GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS WELCOME BACK MONSTERS TONIGHT
Nov 11, 2022TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (7-4-0-0) put their season-opening five-game home win streak on the line tonight as they welcome the Cleveland Monsters (6-5-0-0) back for a North Division showdown 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 first between the two teams this season and the 12th of 15 straight contests against North Division opponents to open the season for Rochester. Following tonight's get-together, the two clubs remain idle until they meet for a pair games on Dec. 1 and Dec. 3 in Cleveland.
HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPSHOT
Rochester boasts a 36-16-4-4 record against Cleveland over the last 10 years dating back to the start of the 2011-12 campaign and has earned at least one point in 23 of the last 34 games overall.
Both teams boast nearly identical records this season when leading after the second period. Rochester is 4-1-0-0 while the Monsters are a perfect 4-0-0-0 . Additionally, both teams have at least three wins this season when out-shooting the opponent, with the Amerks going 3-0-0-0 in that regard.
JJ Peterka, one of five Amerks last season to earn a spot on Buffalo’s 2022-
23 season-opening roster, led all Amerks and Monsters skaters with 10 goals and 16 points in 10 games against opposite Cleveland in 2021-22.
Including last season's 5-5-0-0 mark, the Amerks have posted a .500 winning percentage or better against Cleveland in four of the eight seasons dating back to 2007-08.
LAST TIME OUT
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s near-perfect 34-save effort carried the Amerks to a 3-1 win over the intrastate rival Syracuse Crunch on Wednesday at Upstate Medical University Arena.
With the win, Rochester shows a 7-4-0-0 record through the first 11 games of the season and have won four of its last five to remain in second place in the North Division with 14 points.
Lukas Rousek recorded his third multi-point effort of the season with a goal and an assist. Ethan Prow opened the scoring in the game with his second goal of the season to extend his point streak to five games. Zach Berzolla scored his first as an Amerk while Mason Jobst, Brandon Biro and Brandon Davidson all turned in an assist in the win.
Luukkonen stopped 34 of the 35 shots he faced, which included 19 in the final 20 minutes of play, to improve to 6-3-0 on the season. The netminder also contributed offensively, recording his first assist of the campaign late in the third period on Rousek’s goal.
POWER-PLAY PROFICIENCY
Nine of the Amerks 37 goals this season have come on the power-play, which are tied for 10th-most among any team in the AHL. By going 9-for-42 while on the man-advantage, Rochester is ranked 15th in the league with a 21.4% conversion rate.
The Amerks' eight power-play goals at home are second-most in the league this season, going for 8-for-25 through their first five home matchups.
YOUTH MOVEMENT LEADING ROCHESTER
Third-year forward Brandon Biro has emerged as the team's early-season leader, picking up where he left off last season with a team-high nine assists and 12 points through his first 11 games. Dating back to last season, the Sherwood Park, Alberta native has totaled 14 points (5+9) over his last 14 games and hasn't gone more than one game without a point over that span. He enters the week tied for 14th in the AHL in ocerall scoring.
Lukas Rousek remains at a close second with 11 points in as many games. He appeared in only 19 games in his first season in 2021-22 after recovering from an offseason injury, finishing with four points on one goal and three assists. He ranked second among all Amerk rookies with two goals and finished third among all first-year players with six points in 10 Calder Cup Playoff contests during the Amerks’ run to the North Division Finals.
Rookie forwards Jiri Kulich (2+6) and Isak Rosen (2+5) pace the team's rookies with eight and seven points, respectively, while being tied for 11th and 15th 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. Kulich shows six assists in his first 11 games of the young season, tying him for eighth in the league among all first-year players in that category. The Kadan, Czech Republic, native also leads all Rochester skaters with 27 shots on goal.
HOME-COOKING FOR THE AMERKS
The Amerks remain perfect at home thus far through the first five games in the Flower City, boasting an unblemished 5-0-0-0 mark within the friendly confines of The Blue Cross Arena. It's the team’s best start at home since 2006-07, when the club posted a 10-0-1-0 start, including winning their first nine straight. The franchise record for the longest home win streak is 17.
Four of the five wins this season on home ice have come when the team trailed entering the final 20 minutes of regulation while all five wins have come by way of four or more goals. Rochester has outscored its opposition 12-2 after the start of the third period and has outshot the visitors 43-36.
Linus Weissbach has helped sparked the third-period scoring as he has tallied three goals and four assists in five games while Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has made 34 saves.
SCOUTING THE MONSTERS
The Monsters, who begin a four-game North Division road trip, come into tonight with a 6-5-0-0 record through their first 11 games this season.
Despite winning three of its last four contests, Cleveland has struggled as of late on the road, showing only two wins over its recent six-game road swing.
Cleveland comes into tonight's matchup without two of its top three point-getters in Emil Bemstrom and Brendan Gaunce, both of whom earned recalls to the parent Columbus Blue Jackets earlier this week.
Cleveland forward Kirill Marchenko leads all AHL rookies in goals (6) and ranks second in points (12) in 11 games.
SERIES NOTABLES
So far this season, the Amerks have used 12 different defensemen, which is tied for most in the AHL with Toronto. Seven of the 12 have recorded at least one point while four have scored. Ethan Prow is the only defenseman to appear in all 11 games this season and has skated in 81 of the 87 games dating back to the start of the 2021-22 campaign.
Amerks goaltender Ukko-Pekka Lukkonen has stopped 98 of the 108 shots he faced this season after the second period, which includes 49 of 52 in his last four outings. The Finnish netminder is tied for the league-lead with six wins and is second in the AHL with 238 saves in 527 minutes.
Goaltender Michael Houser had a brief one-game stint with the Monsters in 2016-17, recording three saves on four shots over one period of play.
Cleveland Monsters vs Rochester Americans: Head To Head Stats
Summary
|
Description |
Result |
|
| Head to Head Record 2022-23 Regular Season | Cleveland 0-0-0-0 | Rochester 0-0-0-0 |
| Head to Head Record 2021-22 Regular Season | Cleveland 5-4-1-0 | Rochester 5-5-0-0 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Cleveland 14-12-4-1 | Rochester 17-11-1-2 |
| Cleveland vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Cleveland | Cleveland 5-7-2-1 | Rochester 10-5-0-0 |
| Cleveland vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Rochester | Cleveland 9-5-2-0 | Rochester 7-6-1-2 |
How the two teams match up
|
Rochester |
Cleveland |
|
| Team Record | 7-4-0-0 -- 14 points | 6-5-0-0 -- 12 points |
| Division Ranking | 2nd North | 3rd North |
| Conference Ranking | 4th Eastern | 8th Eastern |
| League Ranking | 6th | 14th |
| Past 10 Games | 6-4-0-0 | 5-5-0-0 |
| Streak | 1-0-0-0 | 2-0-0-0 |
| Last Game | 3-1 W @ Syracuse (Nov 9 2022) Final | 5-2 W vs Grand Rapids (Nov 9 2022) Final |
| Home Record | 5-0-0-0 | 4-1-0-0 |
| Away Record | 2-4-0-0 | 2-4-0-0 |
| GF | 37 | 38 |
| GA | 34 | 41 |
| PP (Overall) | (9/42) 21.4% | (10/40) 25.0% |
| PP (Home) | (8/25) 32.0% | (2/16) 12.5% |
| PP (Away) | (1/17) 5.9% | (8/24) 33.3% |
| PK (Overall) | (9/36) 75.0% | (13/47) 72.3% |
| PK (Home) | (4/18) 77.8% | (6/19) 68.4% |
| PK (Away) | (5/18) 72.2% | (7/28) 75.0% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (0/0) 0% | (0/0) 0% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (0/0) 0% | (0/0) 0% |
| Leading Rookie | Kulich (2-6-8) | Marchenko (6-6-12) |
| Most PIM | Weissbach - 20 | Sillinger - 21 |
| Team PIM/GM | 9.7/Game | 12.5/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Biro (3-9-12) | Bemstrom (7-7-14) |
| Rousek (4-7-11) | Marchenko (6-6-12) | |
| Weissbach (6-4-10) | Gaunce (4-7-11) | |
| Kulich (2-6-8) | Meyer (4-5-9) | |
| Jobst (2-5-7) | Richards (2-7-9) | |
| Last 5 Games | 3-1 W @ Syracuse (Nov 9 2022) Final | 5-2 W vs Grand Rapids (Nov 9 2022) Final |
| 2-1 L @ Utica (Nov 5 2022) Final | 4-2 W vs Chicago (Nov 5 2022) Final | |
| 5-3 W vs Utica (Nov 4 2022) Final | 5-2 L vs Chicago (Nov 4 2022) Final | |
| 7-2 W vs Syracuse (Nov 2 2022) Final | 4-2 W @ Syracuse (Oct 29 2022) Final | |
| 5-1 W @ Laval (Oct 29 2022) Final | 5-1 L @ Utica (Oct 28 2022) Final | |
| Leading After 1st | 4-1-0-0 | 2-1-0-0 |
| Leading After 2nd | 4-1-0-0 | 4-0-0-0 |
| Tied After 1st | 1-1-0-0 | 3-0-0-0 |
| Tied After 2nd | 0-0-0-0 | 0-1-0-0 |
| Trailing After 1st | 2-2-0-0 | 1-4-0-0 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 3-3-0-0 | 2-4-0-0 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 3-0-0-0 | 3-3-0-0 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 4-2-0-0 | 3-2-0-0 |
| 1-Goal Games | 2-1-0-0 | 3-2-0-0 |
| 2-Goal Games | 3-1-0-0 | 2-0-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 0-0-0-0 | 1-1-0-0 |