GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS, ROCKET WRAP UP TWO-GAME SET TONIGHT
Nov 24, 2023TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (9-4-2-0) and Laval Rocket (5-9-2-0) clash for the second time in three nights tonight as the North Division rivals conclude a two-game set at The Blue Cross Arena. The game will be live carried on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV. The matchup will also be tape delayed on CW Rochester.
The Amerks and Rocket, who enter their seventh season in the AHL and third under head coach Jean-François Houle, will meet eight times during the 2023-24 regular season, with tonight being the third of four in Rochester. Through four games of the season-series, the North Division rivals have combined for 39 goals with just one goal of separation (Roc-20) (Lav-19).
HEAD-TO-HEAD RESULTS AGAINST LAVAL
Dating back to last season, Amerks forward Jiri Kulich has recorded eight goals, including four through the first four games of the 2023-24 season series, as well as three assists in 12 career contests against the Rocket.
Tonight’s matchup sees two of the AHL’s top five offenses go up against one another. Both teams are currently averaging more than 3.60 goals per game
Rochester has picked up at least one point in 14 of its first 19 road games in Laval, going 12-5-2-0 over that span. Conversely, since the start of the 2017-18 campaign, the Amerks have posted a near-perfect 13-3-0-0 mark at The Blue Cross Arena versus Laval.
Rochester has never had a losing season versus the Rocket and have gone 4-3-1-0 each of the last two seasons.
LAST TIME OUT
Brandon Biro (1+1) helped the Amerks erase a two-goal deficit before Jiri Kulich finished off a 4-3 overtime win Wednesday night against the Rocket at The Blue Cross Arena.
In addition to Biro turning in his fourth straight multi-point outing and Kulich scoring for the second time in as many games, Justin Richards and Viktor Neuchev logged their third and second goals of the campaign, respectively. Lukas Rousek, Isak Rosen, and Riley Stillman each recorded an assist in the win for Rochester, which improved to 3-1-0-0 in the season series.
Goaltender Dustin Tokarski (4-1-1) made his sixth appearance of the season and third straight start in the crease.
THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENSE
The Amerks own two of the league’s top scoring defensemen in Jeremy Davies and Kale Clague, who have 10 and nine points, respectively, through Rochester’s first 15 games of the season.
Davies, who scored a career-high 11 goals last season, including three game-winning tallies, ranks fifth amongst all AHL blueliners with 44 shots. He’s recorded at least one shot in all but two games this season. Davies, who closed out the month of October on a five-game point streak, has recorded at least one point in eight of his first 14 games this season, never going more than three straight games without a point.
Clague, meanwhile, is currently tied for 10th among all rearguards with eight assists in 13 games. Clague opened the campaign with three multi-point performances through his first six games.
DYNAMIC DUO: THE SEQUEL
Jiri Kulich and Isak Rosen both return for their second seasons in Rochester after putting up one of the most impressive and productive seasons as teenagers in the history of the AHL during the 2022-23 campaign.
Kulich continued his torrid start to the season Wednesday against Laval, scoring his team-leading 11th goal in just his 15th game. Kulich, whose 24 goals last season were the second-most ever by an 18-year-old in league history, is currently tied for second in the AHL in goals. The second-year forward, who hasn’t gone more than three games without a goal this season, joined Luke Adam (2013-14) and Jack Quinn (2021-22) as the only other Amerks skaters to score nine goals through their first 11 games.
Coming off a career-best four points (2+2) Saturday in Cleveland and an assist on Kulich’s game-winner Wednesday, Rosen is tied for third in the in AHL in scoring with 18 points while his 11 assists are tied for 10th-most.
The duo has combined for 116 points (56+60) in 156 regular season games. Rochester boasts an 19-3-2-1 record when they each record at least one point in the same game as well as a near-perect 8-1-0-0 mark when they both score in the same game.
TOKARSKI AMONG ELITE COMPANY
Veteran goaltender Dustin Tokarski, who missed the first eight games of the season due to an injury he sustained in training camp, made his season debut back on Nov. 3rd against Utica.
In doing so, the two-time Calder Cup winner and AHL All-Star became just the 18th goaltender in league history to play in 400 career games, a list that also includes former Amerks Bobby Perreault (512), Michael Leighton (507), Drew MacIntyre (440) and Ed Chadwick (417).
Tokarski, who’s in his second stint with the Amerks and 10th different AHL franchise, went 1-1-0 during a brief two-game stint with Rochester as part of the COVID-shortnened 2020-21 campaign. He went 12-20-7 in 42 appearances with the Buffalo Sabres from 2021-23.
Currently in his 15th season, he joins Marcel Paille and Michael Leighton as the only goaltenders all-time to play at least 15 seasons in the AHL.
Tokarski, who’s 4-1-1 in his first six starts, recently surpassed the 10,000-save mark for his AHL career following a 31-save effort against Utica on Nov. 10. He also reached the 12,000-save mark for his pro career the week prior when he appeared in his 400th AHL game against the Comets.
Entering this weekend, the 34-year-old Tokarski is two wins away from tying Nick Damore for 12th all-time in career wins (208). He also ranks 18th all-time in games played (405) and will tie Yann Danis for eighth all-time with his next shutout.
In addition to being a two-time Calder Cup winner (2012, 2019), Tokarski won a Memorial Cup with Spokane in 2008 followed by a gold medal with Canada at the 2009 World Junior Championship.
Tokarski has reached the 20-win mark five times over his 15-year pro career, including a career-best 32 wins in 2011-12 when he backstopped the Norfolk Admirals to a professional hockey record of 28 straight wins while leading the club to its and only Calder Cup.
SCORING IN BUNCHES
The Amerks come into the holiday weekend with the AHL’s second-best offense, averaging 3.87 goals per game through their first 15 games of the season. Their 58 goals scored are tied for most in the AHL with Laval.
Rochester has put up at least four goals in 10 of its first 15 games, including six outings with five goals or more.
The Amerks are a perfect 5-0-0-0 this season when scoring five goals in a game. Rochester is also tied for second in the AHL with 19 first-period tallies this season.
SERIES NOTABLES
Laval goaltender Strauss Mann was credited with a goal in the first meeting between the two teams back on Oct. 18, an 8-4 win for the Rocket.
Rocket forward Joshua Roy is tied for first in the AHL in rookie scoring with 18 points (7+11) in his first 16 games. Roy, who also paces all first-year players in assists (11), had a season-best five-point effort against the Amerks on Oct. 20, which featured a natural hat trick and two assists.
Rocket forward Joel Armia spent parts of two seasons (2013-15) with the Amerks, recording 52 points (17+35) in 87 career games. Armia was formerly a first-round pick (16th overall) of the Buffalo Sabres in 2011.
Laval Rocket vs Rochester Americans: Head To Head Stats
Summary
|
Description |
Result |
|
| Head to Head Record 2023-24 Regular Season | Laval 1-1-2-0 | Rochester 3-1-0-0 |
| Head to Head Record 2022-23 Regular Season | Laval 4-4-0-0 | Rochester 4-3-1-0 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Laval 9-11-4-0 | Rochester 15-7-2-0 |
| Laval vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Laval | Laval 6-4-2-0 | Rochester 6-4-2-0 |
| Laval vs. Rochester Last 5 Years record at Rochester | Laval 3-7-2-0 | Rochester 9-3-0-0 |
| Previous Meetings This Season | Laval 3 @ Rochester 4 (Nov 22 2023) Final OT Laval 4 @ Rochester 7 (Oct 27 2023) Final Rochester 4 @ Laval 8 (Oct 20 2023) Final Rochester 5 @ Laval 4 (Oct 18 2023) Final OT |
How the two teams match up
|
Rochester |
Laval |
|
| Team Record | 9-4-2-0 -- 20 points | 5-9-2-0 -- 12 points |
| Division Ranking | 2nd North | 7th North |
| Conference Ranking | 4th Eastern | 14th Eastern |
| League Ranking | 8th | 25th |
| Past 10 Games | 6-3-1-0 | 4-5-1-0 |
| Streak | 2-0-0-0 | 0-2-1-0 |
| Last Game | 4-3 W vs Laval (Nov 22 2023) Final OT | 4-3 L @ Rochester (Nov 22 2023) Final OT |
| Home Record | 4-1-2-0 | 3-5-1-0 |
| Away Record | 5-3-0-0 | 2-4-1-0 |
| GF | 58 | 58 |
| GA | 65 | 70 |
| PP (Overall) | (11/50) 22.0% | (13/83) 15.7% |
| PP (Home) | (4/21) 19.0% | (10/55) 18.2% |
| PP (Away) | (7/29) 24.1% | (3/28) 10.7% |
| PK (Overall) | (15/55) 72.7% | (13/65) 80.0% |
| PK (Home) | (6/23) 73.9% | (6/36) 83.3% |
| PK (Away) | (9/32) 71.9% | (7/29) 75.9% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (5/17) 29.4% | (4/20) 20% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (4/20) 80% | (5/17) 70.6% |
| Leading Rookie | Novikov (0-7-7) | Roy (7-11-18) |
| Most PIM | Cecconi - 30 | Simoneau - 40 |
| Team PIM/GM | 11.0/Game | 17.9/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Rosen (7-11-18) | Roy (7-11-18) |
| Kulich (11-4-15) | Gignac (5-10-15) | |
| Biro (5-5-10) | Farrell (4-8-12) | |
| Davies (2-8-10) | Simoneau (3-7-10) | |
| Jobst (6-3-9) | Stephens (3-7-10) | |
| Last 5 Games | 4-3 W vs Laval (Nov 22 2023) Final OT | 4-3 L @ Rochester (Nov 22 2023) Final OT |
| 7-5 W @ Cleveland (Nov 18 2023) Final | 6-3 L @ Utica (Nov 18 2023) Final | |
| 2-0 L @ Cleveland (Nov 16 2023) Final | 3-2 L vs Lehigh Valley (Nov 17 2023) Final | |
| 6-0 L @ Utica (Nov 11 2023) Final | 6-4 W vs Belleville (Nov 15 2023) Final | |
| 4-3 W vs Utica (Nov 10 2023) Final | 5-2 W @ Manitoba (Nov 13 2023) Final | |
| Leading After 1st | 5-0-0-0 | 4-0-1-0 |
| Leading After 2nd | 6-0-0-0 | 3-0-0-0 |
| Tied After 1st | 1-2-1-0 | 0-3-0-0 |
| Tied After 2nd | 1-0-2-0 | 0-2-1-0 |
| Trailing After 1st | 3-2-1-0 | 1-6-1-0 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 2-4-0-0 | 2-7-1-0 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 3-2-1-0 | 3-4-2-0 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 5-2-1-0 | 2-5-0-0 |
| 1-Goal Games | 7-0-2-0 | 0-3-2-0 |
| 2-Goal Games | 1-1-0-0 | 2-0-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 1-0-0-0 | 1-4-0-0 |
Laval Rocket
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Joshua Roy | 4 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 1 |
| 28 | Lias Andersson | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | -1 |
| 27 | Mitchell Stephens | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | Lucas Condotta | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| 44 | Olivier Galipeau | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| 40 | Joel Armia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 | Sean Farrell | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 68 | Riley McKay | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 81 | Xavier Simoneau | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 26 | -1 |
| 37 | Brandon Gignac | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | -1 |
| 13 | Nicolas Beaudin | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| 24 | Logan Mailloux | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | -2 |
| 38 | Strauss Mann | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | X Mattias Norlinder | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 | Alex-Olivier Voyer | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 21 | Riley Kidney | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 61 | Philippe Maillet | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -4 |
| 48 | X Filip Mesar | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 14 | Jan Mysak | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| 3 | X Jayden Struble | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 84 | William Trudeau | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | -4 |
| 23 | Nolan Yaremko | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Tobie Bisson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 |
| 71 | Jakub Dobeš | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 25 | Brady Keeper | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 17 | Nathan Légaré | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -3 |
| 7 | X Gustav Lindstrom | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 71 | Jakub Dobeš | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 180:55 | 14 | 4.64 | 0.878 |
| 38 | Strauss Mann | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 63:07 | 5 | 4.75 | 0.857 |
Rochester Americans
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | Mason Jobst | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | -3 |
| 10 | Brandon Biro | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 2 |
| 56 | Kale Clague | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| 18 | Isak Rosen | 4 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| 25 | Jiri Kulich | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| 4 | Jeremy Davies | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 1 |
| 11 | Lukas Rousek | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | -1 |
| 16 | Justin Richards | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| 79 | Viktor Neuchev | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 52 | Aleksandr Kisakov | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | -6 |
| 13 | Linus Weissbach | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 93 | X Matthew Savoie | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 45 | Brendan Warren | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 21 | Filip Cederqvist | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -3 |
| 28 | Michael Mersch | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -2 |
| 22 | Zach Metsa | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 74 | Nikita Novikov | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 61 | Riley Stillman | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 3 | Joseph Cecconi | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| 1 | Devin Cooley | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 96 | Damien Giroux | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 29 | X Michael Houser | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | X Ryan Johnson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 44 | Tyson Kozak | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 81 | Brett Murray | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | -3 |
| 7 | Ethan Prow | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 19 | Graham Slaggert | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 34 | Dustin Tokarski | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 34 | Dustin Tokarski | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 62:56 | 3 | 2.86 | 0.927 |
| 1 | Devin Cooley | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 122:49 | 7 | 3.42 | 0.916 |
| 29 | X Michael Houser | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 59:19 | 7 | 7.08 | 0.788 |