GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS WRAP UP SEASON SERIES WITH ISLANDERS TONIGHT
Jan 20, 2023TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (19-13-1-1) kickoff their weekend trek through New England tonight against the Bridgeport Islanders (16-15-6-1) at Total Mortgage Arena. Game time is slated for a 7:00 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 second and final meeting between the two teams this season and the only contest in Bridgeport after the Amerks took a 6-5 overtime victory on Nov. 25. Rochester's Sean Malone posted a natural hat trick in the first period before Bridgeport's Andy Andreoff capped his in the third frame. Brett Murray finished the contest in overtime at the 2:01 mark.
HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPSHOT
Tonight is the 20th all-time meeting between Rochester and Bridgeport. The Amerks have earned points in 10 of the last 11 meetings dating back to the 2017-18 campaign and boast a 4-0-2-0 mark in the previous six home contests at The Blue Cross Arena.
In 14 of the last 15 meetings, the winning team has scored three or more goals, which includes at least one power-play tally in 11 contests over that same span.
Eight of the previous 15 games between the two clubs have been decided beyond regulation, which includes four of the last five dating back to the 2018-19 season.
LAST TIME OUT
The Amerks fell behind early on the scoreboard and were never able to recover in what became a 5-2 loss to the Laval Rocket Wednesday at The Blue Cross Arena.
Anders Bjork (1+1) notched his second consecutive multi-point game as scored his sixth of the campaign to go with an assist, extending his point streak to five games. Tyson Kozak rounded out the scoring with his third while Mason Jobst, Michael Mersch, and Mitch Eliot all had an assist.
Goaltender Malcolm Subban (9-4-0) made his fourth straight start and ninth in the last 12 games.
SUBBAN SURGING INTO THE NEW YEAR
After suffering a defeat in his season-debut on Nov. 18, Subban has gone 9-3-0 since, 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 eight starts and is currently tied for 17th amongst all netminders with nine wins.
WELL BALANCED OFFENSE
With six goals in his last 13 games, Lukas Rousek enters the weekend third on the team with 25 points (10+15) while being one of three Amerks to appear in all 34 games. He accounted for half of his nine goals in December and recently saw a career-best six-game point streak (3+4) come to an end on Jan. 7.
With 15 points (7+8) over his last 19 games, including seven in the last eight games (3+4), Linus Weissbach is three points back from the team-lead with 26 points (13+13) through 33 games. He remains on pace to match his career-high of 16 goals from last season and has already established a new personal-best of four game-winning goals.
Brett Murray, one of four Amerks with at least 24 points on the season, is also on pace to surpass the career-high 15 goals he scored in 2021-22 after recording his then team-leading 13th of the season on Jan. 7 against Syracuse, which also served as his 100th career point as an Amerk. The fourth-year pro comes into tonight with 10 points (5+5) in his last 13 games and eight goals over his last 18 dating back to a two-goal effort against Providence on Nov. 23.
Michael Mersch has been the team's most consistent point-getter as of late with 12 points (6+6) over his last nine games, vaulting the Amerks captain to fifth on the team in scoring. With the exception of the abbreviated 2020-21 season, Mersch has reached the 20-point mark in all eight full seasons of his professional career. Last Saturday's three-assist game versus Toronto marked his second of his career and first since March 8, 2015.
BIRO PILING UP THE POINTS
Despite missing six games due to injury, 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.
Named to the roster for the 2023 AHL All-Star Classic, Biro currently paces the Amerks in assists (20) and points (29) through 28 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 76 games and hasn't gone more than three games without a point since Nov. 27, 2021. Since the start of the 2022 calendar year, Biro has posted 19 multi-point outings in 56 games, totaling 58 points.
PROWESS ON THE BLUELINE
Entering Wednesday's game with Laval, Ethan Prow was the only Amerks defenseman to appear in all 33 games this season. Overall, he has skated in 103 of the 110 games dating back to the start of the 2021-22 campaign.
By being held without a point for just the second time since Christmas, Prow saw his four-game point streak (2+3) halted. The seventh-year veteran has posted seven points (2+5) in his last eight outings dating back to Dec. 28.
Through 33 games this season, Prow is tied for 21st in scoring amongst all AHL defensemen. His 15 assists are 24th in the league. He is five assists away from notching his fourth consecutive season with 20 or more assists and needs one more point to reach the 20-point mark for the fifth straight year dating back to the 2018-19 campaign.
SERIES NOTABLES
So far this season, the Amerks have used 13 different defensemen, which is third-most in the AHL. Twelve of the 13 have recorded at least one point while seven have scored.
Bridgeport forward Hudson Fasching began his AHL career with Rochester as he appeared in 106 games from 2016-18. Fasching produced 20 goals and 22 assists for 42 points while also appearing in 22 games with Buffalo. He recorded his first NHL goal on March 26, 2016, which also served as his NHL debut. Fasching has been on an NHL recall since Dec. 27, where he has appeared in a career-best 19 games and added five points (3+2).
Islanders head coach Brent Thompson is the father of former Amerk and current Sabres superstar, Tage Thompson. A former ECHL Coach of the Year, he’s in his 10th season with Bridgeport and is the all-time winningest coach in franchise history.
Bridgeport forward Cole Bardreau was born in Fairport. In 371 career games between Bridgeport and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Bardreau has recorded 77 goals and 83 assists for 160 points. Additionally, he’s tallied three assists in 24 career playoff appearances between the two teams.