GAMEDAY NOTES & QUOTES: FRIDAY, APRIL 14
Lineup notes & quotes from Coach Appert ahead of tonight's game
Apr 14, 2023It’s the final weekend of the regular season, and the Rochester Americans host two home games at Blue Cross Arena. Sitting one point behind second-place Syracuse, the Amerks can clinch a first round bye with one win this weekend.
Tonight’s game against the eliminated Belleville Senators is the first of a three-in-three weekend that will also feature a home-and-home with the Cleveland Monsters. There will be a pregame ceremony for the annual team awards presentation, so be in your seats by 7pm!
BUY TICKETS AHL PLAYOFF PRIMER
LINEUP NOTES
Malcolm Subban will get the start between the pipes for the Amerks. Subban has appeared in 37 games for Rochester so far this season, and his 19 wins are a career-high.
Forward Lukas Rousek was recalled by the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday, and they play tonight in Columbus. “That’s a good thing,” Amerks head coach Seth Appert said today with a smile.
Lawrence Pilut and Linus Weissbach, who missed games last weekend due to illness, are healthy again. Forwards Tyson Kozak and Brandon Biro remain out of the Rochester lineup tonight.
That means that Jiri Kulich will once again play center. “With the injury and depth issues we’ve had at center, we’d be in big trouble if he wasn’t able to do that,” Appert told the media. “It’s a real credit to Jiri and what he’s been able to do.”
Brendan Warren will also be slotted at center tonight against the Senators, and Warren has received a lot of praise from the coaching staff this season.
“Jason Karmanos asked me earlier in the season, ‘Brendan Warren at center!?’ because it’s not his natural position,” Appert explained. “And my comment was: ‘anything I can do to keep him in the lineup.’ That’s how good he’s been this year.”
“No statistic will say his importance to the team. That young man goes to battle for his teammates every night. He’s physical, he’s competitive, he’s fast.”
Appert noted that he played with Kulich and Isak Rosen on Saturday night, and that line scored two goals, so they’ll be together a lot again tonight.
WORTH MENTIONING
Rochester signed Quinnipiac captain and NCAA champion defenseman Chris Metsa to a two-year contract yesterday. He will join the team on a PTO for the rest of the season.
The Amerks scored five-straight unanswered goals on Saturday night in Utica, including two empty-netters.
The Amerks have earned points in ten-straight games, a season-long streak.
With one win this weekend, the Amerks can clinch a first-round bye.
Rochester trails second-place Syracuse by one point with one game in hand, so the Amerks control their home ice destiny. “I’m not going to put any bigger emphasis on [tonight’s game],” Appert said. “It’s the most important game because it’s the game in front of us. We’re going to treat it how we treat every game, and then we’ll go from there.”
ABOUT THE OPPOSITION
The Belleville Senators have been eliminated from a postseason berth, sitting at 68 points with three games remaining. Their roster received a recent boost, however, after goaltender Mads Sogaard, defenseman Max Guenette, and forward Egor Sokolov were loaned from the Ottawa Senators.
“You look at their lineup and it’s a really good lineup,” Appert said today, “Their forward depth is very strong. They have a young, good [defensive] core. We’ll face a stiff test tonight.”
The Senators are 4-3-0-3 in their last ten games, entering tonight’s game after a 3-1 win against the Monsters last Saturday. Sokolov leads the Senators with 55 points (19 goals, 36 points), followed by Jake Lucchini at 51 points (18 goals, 33 assists).
“I know a couple things you’re always going to see from Belleville: they’re going to play their tails off. They compete and they play a hard, physical brand of hockey. That’s guaranteed.”
A few netminders have split time between the pipes for Belleville this season, led by Antoine Bibeau seeing action in 23 games and Sogaard in 21. Most recently, Leevi Merilainen got the start for the Senators. As the Senators also begin a three-in-three weekend, it’s not yet known who will get the start tonight.
GAME NIGHT INFORMATION
There will be ten team awards presented before the game tonight, with the ceremony beginning promptly at 7pm. Help show your appreciation for the great regular season, and your excitement to begin the postseason!
Tomorrow night is ROC the Rink x Fan Appreciation, presented by the US Air Force! It’s the final home game of the regular season, and the final specialty jersey game. The beautiful blue game-issued jerseys are up for auction via DASH now!
THREE lucky fans at tomorrow night’s game will win a game-issued ROC the Rink jersey as part of the Fan Appreciation celebration. There will be plenty of other giveaways throughout the game as well, so you don’t want to miss it.
The first 2,000 fans at Blue Cross Arena tomorrow night will receive an Amerks CLINCHED poster! Fans are also encourage to sign the “LET’S GO AMERKS” banner, located at the front membership services booth, with good luck wishes for the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Adding to Fan Appreciation this season, and to celebrate the Calder Cup Playoffs, the Amerks are running an Amerks Collectibles Auction, powered by DASH! Featuring specialty jerseys, player-autographed pucks, and the chance to have dinner in the locker room, there are over 100 items that will entice any Amerks fan.
