TACO BELL WRAP-UP: AMERKS CONTINUE WINNING WAYS
Rochester begins November with weekend sweep in Utica
Nov 4, 2024
By Andrew Mossbrooks | @Mossbrooks48
The Rochester Americans (5-3-0-0) will enter the first full week of November on a four-game win streak following a two-game sweep of the Comets in Utica over the weekend.
After the Amerks blasted through Utica with an 8-1-win Friday, the team then had to grind through a 3-2 shootout victory the following night. It’s the second consecutive week Rochester has earned both a regulation and shootout win against the same team in their division, doing so when facing Cleveland the week prior.
“I'm extremely proud of the group,” said Amerks head coach Michael Leone. We started out the weekend with probably our worst period of the year in the Friday night game. We challenged the group about coming out and playing to our standard and our identity and I thought we did a great job of responding and getting back to that.”
POWER-PLAY PROFICIENCY
After scoring just once one the power-play goal through their first six games, the Amerks erupted with four conversions on the man-advantage in Friday’s 8-1 win. Brett Murray scored his second power-play goal of the season, while Tyson Kozak struck for his first career power-play goal, and Anton Wahlberg netted two on the man-advantage for his first career multi-goal performance.
“I think it was a product of doing a lot of really good things and I think it just comes full circle eventually,” said Leone. “If you keep doing the right things over and over, you're going to get rewarded. I do think we need to do a better job at entering the zone. I think when we get in the zone, we have a lot of really good looks. We're really dangerous. But I think you can look at it as the hockey gods or whatever you want to call it rewarding us.”
FEEL THE RATH(BONE)
Defenseman Jack Rathbone scored a goal and tallied an assist in the team’s win Friday night in Utica. The fifth-year pro is in his first season as an Amerk and leads the team with a +7 rating, placing him in a tie for eighth-best across the AHL.
“I think I have just felt really comfortable here from the get-go,” said Rathbone. “I'm playing with a really talented player in Ryan Johnson right now and it’s helped me with feeling really comfortable on my offside. I think we've meshed well. We're obviously starting to build some chemistry here, too. The sky's the limit with the group we have in there.”
Rathbone, 25, spent the bulk of his first three years in pro hockey under the Vancouver Canucks umbrella. Playing mostly for AHL-Abbotsford, Rathbone was shipped east to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, where he posted 24 points in 67 games. His best season came as a sophomore in the league, where the West Roxbury, Massachusetts, native scored 10 goals as part of a 40-point campaign across just 39 games.
“He's done a really good job for us, especially away from the puck,” said Leone. “He gets a lot of tough matchups if you look at the defense core as a whole and where he and Johnson get placed. They've been excellent in penalty killing. Jack gets slotted in sometimes for power-play minutes, but I think their play away from the puck taking away time and space, playing the game when they're playing the game fast makes them a top tier pair for us.”
KOMAROV TURNING HEADS
At just 20 years old, rookie defenseman Vsevolod Komarov has impressed beyond expectations to begin his rookie season. The Buffalo Sabres 2022 fifth-round draft pick showcased his talents in a different way Saturday, scoring the game-winning shootout goal in round four of the extra session against Utica goaltender Isaac Poulter.
“It was just a gut feeling,” said Leone when asked about selecting Komarov to shoot in the shootout. “I think he's a gamer and I don't use that term lightly. I think if you look at his junior career, he's been to the Memorial Cup. He's played in big moments. He has big time poise. He's a winner.”
“I just always make sure I’m ready,” said Komarov. “Last year in the QMJHL, I was 3-for-3 in shootouts, so I was just ready, and Leo (Leone) told me in Cleveland that I would have gone next in round seven, but we ended up winning in round six so it didn’t matter. I love the feeling of scoring. It feels amazing and when you win, it’s that much better.”
Komarov won two QMJHL Championships, posting 127 points (28+99) over 182 games between Quebec and Drummondville, along with capturing the Memorial Cup with the Remparts in 2023. Last year, the Chelyabinsk, Russia, native was named the QMJHL’s Defenseman of the Year, in addition to being awarded the Guy Lafleur Trophy as the league’s Playoff MVP.
COMING UP NEXT
The Amerks will play three games in four nights, starting with the conclusion of a four-game road stretch Wednesday night in Cleveland. Following that, the team will return to Rochester for its first home game of November at Blue Cross Arena. The Amerks will get a taste of some competition from outside their division for the first time in the 2024-25 season, hosting Hartford Friday, before then venturing to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton where they’ll meet the Atlantic Division’s Penguins Saturday evening.