TACO BELL WRAP-UP: PERFECT WEEK LAUNCHES AMERKS UP THE STANDINGS
Jan 22, 2024
By Andrew Mossbrooks | @Mossbrooks48
Things couldn’t have gone much better for the Rochester Americans last week. Despite the challenge of playing three games in four nights, Rochester overcame all obstacles to post a perfect three-win week, taking down Lehigh Valley (6-0), Utica (2-1), and Springfield (7-3) in the process.
With six points gained, the Amerks leapfrogged multiple teams in the uber competitive North Division, beginning the week in fifth and ending the slate alone in third place with 42 points and a 19-13-3-1 mark as the first half of the team’s 2023-24 season is in the books.
HOME ICE ADVANTAGE
Blue Cross Arena was host to Rochester’s Wednesday and Saturday games last week. Over 10,000 fans across both games filed in and were treated to goal-scoring spectacles, with the Amerks potting 13 goals across their two home games.
Linus Weissbach got the most jump from the crowd, scoring three goals on home ice. The third-year pro was credited with his 100th AHL point with his second goal of the night Saturday. Weissbach has scored four goals over his last four outings and has 16 points on the season (8+8).
“I think I’ve had more of a shooting mindset,” said Weissbach when asked about his recent run. “I’ve been taking what’s being given to me and hopefully I can keep it going.”
In both games at home, 13 of Rochester’s 18 skaters recorded at least a point and eight different players recorded two points.
“It’s fun. You want to get everyone going every game and we’ve had some lineup changes, so it’s fun to see a guy like (Graham) Slaggert get on the board today and ‘Wardog’ (Brendan Warren) battle his a** off out there. It’s fun to see everyone contributing.”
“That was a good effort by the group,” said Amerks head coach Seth Appert following Saturday’s win over Springfield. “You look at the American League and your 72-game schedule and this is one you worry that you’re set up for a little failure. They (the Thunderbirds) hadn’t played since Monday, and we had two games in the last three days. All of that considered, that was a very strong performance. This is the best week of consistently playing the right way.”
STREAKING
A pair of Amerks forwards have found another gear of late, starting with rookie Viktor Neuchev, who scored goals in both home games this week. While Neuchev didn’t play in Friday’s game, the 20-year-old out of Chelyabinsk, Russia has points in each of his last six games played, scoring three goals while adding five assists on his current streak.
“It’s fun to see, isn’t it,” said Appert when talking about Neuchev Saturday. “We’ve seen this with (Isak) Rosen and (Jiri) Kulich about this time last year and we saw it with (JJ) Peterka two years ago where those little lightbulb moments are flickering and it’s all coming as he’s starting to put the pieces together. The guys are pulling for him. He’s really won over the locker room because of the amount of work he’s put in. Neuchev’s won them over.”
Along with Neuchev, Lukas Rousek has been on a torrid pace that will have him in conversation for AHL player of the month in January. With a goal on Friday sandwiched between assists both Wednesday and Saturday, Rousek has managed to stretch his incredible point streak to 13 games. The streak, which began Dec. 20, is the longest of his career and second-longest streak in the AHL this season. Over this span, the third-year Amerk has posted 14 points (4+10).
Rousek is in elite company and will have a chance at continuing his streak in front of the home crowd this weekend. This is the longest point streak an Amerks player has had in over 20 years. The last streak of this length belongs to Amerks Hall of Famer Domenic Pittis, who reached a 14-game point streak from Jan. 22 to March 4 during the 1999-2000 season.
GOALTENDING SHOWCASE
Fun fact: each of Rochester’s last four wins have come courtesy of different goaltenders. After Devin Cooley picked up a win in Charlotte on the eve of the Outdoor Classic, Eric Comrie returned to the Flower City to post the team’s first shutout of the season Wednesday, stopping all 32 shots faced against the Phantoms. Two nights later, Dustin Tokarski turned aside 24 of 25 shots in a 2-1 road victory over Utica. Then, on Saturday, Devon Levi skated down from Buffalo, appearing in his first home game for the Amerks where the 22-year-old needed just 14 saves for Rochester to come out triumphant over the Thunderbirds.
“We are trying to keep all of our guys in the mix and engaged,” said Appert. “It’s not a perfect situation for the goalies, but one thing we talked about a couple weeks ago with the group is that competition does breed excellence. Iron sharpens iron and fighting for your spot and ice time is very good.”
“I was having fun out there,” said Levi. “The boys played great. There are some really talented forwards on this team and the guys were blocking everything tonight. It was a pleasure to play for them tonight.”
“I was quite happy with my game,” said Comrie following Wednesday’s win. “The team also played great in front of me. There were a couple big blocks and a couple big plays. I think the biggest thing for myself has been how much Seamus (Kotyk), our goaltending coach, has helped me. He’s been outstanding and he’s helped me find my game a lot. It’s always a bit of an unfortunate situation being sent down. You can catch yourself going into a shell and getting sad, but he did a great job of just telling me to come down here and work on things and find parts of your game that I need to get better at so I can get back to where I was when I was at my best in the NHL with a really good season in Winnipeg.”
COMING UP NEXT
After playing a large chunk of the past month against Atlantic Division teams, the Amerks enter a stretch of eight straight against teams within their division.
Saturday’s win over Springfield marked the beginning of a four-game homestand that will resume this Friday when the team welcomes Utica to town, before then facing a hot Laval Rocket team that enters the week on an 8-0-1-0 run Saturday evening.