GAME PREVIEW: RED-HOT AMERKS RING IN THE NEW YEAR TONIGHT AGAINST BELLEVILLE
Amerks put season-long six-game win streak on the line tonight against Senators
Jan 4, 2023TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The red-hot Rochester Americans (17-9-1-1) ring in the New Year with a rematch against the Belleville Senators (12-16-3-0) tonight at The Blue Cross Arena. Game time is slated for a 7:05 p.m. start and will be carried on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
Tonight’s get-together is the fourth of eight scheduled meetings this season and the second in less than a week since since Rochester earned a 5-3 win on Friday. Following tonight, the two clubs will meet twice over a three-day span as the Amerks head to CAA Arena for back-to-back matchups on Feb. 2 and Feb. 4 prior to the annual AHL All-Star break.
HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPSHOT
Despite boasting a 3-3-1-1 record in the eight-game series last season against Belleville, Rochester shows a 14-8-5-2 mark over the last five years between the two teams.
Rochester is 14-13-2 all-time against Belleville despite being outscored 103-100 through the first 29 meetings with the Senators. Five of the last nine matchups have been decided beyond regulation, including both games in the play-in round of the 2022 Calder Cup Playoffs.
Both teams are operating above a 30% conversion rate on the power-play at home this season, joining Toronto as the only three AHL teams to do so. The Senators also have the seventh-best power-play overall having gone 34-for-143 for 23.8% success rate. Belleville's 34 goals on the man-advantage are tied for second-most in the AHL coming into the week.
LAST TIME OUT
The Amerks closed out the 2022 calendar year by extending their win streak to a season-long six-straight games with a 3-2 win over the first-place Toronto Marlies Saturday afternoon at Coca-Cola Coliseum.
Amerks captain Michael Mersch (1+1) extended his goal-scoring streak to four-straight games in addition to adding an assist while third-year pro Brandon Biro (0+1) pushed his point streak to seven games. Forwards Linus Weissbach (1+0) and Lukas Rousek (1+0) rounded out the scoring, while rookie forwards Filip Cederqvist (0+1) and Tyson Kozak (0+1) each recorded an assist.
Goaltender Eric Comrie (1-0-0) made 34 saves in his Amerks debut after being loaned to Rochester earlier in the day on a conditioning assignment from the parent Buffalo Sabres. Comrie picked up his first AHL win since April 21, 2021 with Manitoba.
A DECEMBER TO REMEMBER FOR SUBBAN
After suffering a defeat in his season-debut, Subban has gone 7-1-0 since, including five straight wins dating back to a 4-3 shootout victory against the first-place Marlies on Dec. 10.
Subban had his arguably best performance of the season during a 75-save weekend in Rochester’s two-game sweep over the Charlotte Checkers. 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.
Last week, Subban picked up his 100th career win in the 5-4 overtime win over Utica.
WELL BALANCED OFFENSE
Brett Murray, one of four Amerks with at least 22 points on the season, is on pace to surpass the career-high 15 goals he scored in 2021-22 after recording his team-leading 12th of the season last Friday against Belleville. The fourth-year pro comes into tonight with eight points (4+4) in his last seven games and seven goals over his last 12 dating back to a two-goal effort against Providence on Nov. 23. He needs just two more points to reach 100 as an Amerk.
With another point Saturday against Toronto, Lukas Rousek enters the week with nine goals and 13 assists while being one of four Amerks to appear in all 28 games. He accounted for half of his nine goals in December with an impressive five goals in his last seven games.
With 11 points (5+6) over his last 13 games, including three last week (1+2), Linus Weissbach is six points back from the team-lead with 22 points (11+11) through 28 games. He, too, remains on pace to match his career-high of 16 goals from last season and has already established a new personal-best of three game-winning goals.
Despite being two of the youngest players in the AHL, rookie forwards Jiri Kulich (6+10) and Isak Rosen (3+12) remain among the team's scoring leaders. Both players are representing their respective countries at the 2023 World Junior Championship. The rookies will go head-to-head for the second time as the winner will earn a spot in the gold medal game on Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 p.m.
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.
He paces the Amerks in assists (19) and points (28) through 22 games and his seven-game point streak is third-longest active streak in the AHL currently.
Dating back to last season, Biro has totaled 31 points on 11 goals and 20 assists over his last 25 games and hasn't gone more than one game without a point over that span. Since the start of the 2022 calendar year, Biro has posted 19 multi-point outings in 51 games, totaling 57 points on 18 goals and 39 assists.
SCOUTING THE SENATORS
The Senators, who continue a six-game North Division stretch, come into tonight with a 3-5-2-0 record in their last 10 games. Belleville shows a 1-5-2-0 mark in its last eight contests dating back to Dec. 10.
In his third season with the Senators, forward Egor Sokolov tops all Belleville skaters with 20 assists and 28 points while being on of four players to appear in all 31 games this season. The Yekaterinburg, Russia, native has also gone a perfect 3-for-3 in shootout attempts this season while also producing four power-play goals.
Belleville has used four different goaltenders this season with Kevin Mandolese, Mads Sogaard, Antoine Bibeau and Logan Flodell. Sogaard and Bibeau have handled much of the duties, combining to post a 9-12-2 record in 29 appearances.
SERIES NOTABLES
So far this season, the Amerks have used 13 different defensemen, which is third-most in the AHL behind Belleville, San Diego, Toronto and Cleveland. Eleven of the 13 have recorded at least one point while seven have scored. Ethan Prow is the only defenseman to appear in all 28 games this season and has skated in 98 of the 104 games dating back to the start of the 2021-22 campaign.
Amerks goaltender Malcolm Subban played his junior career with the Belleville Bulls of the OHL, who play at the CAA Arena. Subban totaled a 64-42-6 record and eight shutouts in 118 career games. During his final season with the Bulls, he helped Belleville finish first in the East during the regular season by posting a career-best 29 wins in 46 appearances.
With goaltender Eric Comrie making his Amerks debut this past Saturday in Toronto, he became the fifth different netminder to appear in at least one game this season. It marks the third straight season that the Amerks have used at least five different goaltenders and the second time in franchise history the club has had three straight seasons with five goaltenders to appear in at least one game.