GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS BEGIN FOUR-GAME ROAD TRIP IN CLEVELAND
Five things to know; Amerks have won six of last seven in the Buckeye State
Oct 25, 2025By Andrew Mossbrooks | @ Mossbrooks48
The Rochester Americans (4-2-0-0) begin the first of their two season-long four-game road trips Saturday night as they face-off with the Cleveland Monsters at Rocket Arena.
Here are five things to know as the Amerks look for their third straight win.
HEL OF A GAME
The Amerks started the weekend on a high note via a 4-0 shutout win against the Laval Rocket Friday night at Blue Cross Arena. After being ousted by Laval in the North Division Finals this past spring, the Amerks exacted some vengeance, spearheaded by Konsta Helenius.
The Finnish forward registered a career-best four-point game (2+2), marking the best performance of any Amerk to date this season. Additionally, Helenius’ efforts marked his eighth career multi-point game wearing red, white, and blue. In those situations, the Amerks have gone 7-0-1-0.
Including playoffs, the Amerks had a player post four points against the Rocket for the second time in the last three meetings, with Josh Dunne’s Game 4 heroics extending the North Division Finals to a Game 5 in May.
The 19-year-old is third on Rochester in points with five (3+2).
POWER TO THE PLAYERS
For a third time in six games this season, the Amerks scored multiple goals on the power play, going 2-for-8 against Laval. Rochester has found the back of the net on the man-advantage in all but one of their games this season, entering Cleveland with a 34.6% conversion rate, which leads the Eastern Conference. On the road alone, their number increases to 42.9%.
Isak Rosén leads the AHL with four power-play goals, while defenseman Zac Jones has produced seven of his eight assists on the man-advantage.
The early success bodes well for the Amerks, who have finished in the top-10 for power-play success rate in the AHL three times over the last 10 seasons.
SEEING RED
Saturday’s contest could see the Amerks debut of forward Red Savage, who was recalled from ECHL-Jacksonville entering the weekend.
Savage, 22, played his first two collegiate seasons nearby Cleveland at Miami University. The former Detroit Red Wings draft pick traded red for green, going to Michigan State to round out his collegiate tenure, winning conference championships in both 2024 and 2025. Savage then turned pro, signing a two-year, two-way contract with the Amerks during the offseason. The Scottsdale, Arizona, native scored the overtime game-winner in Jacksonville’s opening game of the season last weekend.
Savage is the great nephew of Larry Hillman, who skated parts of six seasons with the Amerks from 1963-68. Hillman was inducted into the Amerks Hall of Fame in 2009 and is one of only 24 players to have won the Stanley Cup an astounding six times.
OUR LAND
Cleveland has been a home away from home of sorts for the Amerks of late. The team enters Rocket Arena having won each of the four games played at the venue last season. The Amerks are riding a 6-0-1-0 streak in Cleveland, with their last regulation loss visiting the Monsters coming back on Nov. 16, 2023.
The Amerks dominated the Monsters overall last season, winning seven of the eight meetings with the Columbus Blue Jackets’ AHL affiliate, outscoring them, 35-16.
The Monsters’ struggles on home ice aren’t exclusive to facing Rochester. Cleveland’s 16 home wins were tied for fewest in the North Division last season and the fewest among any of the 24 teams who qualified for the Calder Cup Playoffs. After falling to Lehigh Valley in each of their first two home games, the Monsters are at risk of going winless through their first three home tilts for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
Rosén has been a Monsters slayer, boasting 20 points (6+14) in 23 games against the inner-division foe. Viktor Neuchev has also found plenty of success facing the Monsters. The third-year pro has more assists (8) against Cleveland than any other team he’s faced and has 10 points total through 15 encounters.
A FAMILIAR FOE
After leaving both the Monsters and the North Division for a season, 12-year pro Brendan Gaunce is back.
The former captain of the Monsters was given the “C” again to start the 2025-26 campaign after posting 15 goals and 29 points through 39 games with Iowa last year. Additionally, the 31-year-old received 12 games with Minnesota in the NHL, adding to his overall total of 575 professional games played, with 386 of those being played in the AHL, where he has spent nine seasons in the North Division (five with Utica, four in Cleveland).
The Sudbury, Ontario, native has had Rochester’s number throughout his career, scoring more goals (13) against the Amerks than any other team. Gaunce also has 27 points against the Amerks, a feat he has only reached elsewhere against Syracuse.