GAMEDAY NOTES AND QUOTES: AMERKS BEGIN LAST WEEK OF 2023 AGAINST SYRACUSE
Dec 27, 2023
By Andrew Mossbrooks | @Mossbrooks48
The Rochester Americans (13-10-2-1) will play two of their final three games of the calendar year on home ice, beginning tonight in their fourth game of the season against the Syracuse Crunch (15-9-2-2).
It’s consecutive games against the Crunch after Brandon Biro ended the pre-holiday slate of games with an overtime game-winner against Syracuse on the road, lifting the Amerks to a 3-2 win Saturday night.
“It always feels better going into a break on a win,” said Amerks head coach Seth Appert. “It allows you to put it away easier. Sometimes as a player and certainly as a coach, when you go in on a loss it can eat at you a little more, which makes it hard to have a mental break. I thought we played good. We played in a similar manner we’ve played the last six games now. We just found a result where in some other games we just didn’t get the results.”
STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION FOR TICKER
Dustin Tokarski will backstop the Amerks for a second straight game after the veteran goaltender returned to form Saturday with a 24-save performance against his former team to earn his fifth win of the season.
“He was excellent on Saturday,” said Appert. “He was disappointed in himself on Wednesday (against Cleveland). He’s played a long time and he’s a winner for a reason. He doesn’t need to be pointed out when he has a bad performance. You love knowing our goaltenders respond from a game that they maybe weren’t their best with coming out and giving a strong performance.”
The win was Tokarski’s first since Nov. 22. He is 2-0 against Syracuse this season, a team he played for back in the 2012-13 season. Tokarski has won 210 of his 410 career games in the American Hockey League.
ROUSEK BEING ELITE
Amerks forward Lukas Rousek carries a three-game point streak into the week, having scored two goals and two assists over last week’s set of games. Appert described the third-year Amerk’s play of late as ‘elite,’ stating that he’s done things right that aren’t exclusive to this level, but also are things he can carry with him back to the NHL for when that day comes.
“He’s always going to make plays. He’s an incredibly smart hockey player. The playmaking in him is always going to be there. What we want to see continue to grow and what’s been really good of late is just how competitive he’s been on the puck. He’s going to need to do those things for him to be dominant at this level and also stick at the NHL level. He’s going to need to be a puck hunter. He’s going to need to be a forechecker and a disruptor with his energy and competitiveness. He’s been incredibly demanding to play against these last few weeks and it’s been great for our team but it’s a great sign for his career.”
“I think we’ve played very hard the last two weeks,” said Rousek. “I’ve played with Brendan (Biro) almost 75% of my time in Rochester. I think we’re similar players. We both make smart plays on the ice. Vinny Prospal (Amerks assistant coach) said he wants me to be more of a shooter and not just a playmaker that makes passes, so the last few games I’ve been trying to shoot more than normal.”
Rousek led the Amerks with 56 points last year (16+40) and is fourth in team scoring through the first-third of this season (5+11).
THE PERFECT PAIR
While Rochester has seen a bevy of changes to their lineup throughout the season, Kale Clague and Riley Stillman have been a consistent pairing, having shared the blueline together throughout the 2023-24 campaign.
“It’s been great,” said Stillman following morning skate. “Him and I have started to read off each other and starting to understand and feel each other on the ice. We’re close away from the rink, too, so it makes the game a lot easier when you’re talking and building chemistry like we have over the last 20 games.”
“I think that they’re both growing their game,” said Appert. “That sounds funny because they’re both 25 years old, so they’re in that middle tier of age, but they’ve both had a lot of time in the NHL.”
“Clague made the league by being a puck-moving type of offensive defenseman. Now his defensive game is really growing. How much time and space he takes away from his opponent. How well he’s defending and how hard he’s defending. With Stillman, he’s growing his offensive side of the game. He’s breaking the puck out better; he’s transitioning better and breaking pucks out on the attack. They’re kind of meshing in that regard. They have a good chemistry, and they balance each other well. They like playing together.”
“I think just being given the opportunity to play and show who I am and the confidence and trust that I am going to play has been indicative of how I’ve been playing. It’s allowed my game to grow. Knowing I’m going play every night has given me that confidence and I’m doing the best that I can to take advantage of that. It’s really helped my game grow this year more so than in year’s past.”