GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS, T-BIRDS CLOSE OUT SEASON SERIES TONIGHT IN SPRINGFIELD
Feb 25, 2023TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (24-20-3-1) continue their three-game weekend tonight when they close out their season-series with the Springfield Thunderbirds (25-19-2-4) at MassMutual Center. Game time is slated for a 7:05 p.m. start and will be carried on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
Tonight is just the 14th meeting between the Amerks and Thunderbirds over the last six seasons. Rochester has eight wins since the start of the 2016-17 campaign. Tonight's matchup is also the first of two against the Atlantic Division with an afternoon matinee slated for Sunday in Providence.
HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPSHOT
The two clubs have split the season-series in each of the last three seasons with each team posting one win as well as a loss. On Feb. 10, the Amerks, suffered their first lost on home ice against Springfield and show a 5-1-0-0 mark dating back to the start of the 2016-17 campaign.
Over that same time span, there have been six one-goal games, four two-goal games and a pair of seven-plus goal outings over the previous 13 contests between Springfield and Rochester.
Rochester shows a 1-2-1 record in the last five seasons on the road in Springfield and is searching for its first win since Oct. 11, 2019.
LAST TIME OUT
On the strength of seven different skaters recording a multi-point night and a total of five different goal-scorers, the Amerks erupted for an 8-4 victory over the Laval Rocket Friday at The Blue Cross Arena.
Lukas Rousek (1+2) booked his first three-point outing of his AHL career while Jiri Kulich (2+1), Michael Mersch (2+0), Brandon Biro (0+2), Lawrence Pilut (0+2), Vinnie Hinostroza (0+2), and Matt Bartkowski (0+2) all produced a multi-point game. Jeremy Davies, Ethan Prow, Linus Weissbach each scored one goal. Sean Malone, Tyson Kozak, Brett Murray, and Anders Bjork rounded out the scoring as they had one assist.
Goaltender Malcolm Subban (12-10-1) made 20 saves en route to picking up his 12th victory of the season.
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 (33) and tops all skaters in assists (24) through 38 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 74 points on 21 goals and 53 assists over his last 86 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 37 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 11 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+12) over 63 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 12th-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
So far this season, Rochester have used five different goaltenders compared to Springfield having two. It marks the third straight season that the Amerks have used at least five different goaltenders.
Springfield defenseman Griffin Luce spent the 2020-21 season with the Amerks after signing a PTO on Feb. 1, 2021. The Williamsville, New York, native split the campaign between the Amerks and Rapid City Rush (ECHL), tallying five points (2+3) in a combined 34 games.
Rochester blueliner Ethan Prow spent the 2019-20 campaign with Springfield prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 42 games with the Thunderbirds, Prow led all defensemen with nine goals and .76 points-per-game in 42 games while his 32 points and 27 assists were second and third, respectively.
Amerks defenseman Chase Priskie had a brief stint with Springfield to close out his rookie campaign in 2019-20. After playing most of the season in Charlotte, Priskie joined the Thunderbirds for five games, scoring two goals and adding two assists. He was also a teammate of Prow during his time in Springfield.
Tonight is the second game of Rochester's second three-in-three of the season. Through the first four games, the Amerks have earned a point in three of the four as they show a 2-1-1-0 mark. Rochester will play a total of five during the course of the slate, which includes one the final weekend of the 2022-23 campaign.
Rochester Americans vs Springfield Thunderbirds: Head To Head Stats
Summary
|
Description |
Result |
|
| Head to Head Record 2022-23 Regular Season | Rochester 0-1-0-0 | Springfield 1-0-0-0 |
| Head to Head Record 2021-22 Regular Season | Rochester 1-1-0-0 | Springfield 1-0-0-1 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Rochester 3-3-1-0 | Springfield 4-2-0-1 |
| Rochester vs. Springfield Last 5 Years record at Rochester | Rochester 2-1-0-0 | Springfield 1-1-0-1 |
| Rochester vs. Springfield Last 5 Years record at Springfield | Rochester 1-2-1-0 | Springfield 3-1-0-0 |
| Previous Meetings This Season | Springfield 4 @ Rochester 0 (Feb 10 2023) Final |
How the two teams match up
|
Springfield |
Rochester |
|
| Team Record | 25-19-2-4 -- 56 points | 24-20-3-1 -- 52 points |
| Division Ranking | 4th Atlantic | 4th North |
| Conference Ranking | 6th Eastern | 11th Eastern |
| League Ranking | 15th | 22nd |
| Past 10 Games | 7-2-1-0 | 4-5-1-0 |
| Streak | 0-1-0-0 | 1-0-1-0 |
| Last Game | 5-1 L vs Hartford (Feb 22 2023) Final | 8-4 W vs Laval (Feb 24 2023) Final |
| Home Record | 11-10-1-3 | 13-10-2-0 |
| Away Record | 14-9-1-1 | 11-10-1-1 |
| GF | 153 | 151 |
| GA | 147 | 162 |
| PP (Overall) | (50/209) 23.9% | (33/172) 19.2% |
| PP (Home) | (29/121) 24.0% | (24/88) 27.3% |
| PP (Away) | (21/88) 23.9% | (9/84) 10.7% |
| PK (Overall) | (32/199) 83.9% | (34/154) 77.9% |
| PK (Home) | (16/99) 83.8% | (18/77) 76.6% |
| PK (Away) | (16/100) 84.0% | (16/77) 79.2% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (1/4) 25% | (0/2) 0% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (0/2) 100% | (1/4) 75% |
| Leading Rookie | Kessel (4-17-21) | Kulich (14-16-30) |
| Most PIM | Angello - 65 | Weissbach - 43 |
| Team PIM/GM | 13.1/Game | 10.4/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Highmore (12-34-46) | Rousek (11-23-34) |
| Frk (19-26-45) | Biro (9-24-33) | |
| Gaudette (20-14-34) | Kulich (14-16-30) | |
| Bitten (15-16-31) | Weissbach (14-16-30) | |
| Lyle (7-23-30) | Mersch (11-18-29) | |
| Last 5 Games | 5-1 L vs Hartford (Feb 22 2023) Final | 8-4 W vs Laval (Feb 24 2023) Final |
| 3-2 W @ Providence (Feb 19 2023) Final | 3-2 L vs Syracuse (Feb 19 2023) Final OT | |
| 5-4 L @ Bridgeport (Feb 18 2023) Final OT | 5-1 L @ Toronto (Feb 18 2023) Final | |
| 6-2 L @ Providence (Feb 17 2023) Final | 6-2 W vs Toronto (Feb 17 2023) Final | |
| 4-0 W @ Rochester (Feb 10 2023) Final | 2-1 L @ Cleveland (Feb 14 2023) Final | |
| Leading After 1st | 11-3-2-4 | 14-3-0-0 |
| Leading After 2nd | 19-1-2-3 | 16-4-1-0 |
| Tied After 1st | 7-5-0-0 | 5-8-2-1 |
| Tied After 2nd | 4-3-0-1 | 3-2-1-1 |
| Trailing After 1st | 7-11-0-0 | 5-9-1-0 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 2-15-0-0 | 5-14-1-0 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 10-10-0-0 | 9-8-2-0 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 15-9-2-4 | 15-9-1-1 |
| 1-Goal Games | 12-8-2-4 | 12-5-3-1 |
| 2-Goal Games | 5-5-0-0 | 6-5-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 3-1-0-0 | 1-3-0-0 |
Rochester Americans
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 43 | Matt Bartkowski | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 10 | Brandon Biro | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 96 | Anders Bjork | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| 71 | Filip Cederqvist | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Jeremy Davies | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 52 | Mitch Eliot | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | Vinnie Hinostroza | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 26 | Mason Jobst | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -2 |
| 44 | Tyson Kozak | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Sean Malone | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Michael Mersch | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 |
| 81 | Brett Murray | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 20 | Lawrence Pilut | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -1 |
| 27 | Chase Priskie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 7 | Ethan Prow | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 18 | Isak Rosen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Lukas Rousek | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 47 | Malcolm Subban | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Linus Weissbach | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 47 | Malcolm Subban | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 58:30 | 2 | 2.05 | 0.933 |
Springfield Thunderbirds
| # | Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 91 | Martin Frk | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 36 | Matthew Highmore | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 33 | Brady Lyle | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 63 | Matthew Peca | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 30 | Joel Hofer | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Matthew Kessel | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 18 | Mathias Laferriere | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 25 | Griffin Luce | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Hugh McGing | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 55 | Dmitrii Samorukov | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 17 | X Nikita Alexandrov | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | Will Bitten | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 77 | Drew Callin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | Mitchell Hoelscher | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | X Jake Neighbours | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Austin Osmanski | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Greg Printz | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Steven Santini | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 27 | Keean Washkurak | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| # | Player | GP | W | L | OT | MIN | GA | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | Joel Hofer | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 59:52 | 0 | 0.00 | 1.000 |