GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS OPEN TWO-GAME SET TONIGHT IN CHARLOTTE
Dec 16, 2022TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (11-9-1-1) continue their three-game road-swing tonight at Bojangles' Coliseum in the first of back-to-back meetings against the Charlotte Checkers (12-9-2-1). Game time is slated for 7:00 p.m. and will be carried on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
Tonight's matchup is the first between the two teams since splitting a two-game set this past February in Rochester and the first of four of meetings this season. Following tonight's contest, the Eastern Conference foes will meet again on Saturday before the Checkers make the trek to the Flower City for a pair of contests to close out the month of January.
HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPSHOT
Rochester earned its victory over Charlotte since Dec. 6, 2019 with a 5-1 win on Feb. 2, 2022, snapping a five-game skid against the Checkers. The home team has won three of the four matchups in each of the previous two season series between Rochester and Charlotte.
Rochester enters the weekend’s contests showing a 2-10-0 record against Charlotte since the start of the 2018-19 campaign. The Amerks are searching for their first win in the Queen City against the Checkers since earning a 4-1 victory back on Jan. 20, 2018.
Both the Amerks and Checkers come into the matchup with nearly identical records, including 12 wins and nine regulation losses on the season for each team. Each club also has three losses in regulation as well as one defeat in overtime on home ice while also posting at least seven wins.
LAST TIME OUT
After Sean Malone tied the contest in the final two minutes of regulation, the Amerks finished off the 4-3 victory in a shootout over the first-place Toronto Marlies this past Saturday at Coca-Cola Coliseum.
With the win, Rochester’s second of the season against the Marlies, the club snapped its season-long three-game skid. The Amerks have earned at least one point in eight of their last 13 games.
On the strength of his third two-point (1+1) outing in the last four games, forward Brandon Biro propelled the Amerks to the comeback win while Lukas Rousek and Malone both scored their sixth and eighth goals of the season, respectively. Mason Jobst and Linus Weissbach both recorded assists in the win.
Goaltender Malcolm Subban (3-2-0) appeared in his fifth contest of the season, piking up his third win in four starts. He made 23 saves in regulation in addition to stopping all three Marlies in the shootout to pick up his first AHL shootout win since Jan. 10, 2016 as a member of the Providence Bruins.
SABRES, STARS SWAP DEFENSEMEN
The Sabres acquired defenseman Joseph Cecconi from the Dallas Stars Thursday evening in exchange for Oskari Laaksonen. A fifth-round pick of Dallas in 2015, Cecconi has skated in 176 career AHL games with Texas, totaling 33 points (4+29), including two assists in 12 games this season.
Cecconi won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2017 WJC playing alongside former Amerk forwards Tage Thompson and Casey Mittelstadt.
WELL BALANCED OFFENSE
Despite missing six games due to injury, third-year forward Brandon Biro is back atop the team's scoring lead following three straight two-point outings. He currently paces the Amerks in assists (13) and points (19) through 17 games. Dating back to last season, Biro has totaled 21 points (8+13) over his last 19 games and hasn't gone more than one game without a point over that span. He also leads the team with seven multi-point games.
With five points (3+2) over his last eight games, which includes a two-point outing on Nov. 23 versus the Providence Bruins, Linus Weissbach is three points back from the team-lead with 16 points through 23 games. More impressively, he has already scored half as many goals from last season and has matched his career-high of two game-winning goals.
Brett Murray, one of four Amerks with at least 15 points on the season, is also on pace to surpass the career-high 15 goals he scored in 2021-22. Murray enters the weekend with nine goals in only 22 games this season, including four over his last seven appearances. Murray has been one of Rochester's top point-getters over the last nine games, showing nine points (4+5) and three straight multi-point efforts over that span.
Despite being two of the youngest players in the AHL, rookie forwards Isak Rosen (3+11) and Jiri Kulich (5+9) are both tied for 18th in scoring amongst all first-year skaters with 14 points each. Rosen is also tied for fourth among all AHL rookies with 11 assists.
HOME-COOKING FOR THE AMERKS
The Amerks have earned at least one point in eight of their first 11 home contests so far this season, boasting a 7-3-1-0 mark and 15 points within the friendly confines of The Blue Cross Arena. Rochester opened the season with five straight home wins, marking the team's best start since 2006-07.
Five of the seven victories this season in the Flower City have come when the team trailed entering the final 20 minutes of regulation while all seven wins have come by way of four or more goals. Rochester has outscored its opposition 19-15 after the start of the third period and has outshot the visitors 102-88.
Prior to the Dec. 7 loss to Syracuse, Rochester was the only AHL team with only one regulation loss on home ice.
SCOUTING THE CHECKERS
The Checkers come into the matchup sitting in fifth-place of the Atlantic Division standings with a 12-9-2-1 overall record. Charlotte boasts a 5-3-2-0 record in the last 10 games, including a 1-4-0-0 mark in December. The Checkers have posted two different four-game winning streaks this season.
Back for his second stint with the Checkers organization, 14-year veteran forward Riley Nash tops all Charlotte skaters with 14 assists and 22 points through 24 games this season.
Nash has scored six of his eight goals this season over his last 15 games dating back to Nov. 11, never going more than one game without a point.
The former first-round selection (21st overall) in the 2007 NHL Draft, has posted seven multi-point efforts this season. Nash has appeared in 229 career games between Charlotte and Syracuse, recording 129 points while also notching 176 points (63+113) in 627 NHL contests.
SERIES NOTABLES
So far this season, the Amerks have used 12 different defensemen, which is third-most in the AHL behind Toronto and Cleveland. Eleven of the 12 have recorded at least one point while seven have scored. Ethan Prow is the only defenseman to appear in all 23 games this season and has skated in 93 of the 99 games dating back to the start of the 2021-22 campaign.
Checkers captain Zac Dalpe, who is currently on recall with the parent Florida Panthers, scored 16 goals as part of a 28-point campaign with the Amerks in 2014-15, his only season in Rochester. He also appeared in 21 games for the Buffalo Sabres that season, recording three points (1+2).
Amerks defenseman Chase Priskie spent parts of two seasons (2019-20 and 2021-22) with the Checkers, notching 62 points (14+48) in 106 games. In six games against Rochester those two seasons, Priskie recorded one goal and five assists to go along with a plus-six on-ice rating.
Checkers forward Dominic Franco played his first two pro seasons with the Amerks, recording 13 points (4+9) in 54 games. He's currently with the ECHL's Florida Everblades, where he's tallied 14 points in 16 games.
Rochester Americans vs Charlotte Checkers: Head To Head Stats
Summary
|
Description |
Result |
|
| Head to Head Record 2022-23 Regular Season | Rochester 0-0-0-0 | Charlotte 0-0-0-0 |
| Head to Head Record 2021-22 Regular Season | Rochester 1-3-0-0 | Charlotte 3-1-0-0 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Rochester 2-10-0-0 | Charlotte 10-2-0-0 |
| Rochester vs. Charlotte Last 5 Years record at Rochester | Rochester 2-4-0-0 | Charlotte 4-2-0-0 |
| Rochester vs. Charlotte Last 5 Years record at Charlotte | Rochester 0-6-0-0 | Charlotte 6-0-0-0 |
How the 2 teams match up
|
Charlotte |
Rochester |
|
| Team Record | 12-9-2-1 -- 27 points | 12-9-1-1 -- 26 points |
| Division Ranking | 5th Atlantic | 2nd North |
| Conference Ranking | 6th Eastern | 7th Eastern |
| League Ranking | 15th | 18th |
| Past 10 Games | 4-5-1-0 | 5-5-0-0 |
| Streak | 0-3-0-0 | 1-0-0-0 |
| Last Game | 6-1 L @ Lehigh Valley (Dec 10 2022) Final | 4-3 W @ Toronto (Dec 10 2022) Final SO |
| Home Record | 8-3-1-0 | 7-3-1-0 |
| Away Record | 4-6-1-1 | 5-6-0-1 |
| GF | 70 | 74 |
| GA | 77 | 81 |
| PP (Overall) | (21/96) 21.9% | (17/81) 21.0% |
| PP (Home) | (13/43) 30.2% | (14/47) 29.8% |
| PP (Away) | (8/53) 15.1% | (3/34) 8.8% |
| PK (Overall) | (19/87) 78.2% | (20/68) 70.6% |
| PK (Home) | (10/41) 75.6% | (8/32) 75.0% |
| PK (Away) | (9/46) 80.4% | (12/36) 66.7% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (0/0) 0% | (0/0) 0% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (0/0) 0% | (0/0) 0% |
| Leading Rookie | Sourdif (3-5-8) | Kulich (5-9-14) |
| Most PIM | Bunnaman - 34 | Weissbach - 26 |
| Team PIM/GM | 11.0/Game | 8.3/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Nash (8-14-22) | Biro (6-13-19) |
| Tierney (3-13-16) | Weissbach (9-7-16) | |
| Dalpe (10-5-15) | Rousek (6-10-16) | |
| Levtchi (7-6-13) | Murray (9-6-15) | |
| Hutsko (6-6-12) | Malone (8-6-14) | |
| Last 5 Games | 6-1 L @ Lehigh Valley (Dec 10 2022) Final | 4-3 W @ Toronto (Dec 10 2022) Final SO |
| 2-1 L @ Lehigh Valley (Dec 9 2022) Final | 5-2 L vs Utica (Dec 9 2022) Final | |
| 4-2 L @ Hershey (Dec 6 2022) Final | 5-1 L vs Syracuse (Dec 7 2022) Final | |
| 6-4 W vs Lehigh Valley (Dec 3 2022) Final | 4-3 L @ Cleveland (Dec 3 2022) Final | |
| 3-2 L vs Lehigh Valley (Dec 2 2022) Final | 4-3 W @ Cleveland (Dec 1 2022) Final OT | |
| Leading After 1st | 3-0-0-1 | 6-2-0-0 |
| Leading After 2nd | 7-1-0-0 | 7-1-1-0 |
| Tied After 1st | 7-4-1-0 | 2-3-1-1 |
| Tied After 2nd | 3-1-0-1 | 0-2-0-1 |
| Trailing After 1st | 2-5-1-0 | 4-4-0-0 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 2-7-2-0 | 5-6-0-0 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 7-7-1-0 | 5-3-0-0 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 4-1-1-1 | 7-4-1-1 |
| 1-Goal Games | 8-3-2-1 | 7-3-1-1 |
| 2-Goal Games | 2-2-0-0 | 3-1-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 2-2-0-0 | 0-1-0-0 |