GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS LOOK TO MAKE IT THREE WINS IN THREE DAYS TODAY IN PROVIDENCE
Feb 26, 2023TODAY'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (25-20-3-1) look for their third straight win as many days as they close out their three-game weekend this afternoon against the Providence Bruins at Amica Mutual Pavilion. Game time is slated for a 3:05 p.m. start and will be carried on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
The Amerks, who are 2-0-0-0 through the first two games of the weekend, have accounted for 15 goals in their last two games following the 8-4 victory over Laval on Friday and a 7-1 blowout win last night versus Springfield to begin a busy stretch of six games over a nine-day span.
HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPSHOT
Tonight is just the 16th meeting between the Amerks and the Bruins over the last 13 years. Dating back to the 2007-08 season, Rochester has gone 4-8-2-1 during that span, including earning three out of a four possible points in two meetings with Providence last season.
The Amerks are 0-2-1-1 in their last three visits to Providence compared to a 3-1-0-0 mark on home ice in the last five years.
Dating back to the 2007-08 season, there have been 10 one-goal games between Providence and Rochester, including a 4-3 overtime win for the Amerks in the previous get-together earlier this season back on Nov. 23 at The Blue Cross Arena.
Linus Weissbach’s game-winning goal in the final seconds of overtime capped a wild third-period comeback as the Amerks scored three straight unanswered goals to erase a 3-1 deficit and stun then league-leading Bruins in the first meeting of the season.
LAST TIME OUT
After falling behind 1-0, the Amerks countered with seven straight unanswered goals on their way to a dominating 7-1 win over the over the Springfield Thunderbirds Saturday at MassMutual Center.
Isak Rosen (2+1) and Anders Bjork (0+3) each notched three points while Brandon Biro, Jiri Kulich and Lukas Rousek all collected two assists. Jeremy Davies and Brett Murray also turned in a multi-point effort while Michael Mersch (1+0), Joseph Cecconi (1+0) and Lawrence Pilut (0+1) concluded the scoring in the victory.
Goaltender Michael Houser made 39 saves to improve to 6-5-1 in his 14th appearance of the season. The netminder turned aside all 25 shots he faced over the final 40 minutes.
SUBBAN SHOULDERING THE WORKLOAD
After suffering a defeat in his season-debut on Nov. 18, Subban has gone 12-9-1 since over his last 22 starts, including seven straight wins between Dec. 10 to Jan. 14. The seven-game win streak was the longest of his pro career and the third-longest streak among all AHL goaltenders behind Toronto's Joseph Woll and Calgary's Dustin Wolf.
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.
Subban, who picked up his 100th career win in the 5-4 overtime victory over Utica on Dec. 28, has topped the 30-save mark six times in his last 18 starts
BIRO PILING UP THE POINTS
Despite missing six games due to injury, third-year forward Brandon Biro has blazed his way atop the team's scoring leaders 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, currently is one point back of the team lead in points (35) and tops all skaters in assists (26) through 39 games. His seven-game point streak to close out the 2022 calendar year was the longest of his career.
Dating back to last season, Biro has totaled 76 points on 21 goals and 55 assists over his last 87 games and hasn't gone more than seven games without a point since Nov. 27, 2021.
JOBST HAVING A CAREER YEAR
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 38 games this season, the Speedway, Indiana, native has already established career-highs in all offensive categories, including goals (7), assists (13) and points (20).
With an assist in the 5-4 overtime win in Belleville on Feb. 4, Jobst reached the 20-point mark for the first time in his pro career, becoming then the ninth different Amerk to eclipse the mark.
Since the turn of the New Year, Jobst has amassed four goals and seven points over his previous 12 games, including his first career hat trick in the 7-5 loss to the first-place Toronto Marlies back on Jan. 14. Jobst single-handedly outscored Toronto in the second period with back-to-back goals before netting what was the go-ahead goal in the third period.
Jobst has totaled 33 points (11+22) over 64 career games with the Amerks dating back to last season.
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 117 of the 123 games dating back to the start of the 2021-22 campaign.
In 47 games this season, Prow is tied for 18th in scoring amongst all AHL defensemen with 28 points while his 23 assists are currently tied for 14th-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 16 points (3+13) in his last 22 outings dating back to Dec. 28 and comes into tonight with one goal and eight assists over his last 12 games.
He leads all Amerks defensemen with 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.
SERIES NOTABLES
Amerks goaltender Malcolm Subban spent his first four pro seasons with the Bruins from 2013-2017 after being drafted in the first round (24th overall) by Boston in 2012. In 127 games with the Providence, he posted a 56-45-14 record to go along with six shutouts.
Rochester forward Anders Bjork also began his professional career with Providence as he appeared in 29 games from 2017-20. Bjork, who was Boston's fifth-round selection (146th overall) in 2014, produced 16 goals and 16 assists for 22 points while also appearing in 138 games for Boston.
Both Rochester (11) and Providence (17) enter tonight having appeared in multiple games decided beyond regulation. The Amerks are 6-3 in overtime and 1-1 in the shootout compared to the Bruins' 4-8 and 3-2 marks, respectively. Both teams also show a winning record when scoring the game's first goal (ROC 15-7-1-1) (PRO 16-4-4-1).
Georgii Merkulov fuels the Providence's offense in both goals (17) and points (40) through the 47 games this season. He is tied for fourth in scoring amongst all AHL rookies and tied for eighth in goals.
Rochester Americans vs Providence Bruins: Head To Head Stats
Summary
|
Description |
Result |
|
| Head to Head Record 2022-23 Regular Season | Rochester 1-0-0-0 | Providence 0-0-1-0 |
| Head to Head Record 2021-22 Regular Season | Rochester 1-0-0-1 | Providence 1-1-0-0 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Rochester 3-2-1-1 | Providence 4-2-1-0 |
| Rochester vs. Providence Last 5 Years record at Rochester | Rochester 3-1-0-0 | Providence 1-2-1-0 |
| Rochester vs. Providence Last 5 Years record at Providence | Rochester 0-1-1-1 | Providence 3-0-0-0 |
| Previous Meetings This Season | Providence 3 @ Rochester 4 (Nov 23 2022) Final OT |
How the two teams match up
|
Providence |
Rochester |
|
| Team Record | 31-10-8-2 -- 72 points | 25-20-3-1 -- 54 points |
| Division Ranking | 1st Atlantic | 4th North |
| Conference Ranking | 2nd Eastern | 10th Eastern |
| League Ranking | 4th | 20th |
| Past 10 Games | 7-2-1-0 | 5-4-1-0 |
| Streak | 1-0-0-0 | 2-0-1-0 |
| Last Game | 6-5 W vs Charlotte (Feb 24 2023) Final OT | 7-1 W @ Springfield (Feb 25 2023) Final |
| Home Record | 12-6-5-2 | 13-10-2-0 |
| Away Record | 19-4-3-0 | 12-10-1-1 |
| GF | 158 | 158 |
| GA | 134 | 163 |
| PP (Overall) | (39/214) 18.2% | (36/178) 20.2% |
| PP (Home) | (15/110) 13.6% | (24/88) 27.3% |
| PP (Away) | (24/104) 23.1% | (12/90) 13.3% |
| PK (Overall) | (36/201) 82.1% | (34/159) 78.6% |
| PK (Home) | (17/100) 83.0% | (18/77) 76.6% |
| PK (Away) | (19/101) 81.2% | (16/82) 80.5% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (0/3) 0% | (1/3) 33.3% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (1/3) 66.7% | (0/3) 100% |
| Leading Rookie | Merkulov (17-23-40) | Kulich (14-18-32) |
| Most PIM | Abate - 62 | Davies - 44 |
| Team PIM/GM | 14.3/Game | 10.5/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Merkulov (17-23-40) | Rousek (11-25-36) |
| Lettieri (16-21-37) | Biro (9-26-35) | |
| Brazeau (14-18-32) | Weissbach (15-17-32) | |
| Lysell (11-17-28) | Kulich (14-18-32) | |
| Ahcan (4-24-28) | Murray (16-14-30) | |
| Last 5 Games | 6-5 W vs Charlotte (Feb 24 2023) Final OT | 7-1 W @ Springfield (Feb 25 2023) Final |
| 3-2 L vs Springfield (Feb 19 2023) Final | 8-4 W vs Laval (Feb 24 2023) Final | |
| 3-2 L @ Hartford (Feb 18 2023) Final OT | 3-2 L vs Syracuse (Feb 19 2023) Final OT | |
| 6-2 W vs Springfield (Feb 17 2023) Final | 5-1 L @ Toronto (Feb 18 2023) Final | |
| 3-1 W @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Feb 11 2023) Final | 6-2 W vs Toronto (Feb 17 2023) Final | |
| Leading After 1st | 9-2-3-0 | 15-3-0-0 |
| Leading After 2nd | 16-0-6-0 | 17-4-1-0 |
| Tied After 1st | 17-2-3-2 | 5-8-2-1 |
| Tied After 2nd | 8-3-1-0 | 3-2-1-1 |
| Trailing After 1st | 5-6-2-0 | 5-9-1-0 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 7-7-1-2 | 5-14-1-0 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 13-6-2-1 | 9-8-2-0 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 16-2-6-1 | 16-9-1-1 |
| 1-Goal Games | 17-5-8-2 | 12-5-3-1 |
| 2-Goal Games | 8-2-0-0 | 6-5-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 4-2-0-0 | 1-3-0-0 |
Rochester Americans
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 81 | Brett Murray | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | Linus Weissbach | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 96 | Anders Bjork | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 56 | X Kale Clague | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 25 | Jiri Kulich | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 28 | Michael Mersch | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 7 | Ethan Prow | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 11 | Lukas Rousek | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 43 | Matt Bartkowski | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Jeremy Davies | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 52 | Mitch Eliot | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Michael Houser | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | Mason Jobst | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 51 | Aleksandr Kisakov | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | Tyson Kozak | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 17 | Sean Malone | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 27 | Chase Priskie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 18 | Isak Rosen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 45 | Brendan Warren | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | Michael Houser | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 64:54 | 3 | 2.77 | 0.912 |
Providence Bruins
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Samuel Asselin | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 22 | Fabian Lysell | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Nick Wolff | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 19 | John Beecher | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 15 | Justin Brazeau | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 95 | X Vinni Lettieri | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 6 | Mike Reilly | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Kai Wissmann | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 43 | Jack Ahcan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 35 | Brandon Bussi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | Josiah Didier | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | Joona Koppanen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Jakub Lauko | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 24 | Marc McLaughlin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 |
| 10 | Georgii Merkulov | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 |
| 21 | Dan Renouf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 29 | Oskar Steen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Luke Toporowski | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Chris Wagner | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | Brandon Bussi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 64:54 | 4 | 3.70 | 0.913 |