GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS CLOSE OUT ROAD SWING TONIGHT IN SYRACUSE
Feb 19, 2022TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (24-16-3-2) conclude their season-long five-game road swing tonight when they visit the Syracuse Crunch (18-18-4-1) for an intrastate showdown at Upstate Medical University Arena. The 7:00 p.m. matchup will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
The Amerks saw their four-game point streak snapped following a 4-2 loss to the Utica Comets last night. The Crunch enter tonight having won three of their last six, including a 5-2 win over Laval las night on home ice.
HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPSHOT
Tonight’s meeting is the fifth between the North Division rivals since Jan. 5 and the seventh of 12 overall this season. The Amerks claimed the first two meetings, but Syracuse has responded with four straight wins since, including a 2-1 victory in the previous get-together in Syracuse on Jan. 8.
Tonight’s matchup begins a stretch in which the Amerks and Crunch will face-off five times over the next 22 days between now and March 13, which includes twice in three-day span.
The Amerks have scored a power-play goal in 16 of their last 27 games against Syracuse, going 26-for-95 (27.4%) with the man-advantage over that span. Additionally, Rochester has collected at least one point in 23 of the last 38 games against the Crunch dating back to the 2018-19 campaign.
AMERKS TRIFECTA LEADING THE WAY
The Amerks own three of the league’s top point-getters in veteran forward Michael Mersch and rookie sensations JJ Peterka and Jack Quinn. Mersch and Quinn, who is currently on recall with the Buffalo Sabres, rank among the AHL’s top 10 goal-scorers. Mersch (19+20) and Peterka (13+26), meanwhile, are tied for 14th in overall scoring with 39 points each.
Mersch, who despite seeing his career-best nine-game point streak halted in the 5-2 loss to Charlotte on Feb. 4, has points in 10 of his last 18 games as he inches closer to the 40-point mark for the fifth time in his career.
After scoring just four times through the first three months of the season, Peterka has notched 19 points (9+10) in 16 games to begin 2022, including goals in back-to-back games on three different occasions over that span.
Quinn continues to pace all AHL rookies in goals (18) and ranks fifth in points (35) while his team-high six power-play goals are also second-most among all first-year players.
Rochester enters the weekend with the AHL’s third-best offense. Averaging just under four goals per game, the Amerks have scored the third-most goals in the AHL with 156 behind only the Ontario Reign and Utica Comets.
POWER-PLAY PROFICIENCY
Rochester’s power-play has gone 37-for-155 with a 23.9% conversion rate that is currently second-best in the AHL. The Amerks’ 37 goals on the man-advantage are most among all North Division teams and are eight shy of the AHL lead behind Ontario.
The Amerks have scored at least one power-play goal in 24 of their first 44 games this season and have registered multiple power-play tallies in eight overall, including a season-high four goals in the 7-3 win over Hershey back on Nov. 26.
QUINN-TESSENTIAL QUALITIES
Quinn became the first AHL player this season and just the 17th player in Amerks franchise history to score four goals in a game in the 6-5 overtime loss to Belleville on Jan. 15. More impressively, he scored all four goals consecutively, including the game-tying tally with 3.3 seconds remaining in regulation.
He’s the first Amerk to have a four-goal game since Rochester native Derek Whitmore single-handedly outscored Hamilton on Nov. 25, 2011 (5-2 W).
With 18 goals through his first 24 games, he’s on pace to become the first Amerk to score 20 goals in the fewest number of games since Luke Adam reached the mark in 31 games during the 2013-14 campaign.
He was named the AHL’s Rookie of the Month for October after leading all first-year players with 10 points (5+5) through the first month of the regular season. In just six games to begin the season, Quinn surpassed his offensive output from his truncated 2020-21 campaign, and became the first AHL player to reach the 10-point mark this season.
Quinn has been held scoreless just four times all season and hasn’t gone more than one game without recording a point. He has recorded 11 multi-point performances this year. More impressively, the Amerks are a near-perfect 10-0-1-0 this season when Quinn registers a multi-point game, including 6-0-1-0 on home ice.
On Nov. 12, Quinn became the first AHL rookie since Frank Vatrano in 2015-16 to score eight goals through his first 10 games of the season.
Despite again being out of the lineup for an extended period of time for the second time this season, Quinn is one of only two AHL rookies with at least six power-play goals this season, joining San Jose’s Scott Reedy.
MERSCH LEADING BY EXAMPLE
Mersch will become the first Amerk and just the 14th player in the AHL this season to reach the 40-point mark on his very next point. In doing so, he will have reached the mark for the fifth time in his eight-year pro career.
Mersch has totaled 26 points (12+14) and four multi-point efforts over his last 31 games dating back to Nov. 24. He’s been held scoreless 12 times over that span to move into 14th in the AHL in scoring with 39 points (19+20) on the season. The Amerks captain began that stretch with a five-game goal-scoring streak, the longest of his career and the longest in the AHL this season, while his recent nine-game point streak surpassed his his previous career-best mark of seven he set during the 2014-15 season.
Mersch is also set to become just the eighth AHL player to join the 20-goal club on his next goal. It will mark the fifth time in eight years that he reached the mark and the first time since the 2018-19 season as a member of the Texas Stars.
When he reaches the 20-goal mark, he will have done so in the second- fewest number of games since 2015-16 when he scored 20 in 35 games with the Ontario Reign. He finished that season with 24 goals in only 52 appearances while also appearing in 17 games with the Los Angeles Kings.
Mersch has appeared in all but one of Rochester’s 74 games dating back to last season, including the lone player to appear in all 45 contests in 2021-22.
DELL-IVERING IN THE CREASE
Goaltender Aaron Dell began his Amerks career with an impressive six straight wins through his first six starts with Rochester. Until now, the veteran netminder had never began a season with a win in each of his first six starts at either the NHL or AHL level.
With a win against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Feb. 9, Dell matched his career-best 7-1-0 mark when he posted one from March 20 to April 10 during the 2014-15 season with Worcester. In seven of his eight appearances this season, he has made 25 or more saves while also averaging 30 shots-against.
WINNING BY NUMBERS
Rochester enters tonight as the only AHL team to have scored at least 49 goals in all three periods this season. Additionally, the Amerks have scored the second-most first and third-period goals among any other team and have outscored the opposition 51-39 through the opening 20 minutes.
The Amerks have scored four or more goals in all but three of their 24 wins this season, two of which have come on home ice. Each of Rochester’s 11 road victories have come with three or more goals despite being outscored 90-74 through their first 23 road games.
THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENSE
Rochester has two of the league’s top point-producing defensemen in Ethan Prow (6+22) and Oskari Laaksonen (3+21), who enter the weekend tied for fifth and ninth in scoring amongst all blueliners, respectively.
In additon to being fifth in scoring, Prow’s 22 assists are just one more than Laaksonen and are currently sixth-most among all defensemen. With 10 points over his last 11 games, including a third-period goal against Providence on Feb. 11, he remains on pace to capture his third straight 30-point season in the AHL. The veteran defenseman has totaled 109 points (33+76) over his last 156 AHL contests dating back to the 2018-19 campaign.
Laaksonen, who boasts nine points (1+8) in his last 17 games since the turn of the New Year, also paces all defensemen with 17 power-play assists as all but four of his 21 assists this season have come on the man-advantage. Equally as impressive, 19 of his 24 points have come on the power-play.
His best performance of the season came back on Jan. 12 when he recorded a career-high four assists in the 7-6 win over Utica, including three in the first period and three of which came on the power-play. He finished two assists shy of tying the franchise record for most in a single game.
Prior to earning his second recall of the season to the Buffalo Sabres, rookie defenseman Mattias Samuelsson recorded two assists in the overtime loss to Belleville on Jan. 15, giving him 15 points (2+13) in 22 games. Samuelsson is tied for 11th in scoring among AHL rookie defensemen while his 13 assists are 10th-most. With his Sabres season debut at Ottawa on Jan. 18, he became the 13th different player to appear in a game for both Buffalo and Rochester.
FANTASTIC FOUR
The Amerks currently own four of the AHL’s top scoring rookies in Jack Quinn, JJ Peterka, Linus Weissbach and Brandon Biro, all of whom have combined for 131 points (48+83) through the first 45 games this season.
Despite being sidelined again for the second time this season, Quinn, Buffalo’s eighth overall pick in 2020, continues to pace all first-year players in goals (18) while ranking fifth in points (35) in 24 games. Quinn became the 101st AHL player this season to make his NHL debut when he took the ice against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan. 11. He finished with team-highs in shots (3) and shot attempts (6) while earning 16:30 of total ice time. He then returned to the Sabres a day after scoring his 18th goal of the season for Rochester and was rewarded with his first two NHL points, including a goal against Vezina Trophy winner and Stanley Cup champion Braden Holtby in the Sabres’ 5-4 loss to the Dallas Stars on Jan 20.
Peterka is second in rookie scoring with 39 points (13+26) after recording two more points against Bridgeport on Tuesday. He also ranks fourth among all first-year players and 12th overall with 26 assists. He and Quinn, taken just 26 picks apart from one another by Buffalo in the 2020 NHL Draft, currently make up the only three rookie duos across the entire AHL to rank inside the top three on their respective team in scoring.
Biro has been one of the team’s most consistent and impressive point-getters with 30 points (7+29) over his last 26 games dating back to Nov. 27. He has nine multi-point efforts in 22 games over that span, including five straight to open the month of February. He ranks third among all rookies with a team-high 27 assists and is tied for fifth with 35 points in 37 games.
MOVIN' ON UP
Players that have appeared in at least one game this season for both Rochester and Buffalo:
FORWARDS (7)
Mark Jankowski
Ryan MacInnis
Brett Murray
Arttu Ruotsalainen
Peyton Krebs
Jack Quinn*
JJ Peterka*
DEFENSEMEN (3)
Casey Fitzgerald*
Ethan Prow*
Mattias Samuelsson
GOALTENDERS (3)
Aaron Dell
Michael Houser
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
* = Made NHL debut
SERIES NOTABLES
Of the 14 different defensemen the Amerks have used this season, 13 have notched at least one point while nine have recorded at least one goal. Additionally, of the 20 different forwards to appear in one game for Rochester, 18 have scored a goal and 19 have produced a point.
Over his last 20 games since the turn of the New Year, Amerks forward Arttu Ruotsalainen has tallied 18 points on six goals and 12 assists, a stretch which began with a three-point effort versus Hartford on Jan. 2. Ruotsalainen has also turned in a multi-point effort in five games over that same span and had a career-best eight shots against Utica on Jan. 12. The Finnish forward has recorded at least one shot in 36 of 38 games with Rochester dating back to the start of the 2020-21 campaign.
In the first two games with Syracuse, Rochester outscored the Crunch 9-5 while earning a pair of wins. In the four games since, the Amerks have been held to just one goal in three of the four despite outshooting Syracuse each game.
Rochester Americans vs Syracuse Crunch: Head To Head Stats
Summary
|
Description |
Result |
|
| Head to Head Record 2021-22 Regular Season | Rochester 3-2-1-0 | Syracuse 3-3-0-0 |
| Head to Head Record 2020-21 Regular Season | Rochester 5-5-2-0 | Syracuse 7-4-1-0 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Rochester 24-19-5-1 | Syracuse 25-16-5-3 |
| Rochester vs. Syracuse Last 5 Years record at Rochester | Rochester 10-11-3-1 | Syracuse 15-6-3-1 |
| Rochester vs. Syracuse Last 5 Years record at Syracuse | Rochester 14-8-2-0 | Syracuse 10-10-2-2 |
| Previous Meetings This Season | Syracuse 1 @ Rochester 2 (Jan 28 2022) Final Syracuse 3 @ Rochester 2 (Jan 19 2022) Final OT Rochester 1 @ Syracuse 3 (Jan 8 2022) Final Syracuse 2 @ Rochester 1 (Jan 5 2022) Final Rochester 4 @ Syracuse 2 (Nov 27 2021) Final Syracuse 3 @ Rochester 5 (Oct 22 2021) Final |
How the two teams match up
|
Syracuse |
Rochester |
|
| Team Record | 18-18-4-1 -- 41 points | 24-16-3-2 -- 53 points |
| Division Ranking | 6th North | 3rd North |
| Conference Ranking | 11th Eastern | 6th Eastern |
| League Ranking | 22nd | 13th |
| Past 10 Games | 4-5-1-0 | 4-4-1-1 |
| Streak | 1-0-0-0 | 0-1-0-0 |
| Last Game | 5-2 W vs Laval (Feb 18 2022) Final | 4-2 L @ Utica (Feb 18 2022) Final |
| Home Record | 10-8-0-1 | 13-6-2-1 |
| Away Record | 8-10-4-0 | 11-10-1-1 |
| GF | 113 | 156 |
| GA | 131 | 158 |
| PP (Overall) | (28/142) 19.7% | (37/155) 23.9% |
| PP (Home) | (18/76) 23.7% | (19/77) 24.7% |
| PP (Away) | (10/66) 15.2% | (18/78) 23.1% |
| PK (Overall) | (33/143) 76.9% | (30/157) 80.9% |
| PK (Home) | (17/61) 72.1% | (14/82) 82.9% |
| PK (Away) | (16/82) 80.5% | (16/75) 78.7% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (6/18) 33.3% | (5/20) 25% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (5/20) 75% | (6/18) 66.7% |
| Leading Rookie | Koepke (11-13-24) | Peterka (13-26-39) |
| Most PIM | Dumont - 55 | Pekar - 50 |
| Team PIM/GM | 11.9/Game | 12.1/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Dumont (19-15-34) | Mersch (19-20-39) |
| Hudon (17-12-29) | Peterka (13-26-39) | |
| Koepke (11-13-24) | Quinn (18-17-35) | |
| Day (5-17-22) | Biro (8-27-35) | |
| Barré-Boulet (3-18-21) | Prow (6-22-28) | |
| Last 5 Games | 5-2 W vs Laval (Feb 18 2022) Final | 4-2 L @ Utica (Feb 18 2022) Final |
| 5-1 L @ Laval (Feb 12 2022) Final | 3-2 W @ Bridgeport (Feb 15 2022) Final OT | |
| 2-1 L @ Laval (Feb 11 2022) Final OT | 2-1 L @ Hartford (Feb 12 2022) Final OT | |
| 6-2 L @ Laval (Feb 9 2022) Final | 3-2 L @ Providence (Feb 11 2022) Final SO | |
| 3-1 W vs Charlotte (Feb 5 2022) Final | 3-1 W vs Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Feb 9 2022) Final | |
| Leading After 1st | 10-1-2-0 | 17-3-0-1 |
| Leading After 2nd | 12-1-2-0 | 16-1-0-0 |
| Tied After 1st | 5-7-1-1 | 3-4-3-1 |
| Tied After 2nd | 4-5-1-0 | 4-1-3-2 |
| Trailing After 1st | 3-10-1-0 | 4-9-0-0 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 2-12-1-1 | 4-14-0-0 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 11-13-2-1 | 5-10-2-0 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 7-5-2-0 | 19-6-1-1 |
| 1-Goal Games | 7-5-4-1 | 11-3-3-2 |
| 2-Goal Games | 8-5-0-0 | 6-6-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 2-3-0-0 | 2-3-0-0 |
Rochester Americans
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | X Jack Quinn | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 0 |
| 72 | Ryan MacInnis | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 0 |
| 17 | Sean Malone | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 2 |
| 14 | X Mark Jankowski | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 28 | Michael Mersch | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 77 | JJ Peterka | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | Oskari Laaksonen | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 7 | Ethan Prow | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | Josh Teves | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | Brandon Biro | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 13 | Linus Weissbach | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 45 | Brendan Warren | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | Mason Jobst | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 19 | X Peyton Krebs | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1 | Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Arttu Ruotsalainen | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | Jimmy Schuldt | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 16 | Peter Tischke | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 47 | Nick Boka | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| 23 | Lukas Craggs | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 88 | Brandon Davidson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 48 | X David Drake | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | X Wyatt Ege | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 52 | Mitch Eliot | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 | X Casey Fitzgerald | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| 29 | Dominic Franco | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 41 | X Michael Houser | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 81 | Brett Murray | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -2 |
| 21 | X Ara Nazarian | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 12 | Matej Pekar | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 27 | Patrick Polino | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 32 | X Mat Robson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | X Mattias Samuelsson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 91 | Ryan Scarfo | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32 | X Mat Robson | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 120:54 | 4 | 1.99 | 0.926 |
| 41 | X Michael Houser | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 174:25 | 6 | 2.06 | 0.917 |
| 1 | Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 60:00 | 3 | 3.00 | 0.875 |
Syracuse Crunch
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | Gabriel Dumont | 6 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 9 | -2 |
| 12 | Alex Barré-Boulet | 4 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 |
| 45 | Cole Koepke | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| 7 | Simon Ryfors | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | -4 |
| 55 | Charles Hudon | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 12 | -4 |
| 57 | Alex Green | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -2 |
| 16 | Otto Somppi | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | -1 |
| 74 | Sean Day | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| 78 | X Jaydon Dureau | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 88 | Antoine Morand | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 43 | X Tyler Bird | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 51 | X Maxim Cajkovic | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -2 |
| 81 | Remi Elie | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -2 |
| 9 | Gabriel Fortier | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | -1 |
| 20 | Ryan Jones | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 0 |
| 26 | X Tristin Langan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | X Jesse Lees | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Darren Raddysh | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | -2 |
| 60 | Hugo Alnefelt | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Fredrik Claesson | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Shawn Element | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 25 | X Cal Foote | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 5 | Jason Garrison | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 39 | Gage Goncalves | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 27 | Owen Headrick | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | Frank Hora | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | X Jimmy Huntington | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | P.C. Labrie | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 33 | Max Lagace | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | Amir Miftakhov | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Andrej Sustr | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 92 | X Odeen Tufto | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 85 | Daniel Walcott | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33 | Max Lagace | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 59:45 | 1 | 1.00 | 0.944 |
| 60 | Hugo Alnefelt | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 180:15 | 7 | 2.33 | 0.915 |
| 35 | Amir Miftakhov | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 118:27 | 5 | 2.53 | 0.902 |