GAME PREVIEW: SURGING AMERKS CAN CLINCH PLAYOFF BERTH TONIGHT AGAINST B-SENS
Apr 12, 2024TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The surging Rochester Americans (36-22-6-3) look to punch their ticket to the postseason tonight in the start of a four-game homestand against the Belleville Senators (34-27-3-3) at The Blue Cross Arena. The 7:05 p.m. contest will be carried live on The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
A win tonight would move the Amerks, who are 10-1-0-1 in their last 12 games and have points in 25 of their last 33 dating back to Jan. 17, into sole possession of first place in the AHL's North Division standings. Rochester trails playoff bound Syracuse and Cleveland by just one point heading into the final five games of the regular season.
Rochester hasn't won a division title since 2004-05, the same year they captured the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as regular season champions.
SEASON SERIES SNAPSHOT
Dating back to the 2021-22 season, forward Michael Mersch has recorded 16 points (7+9) in 18 career games against Belleville. The Amerks captain has notched at least one point and one shot in 13 of his 18 games versus the Senators.
Since Belleville entered the league ahead of the 2017-18 season, Rochester has an all-time record of 17-21-2 against the Senators. The Amerks have posted a .500 winning percentage or better in four of the first five seasons in the head-to-head series.
Both teams have outscored the opposition in the first period this season while being outscored in the second stanza. Rochester's 77 goals in the opening period are tied for most in the AHL (Lehigh Valley).
LAST TIME OUT
The Amerks jumped out to a four-goal lead, survived a furious comeback, and yet still emerged victorious to earn their sixth straight win in a 5-4 shootout decision over Bridgeport Sunday at Total Mortgage Arena.
Michael Mersch (1+1), Mason Jobst (1+1) and Zach Metsa (0+2) all finished with multi-point efforts for Rochester. Graham Slaggert and Jiri Kulich both added one goal each while Isak Rosén, Anton Wahlberg and Damien Giroux completed the scoring with an assist. Brandon Biro and Kulich scored in the shootout for Rochester while Viktor Neuchev’s attempt was denied.
Goaltender Dustin Tokarski (11-9-3), who made his 24th appearance of the season, stopped 33 of the 37 shots he faced to earn his fourth straight win. The veteran netminder also made two saves in the shootout after making five in overtime.
PLAYOFF PICTURE
Rochester needs only one point to clinch a playoff berth, meaning a win or either an overtime or shootout loss tonight against Belleville will send the Amerks to the postseason for the 49th time in the 68-year history of the franchise. A Utica loss of any kind to Providence tonight will also lock up a playoff a spot for the Amerks.
The Amerks have qualified for the playoffs in each of the last four years (dating back to the 2018-19 campaign), including all three seasons under head coach Seth Appert. Rochester's run to the Eastern Conference Final last season was the team's deepest playoff run in 23 years.
SHARING THE WEALTH
After seeing three players reach the 20-goal mark last season, the Amerks could potentially have the same or more by the season's end.
With goals in five of his last 10 games, Jiri Kulich reached the 20-goal mark for the second straight season on March 27 in Syracuse. Kulich, whose 22 goals lead all Rochester skaters, became the first Amerks player to score 20 or more goals in back-to-back seasons since Cole Schneider and Justin Bailey each did so in 2015-16 and 2016-17.
Mason Jobst, the team's leading point-getter with a career-high 47 points in 59 games this season, reached the mark for the first time in his pro career this past Sunday. He, too, has goals in four of his last 10 games and recently had a season-long six-game point streak (2+6) end back on March 22.
Linus Weissbach (16) is also making a strong push for his second straight 20-goal season as he comes into tonight with six goals in his last seven contests. Isak Rosén is also within reach after scoring his career-high 16th goal of the season reaching the mark in 10 fewer games.
NEW YEAR, NEW NEUCHEV
After producing just five points in his first 23 games, rookie foward Viktor Neuchev has unsurprisingly emerged as Rochester’s top scoring rookie through the final month of the regular season.
Dating back to Dec. 29 and the turn of the New Year, Neuchev has erupted for 23 points on nine goals and 14 assists over his previous 30 games.
Neuchev has recorded at least one point in 14 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 four games with the game-winning goal while also adding two assists in the 7-4 win over Laval. Since Jan. 5, Neuchev has recorded six multi-point games, which includes a pair of three-point efforts.
Of Neuchev’s 11 goals this season, eight 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 28 points (11+17) and 76 shots in 51 games.
WORKING OVERTIME
The 5-4 shootout win against Bridgeport Sunday was the eighth game over the last 21 for Rochester that went beyond regulation, with three of the four producing a 2-1 score. Overall, the Amerks have gone to extra time on 23 different occasions, the most by any team this season, including each of the first three games of the campaign.
Since the start of the 2017-18 season of the 40 previous games between the two clubs, 14 contests have been decided beyond regulation, which includes a pair of shootouts this season.
Four of Jiri Kulich’s team-high five game-winning goals this season have come by way of overtime while Isak Rosén, Brandon Biro, Zach Metsa, and Michael Mersch have each the clinching goal during the extra frame.
Dating back to the start of the 2021-22 season, of Jeremy Davies’ five game-winning goals, four have come in overtime while all five have come on the road.
Never before in the near 68-year history of the franchise have the Amerks opened a season with three consecutive overtime contests.
Dating back to Jan. 20 of last season, 33 of Rochester’s previous 104 regular-season games have required overtime to determine a winner. Of the Amerks 52 wins during that span, 19 have come came following the end of regulation.
The Amerks show a 10-6 record in overtime this season and are 4-3 in the shootout.
Rochester tied an AHL record with 29 overtime games in 2017-18, showing a 9-11 record in overtime and 3-6 in the shootout.
LEANING ON LEVI
Devon Levi has earned the start in 19 of the last 29 games since being reassigned to Rochester on Jan. 20, including five straight to open February. Back with the Amerks following his last recall to Buffalo, he enters the weekend having won six straight and seven of his last eight starts.
Levi, who boasts a 13-5-3 record in 21 appearances with the Amerks, has held the opposition to three or fewer goals in each game over his six-game win streak. He's totaled 188 saves on 201 shots while boasting an impressive 2.17 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage over that span.
His career-high 52 saves in the Amerks overtime win at Toronto on Feb. 19 were the most by an Amerks goaltender since Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen had 54 in a 2-1 win at Syracuse on Feb. 25, 2022.
Levi, who ranks fourth among all rookie netminders with a .929 save percentage, has held the opposition to three or fewer goals in all but three of his 21 appearance. He’s 13-2-3 this season in those games.
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, and tied for third in both shutouts (6) and saves (1,183).
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.
He appeared in his 500th pro game against Hartford on March 20. He has played in 80 NHL contests and 420 AHL games.
Tokarski, who’s 10-9-3 in his first 23 appearances, 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 tonight, the 34-year-old Tokarski is only three wins away from tying Red Almas for 11th all-time in career wins (218). He’s also 18 games away from tying Drew MacIntyre for 13rd all-time (440) and will tie Yann Danis for eighth all-time on his next shutout.
JOBST HAVING A CAREER YEAR
Forward Mason Jobst enters the contest with 32 points (13+19) over his last 35 games, the most by an Amerk since the turn of the new year. Jobst, who hasn't gone more than two games without a point over that span, recorded a career-best three-assist outing on Feb. 16 against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and followed that up by scoring goals in three straight games, including his career-high 16th goal of the season against Belleville on Feb. 23.
Since then, the fifth-year forward has already surpassed his goal total in 18 fewer games this season and successfully reached the 40-point mark for the first time in his career with another three-assist effort back on March 13 in Syracuse to take over the team's scoring lead.
Jobst has totaled 98 points (38+60) in 149 career games as an Amerk and has amassed 123 points (49+74) over 218 career American Hockey League games with Rochester, San Jose, Bridgeport, and Binghamton.
SERIES NOTABLES
Devon Levi earned his first win as an Amerk in his American Hockey League debut at Belleville back on Dec. 1. The rookie netminder stopped 40 of 42 through regulation and overtime before turning aside all four Senators shooters in the skills competition. He’s appeared in four games against Belleville this season, boasting a 2-2-0 record with a .923 save percentage.
Including four of the first six games this season versus Belleville, Rochester has scored 11 first-period goals dating back to start the 2022-23 campaign. The Amerks have scored in seven of the last 14 first periods during that span. Belleville (15) has scored in all but four first periods over that same stretch.
In 33 of the last 40 meetings between the two teams dating back to the 2017-18 season, the Amerks have scored two or more goals while Belleville has found the back of the net in all but two games during the stretch. There has been just one shutout over the previous 40 games with Rochester coming up on the wrong side of a 2-0 score on Feb. 7, 2018.
Amerks rookie forward Anton Wahlberg completed a three-game week last Sunday with one goal and two assists, the first three points of his North American professional career. The Malmö, Sweden, native made his AHL/Amerks debut on March 30 at Cleveland before scoring his first goal against the Monsters on April 3, which also served as his home debut.