GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS CLOSE OUT REGULAR SEASON THIS AFTERNOON IN CLEVELAND
Apr 16, 2023TODAY'S GAME OVERVIEW
The playoff-bound Rochester Americans (35-27-6-3) close out the regular season today in a rematch against the Cleveland Monsters (33-21-5-2) at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Game time is slated for a 3:00 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 have earned 20 out of a possible 30 points over their last 15 games. With a win today, the Amerks will lock up third place in the North Division, which would set-up a best-of-five series with the Syracuse Crunch. A loss of any fashion would set-up a best-of three minin play-in round against thevLaval Rocket.
LAST TIME OUT
Rookie forward Filip Cederqvist scored his first career hat trick, and did so in impressive fashion, but the Amerks came up short in a 4-3 loss to the Cleveland Monsters Saturday at The Blue Cross Arena.
Linus Weissbach (0+2) earned the primary assist on two of Cederqvist’s three goals. Lawrence Pilut (0+2) also assisted on two goals and now has 15 assists in his last 22 games while Ethan Prow and Sean Malone both notched one assist each.
Goaltender Michael Houser (9-8-2) turned aside 30 shots in his 21st appearance of the campaign. The veteran netminder has made 20 or more saves in each of his last five outings, three of which he had exactly 30.
AMERKS CLINCH FOURTH STRAIGHT PLAYOFF BERTH
With today being the final day of the 2022-23 regular season, Rochester sits in fourth place in the AHL's North Division standings, one point behind the Utica Comets, and two back of the Syracuse Crunch, who clinched second. The Amerks are three points ahead of the Rocket, who will finish fifth.
The Amerks officially punched their ticket to the postseason by way of a 3-2 overtime win over Syracuse on April 7 coupled with Cleveland's come-from-behind regulation win against Laval. It marks 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
Subban, whose started four of the last six games for Rochester, boasts a 19-14-5 record with a pair of shutouts this season. He won seven straight between Dec. 10 to Jan. 14, marking the longest win streak 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, who is 5-1-4 over his last 10 starts, 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,.
It's the first time Subban has had multiple shutouts in a season since earning three during the 2014-15 campaign with Providence. Should he get the start today, Subban can potentially reach 20 wins for the first time.
ROUSEK OFF AND RUNNING
ter an injury limited him to just 19 regular-season games during his rookie campaign, forward Lukas Rousek has taken his first full season by storm.
A 2023 AHL All-Star selection, Rousek currently leads the Amerks in assists (40) and points (55) in 69 games while his 15 goals are sixth-most.
Rousek, a sixth-round selection of the Buffalo Sabres in 2019, made his NHL debut on March 27 against Montreal, scoring a goal and adding an assist while logging 9:03 of time in the 4-3 shootout loss.
He scored his first NHL goal on his first shot on his first shift, the first Sabres player to do so since Ethan Prow.
He's the 27th player in Sabres franchise history to score a goal in their NHL debut with Buffalo and the 186th overall to record the first goal of their career as a member of the Sabres.
Rousek also added an assist later in the game, and by doing so, became the first Sabres skater to record a goal an assist in their NHL debut with Buffalo since former Amerk Maxim Afinogenov on Nov. 10, 1999 vs. Boston.
Rousek, who rejoined Amerks Saturday morning following his third recall of the season to Buffalo, shows 44 points (11+33) over his previous 54 games, including 16 points (4+12) in his last 16 appearances.
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 (24) and Brett Murray (23) have already cracked the mark, both doing so back on March 26 versus Cleveland, while Linus Weissbach also reached his first 20-goal campaign in Friday's 7-4 loss to Belleville.
With Kulich, Murray and Weissbach 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 135 of the 141 games dating back to the start of the 2021-22 campaign.
In 66 games this season, Prow, who recorded his first three-point outing of the season on March 10 against Hartford, is tied for 16th in scoring amongst all AHL defensemen with 41 points while his 35 assists are currently 13th-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 29 points (4+25) in his last 41 outings dating back to Dec. 28 and comes into tonight with two goals and 20 assists over his last 31 games.
EARNING THEIR STARS AND STRIPES
With 18 points (7+11) over his last 25 games, Linus Weissbach is nine points back from the team-lead with 46 points (20+26) through 68 games. By scoring his 19th goal and 41st point of the season on April 5 against Syracuse, he established career-highs in both categories, surpassing the marks he set during his rookie campaign in 2021-22.
Brett Murray, who's just one point away from his first 50-point campaign, has captured career-highs in all offensive categories from last season, including goals (24), assists (26) and points (49). The fourth-year pro comes into tonight with 23 points (9+14) in his last 27 games and has recorded at least one shot in all but five games during that span dating back to Nov. 23.
With 12 points (5+7) over his last 27 games, Sean Malone reached the 30-point mark in back-to-back campaigns for the first time in his career. Through 52 contests in his fifth season with the Amerks, Malone has 14 goals and 17 assists.
Amerks captain Michael Mersch shows 34 points (16+18) over his last 46 games dating back to Dec. 17. More impressively, with 44 points in 60 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 65 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 27 games, Davies has collected five goals and seven assists for 12 points.
Rookie Isak Rosen has posted 21 points (11+10) in 36 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 14 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 60 games this season, the Speedway, Indiana, native has already established career-highs in all offensive categories, including goals (14), assists (24) and points (38).
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 11 goals and 25 points over his previous 34 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 seven goals and 18 points over his previous 22 games, a stretch highlighted by a career-best three-game goal-scoring streak.
Jobst has totaled 51 points (18+33) over 86 career games with the Amerks dating back to last season.
WORKING OVERTIME
Last Friday night's overtime win against Syracuse was the eighth time in the span of 11 games -- and the 20th overall -- that went beyond regulation.
The Amerks are 7-6 in overtime this season and show a 4-3 mark in shootouts.
Rochester (.550) is one of 18 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 sixth amongst all AHL rookies in goals (24) and ninth in points (46).
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
The Monsters are currently in sixth place in the seven-team North Division and have been officially eliminated from playoff contention.
Among the half dozen reinforcements returned to the Monsters included leading point-getter Trey Fix-Wolansky, who tops all Cleveland skaters with 29 goals, 42 assists and 71 points, all of which are career-highs from last season. The fourth-year forward has skated in nine contests with the big club this season and was recently named to the AHL Second All-Star Team.
Jet Greaves (19-15-5) 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 a pair of shutouts over his last eight outings. Earlier this season, Greaves made his NHL debut, stopping 46 of 49 shots he faced.
Cleveland has also used Pavel Cajan (8-10-2), Jon Gillies (5-8-2) and Daniil Tarasov (5-5-0) at times this season as they have combined for a 18-23-4 record in 48 appearances.
SERIES NOTABLES
With Chris Jandric making his Amerks debut against Utica on April 8, he became the 39th overall player to appear in one game with the Amerks in 2022-23 and the 16th defenseman. He was also the 20th 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 38 games this season decided beyond regulation, including three of the last six meetings between the two teams. The Amerks are 7-6 and 4-3 in the shootout while the Monsters are 6-5 and 5-2 this season, respectively.
Rochester comes into today having scored at least one goal during the opening period in 15 of the last 18 games versus the Monsters dating back to the 2020-21 campaign.
Filip Cederqvist recorded a natural hat trick in a span of 4:47, including a pair of goals in nine seconds in the first minute of the second period yesterday.
Rochester Americans vs Cleveland Monsters: Head To Head Stats
Summary
|
Description |
Result |
|
| Head to Head Record 2022-23 Regular Season | Rochester 2-3-2-0 | Cleveland 5-1-1-0 |
| Head to Head Record 2021-22 Regular Season | Rochester 5-5-0-0 | Cleveland 5-4-1-0 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Rochester 19-14-3-2 | Cleveland 19-13-5-1 |
| Rochester vs. Cleveland Last 5 Years record at Rochester | Rochester 8-7-3-2 | Cleveland 12-6-2-0 |
| Rochester vs. Cleveland Last 5 Years record at Cleveland | Rochester 11-7-0-0 | Cleveland 7-7-3-1 |
| Previous Meetings This Season | Cleveland 4 @ Rochester 3 (Apr 15 2023) Final Cleveland 3 @ Rochester 2 (Mar 29 2023) Final OT Cleveland 2 @ Rochester 5 (Mar 26 2023) Final Rochester 1 @ Cleveland 2 (Feb 14 2023) Final Rochester 3 @ Cleveland 4 (Dec 3 2022) Final Rochester 4 @ Cleveland 3 (Dec 1 2022) Final OT Cleveland 6 @ Rochester 5 (Nov 11 2022) Final OT |
How the two teams match up
|
Cleveland |
Rochester |
|
| Team Record | 33-31-5-2 -- 73 points | 35-27-6-3 -- 79 points |
| Division Ranking | 6th North | 4th North |
| Conference Ranking | 13th Eastern | 10th Eastern |
| League Ranking | 25th | 17th |
| Past 10 Games | 5-5-0-0 | 6-2-2-0 |
| Streak | 1-0-0-0 | 0-2-0-0 |
| Last Game | 4-3 W @ Rochester (Apr 15 2023) Final | 4-3 L vs Cleveland (Apr 15 2023) Final |
| Home Record | 16-15-4-0 | 18-13-4-1 |
| Away Record | 17-16-1-2 | 17-14-2-2 |
| GF | 219 | 232 |
| GA | 250 | 232 |
| PP (Overall) | (62/297) 20.9% | (54/259) 20.8% |
| PP (Home) | (27/153) 17.6% | (37/135) 27.4% |
| PP (Away) | (35/144) 24.3% | (17/124) 13.7% |
| PK (Overall) | (63/284) 77.8% | (43/234) 81.6% |
| PK (Home) | (31/146) 78.8% | (24/121) 80.2% |
| PK (Away) | (32/138) 76.8% | (19/113) 83.2% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (5/31) 16.1% | (5/21) 23.8% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (5/21) 76.2% | (5/31) 83.9% |
| Leading Rookie | Jiricek (6-32-38) | Kulich (24-22-46) |
| Most PIM | Dunne - 69 | Davies - 90 |
| Team PIM/GM | 11.8/Game | 11.2/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Fix-Wolansky (29-42-71) | Rousek (15-40-55) |
| Richards (10-29-39) | Biro (16-35-51) | |
| Jiricek (6-32-38) | Murray (23-26-49) | |
| Dunne (20-17-37) | Kulich (24-22-46) | |
| Sillinger (11-24-35) | Weissbach (20-26-46) | |
| Last 5 Games | 4-3 W @ Rochester (Apr 15 2023) Final | 4-3 L vs Cleveland (Apr 15 2023) Final |
| 2-1 L @ Utica (Apr 14 2023) Final | 7-4 L vs Belleville (Apr 14 2023) Final | |
| 2-1 W vs Grand Rapids (Apr 10 2023) Final | 5-1 W @ Utica (Apr 8 2023) Final | |
| 3-1 L @ Belleville (Apr 8 2023) Final | 3-2 W @ Syracuse (Apr 7 2023) Final OT | |
| 5-4 W @ Laval (Apr 7 2023) Final | 3-2 L vs Syracuse (Apr 5 2023) Final OT | |
| Leading After 1st | 12-5-2-0 | 19-3-1-1 |
| Leading After 2nd | 18-1-0-0 | 23-5-2-1 |
| Tied After 1st | 13-6-2-2 | 8-10-3-1 |
| Tied After 2nd | 9-5-4-1 | 6-3-3-2 |
| Trailing After 1st | 8-20-1-0 | 8-14-2-1 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 6-25-1-1 | 6-19-1-0 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 14-14-1-0 | 15-10-3-1 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 16-14-3-2 | 20-14-3-2 |
| 1-Goal Games | 20-10-5-2 | 16-8-6-3 |
| 2-Goal Games | 3-5-0-0 | 8-7-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 5-9-0-0 | 2-5-0-0 |
Rochester Americans
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 71 | Filip Cederqvist | 5 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 4 |
| 25 | Jiri Kulich | 7 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| 17 | Sean Malone | 6 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| 18 | Isak Rosen | 7 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| 13 | Linus Weissbach | 7 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | -2 |
| 7 | Ethan Prow | 7 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| 28 | Michael Mersch | 6 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| 11 | Lukas Rousek | 7 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| 10 | Brandon Biro | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | -2 |
| 4 | Jeremy Davies | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 14 | -1 |
| 81 | Brett Murray | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 0 |
| 43 | Matt Bartkowski | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Lawrence Pilut | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | -2 |
| 52 | Mitch Eliot | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | -1 |
| 51 | Aleksandr Kisakov | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 1 |
| 27 | X Chase Priskie | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -1 |
| 3 | Joseph Cecconi | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 26 | Mason Jobst | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 15 | X Riley Sheahan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 |
| 96 | X Anders Bjork | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 56 | X Kale Clague | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 88 | X Brandon Davidson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | X Vinnie Hinostroza | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Michael Houser | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | Tyson Kozak | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -1 |
| 21 | Kohen Olischefski | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 12 | Matej Pekar | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Austin Strand | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 47 | Malcolm Subban | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Peter Tischke | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | X Beck Warm | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | Brendan Warren | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 47 | Malcolm Subban | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 244:37 | 10 | 2.45 | 0.905 |
| 29 | Michael Houser | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 157:16 | 11 | 4.20 | 0.874 |
| 30 | X Beck Warm | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 20:14 | 3 | 8.90 | 0.625 |
Cleveland Monsters
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 64 | Trey Fix-Wolansky | 3 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 4 |
| 42 | Cole Fonstad | 7 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | -3 |
| 71 | Joona Luoto | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 86 | X Kirill Marchenko | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | -1 |
| 12 | Owen Sillinger | 7 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| 21 | Josh Dunne | 7 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Cole Clayton | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 0 |
| 10 | Brendan Gaunce | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 55 | David Jiricek | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| 23 | Jake Christiansen | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 77 | Tyler Angle | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -3 |
| 52 | X Emil Bemstrom | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 20 | Samuel Knazko | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | -7 |
| 17 | Carson Meyer | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Justin Richards | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| 19 | Stanislav Svozil | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | Billy Sweezey | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -3 |
| 37 | Roman Ahcan | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | -3 |
| 4 | Corson Ceulemans | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| 25 | Jake Gaudet | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 29 | Robbie Payne | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 43 | Mikael Pyyhtia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 96 | X Tim Berni | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Brenden Miller | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 33 | Cole Sillinger | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 8 | Alex Whelan | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 88 | X Ole Julian Bjorgvik-Holm | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | Marcus Bjork | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 22 | Erik Bradford | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 |
| 19 | X Luka Burzan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | Cameron Butler | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 30 | Pavel Cajan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 59 | Yegor Chinakhov | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | X Brandon Davidson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 44 | Brett Gallant | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 73 | Jet Greaves | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 82 | Justin Pearson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Dillon Simpson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 |
| 40 | Daniil Tarasov | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 73 | Jet Greaves | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 214:07 | 8 | 2.24 | 0.927 |
| 30 | Pavel Cajan | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 123:25 | 7 | 3.40 | 0.870 |
| 40 | Daniil Tarasov | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 86:06 | 7 | 4.88 | 0.841 |