TACO BELL WRAP-UP: AMERKS END NOVEMBER WITH OT HEROICS
Nov 27, 2023
By Andrew Mossbrooks | @Mossbrooks48
The Rochester Americans were victorious in two of three games during their final week of November play and enter December ranked third in the North Division standings with a 10-5-2-0 mark.
Rochester played to the tune of one-goal games in each of its three contests last week. On home ice, the Amerks topped Laval on Wednesday and Friday with 4-3 and 3-2 overtime wins, respectively, before then traveling to Lehigh Valley, where a 5-4 outcome favored the Phantoms.
DRIVERS OF THE TEAM
Seth Appert made a clear mission statement for two of Buffalo’s top prospects entering the season: Jiri Kulich and Isak Rosen need to be drivers of the team. They need to lead and be the best players on this roster.
Mission accomplished.
The dynamic duo have led the Amerks in scoring to start the season, with Rosen leading the team in points with 19 (8+11), while Kulich ranks second in points (17) and leads the team with 11 goals.
On Wednesday, Kulich blasted a game-winning power-play goal through the net in overtime to lift Rochester to victory. Two nights later, Rosen found himself on a breakaway in the dying seconds of three-on-three to shelf his first career overtime game-winner.
“They’ve been great,” said Appert following Friday’s win. “There’s been a couple of times during this eight or 10-game stretch that they’ve helped us win games without scoring, which is hard to do at any age and certainly at 19 and 20. They’re more competitive on the puck than they’ve ever been. They’re playing harder. I’m using them on the penalty kill and defensive zone situations. The growth of their game – both offensively and defensively – over the last 12 months has been immense and we’re incredibly proud of them for that.”
Kulich and Rosen’s efforts haven’t gone unnoticed in Rochester, or Buffalo for that matter.
Following Friday’s game, the two former first-round draft picks earned their first call-ups to the National Hockey League, with the Sabres, together making their NHL debuts alongside one another Saturday in Buffalo’s 7-2 loss at New Jersey.
POTENT POWER-PLAY
The Amerks have seen their man-advantage improve over the last four games. It began a week ago in Cleveland and continued through the final three games of the month. In addition to Kulich’s power-play goal in overtime Wednesday night, Mason Jobst struck on special teams Friday against Laval, while both Lukas Rousek and Brandon Biro notched power-play goals in Lehigh Valley on Saturday. Biro has scored three of his six goals on the power-play and eight of his 12 points have come on the man-advantage.
The two-goal output Saturday marked the third time this season the Amerks converted for multiple power-play goals in a game, and the first time since Oct. 27 at home against the Rocket.
Special teams have been a bit of a carousel for the Amerks due to the high volume of injuries and call-ups the team has had to manage, but the recent resurgence of the power-play has Rochester clicking at a 24.1% clip, good enough for fourth-best in the AHL.
NEXT MA(SO)N UP
Third-year Amerk Mason Jobst posted three points on the week, including an assist on Rosen’s overtime goal Friday night. With Rosen and Kulich up to Buffalo, Jobst joins Biro and defenseman Jeremy Davies in a three-way tie for the team lead among active players with 12 points.
Jobst’s 12 points (7+5) have come over 13 games. His seven goals have the Speedway, Indiana, native halfway to his career-high 14-goal campaign from a year ago. Jobst has spent the bulk of his season playing alongside Amerks captain Michael Mersch when the two have been healthy. Mason is 12 points back of 100 for his pro career. His 33.3% shooting percentage is tops among Amerks with more than 10 games played.
COMING UP NEXT
The Amerks begin December on the road with a pair of weekend games against the Belleville Senators (6-8-1-1). Friday will be the 18th game for the Amerks this year, getting the team one quarter of the way through their 2023-24 season. Belleville is the only North Division team Rochester has yet to face.