GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS OPEN WEEKEND SET TONIGHT IN LAVAL
Oct 29, 2021TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (2-2-0-0) travel to Place Bell tonight for the first of back-to-back meetings against the Laval Rocket (4-2-0-0). The 7:00 p.m. contest will be the third of a four-game Canadian road swing for the Amerks and the first between the North Division rivals since Feb. 28, 2020. All the action will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM ESPN Rochester as well as AHLTV.
The Amerks and Rocket will meet a total of eight times during the 2021-22 campaign, with tonight’s matchup representing the first of four in Laval. Following tonight’s matchup, the teams complete the two-game set with a rematch on Saturday afternoon to close out the weekend.
HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPSHOT
Rochester enters tonight showing a 13-3-0 all-time record against Laval and winners in nine of the last 10 games dating back to the 2017-18 campaign.
Through the first 16 games in the head-to-head series with Laval, the Ameks have scored three or more goals in 12 contests, which includes seven of the eight eight meetings north of the border.
In the previous meeting with Laval on Feb. 28, 2020, the Amerks jumped out to a 2-0 lead at the 19:17 mark of the second period. Despite the Rocket tying the game later in the frame, Rochester scored two goals in the final six minutes of regulation to finish off a 4-2 victory at The Blue Cross Arena. The win gave Rochester a perfect 4-0-0-0 record in the season-series.
The last time the Amerks faced the Rocket in Place Bell was back on Dec. 14, 2019. Rochester scored twice during the opening 40 minutes before adding three more in the third period to come away with a 5-0 win, marking the only shutout victory for Rochester all-time against Laval.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
n the first game of their four-game Canadian road-swing, five different Amerks recorded multi-point efforts, including three-point outings from Michael Mersch (1+2) and Mark Jankowski (0+3), as the club scored a convincing 7-3 win over the Toronto Marlies Saturday afternoon at Coca-Cola Coliseum.
Linus Weissbach scored the first two goals of his pro career and JJ Peterka added a pair of helpers while goaltender Aaron Dell made his Amerks debut and earned his first win of the season following a 27-save effort.
On Wednesday night at CAA Arena against the Belleville Senators, forwards Mason Jobst (1+1) and Brandon Biro (0+2) each recorded multi-point games in their season debuts, but the Amerks dropped a 7-3 decision.
The regulation loss was the Amerks’ first in 10 road games all-time against Belleville having entered the matchup with a 6-0-3-0 record.
In addition to Biro and Jobst’s multi-point outings, Jack Quinn pushed his point streak to four games to start the season as he picked up the secondary assist on Mersch’s power-play goal.
Defenseman Peter Tischke also made his Amerks debut while goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (1-2-0) made his third appearance of the season, finishing with 23 saves.
QUINN-TISSENTIAL QUALITIES
Jack Quinn comes into the weekend as one of 10 AHL rookies currently leading his respective team in scoring.
His four-game point streak is currently the fourth-longest active streak in the AHL and the longest among AHL rookies.
Coming off goals in three straight games to open the season, the Ottawa, Ontario, native has totaled 10 points (4+6) in his last seven games dating back to last season.
Just four games into the 2021-22 season, Quinn has already doubled his goal total from last season and is now within two points of mathcing his career point total.
He is the third eighth overall pick of the Sabres in the last five years to spend time in Rochester, joining Alexander Nylander (2016) and Casey Mittelstadt (2017), and the second to make his pro debut with the Amerks.
HEAD OF THE ROOKIE CLASS
The Amerks currently own three of the AHL’s top scoring rookies in Jack Quinn, JJ Peterka and Linus Weissbach, who have combined for 15 points (7+8) through their first four games of the season.
Quinn, Buffalo’s eighth overall pick in 2020, comes into the weekend tied for the league lead in goals (4) and second in points (7) among all AHL rookies. His seven points also place him inside the league’s top five scorers overall.
Peterka, meanwhile, is tied for fourth among all first-year players with four assists while his five points are also fourth-most. He and Quinn, taken just 26 picks apart from one another by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2020 NHL Draft, make up the only rookie duo across the AHL to rank first and second on their respective team in scoring.
After going scoreless in his pro debut, Weissbach has recorded three points over his last three games, including a two-goal effort Saturday in Toronto. Buffalo’s seventh-round selection in 2017, Weissbach comes into the matchup tied for sixth in goals (2) and 17th in scoring among all AHL rookies. He’s in his first pro season following four years at University of Wisconsin.
SCOUTING THE ROCKET
Laval, playing its second of a three-game homestand, comes into the matchup with a 4-2-0-0 record through its first six games of the season.
The Rocket are fresh off a 5-0 shutout win over the Toronto Marlies on Wednesday. Leading point-getter Laurent Dauphin scored twice while former Amerk Jean-Sebastien Dea scored his third of the season as Laval improved to 3-0-0-0 on home ice.
Laval is one of seven AHL teams to remain unbeaten at home, outscoring the opposition 16-6 through three games at Place Bell.
Dauphin currently leads the AHL with six goals and is tied for third among the league’s top point-getters with seven points. The veteran forward opened the season with four goals through his first four games and has been scoreless once this season.
Cayden Primeau is tied for the AHL lead with three wins in five starts.
SERIES NOTABLES
Tonight’s contest features three players selected in the first round of their NHL Draft in Rochester’s Jack Quinn (8th overall, 2020) and Mark Jankowski (21st overall, 2012) and Laval’s Ryan Poehling (25th overall, 2017).
Laval forward Jean-Sebastien Dea is set to appear in his first game versus Rochester after spending the previous two seasons with the Amerks. In 72 games from 2019-2021, Dea produced 21 goals and 33 assists for 54 points.
Rocket goaltender Cayden Primeau is the nephew of former Amerk Wayne Primeau, who was a member of the 1996 Calder Cup-winning team.
Casey Fitzgerald and Sean Malone are the only two Amerks that were on Rochester’s roster during the last meeting with the Laval.
In 16 combined games all-time against the Rocket, Malone (15 games, 4+3) and Fitzgerald (1 games, 0+0) have posted seven points.
Laval Rocket vs Rochester Americans: Head To Head Stats
Summary
|
Description |
Result |
|
| Head to Head Record 2021-22 Regular Season | Laval 0-0-0-0 | Rochester 0-0-0-0 |
| 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 3-10-2-1 | Rochester 13-3-0-0 |
| Laval vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Laval | Laval 1-5-1-1 | Rochester 7-1-0-0 |
| Laval vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Rochester | Laval 2-5-1-0 | Rochester 6-2-0-0 |
How the 2 teams match up
|
Rochester |
Laval |
|
| Team Record | 2-2-0-0 -- 4 points | 4-2-0-0 -- 8 points |
| Division Ranking | 4th North | 3rd North |
| Conference Ranking | 9th Eastern | 7th Eastern |
| League Ranking | 19th | 12th |
| Past 10 Games | 2-2-0-0 | 4-2-0-0 |
| Streak | 0-1-0-0 | 1-0-0-0 |
| Last Game | 7-3 L @ Belleville (Oct 27 2021) Final | 5-0 W vs Toronto (Oct 27 2021) Final |
| Home Record | 1-0-0-0 | 3-0-0-0 |
| Away Record | 1-2-0-0 | 1-2-0-0 |
| GF | 17 | 22 |
| GA | 19 | 14 |
| PP (Overall) | (1/15) 6.7% | (3/24) 12.5% |
| PP (Home) | (0/3) 0.0% | (3/14) 21.4% |
| PP (Away) | (1/12) 8.3% | (0/10) 0.0% |
| PK (Overall) | (2/11) 81.8% | (3/30) 90.0% |
| PK (Home) | (1/6) 83.3% | (2/16) 87.5% |
| PK (Away) | (1/5) 80.0% | (1/14) 92.9% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (0/0) 0% | (0/0) 0% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (0/0) 0% | (0/0) 0% |
| Leading Rookie | Quinn (4-3-7) | Fairbrother (1-3-4) |
| Most PIM | MacInnis - 16 | Fairbrother - 23 |
| Team PIM/GM | 17.5/Game | 25.0/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Quinn (4-3-7) | Dauphin (6-1-7) |
| Peterka (1-4-5) | Pezzetta (2-3-5) | |
| Mersch (2-2-4) | Beaudin (1-4-5) | |
| Jankowski (0-4-4) | Ouellet (1-4-5) | |
| Weissbach (2-1-3) | Dea (3-1-4) | |
| Last 5 Games | 7-3 L @ Belleville (Oct 27 2021) Final | 5-0 W vs Toronto (Oct 27 2021) Final |
| 7-3 W @ Toronto (Oct 23 2021) Final | 3-0 L @ Bridgeport (Oct 24 2021) Final | |
| 5-3 W vs Syracuse (Oct 22 2021) Final | 4-0 W @ Providence (Oct 23 2021) Final | |
| 6-2 L @ Utica (Oct 17 2021) Final | 5-4 W vs Manitoba (Oct 20 2021) Final | |
| 5-2 L @ Belleville (Oct 16 2021) Final | ||
| Leading After 1st | 1-0-0-0 | 2-0-0-0 |
| Leading After 2nd | 2-0-0-0 | 4-0-0-0 |
| Tied After 1st | 1-0-0-0 | 1-2-0-0 |
| Tied After 2nd | 0-0-0-0 | 0-0-0-0 |
| Trailing After 1st | 0-2-0-0 | 1-0-0-0 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 0-2-0-0 | 0-2-0-0 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 0-2-0-0 | 2-0-0-0 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 2-0-0-0 | 2-2-0-0 |
| 1-Goal Games | 0-0-0-0 | 1-0-0-0 |
| 2-Goal Games | 1-0-0-0 | 0-0-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 0-0-0-0 | 0-2-0-0 |