GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS, MARLIES OPEN HOME-AND-HOME SERIES TODAY
Feb 26, 2022TODAY'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (25-18-3-2) continue their three-in-three weekend today when they host the Toronto Marlies (23-14-3-1) in the front-end of a home-and-home series at The Blue Cross Arena. The afternoon matinee gets underway at 2:35 p.m. and will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
The Amerks have earned at least one point in five of their last eight games and 23 of the last 36 overall dating back to Nov. 19. The Marlies, meanwhile, have have points in eight of their last 10 contests dating back to Jan. 24.
HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPSHOT
After posting a 1-3-0-0 record against the Marlies in 2017-18 , Rochester has gone 10-5-1-0 in the last 16 meetings since, which includes a near-perfect 5-1-0-0 mark during the 2018-19 campaign.
Since the start of the 2016-17 season, Rochester has outscored Toronto 98-96, while the Marlies have outshot the Amerks 948-945. There have been five shutouts since 2016-17 with four of the five coming in Toronto.
Over the last 30 games in the head-to-head series with the Marlies, the Amerks have scored two or more goals in 24 contests, which includes 10 games where they have produced five or more tallies. Coming into today’s matchup, the Amerks are 11-9-1-0 in their last 21 games against the Marlies over the last five seasons.
WATCH: TODAY'S FACE-OFF FIRST LOOK
AMERKS FOURSOME LEADING THE WAY
The Amerks own four of the league’s top point-getters in veteran forward Michael Mersch and rookie sensations JJ Peterka, Brandon Biro and Jack Quinn. Mersch ranks among the AHL’s top 20 goal-scorers while Peterka, Biro and Quinn collectively comprise one-half of the AHL’s top six scoring rookies coming into the weekend.
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 19 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 22 points (9+13) in 19 games to begin 2022, including goals in back-to-back games on three different occasions over that span.
Despite being out with another long-term injury, Quinn continues to pace all AHL rookies in goals (18) and ranks sixth 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 sixth-best offense. Averaging just under four goals per game, the Amerks have scored the third-most goals in the AHL with 162 behind only Ontario and Charlotte.
POWER-PLAY PROFICIENCY
Rochester’s power-play has gone 40-for-166 with a 24.1% conversion rate that is currently second-best in the AHL. The Amerks’ 40 goals on the man-advantage are most among all North Division teams and are nine shy of the AHL lead behind Ontario.
The Amerks have scored at least one power-play goal in 25 of their first 48 games this season and have registered multiple power-play tallies in nine overall, including a season-high four goals in the 7-3 win over Hershey back on Nov. 26.
PETERKA PLAYING TO PERFECTION
With his primary assist last Saturday against Syracuse, forward JJ Peterka took over the team’s scoring lead while also becoming the first Amerk this season and 14th player in the league to reach the 40-point mark.
Since Jack Quinn suffered a lower-body injury with the Buffalo Sabres on Jan. 20, Peterka has helped carried the load for the Amerks offense as he has produced seven goals and nine assists for 16 points in 15 games.
More impressively, Peterka, who was taken 34th overall in the 2020 NHL Draft by the Sabres, has netted 22 points (9+13) in 19 games to start the New Year. The 20-year-old has also registered seven multi-point games over that stretch which also featured three, three-point outings.
Peterka made his highly anticipated NHL debut on Dec. 28 as Buffalo hosted New Jersey before visiting the New York Islanders the very next day. Following his return to the Amerks, he totaled five points on two goals and three assists in two games before being honored as the AHL’s Rookie of the Month of the Week for the period ending Jan. 2, 2022.
Peterka has been held scoreless just six times since Dec. 19 and hasn’t gone more than one game without recording a point during that same span. More impressively, the Amerks are a near-perfect 10-2-0-0 this season when Peterka registers a multi-point game, including 5-0-0-0 on home ice.
With 42 points (13+29) through 42 games, Peterka is the first Amerks rookie to reach the 40-point mark since former Amerk and current Sabre Rasmus Asplund posted 41 points on 10 goals and 31 assists in 75 games during the 2018-19 season. He leads the team and is eighth in the AHL with 29 assists.
He has posted a team-leading 12 multi-point outings this season, including four three-point efforts, along with six game-winning assists.
BIRO BLAZES HIS WAY TO THE NHL
Rookie forward Brandon Biro has been one of the team’s most consistent and impressive point-getters with 31 points (9+23) over his last 28 games dating back to Nov. 27. He has nine multi-point efforts in 23 games over that span, including five straight to open the month of February, prompting a well-deserved NHL recall by the Buffalo Sabres earlier this week.
Biro became the eighth different forward and 14th player overall this season to appear in at least one game with the Sabres and Amerks after making his NHL debut on Wednesday against the Montreal Canadiens. The Alberta native took 17 shifts over 13:30 of ice-time while skating on a line alongside former Amerks Rasmus Asplund and Mark Jankowski.
He’s also the second undrafted player in the organization this season to make his NHL debut for Buffalo, joining defenseman Ethan Prow, and the fifth different Amerks to skate in their first NHL game with the Sabres.
After rejoining the Amerks from his one-game stint with Buffalo, Biro’s 27 assists rank fourth-most among all first-year players. He’s also fifth in rookie scoring with 36 points in 39 games and tied for third with five power-play goals.
After producing just five assists in his first seven games, the former Penn State standout has not gone consecutive games without a point since Nov. 27 and has led the Amerks in scoring with 31 points (9+23) over that span.
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 eight of his 10 appearances this season, he has made 25 or more saves while also averaging 30 shots-against.
WINNING BY THE NUMBERS
Rochester enters tonight as one of two AHL teams to have scored at least 52 goals in all three periods this season. Additionally, the Amerks have scored the third-most first and third-period goals among any other team and have outscored the opposition 52-45 through the opening 20 minutes.
The Amerks have scored four or more goals in all but four of their 25 wins this season, two of which have come on home ice. In 10 of Rochester’s 11 road victories have come with three or more goals despite being outscored 98-78 through their first 25 road games.
THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENSE
Rochester has two of the league’s top point-producing defensemen in Ethan Prow (7+24) and Oskari Laaksonen (4+22), who enter the weekend fourth and 12th in scoring amongst all blueliners, respectively.
In additon to being tied for fourth in scoring (31 points), Prow’s 24 assists are just two more than Laaksonen and are currently tied for fifth-most among all defensemen. With last night’s overtime-winning goal, Prow, who has 13 points (3+10) over his last 14 games dating back to Jan. 22, has totaled 112 points (34+78) over his last 160 American Hockey League contests dating back to the 2018-19 campaign.
Laaksonen, who boasts 11 points (2+9) in his last 20 games since the turn of the New Year, also ranks second among defensemen with 18 power-play assists, trailing only Ontario’s Jordan Spence in that category, as all but four of his 22 assists this season have come on the man-advantage. Equally as impressive, 21 of his 26 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 13th in scoring among AHL rookie defensemen while his 13 assists are 10th-most.
FANTASTIC FOUR
The Amerks currently own four of the AHL’s top scoring rookies in JJ Peterka, Brandon Biro, Jack Quinn and Linus Weissbach, all of whom have combined for 137 points (49+88) through the first 48 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 sixth 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.
Despite having gone nine games without a goal, Weissbach has four assists in his last five games. After opening the month of February with points in three straight games, he’s totaled eight points (1+7) in 11 games this month, his highest output in a single month this season.
With Peterka already at 42 points and both Biro and Quinn closing in on the mark, the Amerks are guaranteed to have multiple rookies finish the regular season with 40 or more points for the first time since the 2005-06 season.
MOVIN' ON UP
Players that have appeared in at least one game this season for both Rochester and Buffalo:
FORWARDS (8)
Brandon Biro*
Mark Jankowski
Peyton Krebs
Ryan MacInnis
Brett Murray
JJ Peterka*
Jack Quinn*
Arttu Ruotsalainen
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 23 games since the turn of the New Year, Amerks forward Arttu Ruotsalainen has tallied 19 points on six goals and 13 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 39 of 41 games with Rochester dating back to the start of the 2020-21 campaign.
In 20 of the last 25 meetings between the two teams dating back to the 2016-17 season, the team that scored first has gone on to come away with the victory. Additionally, in 16 of the last 17 meetings, the winning team has scored at least four goals dating back to the 2017-18 season.
The Amerks are in the middle of a stretch in which they’re facing off against North Division opponents in 17 conecutive games.
Toronto Marlies vs Rochester Americans: Head To Head Stats
Summary
|
Description |
Result |
|
| Head to Head Record 2021-22 Regular Season | Toronto 2-1-0-0 | Rochester 1-2-0-0 |
| Head to Head Record 2020-21 Regular Season | Toronto 0-0-0-0 | Rochester 0-0-0-0 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Toronto 10-8-2-1 | Rochester 11-9-1-0 |
| Toronto vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Toronto | Toronto 4-6-1-0 | Rochester 7-4-0-0 |
| Toronto vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Rochester | Toronto 6-2-1-1 | Rochester 4-5-1-0 |
| Previous Meetings This Season | Rochester 2 @ Toronto 5 (Feb 5 2022) Final Toronto 4 @ Rochester 1 (Nov 5 2021) Final Rochester 7 @ Toronto 3 (Oct 23 2021) Final |
How the 2 teams match up
|
Rochester |
Toronto |
|
| Team Record | 25-18-3-2 -- 55 points | 23-14-3-1 -- 50 points |
| Division Ranking | 4th North | 2nd North |
| Conference Ranking | 9th Eastern | 4th Eastern |
| League Ranking | 15th | 9th |
| Past 10 Games | 3-5-1-1 | 6-2-2-0 |
| Streak | 1-0-0-0 | 0-1-0-0 |
| Last Game | 2-1 W @ Syracuse (Feb 25 2022) Final OT | 6-4 L vs Laval (Feb 23 2022) Final |
| Home Record | 13-7-2-1 | 12-6-2-1 |
| Away Record | 12-11-1-1 | 11-8-1-0 |
| GF | 162 | 143 |
| GA | 170 | 138 |
| PP (Overall) | (40/166) 24.1% | (30/152) 19.7% |
| PP (Home) | (19/82) 23.2% | (17/76) 22.4% |
| PP (Away) | (21/84) 25.0% | (13/76) 17.1% |
| PK (Overall) | (32/167) 80.8% | (28/151) 81.5% |
| PK (Home) | (15/86) 82.6% | (14/78) 82.1% |
| PK (Away) | (17/81) 79.0% | (14/73) 80.8% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (1/6) 16.7% | (2/10) 20% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (2/10) 80% | (1/6) 83.3% |
| Leading Rookie | Peterka (13-29-42) | Steeves (15-15-30) |
| Most PIM | Pekar - 52 | Clune - 57 |
| Team PIM/GM | 12.1/Game | 13.2/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Peterka (13-29-42) | Seney (13-25-38) |
| Mersch (19-20-39) | Duszak (4-27-31) | |
| Biro (9-27-36) | Steeves (15-15-30) | |
| Quinn (18-17-35) | Anderson (17-9-26) | |
| Prow (7-24-31) | Der-Arguchintsev (9-14-23) | |
| Last 5 Games | 2-1 W @ Syracuse (Feb 25 2022) Final OT | 6-4 L vs Laval (Feb 23 2022) Final |
| 5-1 L vs Laval (Feb 20 2022) Final | 6-2 W vs Laval (Feb 21 2022) Final | |
| 6-3 L @ Syracuse (Feb 19 2022) Final | 5-4 L vs Belleville (Feb 19 2022) Final OT | |
| 4-2 L @ Utica (Feb 18 2022) Final | 4-3 L @ Belleville (Feb 18 2022) Final | |
| 3-2 W @ Bridgeport (Feb 15 2022) Final OT | 6-2 W vs Utica (Feb 16 2022) Final | |
| Leading After 1st | 17-3-0-1 | 12-1-2-1 |
| Leading After 2nd | 16-1-0-0 | 17-1-2-1 |
| Tied After 1st | 3-4-3-1 | 5-2-0-0 |
| Tied After 2nd | 5-1-3-2 | 4-2-0-0 |
| Trailing After 1st | 5-11-0-0 | 6-11-1-0 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 4-16-0-0 | 2-11-1-0 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 5-11-2-0 | 8-3-1-0 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 20-7-1-1 | 15-10-2-1 |
| 1-Goal Games | 12-3-3-2 | 9-3-3-1 |
| 2-Goal Games | 6-6-0-0 | 4-2-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 2-4-0-0 | 5-2-0-0 |
Toronto Marlies
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Brett Seney | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | -1 |
| 19 | Semyon Der-Arguchintsev | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 94 | X Kirill Semyonov | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| 89 | X Nick Robertson | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 28 | Joey Anderson | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Alex Biega | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | Bobby McMann | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| 95 | Mikhail Abramov | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 96 | Josh Ho-Sang | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 11 | Mac Hollowell | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| 16 | Alex Steeves | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 39 | Curtis Douglas | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Joseph Duszak | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -2 |
| 12 | Matthew Hellickson | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -3 |
| 52 | Jack Kopacka | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Filip Král | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | Kristiāns Rubīns | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Antti Suomela | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 46 | Joseph Blandisi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Richard Clune | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 48 | Carl Dahlström | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 35 | X Andrew D’Agostini | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | X Kurtis Gabriel | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 71 | Pavel Gogolev | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 30 | Michael Hutchinson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 50 | Erik Källgren | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | X Jeremy McKenna | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 40 | Marc Michaelis | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | Michael Hutchinson | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 59:29 | 2 | 2.02 | 0.938 |
| 35 | X Andrew D’Agostini | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46:54 | 3 | 3.84 | 0.857 |
| 50 | Erik Källgren | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 73:06 | 5 | 4.10 | 0.868 |
Rochester Americans
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Linus Weissbach | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | -2 |
| 28 | Michael Mersch | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 77 | JJ Peterka | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | X Mark Jankowski | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 22 | X Jack Quinn | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Ethan Prow | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | -1 |
| 72 | Ryan MacInnis | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 81 | Brett Murray | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -2 |
| 16 | Peter Tischke | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 45 | Brendan Warren | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 88 | Brandon Davidson | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 19 | X Peyton Krebs | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -2 |
| 17 | Sean Malone | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | Matej Pekar | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | -1 |
| 25 | Arttu Ruotsalainen | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 4 | Jimmy Schuldt | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | Josh Teves | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -3 |
| 10 | Brandon Biro | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 |
| 80 | Aaron Dell | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 52 | Mitch Eliot | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | X Casey Fitzgerald | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 29 | Dominic Franco | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 26 | Mason Jobst | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2 | Oskari Laaksonen | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| 1 | Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Ara Nazarian | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | X Mat Robson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | X Mattias Samuelsson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -4 |
| 91 | Ryan Scarfo | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 59:04 | 2 | 2.03 | 0.900 |
| 80 | Aaron Dell | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 60:00 | 3 | 3.00 | 0.900 |
| 32 | X Mat Robson | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 59:33 | 4 | 4.03 | 0.867 |