GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS OPEN WEEKEND SET WITH MONSTERS TONIGHT
Mar 17, 2022TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (28-23-3-2) kick off a three-game homestand tonight with the first of back-to-back meetings against the Cleveland Monsters (21-23-7-4) at The Blue Cross Arena. The North Division matchup gets underway at 7:05 p.m. and will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
The Amerks have earned three out of a possible four points in their last two games while snapping a four-game skid in the process. The Monsters have points in eight of their last 10 games, going 6-2-1-1 in that span.
HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPSHOT
Rochester holds a record of 33-13-4-4 against Cleveland over the last 10 years dating back to the start of the 2011-12 campaign and has earned a point in 11 of the last 17 games.
The Amerks have scored 12 power-play goals in their last 14 games against Cleveland dating back to the start of the 2019-20 season, going 12-for-56 (21.4%) with the man-advantage over that span. Rochester’s penalty kill unit has been successful in 54-of-66 shorthanded situations (81.8%).
In the previous 10 games with Cleveland, the winning club has scored at least four goals. In each of the last five head-to-head matchups with the Monsters, the Amerks have tallied at least once in the first 20 minutes of play, which includes all four tilts this season.
WATCH: TONIGHT'S FACE-OFF FIRST LOOK
VIEW FROM ROCHESTER
Rochester remains in the thick of what is shaping up to be a very tight race to the finish among its fellow North Division opponents. The Amerks have played the most games (57) in the Division among any other team with some having as many as seven games in hand on Rochester entering this week. Cleveland currently has two games in hand on Rochester.
The Amerks presently sit in sixth place with 19 games remaining and the top five teams in the North Division are guaranteed to clinch a playoff spot.
After scoring just four times through the first three months of the season, JJ Peterka has notched 28 points (10+18) in 28 games to begin 2022, including goals in back-to-back games on three different occasions over that span.
Having returned to the lineup on March 4 in Belleville after missing the previous 17 games, Jack Quinn is third among all AHL rookies in goals (19) and eighth in points (38) while his team-high seven power-play goals are also tied for second-most among all rookies.
Rochester has the AHL’s ninth-best offense. Averaging under four goals per game, the club have scored the fourth-most goals in the AHL with 188 and rank second in the North Division behind only the Utica Comets.
POWER-PLAY PROFICIENCY
Rochester’s power-play has gone 47-for-206 with a 22.8% conversion rate that is currently fourth-best in the AHL. The Amerks’ 47 goals on the man-advantage are most among all North Division teams and are nine shy of the AHL lead behind Ontario.
The Amerks have scored at least one power-play goal in 29 of their first 57 games this season and have registered multiple power-play tallies in 11 overall, including a season-high four goals in the 7-3 win over Hershey back on Nov. 26.
WATCH: SETH APPERT AFTER MORNING SKATE
PETERKA FLOURISHING IN SECOND HALF
With the primary assist back on Feb. 19 against Syracuse, forward JJ Peterka took over the team’s scoring lead while also becoming the first Amerk this season and 14th player in the league to reach the 40-point mark.
Since Jack Quinn suffered a lower-body injury with the Buffalo Sabres on Jan. 20, Peterka has helped carried the load for the Amerks offense as he has produced eight goals and 14 assists for 22 points in the last 24 games.
More impressively, Peterka, who was taken 34th overall in the 2020 NHL Draft by the Sabres, has netted 28 points (10+18) in 28 games to start the New Year. The 20-year-old has also registered seven multi-point games over that stretch which also featured three, three-point outings.
Peterka made his highly anticipated NHL debut on Dec. 28 as Buffalo hosted New Jersey before visiting the New York Islanders the very next day. Following his return to the Amerks, he totaled five points on two goals and three assists in two games before being honored as the AHL’s Rookie of the Month of the Week for the period ending Jan. 2, 2022.
Peterka has been held scoreless just nine times since Dec. 19 and hasn’t gone more than two games without recording a point during that same span. More impressively, the Amerks are 10-2-0-0 this season when Peterka registers a multi-point game, including 5-0-0-0 on home ice.
With a team-high 48 points (14+34) through 51 games, Peterka is the first Amerks rookie to reach the 45-point mark since Justin Bailey had 45 points (20+25) in 70 games during the 2015-16 season. Peterka also leads the team and is eighth in the AHL with 34 assists.
Coming into the weekend, he’s one of only five AHL rookies currently leading his respective team in scoring.
A PRODUCTIVE STRETCH FOR MURRAY
After being held scoreless in four games in January, Brett Murray responded with his best offensive showing of the season in February, leading the Amerks with 12 points on seven goals and five assists while appearing in all 13 games during the month.
Murray has scored more than half of his 14 goals since the start of February. He opened the month with four goals in his first five games, including a season-best three straight games from Feb. 5 to Feb. 9.
He saw his career-long six-game point streak halted last Friday over which he posted nine points (3+6), including a four-point effort at Toronto Feb. 27.
RACE TO 20
After the cancellation of the remainder of the 2019-20 season and a truncated 2020-21 campaign failed to produce a 20-goal scorer for just the fourth time in franchise history, the Amerks could potentially have several by season’s end with eight players currently with 10 or more goals.
Michael Mersch and Quinn will both reach the mark on their next goal, despite Quinn appearing in 20 fewer games than Mersch. Murray remains on pace with a career-high 15 goals through his first 33 games of the season while Peterka and Arttu Ruotsalainen are right on his heels with 14 and 12, respectively, coming into the weekend.
THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENSE
Rochester has two of the league’s top point-producing defensemen in Ethan Prow (9+26) and Oskari Laaksonen (5+23), who enter the weekend tied for fourth and 17th in scoring amongst all blueliners, respectively.
Prow, who reached the 30-point mark for the third straight year in the AHL, is also seventh with 26 assists, which are just three more than Laaksonen. His nine goals trail only San Diego’s Nikolas Brouillard, Grand Rapids’ Ryan Murphy and Belleville’s Michael Del Zotto for most by a defenseman this season. With an assist last Friday night, Prow has recorded 17 points (5+12) over his last 22 games. Additionally he has totaled 116 points (36+80) over his last 168 AHL contests dating back to the 2018-19 campaign.
Laaksonen, who boasts 13 points (3+10) in his last 29 games since the turn of the New Year, also ranks second among defensemen with 18 power-play assists, trailing only Ontario’s Jordan Spence in that category, as all but five of his 23 assists this season have come on the man-advantage. Equally as impressive, 22 of his 28 points have come on the power-play.
His best performance of the season came back on Jan. 12 when he recorded a career-high four assists in the 7-6 win over Utica, including three in the first period and three of which came on the power-play. He finished two assists shy of tying the franchise record for most in a single game.
Prior to earning his second recall of the season to the Buffalo Sabres, rookie defenseman Mattias Samuelsson recorded two assists in the overtime loss to Belleville on Jan. 15, giving him 15 points (2+13) in 22 games. Samuelsson is tied for 19th in scoring among AHL rookie defensemen while his 13 assists are 15th-most.
FANTASTIC FOUR
The Amerks currently own four of the AHL’s top scoring rookies in JJ Peterka, Jack Quinn, Brandon Biro and Linus Weissbach, all of whom have combined for 152 points (52+100) through Rochester’s first 57 games this season.
Quinn, the Buffalo Sabres’ eighth overall pick in 2020, ranks third among all first-year players in goals (19) and is eighth in points (38) despite only appearing in 26 games. Quinn became the 101st AHL player this season to make his NHL debut when he took the ice against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan. 11. He finished with team-highs in shots (3) and shot attempts (6) while earning 16:30 of total ice time. He then returned to the Sabres a day after scoring his 18th goal of the season for Rochester and was rewarded with his first two NHL points, including a goal against Vezina Trophy winner and Stanley Cup champion Braden Holtby in the Sabres’ 5-4 loss to the Dallas Stars on Jan 20.
With his game-winning goal last Saturday in Utica, Weissbach has notched nine points (2+7) in his last 14 games. He finished the month of February with 11 points (1+10) in 13 contests, including a season-high three-assist effort on Feb. 27 at Toronto to bring the month to a close.
Peterka’s explosive start to the second half of the season has him second among all rookies in points (48), third in assists (34) and 11th in goals (14).
With Peterka already at 48 points and both Biro and Quinn closing in on the mark, the Amerks are guaranteed to have multiple rookies finish the regular season with 40 or more points for the first time since the 2006-07 season.
MOVIN' ON UP
Players that have appeared in at least one game this season for both Rochester and Buffalo:
FORWARDS (8)
Brandon Biro*
Mark Jankowski
Peyton Krebs
Ryan MacInnis
Brett Murray
JJ Peterka*
Jack Quinn*
Arttu Ruotsalainen
DEFENSEMEN (3)
Casey Fitzgerald*
Ethan Prow*
Mattias Samuelsson
GOALTENDERS (3)
Aaron Dell
Michael Houser
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
* = Made NHL debut
WINNING BY NUMBERS
Rochester enters tonight as one of only three AHL teams to have scored at least 58 goals in all three periods this season. Additionally, the Amerks have scored the fourth-most first and third-period goals among any other team and have outscored the opposition 58-54 through the opening 20 minutes.
The Amerks have scored four or more goals in all but six of their 28 wins this season, two of which have come on home ice. Additionally, 13 of Rochester’s 15 road victories have come with three or more goals despite being outscored 114-98 through their first 30 road games.
OTHER AMERKS NOTABLES
Of the 14 different defensemen the Amerks have used this season, 13 have notched at least one point while 10 have recorded at least one goal. Additionally, of the 24 different forwards to appear in one game for Rochester, 19 have scored a goal and 22 have produced a point.
Over his last 32 games since the turn of the New Year, Amerks forward Arttu Ruotsalainen has tallied 32 points on 12 goals and 20 assists, a stretch which began with a three-point effort versus Hartford on Jan. 2. Ruotsalainen has also turned in a multi-point effort in nine games over that same span, including four over his recent season-long five-game point streak which was highlighted by three consecutive two-goal games for the first time in his AHL career.
Rochester is one of just four teams to have three different rookies (Quinn, Peterka, Weissbach) reach the 10-goal mark, joining the Charlotte Checkers Springfield Thunderbirds and Toronto Marlies.
The Amerks are also one of eight teams in the AHL to have at least eight different players in double digits in goals, which includes Bakersfield, Charlotte, Providence, San Jose, Springfield, Stockton and Utica.
Cleveland Monsters vs Rochester Americans: Head To Head Stats
Summary
|
Description |
Result |
|
| Head to Head Record 2021-22 Regular Season | Cleveland 2-2-0-0 | Rochester 2-2-0-0 |
| Head to Head Record 2020-21 Regular Season | Cleveland 4-1-0-1 | Rochester 2-4-0-0 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Cleveland 11-10-3-1 | Rochester 14-8-1-2 |
| Cleveland vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Cleveland | Cleveland 3-6-2-1 | Rochester 9-3-0-0 |
| Cleveland vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Rochester | Cleveland 8-4-1-0 | Rochester 5-5-1-2 |
| Previous Meetings This Season | Rochester 3 @ Cleveland 7 (Jan 22 2022) Final Rochester 4 @ Cleveland 1 (Jan 21 2022) Final Cleveland 0 @ Rochester 4 (Nov 13 2021) Final Cleveland 4 @ Rochester 3 (Nov 12 2021) Final |
How the two teams match up
|
Rochester |
Cleveland |
|
| Team Record | 28-23-4-2 -- 62 points | 21-23-7-4 -- 53 points |
| Division Ranking | 6th North | 7th North |
| Conference Ranking | 11th Eastern | 14th Eastern |
| League Ranking | 19th | 27th |
| Past 10 Games | 4-5-1-0 | 6-2-1-1 |
| Streak | 1-0-1-0 | 1-0-1-0 |
| Last Game | 4-3 L @ Syracuse (Mar 13 2022) Final OT | 4-3 L vs Rockford (Mar 15 2022) Final OT |
| Home Record | 13-11-2-1 | 9-13-4-1 |
| Away Record | 15-12-2-1 | 12-10-3-3 |
| GF | 188 | 153 |
| GA | 207 | 185 |
| PP (Overall) | (47/206) 22.8% | (30/185) 16.2% |
| PP (Home) | (20/97) 20.6% | (9/95) 9.5% |
| PP (Away) | (27/109) 24.8% | (21/90) 23.3% |
| PK (Overall) | (38/205) 81.5% | (50/212) 76.4% |
| PK (Home) | (19/104) 81.7% | (20/98) 79.6% |
| PK (Away) | (19/101) 81.2% | (30/114) 73.7% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (2/14) 14.3% | (3/14) 21.4% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (3/14) 78.6% | (2/14) 85.7% |
| Leading Rookie | Peterka (14-34-48) | Angle (7-21-28) |
| Most PIM | Pekar - 56 | Gallant - 81 |
| Team PIM/GM | 13.3/Game | 12.8/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Peterka (14-34-48) | Christiansen (8-26-34) |
| Mersch (19-20-39) | Gaunce (16-12-28) | |
| Quinn (19-19-38) | Angle (7-21-28) | |
| Biro (9-27-36) | Scott (13-11-24) | |
| Prow (9-26-35) | Sikura (11-13-24) | |
| Last 5 Games | 4-3 L @ Syracuse (Mar 13 2022) Final OT | 4-3 L vs Rockford (Mar 15 2022) Final OT |
| 3-2 W @ Utica (Mar 12 2022) Final | 4-1 W vs Rockford (Mar 13 2022) Final | |
| 3-2 L vs Syracuse (Mar 11 2022) Final | 6-1 L @ Grand Rapids (Mar 11 2022) Final | |
| 7-2 L vs Laval (Mar 9 2022) Final | 3-2 W @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Mar 9 2022) Final OT | |
| 6-5 L @ Belleville (Mar 5 2022) Final | 8-5 L vs Toronto (Mar 6 2022) Final | |
| Leading After 1st | 19-3-1-1 | 10-0-2-0 |
| Leading After 2nd | 18-1-1-0 | 11-1-0-0 |
| Tied After 1st | 4-5-3-1 | 6-4-3-3 |
| Tied After 2nd | 6-1-3-2 | 7-2-3-2 |
| Trailing After 1st | 5-15-0-0 | 5-19-2-1 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 4-21-0-0 | 3-20-4-2 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 5-11-2-0 | 11-15-3-0 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 23-12-2-1 | 8-5-3-4 |
| 1-Goal Games | 14-5-4-2 | 13-3-7-4 |
| 2-Goal Games | 7-6-0-0 | 2-7-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 2-5-0-0 | 1-8-0-0 |
Cleveland Monsters
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | X Brendan Gaunce | 4 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 0 | -1 |
| 64 | Trey Fix-Wolansky | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| 18 | Dillon Simpson | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| 12 | Cole Cassels | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 13 | X Justin Danforth | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 17 | Carson Meyer | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13 | -2 |
| 27 | Tristan Mullin | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 77 | Tyler Angle | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 23 | Jake Christiansen | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -2 |
| 42 | Cole Fonstad | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 19 | Liam Foudy | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 4 | Scott Harrington | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Adam Helewka | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -4 |
| 26 | Thomas Schemitsch | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 20 | Justin Scott | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 16 | Tyler Sikura | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 1 |
| 6 | Billy Sweezey | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 22 | Tim Berni | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 |
| 35 | Jean-Francois Berube | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Cole Clayton | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -5 |
| 21 | Josh Dunne | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -3 |
| 44 | Brett Gallant | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 25 | Jake Gaudet | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 31 | Jet Greaves | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | X Jake Slaker | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 82 | Kevin Stenlund | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 40 | X Daniil Tarasov | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | X Daniil Tarasov | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 60:00 | 3 | 3.00 | 0.893 |
| 31 | Jet Greaves | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 60:00 | 3 | 3.00 | 0.912 |
| 35 | Jean-Francois Berube | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 117:59 | 7 | 3.56 | 0.857 |
Rochester Americans
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 77 | JJ Peterka | 4 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 2 |
| 13 | Linus Weissbach | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| 10 | Brandon Biro | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| 28 | Michael Mersch | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | -2 |
| 22 | Jack Quinn | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | X Mattias Samuelsson | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 72 | Ryan MacInnis | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | -1 |
| 2 | Oskari Laaksonen | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -1 |
| 7 | Ethan Prow | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 5 | X Casey Fitzgerald | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| 14 | Mark Jankowski | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| 81 | Brett Murray | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 21 | X Ara Nazarian | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Arttu Ruotsalainen | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -2 |
| 19 | X Peyton Krebs | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 91 | Ryan Scarfo | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 44 | Josh Teves | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 52 | Mitch Eliot | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 29 | Dominic Franco | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -1 |
| 26 | Mason Jobst | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Sean Malone | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | Matej Pekar | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 27 | Patrick Polino | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 32 | X Mat Robson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Jimmy Schuldt | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 16 | Peter Tischke | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | Brendan Warren | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 35 | X Charles Williams | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32 | X Mat Robson | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 59:43 | 1 | 1.00 | 0.972 |
| 1 | Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 118:31 | 4 | 2.02 | 0.947 |
| 35 | X Charles Williams | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 58:49 | 5 | 5.10 | 0.800 |