GAME PREVIEW: GRUELING STRETCH BEGINS TONIGHT IN UTICA
Feb 14, 2024TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (21-16-5-1) embark on a grueling stretch of seven games in 11 nights starting tonight when they meet the Utica Comets (19-18-4-3) in a North Division showdown at Adirondack Bank Center. Game time is slated for a 7:00 p.m. start and will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
The Amerks, who have points in seven of their last 10 games dating back to Jan. 17, enter the week tied for third in the AHL’s North Division standings, three points ahead of Utica with a game in hand.
Utica, which comes into the matchup with a 5-5-0-0 record in its last 10 games, sits in the basement of the North Division with a 19-18-4-3 record through 44 games.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RESULTS AGAINST UTICA
Rochester has won nine of the previous 10 games on the road against the Comets, the only exception being a 6-0 loss on Nov. 11. The Amerks maintain a 4-2-1-0 record through the first seven games of the season-series.
The Amerks boast a 12-10-1-1 record in Utica over the past five seasons while also showing an indetical 12-10-1-1 mark in the Flower City.
The Amerks have scored at least one power-play goal in 21 of the 40 games (29-for-135) against Utica since Seth Appert took over as head coach.
After tonight, the intrastate rivals will meet four more times prior to season’s end with a rematch scheduled for this Sunday at 3:05p.m. in Rochester.
LAST TIME OUT
For the second time in as many nights, the Amerks couldn’t hold off the Syracuse Crunch, who scored three straight unanswered goals, including the game-winner 18 seconds into overtime, to come away with a 3-2 win Saturday at Upstate Medical University Arena.
Brandon Biro (0+2) and Lukas Rousek (1+1) both registered their second straight multi-point efforts for the Amerks while linemate Brett Murray also finished with two points (1+1).
Goaltender Devon Levi (3-2-2) made his seventh appearance of the campaign and third straight, turning aside 33 of 36 shots he faced. Levi has finished with 20 or more saves in five of his seven appearances.
THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOFD DEFENSE
Jeremy Davies and Kale Clague are among the AHL’s top scoring defensemen, having combined for nine goals and 39 points this season.
Davies, who scored a career-high 11 goals last season, including three game-winning tallies, is tied for 19th amongst all defensemen with 88 shots. He’s recorded at least one shot in all but three games this season. Davies, who closed out the month of October on a five-game point streak, has recorded one point in 16 of his first 37 games this season, never going more than four straight games without a point.
Clague, meanwhile, is tied for 23rd among all blueliners with 18 assists. With an assist on Jan. 27 against Laval, Clague has now reached the 20-point mark in all three seasons in which he’s played at least 35 games. He comes into tonight showing seven points (2+5) over his last 11 games.
ROUSEK RACKING UP THE POINTS
Lukas Rousek has been the team’s most consistent point-getter since the turn of 2024, having recorded points in 11 of his 14 games in that stretch.
Rousek, a sixth-round selection (160th overall) by the Sabres in the 2019 NHL Draft, currently leads the team with 23 assists and 32 points while his nine goals are fifth. Among all Amerks who have appeared in at least 30 games, he is tops in points per game (0.84).
The third-year pro and AHL All-Star saw his career-long point streak come to an end on Jan. 26, stopping at 13 games. He totaled 14 points between Dec. 20 and Jan. 20, the second-longest point streak in the league behind only Toronto’s Alex Steeves, who had a point in 16 straight games.
Rousek’s point streak was the longest by an Amerk in 24 years since Hall of Famer Domenic Pittis had points in 14 straight contests from Jan. 22 to March 4 during the 1999-2000 campaign. In 127 career AHL games with the Amerks, Rousek has amassed 92 points on 26 goals and 66 assists.
NEW YEAR, NEW NEUCHEV
After producing just five points in his first 23 games, rookie foward Viktor Neuchev has unsurprisingly emerged as one of the team’s leading scorers through the middle of February.
Dating back to Dec. 29 and the turn of the New Year, Neuchev has erupted for 11 points on four goals and seven assists over his previous 11 games.
Neuchev has recorded at least one point in seven games over that span, including a season-long six-game point streak from Dec. 29 to Jan. 20 which saw him score three goals and record eight points.
Buffalo’s third-round selection (74th overall) in 2022, Neuchev’s most impressive performance of the season came back on Jan. 27, finding the back of the net for the third time in five games with the game-winning goal along with two assists in the 7-4 win over Laval. The three-point effort marked a season-high and was Neuchev’s third multi-point outing in seven games to begin the 2024 calendar year.
Of Neuchev’s six goals this season, five have been scored on home ice and three have come against Laval. Neuchev, who had a 40-goal season while playing for Russia’s junior league during the 2021-22 campaign, currently leads all Amerks rookies with 16 points (6+10) and 51 shots in 32 games.
APPERT REACHES CENTURY MARK
The 3-2 win at Charlotte on Jan. 12 was a milestone win for Seth Appert, who became just the seventh head coach in the 68-year history of the franchise to reach 100 career victories with Rochester. He joins an impressive list that includes the likes of Amerks Hall of Famers Randy Cunneyworth, John Van Boxmeer, Joe Crozier, Mike Keenan, Chris Taylor and Brian McCutcheon.
On Dec. 16 against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Appert also became the seventh head coach in team history to be behind Rochester’s bench for 200 games.
Since the 2020-21 season, Appert has guided the Amerks to a 105-87-20-8 record as well as two straight playoff appearances, which included a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2023.
It was the team’s deepest playoff run in nearly 20 years and their first to the Conference Finals since the 2004 Calder Cup Playoffs.
LEANING ON LEVI
Rookie goaltender Devon Levi has earned the start in five of the last seven games since being reassigned to Rochester on Jan. 20.
Levi, who boasts a 3-2-2 record in seven appearances with the Amerks, joins, Eric Comrie, Michael Houser, Devin Cooley and Dustin Tokarski to man the blue paint for Rochester this season. It marks the third straight year Rochester has had five or more goaltenders play in its net and first since a three-year stretch between 1995 and 1998.
Levi has held the opposition to three or fewer goals in six of his seven starts, including each of the last five. He’s 3-1-2 this season when allowing three goals or less.
Levi won the Mike Richter Award, given annually to the top goaltender in men’s college hockey, for the second straight year following the 2022-23 season.
The only two-time winner in the award’s history, Levi led the nation again with a .933 save percentage, one year after he set the second-best mark in NCAA history with a .952 save percentage. He tied for third in the nation in both shutouts (6) and saves (1,183). Levi’s 16-career shutouts are a Northeastern University school record.
TOKARSKI ON THE MOVE
Veteran goaltender Dustin Tokarski, who missed the first eight games of the season due to an injury he sustained in training camp, made his season debut back on Nov. 3 against Utica.
In doing so, the two-time Calder Cup winner and AHL All-Star became just the 18th goaltender in league history to play in 400 career games, a list that also includes former Amerks Bobby Perreault (512), Michael Leighton (507), Drew MacIntyre (440) and Ed Chadwick (417).
Tokarski, who’s in his second stint with the Amerks and 10th different AHL franchise, went 1-1-0 during a brief two-game stint with Rochester as part of the COVID-shortnened 2020-21 campaign. He went 12-20-7 in 42 appearances with the Buffalo Sabres from 2021-23.
Currently in his 15th season, he joins Marcel Paille and Michael Leighton as the only goaltenders all-time to play at least 15 seasons in the AHL.
Tokarski, who’s 7-7-2 in his first 16 starts, surpassed the 10,000-save mark for his AHL career following a 31-save effort against Utica on Nov. 10. He also reached the 12,000-save mark for his pro career the week prior when he made his season debut against the Comets.
Entering this weekend, the 34-year-old Tokarski is six wins away from tying Red Almas for 11th all-time in career wins (218). He’s also two games away from tying Ed Chadwick for 16th all-time (417) and will tie Yann Danis for eighth all-time on his next shutout.
A JOLT OF JOST
Rochester’s forward group was bolstered at the end of the 2023 calendar year with the addition of veteran forward Tyson Jost, a former first-round selection (10th overall) of the Colorado Avalanche in the 2016 NHL Draft.
The St. Albert, Alberta, native made his Amerks debut on Dec. 29 against Hershey and has since recorded 12 points (2+10) through his first 16 games, having earned at least one point in all but seven games thus far. He is 10 assists are tied for 10th amongst all Rochester skaters.
Jost has totaled 19 points (7+12) in 29 career AHL games with the Amerks, San Antonio Rampage and Colorado Eagles over parts of three seasons. He’s also recorded 138 points (56+82) over 442 career NHL games for Buffalo, Minnesota and Colorado, including 29 this season with the Sabres
SERIES NOTABLES
Both Rochester (10-3-1-2) and Utica (10-3-1-1) come into the matchup sporting nearly identical winning records when leading after the first period. The Comets are a 14-1-1- this season when carrying a lead into the second period while the Amerks remain a perfect 12-0-0-0 in that regard.
The Amerks (15) top the league with games decided beyond regulation while Utica (10) has also appeared in double digit games in overtime this season.
Amerks forward Mason Jobst enters tonight with 11 points (5+6) over his last 14 games since the turn of the new year. Should the Speedway, Indiana native appear in tonight’s game, it would be his 200th career contest in the American Hockey League. In 199 games since the start of 2019, the Ohio State product has notched 41 goals and 61 assists for 102 points with Rochester, San Jose, Brigeport, and Binghamton.
After enjoying a career-best 14 goals, 24 assists and 38 points in 61 games last season with Rochester, Jobst has nearly matched those totals in 2023-24 (12 goals, 14 assists, 26 points) in 38 games.
Rochester Americans vs Utica Comets: Head To Head Stats
Summary
|
Description |
Result |
|
| Head to Head Record 2023-24 Regular Season | Rochester 4-2-1-0 | Utica 3-3-0-1 |
| Head to Head Record 2022-23 Regular Season | Rochester 7-3-0-0 | Utica 3-4-1-2 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Rochester 24-20-2-2 | Utica 24-18-2-4 |
| Rochester vs. Utica Last 5 Years record at Rochester | Rochester 12-10-1-1 | Utica 12-9-2-1 |
| Rochester vs. Utica Last 5 Years record at Utica | Rochester 12-10-1-1 | Utica 12-9-0-3 |
| Previous Meetings This Season | Utica 4 @ Rochester 0 (Jan 26 2024) Final Rochester 2 @ Utica 1 (Jan 19 2024) Final Rochester 3 @ Utica 2 (Dec 30 2023) Final SO Rochester 0 @ Utica 6 (Nov 11 2023) Final Utica 3 @ Rochester 4 (Nov 10 2023) Final Utica 4 @ Rochester 3 (Nov 3 2023) Final OT Rochester 5 @ Utica 4 (Oct 28 2023) Final |
How the two teams match up
|
Utica |
Rochester |
|
| Team Record | 19-18-4-3 -- 45 points | 21-16-5-1 -- 48 points |
| Division Ranking | 7th North | 4th North |
| Conference Ranking | 14th Eastern | 10th Eastern |
| League Ranking | 25th | 21st |
| Past 10 Games | 5-5-0-0 | 5-3-2-0 |
| Streak | 0-1-0-0 | 1-0-2-0 |
| Last Game | 5-4 L @ Belleville (Feb 10 2024) Final | 3-2 L @ Syracuse (Feb 10 2024) Final OT |
| Home Record | 10-9-1-3 | 9-8-3-0 |
| Away Record | 9-9-3-0 | 12-8-2-1 |
| GF | 137 | 138 |
| GA | 144 | 155 |
| PP (Overall) | (26/161) 16.1% | (25/136) 18.4% |
| PP (Home) | (14/87) 16.1% | (9/59) 15.3% |
| PP (Away) | (12/74) 16.2% | (16/77) 20.8% |
| PK (Overall) | (23/154) 85.1% | (34/154) 77.9% |
| PK (Home) | (12/75) 84.0% | (15/60) 75.0% |
| PK (Away) | (11/79) 86.1% | (19/94) 79.8% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (4/20) 20% | (2/20) 10% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (2/20) 90% | (4/20) 80% |
| Leading Rookie | Parent (9-21-30) | Neuchev (6-10-16) |
| Most PIM | Laberge - 51 | Clague - 52 |
| Team PIM/GM | 10.7/Game | 11.6/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Clarke (18-17-35) | Rousek (9-23-32) |
| Schmelzer (11-21-32) | Biro (12-15-27) | |
| Parent (9-21-30) | Rosen (11-16-27) | |
| Criscuolo (9-16-25) | Jobst (12-14-26) | |
| Gambardella (7-15-22) | Kulich (16-9-25) | |
| Last 5 Games | 5-4 L @ Belleville (Feb 10 2024) Final | 3-2 L @ Syracuse (Feb 10 2024) Final OT |
| 2-0 W @ Belleville (Feb 9 2024) Final | 3-2 L vs Syracuse (Feb 9 2024) Final OT | |
| 6-5 W vs Toronto (Feb 3 2024) Final SO | 3-1 W @ Laval (Feb 3 2024) Final | |
| 4-0 L vs Toronto (Feb 2 2024) Final | 6-2 L @ Laval (Feb 2 2024) Final | |
| 4-3 W @ Laval (Jan 31 2024) Final | 2-1 L vs Syracuse (Jan 31 2024) Final | |
| Leading After 1st | 10-3-1-2 | 10-3-1-1 |
| Leading After 2nd | 14-1-1-2 | 12-0-0-0 |
| Tied After 1st | 6-5-1-1 | 5-6-2-0 |
| Tied After 2nd | 2-3-1-1 | 5-4-4-0 |
| Trailing After 1st | 3-10-2-0 | 6-7-2-0 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 3-14-2-0 | 4-12-1-1 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 9-6-2-2 | 8-7-1-0 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 10-10-2-1 | 12-9-4-1 |
| 1-Goal Games | 7-7-4-3 | 14-3-5-1 |
| 2-Goal Games | 4-2-0-0 | 3-5-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 6-7-0-0 | 2-2-0-0 |
Rochester Americans
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 | Michael Mersch | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| 56 | Kale Clague | 6 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| 26 | Mason Jobst | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | -1 |
| 11 | Lukas Rousek | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Ethan Prow | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | -3 |
| 25 | Jiri Kulich | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -6 |
| 22 | Zach Metsa | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 93 | X Matthew Savoie | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Brandon Biro | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 21 | X Filip Cederqvist | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 5 |
| 4 | Jeremy Davies | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -1 |
| 81 | Brett Murray | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| 74 | Nikita Novikov | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 17 | X Christopher Brown | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 12 | X Riley Fiddler-Schultz | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -3 |
| 96 | X Damien Giroux | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 17 | Tyson Jost | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | Brendan Warren | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | -1 |
| 44 | Tyson Kozak | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -2 |
| 24 | X Dominick Mersch | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | -1 |
| 16 | Justin Richards | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -3 |
| 18 | Isak Rosen | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 19 | Graham Slaggert | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 61 | Riley Stillman | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -3 |
| 78 | X Jacob Bryson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Joseph Cecconi | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | -2 |
| 1 | Devin Cooley | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | X Grant Gabriele | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 29 | X Michael Houser | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | X Chris Jandric | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -2 |
| 23 | X Ryan Johnson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 52 | Aleksandr Kisakov | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 |
| 20 | X Olivier Nadeau | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 79 | Viktor Neuchev | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -2 |
| 14 | X Nicolas Savoie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 34 | Dustin Tokarski | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Linus Weissbach | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 34 | Dustin Tokarski | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 244:38 | 10 | 2.45 | 0.908 |
| 29 | X Michael Houser | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 59:47 | 4 | 4.01 | 0.778 |
| 1 | Devin Cooley | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 119:35 | 9 | 4.52 | 0.866 |
Utica Comets
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 51 | Kyle Criscuolo | 7 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 3 |
| 92 | Graeme Clarke | 7 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | X Simon Nemec | 4 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 3 |
| 67 | Xavier Parent | 7 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 5 | -1 |
| 93 | Daniil Misyul | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 3 |
| 26 | Ryan Schmelzer | 7 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | Justin Dowling | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| 21 | Arnaud Durandeau (total) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| BRI | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 | |
| UTC | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| 15 | Joe Gambardella | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 12 | X Tyce Thompson | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| 14 | Shane Bowers | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 61 | Chase Stillman | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | -1 |
| 20 | Max Willman | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -4 |
| 23 | Tyler Wotherspoon | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| 83 | Topias Vilen | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Will MacKinnon | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| 2 | Michael Vukojevic | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -1 |
| 16 | Filip Engaras | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 24 | Brian Halonen | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 90 | Timur Ibragimov | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -3 |
| 48 | Erik Middendorf | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Robbie Russo | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 22 | Colin Felix | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| 19 | Ryan Fitzgerald | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 52 | X Cal Foote | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 |
| 8 | Santeri Hatakka | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| 31 | Erik Källgren | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 79 | Samuel Laberge | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 1 | Isaac Poulter | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 40 | X Akira Schmid | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Isaac Poulter | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 296:18 | 9 | 1.82 | 0.940 |
| 40 | X Akira Schmid | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 65:00 | 2 | 1.85 | 0.938 |
| 31 | Erik Källgren | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 59:04 | 5 | 5.08 | 0.821 |