TACO BELL WRAP-UP: AMERKS PICK UP STEAM HEADING INTO NOVEMBER
Kozak stays hot in two-game sweep of Cleveland
Oct 28, 2024
By Andrew Mossbrooks | @Mossbrooks48
The Rochester Americans (3-3-0-0) picked up consecutive wins over the defending North Division champion Cleveland Monsters, with a 6-1 win on home ice Wednesday, before outlasting Cleveland in a 5-4 shootout win Saturday night.
The result sees the Amerks at the .500 mark for the first time this season, along with stringing together consecutive wins for the first time as well.
KOZAK GOES BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK
For a third straight game, Amerks forward Tyson Kozak scored Saturday night in Cleveland’s home opener. The third-year pro leads Rochester in goals with four and is one shy of tying both his rookie and sophomore seasons with goal production.
“We think he could be a 15-goal scorer,” said Amerks head coach Mike Leone earlier in the week. “We believe in him. He’s the straw that stirs the drink on any line he plays on. He’s a young kid and he’s a big part of our identity as a team. I know he’s a checker and he kills penalties, but I think there’s more there offensively. I really do.”
Kozak had a three-point week with a goal Wednesday, then a goal and an assist Saturday against the Monsters. It’s the first time in the Souris, Manitoba, native’s career that he has scored in three consecutive games. Kozak is one of 27 AHL skaters with four goals to begin the season.
JOBST FINDS CENTER OF GRAVITY
Amerks captain Mason Jobst found the back of the net in both games against the Monsters after beginning the season with no goals through four games. The team MVP from a season ago made a change last week, returning to his natural center position after spending the first four games of the year on a wing.
Jobst, 30, is in his sixth professional season and serving as a captain for the first time since wearing the “C” for Ohio State University in 2018-19. His first goal of the season came by jamming the puck past Cleveland’s Jet Greaves Wednesday night at Blue Cross Arena, serving as the game-winning-goal in a 6-1 win. On Saturday, Jobst scored an important game-tying conversion in the second period only seven seconds after Cleveland took its one and only lead of the contest.
Jobst centered a line with Viktor Neuchev and Brett Murray, the latter of which he’s played on a line with for parts of the last three seasons.
MICHAEL HOUSER FOR 200
Veteran goaltender Michael Houser made his third and fourth starts of the season last week, winning both outings against Cleveland with a combined 63 saves, plus five of six stops in Saturday’s shootout victory.
The win in Cleveland saw the 13-year pro reach a milestone, with the 32-year-old Houser earning the 200th win of his pro career. In his fifth season as an Amerk, Houser shows a lifetime record of 21-17-3 with one shutout in the crease for Rochester. His 38 saves in Saturday’s game were the most Houser has made since stopping 39 shots back on Oct. 14, 2023 against Toronto.
Since turning pro in October 2012, Houser has appeared in 377 games between the NHL, AHL, and ECHL, owning a cumulative 200-120-34 record.
COMING UP NEXT
For a third straight week, Rochester will play consecutive games against a divisional adversary; this time doing so against one of its intrastate rivals in the form of the Utica Comets. New Jersey’s AHL affiliate enters the week as one of two teams yet to secure a win. Utica is the only team yet to earn a standings point in the AHL.
Across 12 meetings last season, Rochester posted an 8-3-1-0 record against the Comets. The two sides will meet back-to-back nights Friday and Saturday at Adirondack Bank Center in Utica to kick-off the month of November for the Amerks. November will be the busiest month of the 2024-25 season for Rochester, with the team playing 14 games.