GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS GO FOR WEEKEND SWEEP TODAY AGAINST CLEVELAND
Mar 26, 2023TODAY'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (30-25-4-3) continue their push to the playoffs today when they close out their three-game weekend against the Cleveland Monsters at The Blue Cross Arena. Game time is slated for 3:05 p.m. and will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV. The matchup will also be televised live on CW Rochester.
With 10 games remaining in the 2022-23 regular season, Rochester sits in fourth place in the AHL's North Division standings, just four points ahead of the Monsters, who currently occupy the fifth and final playoff spot. The Amerks have two games in hand on the Belleville Senators, who are sixth with 62 points, while Cleveland has one on Rochester.
LAST TIME OUT
A thrilling goaltending duel between Michael Houser and Nico Daws that resulted in shutouts for both netminders went all the way to the shootout, where Houser remained perfect in backstopping the Amerks to a 1-0 win over the Utica Comets Saturday at the Adirondack Bank Center.
Second year-forward Linus Weissbach was the only Amerk to beat the Utica netminder in the shootout
Houser (7-7-2) stopped all 25 shots he faced, which included all four Comet shooters in the shootout. The shutout marked his first as an Amerk and first in the American Hockey League in nearly eight years since March 27, 2015, when he made 26 saves as a member of the San Antonio Rampage.
HEAD-TO-HEAD SEASON SERIES SNAPSHOT
Rochester boasts a 37-18-5-4 record against Cleveland over the last 10 years dating back to the start of the 2011-12 campaign and have earned at least one point in 25 of the last 37 games overall. The Amerks also own a 7-6-2-2 record in the Flower City over the last five seasons versus Cleveland.
Through the first four games of the season series, Rochester has had nine different goal-scorers and 17 different players record at least one point.
The Amerks have used three different goaltenders so far in the four games with Cleveland and all three have allowed at least three goals. Michael Houser (46), Malcolm Subban (31), and Beck Warm (5) have combined to make 104 saves in nearly 246 minutes of game action.
SUBBAN SHOULDERING WORKLOAD
After suffering a defeat in his season-debut, Subban has gone 16-12-3 since over his last 31 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, then his first in the AHL since April 8, 2017, with the Providence Bruins.
It's the first time Subban has posted multiple shutouts in a season since earning three during the 2014-15 campaign with the Providence Bruins. He also matched his previous career-high of 16 wins Friday against Hershey.
BIRO PILING UP THE POINTS
Despite missing a total of 10 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 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 and Brett Murray share the team with 19 goals each while Linus Weissbach remains at a close second with 18, all career-highs for the trio.
Brandon Biro and Lukas Rousek, the team's top two point-getters this season, along with Michael Mersch come into the weekend with 15 goals
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 126 of the 132 games dating back to the start of the 2021-22 campaign.
In 57 games this season, Prow, who recorded his first three-point outing of the season on March 10 against Hartford, is tied for 25th in scoring amongst all AHL defensemen with 33 points while his 27 assists are currently tied for 19th-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, which includes an abbreviated campaign overseas in 2020-21.
The seventh-year pro has posted 21 points (4+17) in his last 32 outings dating back to Dec. 28 and comes into tonight with two goals and 12 assists over his last 22 games.
He's second among all Amerks defensemen with at least five multi-point outings, including a two-goal effort in the 4-3 win at Syracuse back on Jan. 7, and has never gone more than five games all season without a point.
EARNING THEIR STARS AND STRIPES
With 11 points (5+6) over his last 16 games, Linus Weissbach is 11 points back from the team-lead with 39 points (18+21) through 60 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 three Amerks with at least 40 points on the campaign, has captured career-highs in all offensive categories from last season, including goals (19), assists (21) and points (40). The fourth-year pro comes into tonight with 14 points (5+9) in his last 18 games and has recorded at least one shot in all but five games during that span dating back to Nov. 23.
With six points (3+3) over his last 18 games, Sean Malone reached the 20-point mark in back-to-back campaigns for the first time in his career. Through 43 contests in his fifth season with the Amerks, Malone has 12 goals and 13 assists.
Amerks captain Michael Mersch shows 30 points (14+16) over his last 37 games dating back to Dec. 17. More impressively, with 39 points in 51 games, he needs just one more point to reach 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 56 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 18 games, Davies has collected five goals and seven assists for 12 points.
Rookie Isak Rosen has posted 15 points (7+8) in 27 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 10 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 51 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 mark 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 25 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 today with six goals and 12 points over his previous 13 games, a stretch highlighted by a career-best three-game goal-scoring streak.
Jobst has totaled 45 points (17+28) over 77 career games with the Amerks dating back to last season.
WORKING OVERTIME
The 1-0 shootout win last night over Utica was Rochester’s fourth in the last five 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 16 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.
SCOUTING THE MONSTERS
Cleveland comes into today hot on Rochester's heels, sitting in fifth place in the North Division with a 28-26-5-2 overall record, including a 6-3-1-0 mark in its last 10. The Monsters are one point ahead of the Belleville Senators for the fifth and final 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 (15-12-5) 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 44 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 each of the last two 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 10 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.
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
Cleveland Monsters vs Rochester Americans: Head To Head Stats
Summary
|
Description |
Result |
|
| Head to Head Record 2022-23 Regular Season | Cleveland 3-0-1-0 | Rochester 1-2-1-0 |
| Head to Head Record 2021-22 Regular Season | Cleveland 5-4-1-0 | Rochester 5-5-0-0 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Cleveland 17-12-5-1 | Rochester 18-13-2-2 |
| Cleveland vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Cleveland | Cleveland 7-7-3-1 | Rochester 11-7-0-0 |
| Cleveland vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Rochester | Cleveland 10-5-2-0 | Rochester 7-6-2-2 |
| Previous Meetings This Season | 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
|
Rochester |
Cleveland |
|
| Team Record | 30-25-4-3 -- 67 points | 28-26-5-2 -- 63 points |
| Division Ranking | 4th North | 5th North |
| Conference Ranking | 10th Eastern | 12th Eastern |
| League Ranking | 20th | 23rd |
| Past 10 Games | 4-4-0-2 | 6-3-1-0 |
| Streak | 2-0-0-1 | 3-0-0-0 |
| Last Game | 1-0 W @ Utica (Mar 25 2023) Final SO | 4-0 W @ Toronto (Mar 25 2023) Final |
| Home Record | 16-11-2-1 | 15-13-4-0 |
| Away Record | 14-14-2-2 | 13-13-1-2 |
| GF | 200 | 199 |
| GA | 205 | 223 |
| PP (Overall) | (46/228) 20.2% | (58/259) 22.4% |
| PP (Home) | (30/111) 27.0% | (26/139) 18.7% |
| PP (Away) | (16/117) 13.7% | (32/120) 26.7% |
| PK (Overall) | (40/202) 80.2% | (59/254) 76.8% |
| PK (Home) | (21/94) 77.7% | (30/137) 78.1% |
| PK (Away) | (19/108) 82.4% | (29/117) 75.2% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (2/11) 18.2% | (4/18) 22.2% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (4/18) 77.8% | (2/11) 81.8% |
| Leading Rookie | Kulich (19-19-38) | Jiricek (6-28-34) |
| Most PIM | Davies - 84 | Dunne - 67 |
| Team PIM/GM | 11.0/Game | 12.3/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Biro (15-35-50) | Fix-Wolansky (26-41-67) |
| Rousek (15-33-48) | Richards (10-25-35) | |
| Murray (19-21-40) | Dunne (19-15-34) | |
| Weissbach (18-21-39) | Jiricek (6-28-34) | |
| Mersch (15-24-39) | Bemstrom (14-17-31) | |
| Last 5 Games | 1-0 W @ Utica (Mar 25 2023) Final SO | 4-0 W @ Toronto (Mar 25 2023) Final |
| 4-3 W vs Hershey (Mar 24 2023) Final SO | 3-2 W vs Toronto (Mar 24 2023) Final OT | |
| 3-2 L vs Syracuse (Mar 21 2023) Final SO | 5-3 W vs Belleville (Mar 19 2023) Final | |
| 2-1 L @ Hershey (Mar 18 2023) Final | 4-1 L vs Belleville (Mar 18 2023) Final | |
| 5-4 L @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Mar 17 2023) Final SO | 4-3 L vs Grand Rapids (Mar 16 2023) Final OT | |
| Leading After 1st | 17-3-1-1 | 11-5-2-0 |
| Leading After 2nd | 20-4-2-1 | 17-1-0-0 |
| Tied After 1st | 7-10-2-1 | 10-4-2-2 |
| Tied After 2nd | 5-2-1-2 | 6-4-4-1 |
| Trailing After 1st | 6-12-1-1 | 7-17-1-0 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 5-19-1-0 | 5-21-1-1 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 13-9-2-1 | 10-13-1-0 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 17-13-2-2 | 15-12-3-2 |
| 1-Goal Games | 14-7-4-3 | 15-9-5-2 |
| 2-Goal Games | 7-7-0-0 | 3-4-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 1-4-0-0 | 5-6-0-0 |
Cleveland Monsters
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 64 | X Trey Fix-Wolansky | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 4 |
| 86 | X Kirill Marchenko | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | -1 |
| 42 | Cole Fonstad | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | -1 |
| 10 | Brendan Gaunce | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 71 | Joona Luoto | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 21 | Josh Dunne | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | -1 |
| 77 | Tyler Angle | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | -3 |
| 52 | X Emil Bemstrom | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | Owen Sillinger | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 34 | Cole Clayton | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -1 |
| 55 | David Jiricek | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 20 | Samuel Knazko | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | -3 |
| 6 | Billy Sweezey | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -3 |
| 25 | Jake Gaudet | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 29 | Robbie Payne | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 96 | X Tim Berni | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | Carson Meyer | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 | Justin Richards | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 37 | Roman Ahcan | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -3 |
| 88 | X Ole Julian Bjorgvik-Holm | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | Marcus Bjork | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 22 | Erik Bradford | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 |
| 19 | X Luka Burzan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | X Pavel Cajan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | X Jake Christiansen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 8 | X Brandon Davidson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 44 | Brett Gallant | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 73 | Jet Greaves | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Brenden Miller | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 18 | Dillon Simpson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 |
| 40 | Daniil Tarasov | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 73 | Jet Greaves | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 119:42 | 4 | 2.00 | 0.939 |
| 30 | X Pavel Cajan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 63:35 | 4 | 3.77 | 0.852 |
| 40 | Daniil Tarasov | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 60:45 | 5 | 4.94 | 0.808 |
Rochester Americans
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Brandon Biro | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | -2 |
| 71 | Filip Cederqvist | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 4 | Jeremy Davies | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 2 |
| 17 | Sean Malone | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 28 | Michael Mersch | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 18 | Isak Rosen | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 52 | Mitch Eliot | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | -1 |
| 51 | Aleksandr Kisakov | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| 25 | Jiri Kulich | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 27 | X Chase Priskie | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -1 |
| 13 | Linus Weissbach | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -3 |
| 43 | Matt Bartkowski | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Joseph Cecconi | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 26 | Mason Jobst | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 7 | Ethan Prow | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 11 | X Lukas Rousek | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 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 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | Tyson Kozak | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 81 | Brett Murray | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Lawrence Pilut | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 47 | Malcolm Subban | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Peter Tischke | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | X Beck Warm | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | Brendan Warren | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 47 | Malcolm Subban | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 123:41 | 5 | 2.43 | 0.914 |
| 29 | Michael Houser | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 98:44 | 7 | 4.25 | 0.868 |
| 30 | X Beck Warm | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 20:14 | 3 | 8.90 | 0.625 |