro career back on Jan. 14.
Rochester has used three different goaltenders in Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Malcolm Subban and Eric Comrie with each earning a win.
LAST TIME OUT
The Amerks tied Tuesday night’s contest early in the second period but were unable to generate any other offense as they dropped a 2-1 decision to the Cleveland Monsters at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Forward Sean Malone scored his 10th goal of the season in the second period from Michael Mersch and Joseph Cecconi for the Amerks, who have a 1-2-1-0 record through the first four games of the season-series with the Monsters.
Goaltender Malcolm Subban (11-9-1) made his 21st appearance of the season and stopped 22 shots in his third consecutive start.
SUBBAN SHOULDERING THE WORKLOAD
After suffering a defeat in his season-debut on Nov. 18, Subban has gone 11-8-1 since over his last 20 starts, including seven straight wins between Dec. 10 to Jan. 14. The seven-game win streak was the longest of his pro career and the third-longest streak among all AHL goaltenders behind Toronto's Joseph Woll and Calgary's Dustin Wolf.
He was the first Amerks goaltender to post seven straight wins since Jonas Johansson won nine consecutive contests during the 2019-20 campaign.
Subban had arguably his best performance of the season during a 75-save weekend in Rochester’s two-game sweep over the Charlotte Checkers in mid-December. A night after stopping a regular-season career-high 45 saves, Subban was flawless in a 30-save shutout on Dec. 17, his first in the AHL since April 8, 2017, with the Providence Bruins.
Subban, who picked up his 100th career win in the 5-4 overtime victory over Utica on Dec. 28, has topped the 30-save mark six times in his last 16 starts and is currently tied for 21st amongst all netminders with 10 wins.
BIRO PILING UP THE POINTS
Despite missing six games due to injury, third-year forward Brandon Biro has blazed his way atop the team's scoring lead following a productive December in which he led the team with 16 points (6+10) in 10 games. He recorded multi-point efforts in seven of his 10 appearances, including six straight between Dec. 9 and Dec. 30 before closing out the month with an assist in the 3-2 win in Toronto.
Biro, who made his NHL debut with the Buffalo Sabres last season, currently paces the Amerks in points (30) and ranks second in assists (21) through 34 games and his seven-game point streak to close out the 2022 calendar year was the longest of his career.
Dating back to last season, Biro has totaled 71 points on 21 goals and 50 assists over his last 82 games and hasn't gone more than seven games without a point since Nov. 27, 2021.
JOBST HAVING A CAREER YEAR
Mason Jobst has made the most of his second opportunity with the Amerks as the fourth-year pro is in the process of assembling a career-year.
Through 36 games this season, the Speedway, Indiana, native has already established career-highs in all offensive categories, including goals (7), assists (13) and points (20).
With an assist in the 5-4 overtime win in Belleville on Feb. 4, Jobst reached the 20-point mark for the first time in his pro career, becoming the ninth different Amerk to eclipse the mark.
Since the turn of the New Year, Jobst has amassed four goals and seven points over his previous 10 games, including his first career hat trick in the 7-5 loss to the first-place Toronto Marlies back on Jan. 14. Jobst single-handedly outscored Toronto in the second period with back-to-back goals before netting what was the go-ahead goal in the third period.
Jobst has totaled 33 points (11+12) over 62 career games with the Amerks dating back to last season.
PROWESS ON THE BLUELINE
Entering the Jan. 19 game against Laval, Ethan Prow was the only Amerks defenseman to appear in every game this season. Overall, he has skated in 113 of the 119 games dating back to the start of the 2021-22 campaign.
In 43 games this season, Prow is tied for 13th in scoring amongst all AHL defensemen while his team-high 22 assists are tied for 12th in the league. This season marks the fourth straight in which the veteran defenseman has reached the 20-assist mark and the fifth consecutive year with 20 or more points, which includes an abbreviated campaign overseas in 2020-21.
The seventh-year veteran has posted 14 points (2+12) in his last 18 outings dating back to Dec. 28 and comes into tonight with seven assists over his last eight games.
He leads all Amerks defensemen with five multi-point outings, including a two-goal effort in the 4-3 win at Syracuse back on Jan. 7.
Prow has never gone more than five games all season without a point.
SERIES NOTABLES
Of the 41 different players the Marlies have used this season, 32 have produced at least one point while 25 have scored. Toronto is the only team in the league to use five netminders, three of which are first-year players.
In 23 of the last 33 meetings between the two teams dating back to the 2016-17 season, the team that scored first has gone on to come away with the victory. Additionally, in 21 of the last 25 meetings, the winning team has scored at least four goals dating back to the 2017-18 season.
Over the last 22 games, Rochester has scored at least one goal in the first period 17 times, which includes a four-goal outing in the series-opener on Oct. 23, 2021. Toronto, on the other hand, has scored 16 times in the final 20 minutes of regulation, which includes a five-goal mark on Jan. 14, 2023.
Tonight is the first game of Rochester's first three-in-three of the season. Rochester will play a total of five during the course of the slate, which includes another three-game stretch next weekend to close out the month of February.