GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS PUT HOME WIN STREAK ON THE LINE TONIGHT AGAINST SYRACUSE
Jan 5, 2022TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (17-9-0-0) begin a busy stretch of three games in four nights tonight when they host the Syracuse Crunch (8-10-2-1) at The Blue Cross Arena. The 7:05 p.m. matchup will be the third of 12 meetings between the intrastate rivals this season and will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
The Amerks boast a 7-3-0-0 record in their last 10 games following a 4-3 win in Hartford Sunday afternoon while Syracuse enters the matchup showing a 3-5-1-1 mark in that same span but have not played since Dec. 15.
HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPSHOT
The Amerks have won nine of their last 12 games overall in addition to five straight on home ice. The five-game home-streak is the Rochester’s longest since the 2015-16 season. Syracuse, meanwhile, has just three wins in its previous 12 games, going 3-7-1-1 dating back to Nov. 10.
The Amerks have scored a power-play goal in 14 of their last 23 games against Syracuse dating back to last season, going 24-for-83 (28.9%) with the man-advantage over that span.
Rochester has collected at least one point in 23 of the last 35 games against Syracuse dating back to the start of the 2018-19 campaign, going 19-12-3-1.
WATCH: TONIGHT'S FACE-OFF FIRST LOOK
BALANCING ACT
With five players performing at or near a point-per-game pace, the Amerks have the AHL’s top-producing offense and are currently averaging just under four goals per game. With a league-best 101 goals this season, the Amerks are currently the only team to surpass the 100-goal mark so far in 2021-22.
The Amerks own three of the league’s top 11 point-getters in veteran forward Michael Mersch and rookie forwards JJ Peterka and Jack Quinn. Mersch enters the week leading the AHL in goals and ranking second in scoring while Peterka has the second-most points among all league rookies.
After making his NHL debut with the Buffalo Sabres last week and appearing in the team’s final two games of the 2021 calendar year, Peterka returned to the Amerks lineup this past weekend, notching five points on two goals and three assists. For his efforts, the rookie forward was named the AHL’s Player of the Week for the period ending Jan. 2, 2022.
Peterka leads all AHL rookies with a team-high 19 assists and ranks second with 25 points in 25 games. He becomes the second Amerks this season to earn the honors, joining goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
WATCH: SETH APPERT FOLLOWING MORNING SKATE
POWER UP
Now 26 games into the season, Rochester’s power-play has gone 25-for-91 with a 27.5% conversion rate that is currently tops in the AHL. The Amerks’ 25 goals on the man-advantage are most among all North Division teams and only one off the AHL lead behind only the Springfield Thunderbirds.
The Amerks have scored at least one power-play goal in 16 of their 26 games this season and have registered multiple power-play tallies in six overall, including a season-high four goals in the 7-3 win over Hershey back on Nov. 26.
Rochester scored a power-play in seven straight games between Nov. 17 and Dec. 8, the longest such streak in the AHL this season.
WATCH: JACK QUINN FOLLOWING MORNING SKATE
MERSCH LEADING BY EXAMPLE
With an assist Saturday aftenoon in Springfield, Mersch became the first Amerk this season and just the second player in the AHL to reach the 30-point mark.
Mersch has totaled 17 points (9+8) and four multi-point efforts over his last 12 games dating back to Nov. 24. He’s been held scoreless just twice over that span to move into second in the AHL in scoring with 30 points (16+14) on the season, trailing only Chicago’s Andrew Poturalski for most in the league. The Amerks captain began that stretch with a five-game goal-scoring streak, the longest of his career and the longest in the AHL this season, while his five-game point marked his longest since posting a career-best seven-game point streak back in 2015.
With a league-leading 16 goals this season, Mersch has doubled his output from the previous season in three fewer games and is on pace to reach the 20-goal mark for the fifth time in eight years and the first time since the 2018-19 season as a member of the Texas Stars.
He’s also on pace to reach the 20-goal mark in the fewest amount of games since 2015-16 when he scored 20 in 35 games with the Ontario Reign. He finished that season with 24 goals in only 52 appearances while also appearing in 17 games with the Los Angeles Kings.
Mersch is well on his way to become the first Amerk to score 20 goals in the fastest amount of games since Luke Adam reached the mark in 31 games during the 2013-14 season.
Over Mersch’s last six contests, he has produced 11 points on four goals and seven assists as well as three straight multi-point outings dating back to Dec. 15.
FANTASTIC FOUR
The Amerks currently own four of the AHL’s top scoring rookies in JJ Peterka, Jack Quinn, Peyton Krebs and Brandon Biro, all of whom have combined for 83 points (25+58) through the first 26 games this season.
Peterka has moved to within three points of the AHL rookie scoring lead following his five-point weekend which garnered him Player of the Week honors. He leads all first-year players with a team-high 19 assists while his 25 points are second-most. He and Quinn, taken just 26 picks apart from one another by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2020 NHL Draft, currently make up one of only four rookie duos across the entire AHL to rank inside the top four on their respective team in scoring.
Despite missing the last nine games, Quinn, Buffalo’s eighth overall pick in 2020, is tied for second among all AHL rookies in goals (11) and sits one point behind Peterka for third. Named the AHL Rookie of the Month for October, he is one of only seven AHL rookies this season to reach the 20-point mark and he, Peterka, Mersch and Sean Malone remain the only Amerks to accomplish the feat.
Currently on recall with Buffalo, Krebs has amassed 19 points on four goals and 15 assists in 18 games, tying for eighth among all AHL rookie skaters.
Biro, meanhwile, has 10 points (4+6) over his last 10 games dating back to Nov. 27. He also has three multi-point efforts in five games over that span.
SERIES NOTABLES
hrough 26 games so far this season, the Amerks have used 13 different defensemen. Of the 13, 10 have notched at least one point while eight have recorded one goal. Last week alone, four have made their Rochester debuts (Cairns, Drake, Ghafari and Ege) and two produced their first AHL points (Drake and Ghafari).
Rochester enters tonight having scored 31 goals in the opening period of play this season, which are most in the AHL. On the other hand, the Crunch have only scored 17 times in the first 20 minutes of regulation, which are fewest in the Eastern Conference.
Goaltender Aaron Dell has backstopped the Amerks to four straight wins through his first four starts with Rochester. Until now, the netminder has never began a season with a win in each of his first four starts at either the NHL or AHL level. He’s is on pace to match his career-best seven-game win streak he posted from March 20 to April 7, 2015 with Worcester. In each of his four appearances this season, he has made 30 or more saves, three of which he finished with 30.
Crunch defenseman Ryan Jones spent the 2020-21 campaign with the Amerks, recording seven points (1+6) while being the lone skater to appear in all 29 games last season. Additionally, forward Remi Elie was also with Rochester from 2018-2021, tallying 55 points (31+24) in 99 career games.
Syracuse Crunch vs Rochester Americans: Head To Head Stats
Summary
|
Description |
Result |
|
| Head to Head Record 2021-22 Regular Season | Syracuse 0-2-0-0 | Rochester 2-0-0-0 |
| Head to Head Record 2020-21 Regular Season | Syracuse 7-4-1-0 | Rochester 5-5-2-0 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Syracuse 22-15-5-3 | Rochester 23-17-4-1 |
| Syracuse vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Syracuse | Syracuse 9-10-2-2 | Rochester 14-7-2-0 |
| Syracuse vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Rochester | Syracuse 13-5-3-1 | Rochester 9-10-2-1 |
| Previous Meetings This Season | Rochester 4 @ Syracuse 2 (Nov 27 2021) Final Syracuse 3 @ Rochester 5 (Oct 22 2021) Final |
How the two teams match up
|
Rochester |
Syracuse |
|
| Team Record | 17-9-0-0 -- 34 points | 8-10-2-1 -- 19 points |
| Division Ranking | 2nd North | 7th North |
| Conference Ranking | 3rd Eastern | 13th Eastern |
| League Ranking | 6th | 25th |
| Past 10 Games | 7-3-0-0 | 3-5-1-1 |
| Streak | 1-0-0-0 | 1-0-0-0 |
| Last Game | 4-3 W @ Hartford (Jan 2 2022) Final | 4-2 W @ Toronto (Dec 15 2021) Final |
| Home Record | 8-3-0-0 | 3-6-0-1 |
| Away Record | 9-6-0-0 | 5-4-2-0 |
| GF | 101 | 61 |
| GA | 96 | 72 |
| PP (Overall) | (25/91) 27.5% | (18/86) 20.9% |
| PP (Home) | (12/41) 29.3% | (10/48) 20.8% |
| PP (Away) | (13/50) 26.0% | (8/38) 21.1% |
| PK (Overall) | (17/91) 81.3% | (17/77) 77.9% |
| PK (Home) | (7/46) 84.8% | (10/34) 70.6% |
| PK (Away) | (10/45) 77.8% | (7/43) 83.7% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (3/8) 37.5% | (3/11) 27.3% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (3/11) 72.7% | (3/8) 62.5% |
| Leading Rookie | Peterka (6-19-25) | Koepke (4-9-13) |
| Most PIM | Pekar - 39 | Dumont - 34 |
| Team PIM/GM | 12.7/Game | 12.4/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Mersch (16-14-30) | Dumont (10-8-18) |
| Peterka (6-19-25) | Hudon (6-10-16) | |
| Quinn (11-13-24) | Koepke (4-9-13) | |
| Malone (9-13-22) | Day (2-11-13) | |
| Krebs (4-15-19) | Huntington (6-5-11) | |
| Last 5 Games | 4-3 W @ Hartford (Jan 2 2022) Final | 4-2 W @ Toronto (Dec 15 2021) Final |
| 5-3 L @ Springfield (Jan 1 2022) Final | 5-3 L @ Charlotte (Dec 11 2021) Final | |
| 5-3 W vs Providence (Dec 29 2021) Final | 5-3 W @ Charlotte (Dec 10 2021) Final | |
| 4-3 W @ Hershey (Dec 19 2021) Final | 8-3 L vs Cleveland (Dec 8 2021) Final | |
| 4-3 W @ Lehigh Valley (Dec 18 2021) Final SO | 4-2 L vs Rochester (Nov 27 2021) Final | |
| Leading After 1st | 12-3-0-0 | 4-1-0-0 |
| Leading After 2nd | 11-1-0-0 | 5-1-0-0 |
| Tied After 1st | 2-0-0-0 | 2-5-1-1 |
| Tied After 2nd | 2-1-0-0 | 1-2-1-0 |
| Trailing After 1st | 3-6-0-0 | 2-4-1-0 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 4-7-0-0 | 2-7-1-1 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 4-5-0-0 | 5-7-1-1 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 13-4-0-0 | 3-3-1-0 |
| 1-Goal Games | 8-2-0-0 | 3-2-2-1 |
| 2-Goal Games | 5-3-0-0 | 3-5-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 0-1-0-0 | 1-1-0-0 |
Syracuse Crunch
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Simon Ryfors | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | -3 |
| 55 | Charles Hudon | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 | -4 |
| 40 | Gabriel Dumont | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | -3 |
| 78 | X Jaydon Dureau | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 88 | Antoine Morand | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 43 | X Tyler Bird | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Gabriel Fortier | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 57 | Alex Green | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 45 | Cole Koepke | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 26 | X Tristin Langan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Jesse Lees | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | X Darren Raddysh | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 |
| 60 | Hugo Alnefelt | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 51 | Maxim Cajkovic | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 3 | Fredrik Claesson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 74 | Sean Day | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -1 |
| 23 | Shawn Element | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 25 | X Cal Foote | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 39 | Gage Goncalves | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -1 |
| 15 | Jimmy Huntington | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Ryan Jones | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -2 |
| 35 | Amir Miftakhov | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Otto Somppi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 29 | X Andrej Sustr | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 92 | Odeen Tufto | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 85 | Daniel Walcott | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | Amir Miftakhov | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 58:34 | 3 | 3.07 | 0.897 |
| 60 | Hugo Alnefelt | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 59:24 | 4 | 4.04 | 0.810 |
Rochester Americans
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | Jack Quinn | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2 |
| 17 | Sean Malone | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 2 |
| 14 | X Mark Jankowski | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 77 | JJ Peterka | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| 28 | Michael Mersch | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | X Ethan Prow | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 44 | Josh Teves | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 10 | Brandon Biro | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 26 | Mason Jobst | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 19 | X Peyton Krebs | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Oskari Laaksonen | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1 | X Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 72 | Ryan MacInnis | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 0 |
| 13 | Linus Weissbach | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 23 | Lukas Craggs | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 88 | Brandon Davidson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 52 | Mitch Eliot | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | X Casey Fitzgerald | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| 41 | Michael Houser | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 81 | X Brett Murray | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 |
| 12 | Matej Pekar | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 91 | Ryan Scarfo | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 4 | Jimmy Schuldt | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 | Peter Tischke | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | Brendan Warren | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41 | Michael Houser | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 59:19 | 2 | 2.02 | 0.920 |
| 1 | X Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 60:00 | 3 | 3.00 | 0.875 |