GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS WRAP UP BUSY WEEK TONIGHT IN SYRACUSE
Apr 24, 2021TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW
The Rochester Americans (8-10-2-1) look to snap out of a five-game slide tonight as they meet up with the intrastate rival Syracuse Crunch (13-8-1-0) for a North Division showdown at Upstate Medical Arena.
The 7:00 p.m. matchup will be the 10th of 12 scheduled meetings between the two teams this season and second in four days with the Amerks boasting a 4-3-2-0 record thus far.
The matchup will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM ESPN Rochester and AHLTV.
LAST TIME OUT
The Amerks scored three power-play goals and five overall, but were unable to snap their four-game slide Friday night in a 7-5 loss to the Utica Comets (10-6-0-1) at The Blue Cross Arena.Arena.
The contest, which was Rochester’s eighth straight home defeat, was the sixth of 14 meetings between the two teams this season. Prior to Friday, the Amerks earned at least one point in four of the last five games versus the Comets and in 23 of the last 33 games overall dating back to the start of the 2017-18 campaign, going 17-10-2-4 over that span.
Veteran forward Michael Mersch turned in a season-high four points (2+2), his most since a career-best five-point outing (3+2) back on March 27, 2015 as a member of the Manchester Monarchs.
Remi Elie and C.J. Smith both tallied a pair of helpers while Brett Murray, Brendan Warren and Dominic Franco all found the scoresheet with a goal. Oskari Laaksonen, Casey Fitzgerald and Brent Gates, Jr. all recorded an assist in the defeat.
In his first-career start in the American Hockey League and third appearance overall, rookie goaltender Billy Christopoulos made 27 saves but took the loss.
POWER UP
Now 21 games into the season, Rochester’s power-play has gone 24-for-83 with a 28.9% conversion rate that is currently third in the AHL. The Amerks’ 24 goals on the man-advantage are most among all North Division teams and only three off the AHL lead behind only the San Diego Gulls.
The Amerks have scored at least one power-play goal in 15 of their 22 games this season and have registered multiple power-play tallies in four overall, including a season-high three against Syracuse on April 3 and , most recently, last night against Utica.
FINN-ISHING TOUCH
After leaving Finland in January as Liiga’s top point-getter, forward Arttu Ruotsalainen has taken his first season in North America by storm, averaging a point per game with 13 points (5+8) through his first 13 games. The Oulu, Finland, native began the slate by recording a point in each of his first four games and and now shows nine points (4+5) over his last seven outings, including goals in back-to-back games twice over that span.
Having since earned a recall to Buffalo on April 5, Ruotsalainen has appeared in eight games with the Sabres while also being one of four Amerks players to make their NHL debuts this season. He has goals in three of his last four games and averaging over 16 minutes of ice time per game with the Sabres.
ROSTER MOVEMENT
Through 21 games this season, the Amerks have had 35 different players appear in at least one game, highlighted by rookie forward Jack Quinn, Buffalo’s eighth overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. A total of 11 different rookies have suited up for Rochester, two of which are with the Sabres in defenseman Mattias Samuelsson and goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. In additon to Samuelsson, 13 players have been recalled to the big club while four have made their NHL debuts (Ruotsalainen, Samuelsson, Luukkonen and Jacob Bryson).
Earlier this week, the Amerks signed forward Brandon Hawkins to a Professional Tryout (PTO) while defenseman Nick DeSimone was loaned to the club from the Vegas Golden Knights (NHL).
Hawkins joins the Amerks after registering 19 goals and 12 assists for 31 points in 28 games with the Fort Wayne Komets (ECHL) to begin the 2020-21 season. The 5-foot-10, 198-pound forward currently paces all Komets skaters in both goals and points in addition to leading the ECHL with 10 power-play tallies. He also 11 games at the American Hockey League level with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins over the previous two seasons.
A native of East Amherst, DeSimone began the 2020-21 season with the San Jose Barracuda (AHL), where he recorded five assists in 14 games while serving as an assistant captain. The 6-foot-2, 185-pound blueliner was recently acquired by the Golden Knights on April 12 in exchange for a fifth-round selection in the 2022 NHL Draft from the San Jose Sharks.
MURRAY ON THE MOVE
Coming off an impressive rookie campaign with Rochester in 2019-20, Brett Murray continues to be one of the Amerks’ most consistent point-getters this season. With a goal last night against Utica, Murray has a share of the team’s scoring lead with 16 points (7+9) in 20 games. More impressively, the second-year forward has not gone without a point in back-to-back games all season. Murray, who earned his first recall to the Sabres taxi squad earlier this season, posted a career-high three-point night back on April 3 in Syracuse as he tallied a pair of power-play goals to go with an assist, all of which came in the first period. He’s also is tied among all Rochester skaters with nine points (5+4) while on the man-advantage this season, with more than half of his goals also coming on the power-play.
THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENSE
Rochester comes into the weekend owning three of the AHL’s top scoring rookie defensemen in Oskari Laaksonen, Mattias Samuelsson and Ryan Jones, all of whom have combined for 32 points (6+26) with just one game all season being missed between the three blueliners.
Among all AHL rookie defensemen, Laaksonen and Samuelsson rank tied for second and ninth in assists while also sitting in fourth and eighth in points, respectively. Samuelsson has four points (2+2) in his last five games, while Laaksonen has eight points (2+6) over his last nine outings, including back-to-back multi-point efforts over that span for the first time all season.
SCOUTING THE CRUNCH
Syracuse comes into the matchup on the heels of a 7-3 win over the Amerks Wednesday night. The Crunch are 7-3-0-0 in their last 10 games, and since the start of March, have gone 12-4-0-0 while outscoring their opponents 61-44 over that span.
Currently tied for the AHL’s longest active point streak at 12 games (9+12), Boris Katchouk leads the Crunch in goals (10), assists (16) and points (26)
SERIES NOTABLES
The Amerks have scored a power-play goal in 11 of their last 17 games against Syracuse dating back to last season, going 18-for-64 (28.1%) with the man-advantage over that span.
Amerks defenseman Dylan Blujus spent time with the Crunch after being drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2012. He played his first three seasons with the Syracuse from 2014-2017, recording 49 points (11+38) in 151 games.
Rochester has recorded points in six of the first nine games this season and have posted a 16-10-3-1 record in its last 30 contests against Syracuse.
HEAD-TO-HEAD BREAKDOWN
Rochester Americans vs Syracuse Crunch: Head To Head Stats
Summary
|
Description |
Result |
|
| Head to Head Record 2020-21 Regular Season | Rochester 4-3-2-0 | Syracuse 5-3-1-0 |
| Head to Head Record 2019-20 Regular Season | Rochester 6-3-0-0 | Syracuse 3-3-2-1 |
| Last 5 Years record between teams | Rochester 22-23-4-1 | Syracuse 28-13-5-4 |
| Rochester vs. Syracuse Last 5 Years record at Rochester | Rochester 10-12-2-1 | Syracuse 15-5-3-2 |
| Rochester vs. Syracuse Last 5 Years record at Syracuse | Rochester 12-11-2-0 | Syracuse 13-8-2-2 |
| Previous Meetings This Season | Syracuse 7 @ Rochester 6 (Apr 21 2021) Final Syracuse 4 @ Rochester 3 (Apr 7 2021) Final OT Rochester 5 @ Syracuse 3 (Apr 3 2021) Final Syracuse 6 @ Rochester 2 (Apr 2 2021) Final Syracuse 4 @ Rochester 3 (Mar 26 2021) Final OT Rochester 4 @ Syracuse 2 (Mar 6 2021) Final Rochester 3 @ Syracuse 4 (Mar 1 2021) Final Rochester 3 @ Syracuse 2 (Feb 20 2021) Final Syracuse 3 @ Rochester 4 (Feb 10 2021) Final OT |
How the teams match up
|
Syracuse |
Rochester |
|
| Team Record | 13-8-1-0 -- 27 points | 8-10-2-1 -- 19 points |
| Division Ranking | 4th North | 5th North |
| Conference Ranking | 11th AHL | 19th AHL |
| League Ranking | 11th | 19th |
| Past 10 Games | 7-3-0-0 | 2-7-1-0 |
| Streak | 3-0-0-0 | 0-5-0-0 |
| Last Game | 7-6 W @ Rochester (Apr 21 2021) Final | 7-5 L vs Utica (Apr 23 2021) Final |
| Home Record | 6-5-0-0 | 3-7-2-0 |
| Away Record | 7-3-1-0 | 5-3-0-1 |
| GF | 83 | 72 |
| GA | 66 | 90 |
| PP (Overall) | (14/77) 18.2% | (24/83) 28.9% |
| PP (Home) | (7/40) 17.5% | (12/45) 26.7% |
| PP (Away) | (7/37) 18.9% | (12/38) 31.6% |
| PK (Overall) | (22/99) 77.8% | (25/91) 72.5% |
| PK (Home) | (10/51) 80.4% | (18/56) 67.9% |
| PK (Away) | (12/48) 75.0% | (7/35) 80.0% |
| PP vs. Opp. | (7/31) 22.6% | (11/33) 33.3% |
| PK vs. Opp. | (11/33) 66.7% | (7/31) 77.4% |
| Leading Rookie | Denisenko (5-4-9) | Laaksonen (2-12-14) |
| Most PIM | Witkowski - 32 | Pekar - 39 |
| Team PIM/GM | 11.5/Game | 14.3/Game |
| Leading Scorers | Katchouk (10-16-26) | Elie (8-8-16) |
| Somppi (10-11-21) | Murray (7-9-16) | |
| Raddysh (8-13-21) | Mersch (7-8-15) | |
| Barre-Boulet (8-4-12) | Laaksonen (2-12-14) | |
| Morand (5-7-12) | Ruotsalainen (5-8-13) | |
| Last 5 Games | 7-6 W @ Rochester (Apr 21 2021) Final | 7-5 L vs Utica (Apr 23 2021) Final |
| 6-2 W vs Utica (Apr 19 2021) Final | 7-6 L vs Syracuse (Apr 21 2021) Final | |
| 4-1 W vs Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (Apr 17 2021) Final | 6-3 L @ Cleveland (Apr 17 2021) Final | |
| 3-2 L @ Utica (Apr 14 2021) Final | 5-3 L vs Cleveland (Apr 14 2021) Final | |
| 5-1 L @ Utica (Apr 13 2021) Final | 9-2 L vs Cleveland (Apr 10 2021) Final | |
| Leading After 1st | 6-2-0-0 | 4-2-1-0 |
| Leading After 2nd | 10-0-0-0 | 5-1-0-0 |
| Tied After 1st | 5-2-0-0 | 3-3-1-0 |
| Tied After 2nd | 2-1-0-0 | 3-2-1-0 |
| Trailing After 1st | 2-4-1-0 | 1-5-0-1 |
| Trailing After 2nd | 1-7-1-0 | 0-7-1-1 |
| Out Shooting Opponents | 5-4-0-0 | 1-2-1-0 |
| Out Shot by Opponents | 8-4-1-0 | 7-8-1-1 |
| 1-Goal Games | 5-3-1-0 | 3-3-2-1 |
| 2-Goal Games | 0-3-0-0 | 4-2-0-0 |
| 3-Goal Games | 4-1-0-0 | 0-1-0-0 |