GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS OPEN TWO-GAME SET TONIGHT IN LAVAL
Oct 28, 2022TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (3-2-0-0) continue their three-game road swing north of the border with the first of back-to-back meetings tonight against the Laval Rocket at Place Bell. Game time is slated for a 7 p.m. start and will be carried live on 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
Following this weekend's matchups with the Rocket, who eliminated Rochester in the North Division Finals this past Spring, the Amerks will not face Laval until January 11 following the New Year.
HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPSHOT
The Amerks claimed the first three meetings in 2021-22, but the Rocket responded with points in each of the next five, posting a 4-0-1-0 record over that span. Rochester finished the season-series with a 4-3-1-0 mark.
Rochester enters tonight's matchup with a 17-6-1-0 record all-time versus the Rocket, which includes a 9-2-1-0 mark at Place Bell. Despite being outscored last season 36-27, the Amerks have outscored Laval 80-69 overall and 41-31 in Laval.
Michael Mersch, who missed all three postseason contests against the Rocket last spring, led all Amerks skaters with eight points in six games against Laval in 2021-22. He had a team-leading five goals while also adding three assists foe eight points.
Sean Malone netted a combined five goals and three assists in 10 games during the season-series and playoffs against the Rocket. The Buffalo native also recorded a goal in each of the last five regular season games against then logged an assist in two of the three postseason games versus Laval.
LAST TIME OUT
A four-goal third-period by the Syracuse Crunch was too much for the Amerks to overcome in a 6-2 loss in last Saturday’s rematch between the North Division rivals at Upstate Medical University Arena.
Defenseman Kale Clague recorded his first multi-point effort as an Amerk as he recorded a pair of assists. Forward Sean Malone notched his second goal of the season during the middle frame from Linus Weissbach and Clague to open the scoring for Rochester. In the third period, defenseman Mitch Eliot, who made his season debut, notched his first goal of the season from Mason Jobst and Clague.
Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (3-2-0), who entered the contest leading the AHL in wins, saves and games played, made a season-high 28 saves in his fifth straight start to begin the campaign. Dating back to the 2021-22 campaign, Luukkonen boasts a 9-4-5 record in his last 18 starts. The Finnish netminder is the first Amerks goaltender to start the first five games of the season since David Leggio started the first nine games of the 2012-13 campaign.
POWER-PAY PROFICIENCY
Seven of the Amerks 15 goals this season have come on the power-play, which are tied for second-most among any team in the AHL. By going 7-for-23 while on the man-advantage, Rochester is fourth in the league with a 30.4% conversion rate.
The Amerks' six power-play goals at home are tied for the most this season, going for 6-for-16 through their first three home matchups.
DAVIDSON'S RETURN BOLSTERS DEPLETED BLUELINE
On Wednesday morning, the Amerks announced the signing of veteran defenseman Brandon Davidson to a professional tryout. He's expected to meet the team in Laval.
Davidson returns for his third season with the organization after appearing in 25 games with the team since the start of the 2020-21 season. In addition to recording one goal and five assists in 2021-22, Davidson skated in six Calder Cup Playoff contests during the Amerks’ run to the North Division Finals.
He has totaled 23 points (9+14) in 183 career NHL games with Buffalo, Calgary, Chicago, Edmonton, Montreal, New York Islanders, and San Jose while also adding 55 points (16+39) over 215 AHL contests with Rochester, Stockton, Rockford and Oklahoma City.
During the 2012-13 season, he received the AHL’s Fred T. Hunt Award in recognition of his sportsmanship, determination, and dedication to the game of hockey.
YOUTH MOVEMENT TAKES OVER ROCHESTER
With four points on two goals and two assists through his first five games of the season, Lukas Rousek is two points shy of the team lead.
Rousek, Buffalo’s sixth-round selection (160th overall) in the 2019 NHL Draft, notched his first career multi-point game last Wednesday against Belleville with a goal and assist. He appeared in only 19 games in his first season in 2021-22 after recovering from an offseason injury, finishing with four points on one goal and three assists. Following the regular-season, he ranked second among all Amerk rookies with two goals and finished third among all first-year players with six points in 10 Calder Cup Playoff contests during the Amerks’ run to the North Division Finals.
Isak Rosen paces all Amerks rookies with four points (1+3) while being tied for eighth in the AHL amongst all first-year skaters through the first five games. Rosen, the Sabres’ first-round selection in 2021 (14th overall), spent the 2021-22 season with Leksands in Sweden, where he made his debut in the Swedish Hockey League. He led all 17-year-olds with the Leksands U20 as he posted 35 points (21+14) in 38 games.
At age 18, Jiri Kulich, Buffalo's first-round selection (28th overall) in 2022, is among the youngest players in the American Hockey League. He shows three assists in his first five games of the young season, tying him for sixth in the league among AHL rookies in that category with Rosen.
SCOUTING THE ROCKET
Laval, playing its second game of a season-long six-game homestand, enters tonight with a 1-4-1-0 record and a 0-3-0-0 winless mark on the road. The Rocket, who reached the Eastern Conference Finals during the 2022 Calder Cup Playoffs, are in their sixth season in the AHL.
Back for his third season with Laval, Rafaël Harvey-Pinard (2+1) is tied for second among all Rocket scorers with three points (2+1) in six games. He paced Laval's offense in 2021-22 with a career-high 35 assists and 56 points, including four goals and seven helpers during the season-series last year versus Rochester.
He also tallied five goals and five assists in 15 games during Laval's run to the Conference Finals, which was tied for third-most on the team.
SERIES NOTABLES
The Amerks current roster features nine forwards, five defensemen and two goaltenders who appeared in at least one game of the 2022 Calder Cup Playoffs. Meanwhile, Laval has 11 forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders.
Laval's goaltending duo of Kevin Poluin and Cayden Primeau have a combined 7-6-1 record in 13 career games versus Rochester whereas Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is 2-1-1 in his career against the Rocket. Michael Houser has never faced Laval during the regular season but appeared in two games during last year's playoff run. Malcolm Subban also has never appeared in a contest against the Rocket.
Rocket goaltender Cayden Primeau is the nephew of former Amerk Wayne
Primeau, who was a member of the 1996 Calder Cup-winning team.
Rochester Americans vs Laval Rocket: Head To Head Stats
Summary
|
Description |
Result |
|
| Head to Head Record 2022-23 Regular Season | Rochester 0-0-0-0 | Laval 0-0-0-0 |
| Head to Head Record 2021-22 Regular Season | Rochester 4-3-1-0 | Laval 4-2-2-0 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Rochester 11-4-1-0 | Laval 5-8-2-1 |
| Rochester vs. Laval Last 5 Years record at Rochester | Rochester 6-2-0-0 | Laval 2-5-1-0 |
| Rochester vs. Laval Last 5 Years record at Laval | Rochester 5-2-1-0 | Laval 3-3-1-1 |
How the two teams match up
|
Laval |
Rochester |
|
| Team Record | 1-4-1-0 -- 3 points | 3-2-0-0 -- 6 points |
| Division Ranking | 6th North | 3rd North |
| Conference Ranking | 13th Eastern | 7th Eastern |
| League Ranking | 26th | 14th |
| Past 10 Games | 1-4-1-0 | 3-2-0-0 |
| Streak | 0-3-0-0 | 0-1-0-0 |
| Last Game | 3-2 L vs Belleville (Oct 26 2022) Final | 6-2 L @ Syracuse (Oct 22 2022) Final |
| Home Record | 1-1-1-0 | 3-0-0-0 |
| Away Record | 0-3-0-0 | 0-2-0-0 |
| GF | 15 | 15 |
| GA | 22 | 17 |
| PP (Overall) | (4/23) 17.4% | (7/23) 30.4% |
| PP (Home) | (2/13) 15.4% | (6/16) 37.5% |
| PP (Away) | (2/10) 20.0% | (1/7) 14.3% |
| PK (Overall) | (7/28) 75.0% | (6/18) 66.7% |
| PK (Home) | (4/15) 73.3% | (3/11) 72.7% |
| PK (Away) | (3/13) 76.9% | (3/7) 57.1% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (0/0) 0% | (0/0) 0% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (0/0) 0% | (0/0) 0% |
| Leading Rookie | Norlinder (0-3-3) | Rosen (1-3-4) |
| Most PIM | Stephens - 15 | Murray - 6 |
| Team PIM/GM | 12.8/Game | 8.8/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Bourque (4-0-4) | Weissbach (3-3-6) |
| Gignac (2-1-3) | Malone (2-3-5) | |
| Harvey-Pinard (2-1-3) | Rousek (2-2-4) | |
| Richard (2-1-3) | Biro (1-3-4) | |
| Leskinen (0-3-3) | Rosen (1-3-4) | |
| Last 5 Games | 3-2 L vs Belleville (Oct 26 2022) Final | 6-2 L @ Syracuse (Oct 22 2022) Final |
| 5-2 L @ Bridgeport (Oct 22 2022) Final | 4-3 W vs Syracuse (Oct 21 2022) Final | |
| 2-1 L @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Oct 21 2022) Final | 4-3 W vs Belleville (Oct 19 2022) Final OT | |
| 2-0 W vs Springfield (Oct 19 2022) Final | 3-1 L @ Toronto (Oct 15 2022) Final | |
| 6-3 L @ Belleville (Oct 15 2022) Final | 4-2 W vs Toronto (Oct 14 2022) Final | |
| Leading After 1st | 0-0-0-0 | 1-1-0-0 |
| Leading After 2nd | 0-0-0-0 | 1-1-0-0 |
| Tied After 1st | 1-2-1-0 | 1-0-0-0 |
| Tied After 2nd | 1-2-0-0 | 0-0-0-0 |
| Trailing After 1st | 0-2-0-0 | 1-1-0-0 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 0-2-1-0 | 2-1-0-0 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 0-3-0-0 | 3-0-0-0 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 1-1-1-0 | 0-1-0-0 |
| 1-Goal Games | 0-2-1-0 | 2-0-0-0 |
| 2-Goal Games | 1-0-0-0 | 1-1-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 0-2-0-0 | 0-0-0-0 |