AMERKS LOOK FOR SECOND STRAIGHT WIN IN CLEVELAND TODAY

GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS OPEN FIVE-GAME ROAD SWING TONIGHT IN CLEVELAND

Apr 1, 2022

TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW

The Rochester Americans (31-24-5-3) embark on a five-game road swing to open the final month of the regular season tonight with the first of back-to-back meetings against the Cleveland Monsters (23-27-8-4) at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The North Division matchup gets underway at 7:00 and will be carried live on The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.

GAME NOTES

MEDIA KIT

2021-22 AHL STANDINGS

2021-22 NHL STANDINGS

2021-22 ROCHESTER STATS

2021-22 BUFFALO STATS

2021-22 CLEVELAND STATS

2021-22 COLUMBUS STATS

WATCH LIVE ON AHLTV

LISTEN LIVE ON THE FAN ROCHESTER

Rochester snapped its three-game winless skid on Sunday, giving them points in seven of its last eight, going 4-1-2-1 over that span. The Monsters  have lost three of their last four and are 3-5-2-0 in their last 10 contests.

HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPSHOT

Rochester holds a record of 35-13-4-4 against Cleveland over the last 10 years dating back to the start of the 2011-12 campaign and has earned a point in 13 of the last 19 games between the two teams.

The Amerks have scored 14 power-play goals in their last 16 games against Cleveland dating back to the start of the 2019-20 season, going 14-for-62 (22.6%) with the man-advantage over that span. Rochester’s penalty kill unit has been successful in 57-of-70 shorthanded situations (81.4%) as well.

In the previous 12 games with Cleveland, the winning club has scored at least four goals. In six of the last seven head-to-head matchups with the Monsters, the Amerks have tallied at least once in the first 20 minutes of play, which includes five of the six games this season.

VIEW FROM ROCHESTER

Rochester remains in the thick of what is clearly shaping up to be a very tight race to the finish among its fellow North Division opponents. Six teams, including the Amerks, who have only 13 games remaining on the schedule, show at least 30 wins.

The Amerks sit in fifth place in the Division with a .556 points percentage through 63 games this season. The top five teams in the North Division are guaranteed to clinch a playoff spot.

Of Rochester’s final 13 games this season, 11 will be played against North Division opponents, which includes four against the Cleveland Monsters and two opposite the league-leading Utica Comets.

With 13 points (5+8) over his last seven games, including four three-point efforts in that span, Jack Quinn is second among all AHL rookies with a team-leading 23 goals and ranks fourth in points (48) while his team-high eight power-play goals are also third-most among all rookies.

Rochester has the AHL’s seventh-best offense. Averaging under four goals per game, the club have scored the third-most goals in the AHL with 211 and rank tied for most in the North Division.

AMERKS BOLSTER BLUELINE AT AHL TRADE DEADLINE

The Amerks made only one move ahead of the AHL’s trade deadline earlier this week, but it was one that will undoubtedly positively impact the team in its pursuit of clinching a playoff spot for the second time in four years.

Rochester acquired veteran defenseman Mark Alt from the San Jose Barracuda in exchange for forward Mason Jobst.

Prior to making his Amerks debut Wednesday agains Utica, Alt, 30, appeared in 46 games with the Barracuda this season, tallying eight points (5+3).

A native of St. Paul, Minn., Alt is a veteran of 452 American Hockey League games with San Jose, Ontario, Colorado, Lehigh Valley/Adirondack and now Rochester, totaling 125 points (33+92) while also appearing in 20 NHL contests with Los Angeles, Colorado and Philadelphia.

Prior to turning pro, the 6-foot-4, 201-pound blueliner played three seasons at the University of Minnesota, where he amassed 39 points (7+32) in 117 career games with the Gophers.

Alt was a second-round selection (53rd overall) of the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2010 NHL Draft.

POWER-PLAY PROFICIENCY

Rochester’s power-play has gone 54-for-225 with a 24.0% conversion rate that is currently third-best in the AHL. The Amerks’ 54 goals on the man-advantage are most among all North Division teams and are five shy of the AHL lead behind Ontario.

The Amerks have scored at least one power-play goal in 35 of their first 63 games this season and have registered multiple power-play tallies in 13 overall, including a season-high four goals in the 7-3 win over Hershey back on Nov. 26.

PETERKA FLOURISHING IN SECOND HALF

Coming off his two-goal outing against Cleveland on March 18, forward JJ Peterka became the first Amerk this season and just the third AHL rookie to reach the 50-point mark.

After scoring just four times through the first three months of the season, Peterka has notched 32 points (13+19) in 34 games to begin 2022, including goals in back-to-back games on four different occasions over that span.

Peterka, who was taken 34th overall in the 2020 NHL Draft by the Sabres, leads all AHL rookies and is tied for sixth in the AHL with 178 shots on goal. He’s only gone two games all season without recording at least one shot on goal.

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 12 times since Dec. 19 and hasn’t gone more than two games without recording a point during that same span. More impressively, the Amerks are 11-2-0-0 this season when Peterka registers a multi-point game, including 6-0-0-0 on home ice.

With a team-high 52 points (17+35) through 57 games, Peterka is the first Amerks rookie to reach the 50-point mark since Phil Varone had 52 points (11+41) in 76 games during the 2011-12 season. Peterka also leads the team and is ninth in the AHL with 35 assists.

Coming into the weekend, he’s one of only five AHL rookies currently leading his respective team in scoring.

APPERT JOINS ELITE COMPANY

By way of a 6-5 overtime victory over the Cleveland Monsters on March 19, which pushed the team’s point streak to four games, Seth Appert became Rochester’s sixth straight head coach to reach the 30-win mark in his first full season behind the bench.

Should the Amerks win nine of their remaining 13 games this season, Appert will become the first bench boss to lead his team to 40 wins in his first full season at the helm since Hall of Famer Randy Cunneyworth, who in nine seasons went on to become the winningest coach in franchise history.

Appert is 42-39-11 in 92 career games with the Amerks since 2020-21.

RACE TO 20

After the cancellation of the remainder of the 2019-20 season and a truncated 2020-21 campaign failed to produce a 20-goal scorer for just the fourth time in franchise history, the Amerks could potentially have several by season’s end with eight players currently with 10 or more goals.

Michael Mersch and Quinn, who both returned to the lineup on March 18 against Cleveland, both reached the mark in their first game back, despite Quinn appearing in 20 fewer games than Mersch. Peterka and Arttu Ruotsalainen remain on pace with 17 and 16 goals, respectively, while Brett Murray (15) Linus Weissbach (13) are closing in on the milestone as well.

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).

Playing in just his 27th game of the season, Quinn became 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 seven times all season and hasn’t gone more than two games without recording a point. He has recorded 14 multi-point performances this year, including four three-point efforts over a seven-game span to close out the month of March. More impressively, the Amerks are a near-perfect 12-1-1-0 this season when Quinn registers a multi-point game, including 8-0-1-0 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.

Quinn is one of only four AHL rookies with at least eight power-play goals this season.

MERSCH LEADING BY EXAMPLE

Mersch became just the second Amerk this season to reach the 40-point with his 20th goal of the season against Cleveland on March 18. In doing so, he reached the mark for the fifth time in his eight-year pro career.

Mersch has totaled 33 points (16+17) and six multi-point efforts over his last 38 games dating back to Nov. 24. 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 in January surpassed his previous career-best mark of seven he set during the 2014-15 season.

Mersch also reached the 20-goal mark for the fifth time in eight years and the first time since the 2018-19 season as a member of the Texas Stars. He did so in the second-fewest number of games (47) 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 is one goal away from matching a career-high of 24 when he was a member of the Ontario Reign in the 2015-16 season. With 46 points on the campaign, he’s also just three points away from matching his personal-best.

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. Before this season, 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 14 of his 17 appearances this season, he has made 25 or more saves while also averaging 30 shots-against. He posted a season-high 36 saves on Feb. 26 at Toronto.

THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENSE

Rochester has two of the league’s top point-producing defensemen in Ethan Prow (9+31) and Oskari Laaksonen (5+25), who enter the weekend fifth and tied for 15th in scoring amongst all blueliners, respectively.

Prow, who reached the 40-point mark for the second time in his AHL career with an assist on Wednesday, is also tied for fourth with 31 assists, which are just six more than Laaksonen. His nine goals are tied for sixth-most by a defenseman this season and only three off the league lead. With an assist this past Wednesday against Utica, Prow has recorded 22 points (5+17) over his last 27 games. Additionally, he has totaled 121 points (36+85) over his last 173 AHL contests dating back to the 2018-19 campaign.

Laaksonen, who shows four points (1+3) over his last seven games coming into tonight, also ranks second among defensemen with 20 power-play assists, as all but five of his 25 assists this season have come on the man-advantage. Equally as impressive, 25 of his 30 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.

FANTASTIC FOUR

The Amerks currently own four of the AHL’s top scoring rookies in JJ Peterka, Jack Quinn, Brandon Biro and Linus Weissbach, all of whom have combined for 170 points (62+108) through Rochester’s first 63 games this season.

Peterka’s torrid start to the second half of the year has him third among all rookies in points (52), third in assists (35) and tied for 10th in goals (17).

Quinn, the Buffalo Sabres’ eighth overall pick in 2020, is second among all first-year players with a team-high 23 goals and ranks fourth in points (48) despite only appearing in 32 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 missing the last 14 games due to injury, Biro is still tied for 12th in scoring amongst all rookies with 36 points (9+27) in 40 games.

With a third-period goal this past Sunday against Bridgeport, Weissbach has notched 14 points (4+10) in his last 20 games. He finished the month of February with 11 points (1+10) in 13 contests, including a season-high three-assist effort on Feb. 27 at Toronto to bring the month to a close.

With Peterka already at 52 points and Quinn at 48 points, it marks the first time since the 2006-07 season the club will finish the regular season with multiple rookies with 40 or more points.

ROAD TO BUFFALO LEADS THROUGH ROCHESTER

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

WORKING OVERTIME

Rochester’s 6-5 overtime loss to Bridgeport on Sunday was the 16th game this season - and ninth since Feb. 11 - that went beyond regulation for the Amerks.

The Amerks are 6-5 in overtime but show just a 2-3 mark in shootouts.

Only five more teams have played more overtime games than the Amerks.

Rochester tied an AHL record with 29 overtime games in 2017-18.

WINNING BY NUMBERS

Rochester enters tonight as one of only two AHL teams to have scored at least 62 goals in all three periods this season. Additionally, the Amerks have scored the fifth-most first and third-period goals among any other team and have scored as many goals as they have and allowed (62) through the opening 20 minutes.

The Amerks have scored four or more goals in all but seven of their 31 wins this season, three of which have come on home ice. Additionally, 13 of Rochester’s 15 road victories have come with three or more goals despite being outscored 119-99 through their first 31 road games.

OTHER AMERKS NOTABLES

Of the 16 different defensemen the Amerks have used this season, 14 have notched at least one point while 11 have recorded at least one goal. Additionally, of the 26 different forwards to appear in one game for Rochester, 19 have scored a goal and 22 have produced a point.

Over his last 38 games since the turn of the New Year, Amerks forward Arttu Ruotsalainen has tallied 40 points on 16 goals and 24 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 11 games over that same span, an impressive run highlighted by three consecutive two-goal games for the first time in his AHL career. He’s recorded at least one point in 12 of his last 14 outings since Feb. 27.

This past Sunday, Ruotsalainen became the fourth different Amerk to reach the 40-point mark, joining Peterka, Quinn and Mersch. It is the first time in his North American career he has reached the mark and third time as a pro.

Rochester is only team in the AHL this season to have three different rookies with at least 10 goals, 20 assists and 30 points in Peterka (17+35=52), Quinn (22+23=45) and Weissbach (13+21=34).

Rochester Americans vs Cleveland Monsters: Head To Head Stats
Summary

Description

Result

Head to Head Record 2021-22 Regular Season Rochester 4-2-0-0 Cleveland 2-3-1-0
Head to Head Record 2020-21 Regular Season Rochester 2-4-0-0 Cleveland 4-1-0-1
Last 5 Years record between teams Rochester 16-8-1-2 Cleveland 11-11-4-1
Rochester vs. Cleveland Last 5 Years record at Rochester Rochester 7-5-1-2 Cleveland 8-5-2-0
Rochester vs. Cleveland Last 5 Years record at Cleveland Rochester 9-3-0-0 Cleveland 3-6-2-1
Previous Meetings This Season Cleveland 5 @ Rochester 6 (Mar 19 2022) Final OT
Cleveland 4 @ Rochester 5 (Mar 18 2022) Final
Rochester 3 @ Cleveland 7 (Jan 22 2022) Final
Rochester 4 @ Cleveland 1 (Jan 21 2022) Final
Cleveland 0 @ Rochester 4 (Nov 13 2021) Final
Cleveland 4 @ Rochester 3 (Nov 12 2021) Final

How the two teams match up

 

Cleveland

Rochester

Team Record 23-27-8-4 -- 58 points 31-24-5-3 -- 70 points
Division Ranking 7th North 5th North
Conference Ranking 14th Eastern 8th Eastern
League Ranking 28th 16th
Past 10 Games 3-5-2-0 4-3-2-1
Streak 0-2-0-0 1-0-1-0
Last Game 4-2 L vs Chicago (Mar 29 2022) Final 4-3 W vs Utica (Mar 30 2022) Final
Home Record 10-15-4-1 16-11-3-2
Away Record 13-12-4-3 15-13-2-1
GF 171  211 
GA 212  233 
PP (Overall) (32/200) 16.0% (54/225) 24.0%
PP (Home) (10/103) 9.7% (27/114) 23.7%
PP (Away) (22/97) 22.7% (27/111) 24.3%
PK (Overall) (52/230) 77.4% (41/221) 81.4%
PK (Home) (20/106) 81.1% (21/117) 82.1%
PK (Away) (32/124) 74.2% (20/104) 80.8%
PP vs. Opp. (4/18) 22.2% (4/20) 20%
PK vs. Opp. (4/20) 80% (4/18) 77.8%
Leading Rookie Angle (8-22-30) Peterka (17-35-52)
Most PIM Sweezey - 86 Pekar - 56
Team PIM/GM 13.0/Game 12.8/Game
Leading Scorers Christiansen (11-30-41) Peterka (17-35-52)
  Scott (14-16-30) Quinn (23-25-48)
  Angle (8-22-30) Mersch (23-23-46)
  Gaunce (16-12-28) Ruotsalainen (16-26-42)
  Sikura (11-16-27) Prow (9-31-40)
Last 5 Games 4-2 L vs Chicago (Mar 29 2022) Final 4-3 W vs Utica (Mar 30 2022) Final
  6-3 L vs Charlotte (Mar 27 2022) Final 6-5 L vs Bridgeport (Mar 27 2022) Final OT
  1-0 W vs Charlotte (Mar 25 2022) Final 5-1 L @ Syracuse (Mar 26 2022) Final
  4-0 L @ Syracuse (Mar 23 2022) Final 3-2 L vs Toronto (Mar 25 2022) Final SO
  3-2 W @ Utica (Mar 21 2022) Final SO 6-5 W vs Cleveland (Mar 19 2022) Final OT
Leading After 1st 11-1-2-0 19-3-1-2
Leading After 2nd 13-2-0-0 20-1-2-1
Tied After 1st 7-5-4-3 5-5-3-1
Tied After 2nd 7-2-4-2 7-1-3-2
Trailing After 1st 5-21-2-1 7-16-1-0
Trailing After 2nd 3-23-4-2 4-22-0-0
Out Shooting Opponents 12-16-4-0 5-11-2-0
Out Shot by Opponents 9-8-3-4 26-13-3-2
1-Goal Games 15-4-8-4 17-5-5-3
2-Goal Games 2-8-0-0 7-6-0-0
3-Goal Games 1-9-0-0 2-5-0-0


Rochester Americans

# Player GP G A PTS PIM +/-
77 JJ Peterka 6 5 5 10 6 2
22 Jack Quinn 4 4 5 9 0 2
28 Michael Mersch 6 4 2 6 0 0
14 Mark Jankowski 4 2 3 5 4 0
13 Linus Weissbach 6 1 4 5 2 2
25 Arttu Ruotsalainen 4 3 1 4 4 -2
10 Brandon Biro 3 0 4 4 0 3
2 Oskari Laaksonen 6 0 3 3 4 0
7 Ethan Prow 5 0 3 3 2 3
24 X Mattias Samuelsson 2 0 3 3 2 2
72 Ryan MacInnis 4 1 1 2 5 -1
81 Brett Murray 4 1 1 2 0 -1
44 Josh Teves 6 1 1 2 2 4
18 Ben Holmstrom 2 0 2 2 0 2
4 Jimmy Schuldt 4 0 2 2 2 2
47 Nick Boka 2 1 0 1 0 0
5 X Casey Fitzgerald 4 1 0 1 5 2
21 X Ara Nazarian 2 1 0 1 0 0
52 Mitch Eliot 4 0 1 1 4 -2
19 X Peyton Krebs 2 0 1 1 0 0
91 Ryan Scarfo 4 0 1 1 0 0
88 Brandon Davidson 1 0 0 0 0 0
80 Aaron Dell 1 0 0 0 0 0
29 X Dominic Franco 2 0 0 0 4 -1
26 X Mason Jobst 2 0 0 0 0 0
70 Nate Knoepke 2 0 0 0 0 -1
1 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen 3 0 0 0 0 0
17 Sean Malone 2 0 0 0 0 1
12 Matej Pekar 4 0 0 0 2 0
27 Patrick Polino 2 0 0 0 0 -1
32 X Mat Robson 1 0 0 0 0 0
11 Lukas Rousek 2 0 0 0 0 -2
16 Peter Tischke 3 0 0 0 0 0
45 Brendan Warren 4 0 0 0 2 2
35 X Charles Williams 1 0 0 0 0 0

 

# Player GP W L OT MIN GA GAA SV%
32 X Mat Robson 1 1 0 0 59:43 1 1.00 0.972
1 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen 3 2 1 0 183:15 9 2.95 0.921
80 Aaron Dell 1 1 0 0 60:00 4 4.00 0.886
35 X Charles Williams 1 0 1 0 58:49 5 5.10 0.800


Cleveland Monsters

# Player GP G A PTS PIM +/-
10 X Brendan Gaunce 4 5 1 6 0 -1
64 Trey Fix-Wolansky 3 3 1 4 2 3
23 Jake Christiansen 4 1 3 4 0 1
20 Justin Scott 6 0 4 4 2 -2
17 Carson Meyer 6 3 0 3 15 -1
77 Tyler Angle 6 1 2 3 0 0
18 Dillon Simpson 6 1 2 3 4 3
16 Tyler Sikura 6 0 3 3 9 2
27 Tristan Mullin 6 2 0 2 0 -3
25 Jake Gaudet 4 1 1 2 2 0
12 Cole Cassels 6 0 2 2 6 -5
4 Scott Harrington 4 0 2 2 2 -2
26 Thomas Schemitsch 6 0 2 2 2 -2
13 Roman Ahcan 2 1 0 1 0 1
22 Tim Berni 6 1 0 1 0 -3
13 X Justin Danforth 2 1 0 1 0 -1
29 X Zach Jordan 1 1 0 1 2 1
42 Cole Fonstad 4 0 1 1 0 2
19 Liam Foudy 2 0 1 1 0 -1
14 Adam Helewka 4 0 1 1 2 -4
82 Kevin Stenlund 3 0 1 1 0 -1
6 Billy Sweezey 6 0 1 1 2 3
35 X Jean-Francois Berube 3 0 0 0 0 0
34 Cole Clayton 4 0 0 0 2 -5
21 Josh Dunne 2 0 0 0 2 -3
44 Brett Gallant 2 0 0 0 2 -1
31 Jet Greaves 2 0 0 0 0 0
50 Robbie Payne 2 0 0 0 0 -1
37 X Jake Slaker 1 0 0 0 0 -1
40 X Daniil Tarasov 1 0 0 0 0 0

 

# Player GP W L OT MIN GA GAA SV%
40 X Daniil Tarasov 1 1 0 0 60:00 3 3.00 0.893
31 Jet Greaves 2 1 1 0 117:55 8 4.07 0.857
35 X Jean-Francois Berube 3 0 2 1 182:43 13 4.27 0.822
Back to All