GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS PUT HOME WIN STREAK ON THE LINE TONIGHT AGAINST SYRACUSE
Nov 2, 2022TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (4-3-0-0) begin the month of November tonight with three games over a four-day stretch beginning with a North Division showdown against the intrastate rival Syracuse Crunch (1-3-1-2) at The Blue Cross Arena. Game time is slated for a 7:05 p.m. start and will be carried live on 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
Tonight's matchup is the third in five games between the two teams and the eighth of 15 straight contests against North Division opponents to open the season. Its Rochester's longest stretch of the season against divisional foes.
HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPSHOT
In the first meeting of the season-series, the Amerks used three third-period goals, including one with three seconds left in regulation, to earn a 4-3 victory on Oct. 21. The next night in Syracuse, the Crunch flipped the script as they tallied four in the final 20 minutes of play to pick up a 6-2 win.
The Amerks have scored a power-play goal in 20 of their last 35 games against Syracuse, going 32-for-120 (26.7%) with the man-advantage over that span. Additionally, Rochester has collected at least one point in 26 of the last 45 games against the Crunch dating back to the 2018-19 campaign.
After scoring one goal and five assists in 11 games against the Crunch during the 2021-22 campaign, second-year forward Linus Weissbach currently leads all Rochester skaters with four points (2+2) in two games this season.
Goaltenders Max Lagace and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen have played every minute in the first two games of the season-series thus far.
LAST TIME OUT
Forwards Brandon Biro (0+2), Mason Jobst (0+2), Isak Rosen (1+1) and Jiri Kulich (1+1) all recorded a multi-point outing on the strength of a 31-save effort from Michael Houser to help the Amerks collect a 5-1 victory over the Laval Rocket Saturday at Place Bell.
By splitting the weekend series, Rochester finished the first month of the regular season with .571 winning percentage as they show a 4-3-0-0 record through its first seven games. It marks the seventh straight season the club has a .500 winning percentage or better dating back to 2016-17.
Along with Biro, Jobst, Rosen and Kulich all earning points, Weissbach, Brett Murray, and Anders Bjork all scored once in the win. Weissbach and Biro are tied for the team’s scoring lead with seven points on the season while Rosen and Kulich pace the team’s rookies with six points each.
Defenseman Matt Bartkowski made his Amerks debut while Houser made his first start of the campaign. Houser finished the contest making 31 saves to earn his first AHL win since Jan. 2, 2022.
POWER-PLAY PROFICIENCY
Seven of the Amerks 21 goals this season have come on the power-play, which are tied for 10th-most among any team in the AHL. By going 7-for-28 while on the man-advantage, Rochester is tied for eighth in the league with a 25.0% conversion rate.
The Amerks' six power-play goals at home are tied for second-most this season, going for 6-for-16 through their first three home matchups.
CALDER CUP CHAMPION JOINS AMERKS
The Amerks added their third veteran in as many days on Monday with the reassignment of forward Riley Sheahan on Monday. He joins Brandon Davidson and Matt Bartkowski as Rochester's latest roster additions.
Sheahan, who returned to the Sabres organization following a year away, hasn't appeared in a game this season as he began the campaign on the injured reserved. The 30-year old forward posted 13 points (4+9) in 53 games during his previous stint with Buffalo in 2020-21.
The St. Catharines, Ontario native has amassed 194 points (74+120) in 635 NHL games between Buffalo, Detroit, Edmonton, Florida, Pittsburgh and Seattle. He also has 58 points (26+32) in 114 games with Grand Rapids and Charlotte at the AHL level, winning the Calder Cup with the Griffins in 2013.
YOUTH MOVEMENT LEADING ROCHESTER
With seven points each through the first seven games, Linus Weissbach (4+3) and Brandon Biro (2+5) are tied for the team scoring lead. Neither have gone more than two games without recording a point.
Weissbach, Buffalo’s seventh-round selection (192nd overall) in the 2017 NHL Draft, notched his second career three-point (2+1) outing in the first meeting with Syracuse back on Oct. 21. The Swedish forward has produced at least one shot in five of the first seven games and leads all Rochester forwards with 15 shots on the campaign.
Biro also has at least one shot in five of the first seven games. He is tied for fifth overall amongst all Amerks forwards. Last season, Biro finished his second pro season notching 41 points (12+29) while also making his NHL debut with the Sabres at Montreal on Feb. 23.
Isak Rosen (2+4) and Jiri Kulich (1+5) pace the team's rookies with six points each while being tied for eighth in the AHL scoring race amongst all first-year skaters.
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, Kulich, Buffalo's first-round selection (28th overall) in 2022, is among the youngest players in the AHL. He shows five assists in his first seven games of the young season, tying him for fourth in the league among AHL rookies in that category.
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH
The Crunch, who begin a three-game road swing tonight, come into the matchup winless on the road this season and with an overall record of 1-3-1-2.
Back for his fifth season with Syracuse, Alex Barré-Boulet (2+10) currently leads the AHL in scoring with 10 assists and 12 points in seven games. He tops all Syracuse skaters with 28 shots.
Entering tonight, Barré-Boulet has an astounding 211 points (87+124) in 209 career games with the Crunch dating back to his breakout rookie season in 2018-19. The undrafted forward was named the AHL's most outstanding rookie and finished as the league's top goal-scorer that year with 34 tallies in 74 games, earning him AHL All-Rookie Team honors.
SERIES NOTABLES
Amerks defenseman Chase Priskie spent part of the 2020-21 season with the Crunch, notching seven points (3+4) in 15 games. In five games against Rochester that year, Priskie recorded three assists.
Rochester assistant coach Michael Peca spent the majority of the 1994-95 season with the Crunch, where he produced 34 points on 10 goals and 24 assists in just 35 games. It marked Peca’s one of two brief stops in his AHL career, the other being a nine-game stint with the Hamilton Canucks.
So far this season, the Amerks have used 11 different defensemen, which is tied for most in the AHL alongside the Cleveland Monsters.
The Amerks are off to their first 3-0-0-0 start on home ice since the 2006-07 campaign when Rochester won its first nine straight home games to begin the season. All three wins have come by way of four or more goals. The only team with a better home record this season is Charlotte, which has gone 4-0-0-0 and have outscored the opposition 15-10.