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GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS VISIT CRUNCH TONIGHT FOR FINAL TIME THIS SEASON

Mar 26, 2022

TONIGHT'S GAME OVERIEW

The Rochester Americans (30-23-4-3) continue their three-in-three weekend as they face-off against the Syracuse Crunch (29-23-6-2) for the final time this season tonight at Upstate Medical University Arena. The intrastate showdown gets underway at 7:00 p.m. and will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.

GAME NOTES

MEDIA KIT

2021-22 AHL STANDINGS

2021-22 NHL STANDINGS

2021-22 ROCHESTER STATS

2021-22 BUFFALO STATS

2021-22 SYRACUSE STATS

2021-22 TAMPA BAY STATS

WATCH LIVE ON AHLTV

LISTEN LIVE ON THE FANROCHESTER

The Amerks have earned nine out of a possible 10 points in their last five games while matching a season-long point streak in the process. The Crunch have a 7-2-0-1 record in their last 10 games.

HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPSHOT

Tonight’s matchup is the 10th between the cross-town foes since Jan. 5 and the 12th and final of this season. The Amerks claimed the first two meetings, but the Crunch have responded with points in eight of the next nine (7-1-1-0), including coming away with a 4-3 overtime win on March 13.

Syracuse’s Alex Barre-Boulet leads all players with 13 points (4+9) through the first 11 games of the season series, half of which have come in the last three meetings, including a four-point (3+1) effort earlier this month.

The Amerks have scored a power-play goal in 18 of their last 32 games against Syracuse, going 30-for-110 (27.3%) with the man-advantage over that span. Additionally, Rochester has collected at least one point in 25 of the last 43 games against the Crunch dating back to the 2018-19 campaign.

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. Only 16 games remain for both teams. Rochester has one more win than Syracuse and rank just ahead of the Crunch as they have a .558 points percentage through 60 games this season.

The Amerks presently sit in fourth place in the Division. The top five teams in the North Division are guaranteed to clinch a playoff spot.

Of Rochester’s final 16 games this season, 14 will be played against North Division opponents, which includes four more games against the Cleveland Monsters and three opposite the league-leading Utica Comets.

With nine points (3+6) on the strength of three straight three-point efforts in his last four games, Jack Quinn is second among all AHL rookies in goals (21) and tied for fifth in points (44) while his team-high seven power-play goals are also fourth-most among all rookies.

Rochester has the AHL’s fifth-best offense. Averaging under four goals per game, the club have scored the third-most goals in the AHL with 201 and rank first in the North Division.

POWER-PLAY PROFICIENCY

Rochester’s power-play has gone 50-for-216 with a 23.1% conversion rate that is currently fourth-best in the AHL. The Amerks’ 50 goals on the man-advantage are most among all North Division teams and are six shy of the AHL lead behind Ontario.

The Amerks have scored at least one power-play goal in 33 of their first 60 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.

PETERKA FLOURISHING IN SECOND HALF

With a two-goal outing last Friday against Cleveland, forward JJ Peterka became the first Amerk this season and just the third AHL rookie to reach the 50-point mark.

After scoring just four times through the first three months of the season, Peterka has notched 31 points (12+19) in 31 games to begin 2022, including goals in back-to-back games on four different occasions over that span.

Peterka, who was taken 34th overall in the 2020 NHL Draft by the Sabres, leads the Amerks and is seventh in the AHL with 168 shots on goal. He’s only gone two games all season without registering at least one shot on goal.

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 10 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 11-2-0-0 this season when Peterka registers a multi-point game, including 6-0-0-0 on home ice.

With a team-high 51 points (16+36) through 54 games, Peterka is the first Amerks rookie to reach the 50-point mark since Phil Varone had 52 points (11+41) in 76 games during the 2011-12 season. Peterka also leads the team and is ninth in the AHL with 35 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 15 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 on March 12 when 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, who both returned to the lineup last Friday from injury, both reached the mark in their first game back, despite Quinn appearing in 20 fewer games than Mersch. Peterka and Murray remain on pace with 16 and 15 goals, respectively, while Arttu Ruotsalainen (14) and Linus Weissbach (12) are right on their heels coming into the weekend.

QUINN-TESSENTIAL QUALITIES

Quinn became the first AHL player this season and just the 17th player in Amerks franchise history to score four goals in a game in the 6-5 overtime loss to Belleville on Jan. 15. More impressively, he scored all four goals consecutively, including the game-tying tally with 3.3 seconds remaining in regulation.

He’s the first Amerk to have a four-goal game since Rochester native Derek Whitmore single-handedly outscored Hamilton on Nov. 25, 2011 (5-2 W).

Playing in just his 27th game of the season, Quinn became the first Amerk to score 20 goals in the fewest number of games since Luke Adam reached the mark in 31 games during the 2013-14 campaign.

He was named the AHL’s Rookie of the Month for October after leading all first-year players with 10 points (5+5) through the first month of the regular season. In just six games to begin the season, Quinn surpassed his offensive output from his truncated 2020-21 campaign, and became the first AHL player to reach the 10-point mark this season.
 
Quinn has been held scoreless just six times all season and hasn’t gone more than one game without recording a point. He has recorded 13 multi-point performances this year. More impressively, the Amerks are a near-perfect 11-1-1-0 this season when Quinn registers a multi-point game, including 7-0-1-0 on home ice.

On Nov. 12, Quinn became the first AHL rookie since Frank Vatrano in 2015-16 to score eight goals through his first 10 games of the season.

Quinn is one of only four AHL rookies with at least seven power-play goals this season.

MERSCH LEADING BY EXAMPLE

Mersch became just the second Amerk this season to reach the 40-point with his 20th goal of the season against Cleveland on March 18. In doing so, he reached the mark for the fifth time in his eight-year pro career.

Mersch has totaled 29 points (14+15) and five multi-point efforts over his last 35 games dating back to Nov. 24. 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 recent nine-game point streak in January surpassed his previous career-best mark of seven he set during the 2014-15 season.

Mersch also reached 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 did so in the second-fewest number of games (47) 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.

DELL-IVERING IN THE CREASE

Goaltender Aaron Dell began his Amerks career with an impressive six straight wins through his first six starts with Rochester. Before this season, the veteran netminder had never began a season with a win in each of his first six starts at either the NHL or AHL level.

With a win against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Feb. 9, Dell matched his career-best 7-1-0 mark when he posted one from March 20 to April 10 during the 2014-15 season with Worcester. In 13 of his 16 appearances this season, he has made 25 or more saves while also averaging 30 shots-against. He posted a season-high 36 saves on Feb. 26 at Toronto.

THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENSE

Rochester has two of the league’s top point-producing defensemen in Ethan Prow (9+28) and Oskari Laaksonen (5+25), who enter the weekend fifth and tied for 15th 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 28 assists, which are just three more than Laaksonen. His nine goals are tied for fifth-most by a defenseman this season and only three of the league lead. With an assist last night against Toronto, Prow has recorded 19 points (5+14) over his last 24 games. Additionally, he has totaled 118 points (36+82) over his last 170 AHL contests dating back to the 2018-19 campaign.

Laaksonen, who boasts 15 points (3+12) in his last 32 games since the turn of the New Year, also ranks third among defensemen with 20 power-play assists, as all but five of his 25 assists this season have come on the man-advantage. Equally as impressive, 25 of his 30 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.

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 164 points (58+106) through Rochester’s first 60 games this season.

Quinn, the Buffalo Sabres’ eighth overall pick in 2020, ranks second among all first-year players in goals (21) and is fifth in points (44) despite only appearing in 29 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 assist last Friday in the second period versus Cleveland, Weissbach has notched 13 points (3+10) in his last 17 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 torrid start to the second half of the year has him third among all rookies in points (51), third in assists (35) and tied for 10th in goals (16).

In Rochester’s two wins over the Cleveland Monsters last weekend, the line trio of Peterka, Quinn, and Mark Jankowski combined for 13 points on five goals and eight assists. The trio also recorded 14 shots in 124 minutes.

With Peterka already at 51 points and Quinn at 44 points, it marks the first time since the 2006-07 season the club will finish the regular season with multiple rookies with 40 or more points.

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 60 goals in all three periods this season. Additionally, the Amerks have scored the fifth-most first and third-period goals among any other team and have outscored the opposition 60-56 through the opening 20 minutes.

The Amerks have scored four or more goals in all but six of their 30 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 15 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 25 different forwards to appear in one game for Rochester, 19 have scored a goal and 22 have produced a point.

Over his last 35 games since the turn of the New Year, Amerks forward Arttu Ruotsalainen has tallied 36 points on 14 goals and 22 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 10 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 one of 11 teams in the AHL to have at least eight different players in double digits in goals, and fourth in the North Division which includes Belleville, Syracuse and Utica.

Rochester Americans vs Syracuse Crunch: Head To Head Stats
Summary

Description

Result

Head to Head Record 2021-22 Regular Season Rochester 4-5-2-0 Syracuse 7-3-1-0
Head to Head Record 2020-21 Regular Season Rochester 5-5-2-0 Syracuse 7-4-1-0
Last 5 Years record between teams Rochester 25-22-6-1 Syracuse 29-16-6-3
Rochester vs. Syracuse Last 5 Years record at Rochester Rochester 10-13-3-1 Syracuse 17-6-3-1
Rochester vs. Syracuse Last 5 Years record at Syracuse Rochester 15-9-3-0 Syracuse 12-10-3-2
Previous Meetings This Season Rochester 3 @ Syracuse 4 (Mar 13 2022) Final OT
Syracuse 3 @ Rochester 2 (Mar 11 2022) Final
Syracuse 6 @ Rochester 3 (Mar 2 2022) Final
Rochester 2 @ Syracuse 1 (Feb 25 2022) Final OT
Rochester 3 @ Syracuse 6 (Feb 19 2022) Final
Syracuse 1 @ Rochester 2 (Jan 28 2022) Final
Syracuse 3 @ Rochester 2 (Jan 19 2022) Final OT
Rochester 1 @ Syracuse 3 (Jan 8 2022) Final
Syracuse 2 @ Rochester 1 (Jan 5 2022) Final
Rochester 4 @ Syracuse 2 (Nov 27 2021) Final
Syracuse 3 @ Rochester 5 (Oct 22 2021) Final

How the two teams match up

 

Syracuse

Rochester

Team Record 29-23-6-2 -- 66 points 30-23-4-3 -- 67 points
Division Ranking 5th North 4th North
Conference Ranking 9th Eastern 7th Eastern
League Ranking 17th 15th
Past 10 Games 7-2-0-1 4-4-1-1
Streak 0-1-0-0 3-0-1-1
Last Game 3-1 L @ Utica (Mar 25 2022) Final 3-2 L vs Toronto (Mar 25 2022) Final SO
Home Record 16-10-1-2 15-11-2-2
Away Record 13-13-5-0 15-12-2-1
GF 180  201 
GA 191  219 
PP (Overall) (38/203) 18.7% (50/216) 23.1%
PP (Home) (22/103) 21.4% (23/107) 21.5%
PP (Away) (16/100) 16.0% (27/109) 24.8%
PK (Overall) (44/199) 77.9% (39/213) 81.7%
PK (Home) (24/87) 72.4% (20/112) 82.1%
PK (Away) (20/112) 82.1% (19/101) 81.2%
PP vs. Opp. (10/36) 27.8% (9/35) 25.7%
PK vs. Opp. (9/35) 74.3% (10/36) 72.2%
Leading Rookie Koepke (18-17-35) Peterka (16-35-51)
Most PIM Dumont - 86 Pekar - 56
Team PIM/GM 11.4/Game 12.9/Game
Leading Scorers Dumont (24-25-49) Peterka (16-35-51)
  Barré-Boulet (12-30-42) Quinn (21-23-44)
  Hudon (21-19-40) Mersch (21-21-42)
  Day (6-30-36) Ruotsalainen (14-24-38)
  Koepke (18-17-35) Prow (9-28-37)
Last 5 Games 3-1 L @ Utica (Mar 25 2022) Final 3-2 L vs Toronto (Mar 25 2022) Final SO
  4-0 W vs Cleveland (Mar 23 2022) Final 6-5 W vs Cleveland (Mar 19 2022) Final OT
  5-4 W vs Belleville (Mar 20 2022) Final OT 5-4 W vs Cleveland (Mar 18 2022) Final
  7-4 L @ Bridgeport (Mar 19 2022) Final 4-3 L @ Syracuse (Mar 13 2022) Final OT
  1-0 W @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Mar 18 2022) Final 3-2 W @ Utica (Mar 12 2022) Final
Leading After 1st 16-1-3-0 19-3-1-2
Leading After 2nd 18-1-2-0 19-1-1-1
Tied After 1st 7-8-1-2 5-5-3-1
Tied After 2nd 7-6-2-1 7-1-3-2
Trailing After 1st 6-14-2-0 6-15-0-0
Trailing After 2nd 4-16-2-1 4-21-0-0
Out Shooting Opponents 21-17-3-2 5-11-2-0
Out Shot by Opponents 7-6-3-0 25-12-2-2
1-Goal Games 12-5-6-2 16-5-4-3
2-Goal Games 9-6-0-0 7-6-0-0
3-Goal Games 5-7-0-0 2-5-0-0


Rochester Americans

# Player GP G A PTS PIM +/-
77 JJ Peterka 9 2 6 8 2 0
2 Oskari Laaksonen 10 3 3 6 2 -1
22 Jack Quinn 5 3 3 6 5 0
13 Linus Weissbach 10 1 5 6 2 -1
81 Brett Murray 8 2 3 5 11 -3
7 Ethan Prow 9 2 3 5 0 2
25 Arttu Ruotsalainen 9 2 3 5 4 -4
72 Ryan MacInnis 5 3 1 4 12 0
44 Josh Teves 11 2 2 4 4 -2
17 Sean Malone 2 2 1 3 8 2
10 Brandon Biro 5 1 2 3 0 -1
14 Mark Jankowski 2 1 2 3 2 2
28 Michael Mersch 7 1 2 3 0 0
91 Ryan Scarfo 10 1 1 2 10 -2
52 Mitch Eliot 8 0 2 2 2 -1
36 X Nick Pastujov 4 1 0 1 4 1
45 Brendan Warren 11 1 0 1 2 -4
88 Brandon Davidson 6 0 1 1 6 -2
29 X Dominic Franco 6 0 1 1 2 0
18 Ben Holmstrom 5 0 1 1 0 -4
26 Mason Jobst 3 0 1 1 2 0
19 X Peyton Krebs 1 0 1 1 0 1
1 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen 5 0 1 1 0 0
12 Matej Pekar 9 0 1 1 10 -1
4 Jimmy Schuldt 10 0 1 1 4 -2
16 Peter Tischke 7 0 1 1 7 0
47 Nick Boka 6 0 0 0 26 -1
23 Lukas Craggs 6 0 0 0 20 -1
80 Aaron Dell 2 0 0 0 0 0
42 X Jack Doremus 2 0 0 0 0 0
48 X David Drake 1 0 0 0 0 0
8 X Wyatt Ege 1 0 0 0 0 -1
5 X Casey Fitzgerald 3 0 0 0 7 1
41 X Michael Houser 3 0 0 0 0 0
21 X Ara Nazarian 3 0 0 0 0 -2
27 Patrick Polino 3 0 0 0 0 -3
32 X Mat Robson 2 0 0 0 0 0
24 X Mattias Samuelsson 1 0 0 0 0 0

 

# Player GP W L OT MIN GA GAA SV%
32 X Mat Robson 2 1 0 1 120:54 4 1.99 0.926
41 X Michael Houser 3 1 2 0 174:25 6 2.06 0.917
1 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen 5 2 2 1 292:20 16 3.28 0.917
80 Aaron Dell 2 0 1 0 68:10 5 4.40 0.857


Syracuse Crunch

# Player GP G A PTS PIM +/-
12 Alex Barré-Boulet 9 4 9 13 2 7
40 Gabriel Dumont 11 5 4 9 11 -3
45 Cole Koepke 9 5 4 9 4 7
55 Charles Hudon 7 3 4 7 16 -2
74 Sean Day 10 0 7 7 4 4
57 Alex Green 11 2 3 5 2 -1
24 Darren Raddysh 9 2 3 5 10 3
7 Simon Ryfors 11 2 3 5 8 -3
16 Otto Somppi 7 1 3 4 0 2
39 Gage Goncalves 10 2 1 3 17 0
81 Remi Elie 7 1 2 3 4 0
9 Gabriel Fortier 11 1 2 3 13 -1
90 Anthony Richard 5 0 3 3 0 1
88 X Antoine Morand 9 2 0 2 2 2
20 Ryan Jones 11 1 1 2 11 5
46 Gemel Smith 2 1 1 2 0 0
44 Frank Hora 5 0 2 2 5 1
78 X Jaydon Dureau 1 1 0 1 0 -1
85 Daniel Walcott 9 1 0 1 2 1
43 X Tyler Bird 1 0 1 1 0 0
51 X Maxim Cajkovic 3 0 1 1 0 -2
13 X Boris Katchouk 2 0 1 1 0 2
26 X Tristin Langan 1 0 1 1 0 0
8 X Jesse Lees 1 0 1 1 0 0
60 Hugo Alnefelt 5 0 0 0 0 0
3 Fredrik Claesson 9 0 0 0 2 -2
23 Shawn Element 5 0 0 0 0 -2
25 X Cal Foote 1 0 0 0 0 -2
5 X Jason Garrison 3 0 0 0 0 1
27 X Owen Headrick 1 0 0 0 0 0
15 X Jimmy Huntington 5 0 0 0 0 0
22 P.C. Labrie 6 0 0 0 12 2
33 Max Lagace 3 0 0 0 0 0
35 Amir Miftakhov 3 0 0 0 0 0
71 X Dmitry Semykin 1 0 0 0 0 0
29 X Andrej Sustr 3 0 0 0 4 1
92 X Odeen Tufto 1 0 0 0 0 0

 

# Player GP W L OT MIN GA GAA SV%
33 Max Lagace 3 3 0 0 179:55 6 2.00 0.898
60 Hugo Alnefelt 5 3 1 1 302:49 12 2.38 0.907
35 Amir Miftakhov 3 1 2 0 178:27 8 2.69 0.901
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