GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS CLASH WITH MONSTERS AGAIN TONIGHT
Mar 29, 2023TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (31-25-4-3) look for their fourth straight win tonight when they meet the Cleveland Monsters (28-26-5-2) for the second time in four nights at The Blue Cross Arena. The North Division matchup is slated for a 7:05 p.m. start and will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
The Amerks earned seven out of a possible eight points this past week after closing out their second three-win weekend of the season against three different opponents. Coming into tonight, Rochester also has points in each of its last four home games, going 3-0-0-1 over that span dating back to its 2-0 shutout win over Laval on March 15.
LAST TIME OUT
Four different skaters posted multi-points and Malcolm Subban made 19 saves to help the Amerks put the finishing touches on perfect weekend as they defeated the Monsters 5-2 on Sunday at The Blue Cross Arena
Along with Jiri Kulich (2+0) and Brett Murray (1+1) each registering two points Isak Rosen (1+1) and Ethan Prow (0+2) both notched a multi-point effort in the win while Sean Malone scored his 13th of the season. Lukas Rousek, Linus Weissbach, Lawrence Pilut, Michael Mersch, Matt Bartkowski and Filip Cederqvist all registered an assist to cap the scoring.
Subban (17-13-3), whose started eight of the last 11 games for Rochester, established a new career-high with his 17th win of the season.
PLAYOFF PICTURE
With nine games remaining in the 2022-23 regular season, Rochester sits in fourth place in the AHL's North Division standings, six points ahead of the Monsters, who currently trail Laval by one point for the fifth and final playoff spot.
A total of 10 points is all the Amerks need to clinch a playoff berth for what would be the team's fourth straight playoff appearance dating back to the 2018 postseason.
Including last year's memorable postseason run which saw Rochester advance to the North Division Finals, the Amerks have qualified for the Calder Cup Playoffs 47 times in the past 66 years.
SUBBAN SHOULDERING THE WORKLOAD
After suffering a defeat in his season-debut, Subban has gone 17-12-3 since over his last 32 starts, including seven straight wins between Dec. 10 to Jan. 14. The seven-game win streak was the longest of his pro career.
He was the first Amerks goaltender to post seven straight wins since Jonas Johansson won nine consecutive contests during the 2019-20 campaign.
Subban had arguably his best performance of the season during a 75-save weekend in Rochester’s two-game sweep over the Charlotte Checkers in mid-December. A night after stopping a regular-season career-high 45 saves, Subban was flawless in a 30-save shutout on Dec. 17, his first in the AHL since April 8, 2017, with the Providence Bruins.
It's the first time Subban has had multiple shutouts in a season since earning three during the 2014-15 campaign with Providence. He established a new career-high with his 17th win of the season in Sunday's win over Cleveland.
BIRO PILING UP THE POINTS
Despite missing a total of 11 games due to injury, third-year forward Brandon Biro has blazed his way atop the team's scoring lead following a productive December in which he led the team with 16 points (6+10) in 10 games. He recorded multi-point efforts in seven of his 10 appearances, including six straight between Dec. 9 and Dec. 30 before closing out the month with an assist in the 3-2 win in Toronto.
Biro, who made his NHL debut with the Buffalo Sabres last season, totaled 11 points (2+9) over a recent five-game point-streak, which began with a career-high five-point effort on March 10 against Hartford.
By factoring in on both goals on March 15 against Laval, he reached the 50-point mark for the first time in his pro career and currently leads the team with 50 points in 48 games.
He shows 19 points (6+13) over his last 11 games, which includes his first career hat trick in the 7-5 loss at Laval to open the month of March.
He's recorded at least one shot in all but eight games so far this season.
In 111 career games with the Amerks, Biro has totaled 96 points on 29 goals and 67 assists, never going more than seven games without a point over the last three years.
SHARING THE WEALTH
After producing three 20-goal scorers last season, the Amerks could potentially have five or more by the season's end.
Jiri Kulich (21) and Brett Murray (20) have already cracked the mark, both doing so in Sunday's win over Cleveland, while Linus Weissbach is within reach with a career-high 18 goals.
With Kulich and Murray becoming the first players this season to reach the 20-goal mark, the Amerks have now had at least one player from all but two seasons (excluding the COVID-19 shortened 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons) in the 67-year history of the franchise score 20 or more goals dating back to Bronco Horvath’s team-leading 37 tallies during the Amerks’ inaugural 1956-57 campaign.
The last time Rochester had at least five different 20-goal scorers in the same season was during the 2018-19 campaign when the team had six.
PROWESS ON THE BLUELINE
Entering the Jan. 19 game against Laval, Ethan Prow was the only Amerks defenseman to appear in every game this season. Overall, he has skated in 127 of the 133 games dating back to the start of the 2021-22 campaign.
In 58 games this season, Prow, who recorded his first three-point outing of the season on March 10 against Hartford, is tied for 18th in scoring amongst all AHL defensemen with 35 points while his 29 assists are currently tied for 16th-most at his position. This season marks the fourth straight in which the veteran defenseman has reached the 20-assist mark and the fifth consecutive year with 20 or more points.
The seventh-year pro has posted 23 points (4+19) in his last 33 outings dating back to Dec. 28 and comes into tonight with two goals and 14 assists over his last 23 games.
EARNING THEIR STARS AND STRIPES
With 12 points (5+7) over his last 17 games, Linus Weissbach is 10 points back from the team-lead with 40 points (18+22) through 61 games. By scoring his 18th goal and 38th point of the season back on March 12 against Toronto, he established career-highs in both categories, surpassing the marks he set during his rookie campaign in 2021-22.
Brett Murray, one of six Amerks with at least 40 points on the campaign, has captured career-highs in all offensive categories from last season, including goals (20), assists (22) and points (42). The fourth-year pro comes into tonight with 16 points (6+10) in his last 19 games and has recorded at least one shot in all but five games during that span dating back to Nov. 23.
With seven points (4+3) over his last 19 games, Sean Malone reached the 20-point mark in back-to-back campaigns for the first time in his career. Through 44 contests in his fifth season with the Amerks, Malone has 13 goals and 13 assists.
Amerks captain Michael Mersch shows 31 points (14+17) over his last 38 games dating back to Dec. 17. More impressively, with 40 points in 52 games, he reached the 40-point mark for the sixth time in his nine-year pro career. The former Calder Cup winner is also a five-time 20-goal scorer, reaching the mark four times in his first five seasons and again last season when he scored a career-high 26 goals.
Through 57 games, defenseman Jeremy Davies established a career-high with 11 goals, reaching the mark for the first time in his pro career while also becoming the first Amerks defenseman this season to do so. Over his last 19 games, Davies has collected five goals and seven assists for 12 points.
Rookie Isak Rosen has posted 17 points (8+9) in 28 games since Jan. 21. In the 7-1 victory over Springfield, Rosen, the Sabres’ first-round selection (14th overall) in the 2021 NHL Draft, notched his first-career three-point game as well as his first-ever two-goal outing. Overall, four of his 11 goals on the season have come while on the power-play. Rosen is one of only two rookies this season to reach the 30-point mark.
Mitch Eliot tied his previous career-high in goals (3) at Providence on Feb. 26, reaching the mark in 24 fewer games than the 2021-22 campaign.
A JOBST WELL DONE
Mason Jobst has made the most of his second opportunity with the Amerks as the fourth-year pro is in the process of assembling a career-year.
Through 52 games this season, the Speedway, Indiana, native has already established career-highs in all offensive categories, including goals (13), assists (19) and points (32).
With an assist in the 2-1 loss in Hershey on March 18, Jobst reached the 30-point plateau for the first time in his pro career, becoming the ninth different Amerk this season to eclipse the mark.
Since the turn of the New Year, Jobst has amassed 10 goals and 18 points over his previous 26 games, including his first career hat trick in the 7-5 loss to the first-place Toronto Marlies back on Jan. 14. He comes into tonight with six goals and 12 points over his previous 14 games, a stretch highlighted by a career-best three-game goal-scoring streak.
Jobst has totaled 45 points (17+28) over 78 career games with the Amerks dating back to last season.
WORKING OVERTIME
The 1-0 shootout win last Saturday over Utica was Rochester’s fourth in the last six games that went to a shootout and the 16th overall this season (eighth since the New Year) that went beyond regulation.
The Amerks are 6-4 in overtime and show an even 3-3 mark in shootouts.
Rochester (.563) is one of 15 teams in the AHL this season with a .500 or better winning percentage in overtime games.
Rochester tied an AHL record with 29 overtime games in 2017-18.
KEEPING IT KULICH
Ever since returning from an impressive showing at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship in January, Jiri Kulich has not only emerged as one of the team's most consistent point-getters, but as the top prospect in the Buffalo Sabres pipeline.
The third of Buffalo's three first-round picks in last year's NHL Draft, Kulich currently leads the Amerks and is tied for eighth amongst all AHL rookies with 21 goals while his 40 points are 16th-most,
With Kulich becoming the first player this season to score 20 goals, it marks the first time the Amerks had a rookie 20-goal scorer in back-to-back seasons (Jiri Kulich in 2022-23, Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka in 2021-22) since Drew Stafford in 2006-07 and Clarke MacArthur in 2005-06.
Kulich, the youngest regular player in the AHL, is only the fourth player in league history to score more than 20 goals during his 18-year-old season (turning 19 after Jan. 1) and first since Robert Dome of Syracuse recorded 21 in 1997-98. Kulich also becomes just the second Amerks player in franchise history to reach the mark as an 18-year-old since Jozef Cierny scored 27 during his only season in Rochester in 1992-93.
He was named the AHL's Player of the Week for period ending Feb. 26 after totaling six points while leading Rochester to its first three-win weekend.
SCOUTING THE MONSTERS
Cleveland comes into tonight on Rochester's heels, sitting in sixth place in the North Division with a 28-27-5-2 overall record, including a 6-3-1-0 mark in its last 10. The Monsters trail Laval by one point for the fifth and final playoff spot in the Division and also have a game in hand.
The Monsters come to Rochester without the services of leading point-getter Trey Fix-Wolansky, who's currently on recall with the Columbus Blue Jackets, as he tops all Cleveland skaters with 26 goals, 41 assists and 67 points, all of which are career-highs from last season. The fourth-year forward has skated in five contests with the big club this season.
Jet Greaves (15-13-5) has handled much of the goaltending duties this season for Cleveland. The Cambridge, Ontario, native, who is currently in his second year with the Monsters, logged his first shutout of the season on Saturday after stopping all 32 shots he faced Saturday against the first-place Toronto Marlies. Cleveland has also used Pavel Cajan (7-8-2), Jon Gillies (5-8-2) and Danii Tarasov (5-5-0) at times this season as they have combined for a 17-21-4 record in 45 appearances.
SERIES NOTABLES
With Austin Strand making his Amerks debut against Hartford on March 10, he became the 38th overall player to appear in one game with the Amerks in 2022-23 and the 15th defenseman. He was also the 19th different player to don the red, white and blue colors for the first time in their career.
The Amerks and Monsters have played in a combined 32 games this season decided beyond regulation, including two of the last three meetings between the two teams. The Amerks are 6-4 and 3-3 in the shootout while the Monsters are 5-5 and 4-2 this season, respectively.
Of Rochester's final nine games, they will face the Monsters three more times, which includes a home-and-home series during the final weekend of the regular season to close out the 2022-23 campaign.
Last Saturday's win in Utica gave the Amerks their seventh straight 30-win season dating back to the 2015-16 campaign (excluding the abbreviated 2020-21 season). It also was the third straight game the Amerks went to a shootout, marking the first time since November 2017 the team appeared in three consecutive games which ended in a shootout.