GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS TRAVEL TO SYRACUSE TONIGHT
Feb 11, 2023TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (21-18-2-1) hit the road to close out the weekend tonight in a North Division matchup against the Syracuse Crunch (21-16-4-3) at Upstate Medical University Arena. All the action will be carried on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
Tonight's matchup is the second since the turn of the New year and seventh overall this season between the intrastate rivals. After tonight, the cross-town foes will meet again to resume their season-series in Rochester on Sunday, Feb. 19 for a 3:05 p.m. matinee at The Blue Cross Arena. The Amerks will play the Crunch a total of five times over their final 30 games.
HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPSHOT
The Amerks have claimed four of the first six meetings against the Crunch this season, including two get-togethers in Rochester. The Amerks have been outscored by the Crunch 10-9 on the road.
The Amerks have scored a power-play goal in 22 of their last 39 games against Syracuse, going 34-for-134 (24.3%) with the man-advantage over that span.
After scoring six points (1+5) in 11 games against the Crunch during the 2021-22 campaign, second-year forward Linus Weissbach currently shares the team-lead among all Rochester skaters with six points (3+3) in six games this season.
LAST TIME OUT
Rochester was unable to generate any offense against 2023 AHL All-Star goaltender Joel Hofer and the red-hot Springfield Thunderbirds as they were blanked, 4-0, in their first game back from the AHL All-Star break Friday night at The Blue Cross Arena.
Veteran defenseman Matt Bartkowski registered a career-high seven shots on goal while Jeremy Davies and Mason Jobst each had four and three, respectively.
Goaltender Malcolm Subban (10-8-1) took the loss in his 19th appearance of the campaign despite stopping 28 of the 30 shots he faced.
SUBBAN SHOULDERING WORK LOAD
After suffering a defeat in his season-debut on Nov. 18, Subban has gone 10-7-1 since over his last 18 starts, including seven straight wins between Dec. 10 to Jan. 14. The seven-game win streak was the longest of his pro career and the third-longest streak among all AHL goaltenders behind Toronto's Joseph Woll and Calgary's Dustin Wolf.
He was the first Amerks goaltender to post seven straight wins since Jonas Johansson won nine consecutive contests during the 2019-20 campaign.
Subban had arguably his best performance of the season during a 75-save weekend in Rochester’s two-game sweep over the Charlotte Checkers in mid-December. A night after stopping a regular-season career-high 45 saves, Subban was flawless in a 30-save shutout on Dec. 17, his first in the AHL since April 8, 2017, with the Providence Bruins.
Subban, who picked up his 100th career win in the 5-4 overtime victory over Utica on Dec. 28, has topped the 40-save mark three times in his last 14 starts and is currently tied for 23rd amongst all netminders with 10 wins.
BIRO PILING UP THE POINTS
Despite missing six games due to injury, third-year forward Brandon Biro has blazed his way atop the team's scoring lead following a productive December in which he led the team with 16 points (6+10) in 10 games. He recorded multi-point efforts in seven of his 10 appearances, including six straight between Dec. 9 and Dec. 30 before closing out the month with an assist in the 3-2 win in Toronto.
Biro, who made his NHL debut with the Buffalo Sabres last season, currently paces the Amerks in assists (20) and points (29) through 32 games and his recent seven-game point streak to close out the 2022 calendar year was the longest of his career.
Dating back to last season, Biro has totaled 70 points on 21 goals and 49 assists over his last 80 games and hasn't gone more than seven games without a point since Nov. 27, 2021.
JOBST HAVING A CAREER YEAR
Mason Jobst has made the most of his second opportunity with the Amerks as the fourth-year pro is in the process of assembling a career-year.
Through 36 games this season, the Speedway, Indiana, native has already established career-highs in all offensive categories, including goals (7), assists (13) and points (20).
With an assist in last Saturday's overtime win in Belleville, Jobst reached the 20-point mark for the first time in his pro career, becoming the ninth different Amerk to eclipse the mark.
Since the turn of the New Year, Jobst has amassed four goals and seven points over his previous 10 games, including his first career hat trick in the 7-5 loss to the first-place Toronto Marlies back on Jan. 14. Jobst single-handedly outscored Toronto in the second period with back-to-back goals before netting what was the go-ahead goal in the third period.
Jobst has totaled 33 points (11+12) over 62 career games with the Amerks dating back to last season.
PROWESS ON THE BLUELINE
Entering the Jan. 19 game against Laval, Ethan Prow was the only Amerks defenseman to appear in every game this season. Overall, he has skated in 111 of the 117 games dating back to the start of the 2021-22 campaign.
Through 41 games this season, Prow is tied for 18th in scoring amongst all AHL defensemen while his 20 assists are tied for also 16th in the league. This season marks the fourth straight in which the veteran defenseman has reached the 20-assist mark and the fifth consecutive year with 20 or more points, which includes an abbreviated campaign overseas in 2020-21.
The seventh-year veteran has posted 12 points (2+10) in his last 16 outings dating back to Dec. 28 and comes into tonight with five assists over his last six games.
He leads all Amerks defensemen with four multi-point outings, including a two-goal effort in the 4-3 win at Syracuse back on Jan. 7.
Prow has never gone more than five games all season without a point
SERIES NOTABLES
So far this season, Rochester have used five different goaltenders compared to Syracuse having four. It marks the third straight season that the Amerks have used at least five different goaltenders.
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.
Alex Barré-Boulet (15+40) and Darren Raddysh (12+32) currently lead all Crunch skaters with 55 and 44 points, respectively. The duo are tied for second and 11th in the AHL in scoring, respectively, while Raddysh is second among all defensemen in goals (12) and points (44).