GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS CLOSE OUT TWO-GAME SET TONIGHT IN BELLEVILLE – Rochester Individuals

The Rochester Individuals (24-19-6-2) conclude the primary weekend of March in a rematch with the Belleville Senators (27-21-2-3) tonight at 7:00 p.m. All of the motion from CAA Area shall be carried dwell on The Sports activities Chief 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester in addition to AHLTV.
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The Amerks, who’ve factors in 12 of their final 18 video games, at present sit in fourth place within the AHL’s North Division standings, only one forward the Toronto Marlies and one again of the third-place Senators. The membership has one recreation in hand on Belleville, which entered Friday having gained 4 straight.
Belleville has earned the win in seven of its earlier 13 video games for the reason that begin of February. Beginning with a 4-1 victory final Wednesday night time, the Senators have gained 4 of 5, outscoring the opposition 14-8 in that span.
Relationship again to the 2021-22 season, ahead Michael Mersch has recorded 16 factors (7+9) in 17 profession video games in opposition to Belleville. The Amerks captain has notched at the least one level and one shot in 12 of his 17 video games versus the Senators.
Since Belleville entered the league forward of the 2017-18 season, Rochester has an all-time document of 17-20-2 in opposition to the Senators. The Amerks have posted a .500 successful proportion or higher in 4 of the primary 5 seasons within the head-to-head collection.
Each groups have outscored the opposition within the first interval this season whereas being outscored within the second stanza.
The Amerks stormed out to a commanding 4-0 lead within the second interval and by no means regarded again on their solution to a 4-1 victory over Belleville within the first of back-to-back conferences between the North Division rivals Friday night time.
Zach Metsa (0+2) logged his second multi-point recreation of the season for the Amerks. Tyson Jost, Aleksandr Kisakov, Brett Murray and Lukas Rousek each aim whereas Linus Weissbach, Isak Rosen, and Jiri Kulich all tallied an help.
Goaltender Devon Levi (7-4-3) made his twelfth begin within the final 15 video games since being reassigned to Rochester on Jan. 20. The rookie netminder made 30 saves to earn his seventh win of the slate and chipped in offensively, incomes his first professional level with an help on the game-winning aim.
Jeremy Davies and Kale Clague are among the many AHL’s high scoring defensemen, having mixed for 11 objectives and 45 factors this season.
Davies, who had factors in three straight video games for the second time this season since closing out the month of October on a five-game level streak, scored his eighth aim of the 12 months in final Monday’s 2-1 extra time win at Toronto. He enters tonight tied for tenth in objectives by a defenseman and stays on tempo to match the career-high 11 he scored final season. He’s by no means gone greater than 4 straight video games with no level.
Again from a three-game stint with the Buffalo Sabres, Clague is tied for twenty third amongst all blueliners with 20 assists. With two assists at Utica again on Feb. 14, he has reached the 20-assist mark for the second time in his profession and has eclipsed the 20-point mark for the third time since his rookie marketing campaign.
Lukas Rousek has been one of many group’s most constant point-getters for the reason that flip of 2024, having recorded factors in 16 of 23 video games in that stretch whereas additionally producing 22 factors over his final 29 video games since Dec. 20.
Rousek, a sixth-round choice (a hundred and sixtieth total) by the Sabres within the 2019 NHL Draft, at present leads the group with 28 assists and 38 factors whereas his 10 objectives are tied for six. Amongst all Amerks who’ve appeared in at the least 30 video games, he’s tops in factors per recreation (0.81).
The third-year professional and AHL All-Star noticed his career-long level streak come to an finish on Jan. 26, stopping at 13 video games. He totaled 14 factors between Dec. 20 and Jan. 20, the second-longest level streak within the league behind solely Toronto’s Alex Steeves, who had some extent in 16 straight video games.
Rousek’s level streak was the longest by an Amerk in 24 years since Corridor of Famer Domenic Pittis had factors in 14 straight contests from Jan. 22 to March 4 throughout the 1999-2000 marketing campaign.
After producing simply 5 factors in his first 23 video games, rookie foward Viktor Neuchev has unsurprisingly emerged as Rochester’s high scoring rookie by the center of February.
Relationship again to Dec. 29 and the flip of the New Yr, Neuchev has erupted for 13 factors on 5 objectives and eight assists over his earlier 16 video games.
Neuchev has recorded at the least one level in eight video games over that span, together with a season-long six-game level streak from Dec. 29 to Jan. 20 which noticed him rating three objectives and document eight factors.
Buffalo’s third-round choice (74th total) in 2022, Neuchev’s most spectacular efficiency of the season got here again on Jan. 27, discovering the again of the online for the third time in 4 video games with the game-winning aim whereas additionally including two assists within the 7-4 win over Laval. Since Jan. 5, Neuchev has recorded 4 multi-point video games, which features a pair of three-point efforts.
Of Neuchev’s seven objectives this season, 5 have been scored on residence ice and three have come in opposition to Laval. Neuchev, who had a 40-goal season whereas taking part in for Russia’s junior league throughout the 2021-22 marketing campaign, at present leads all Amerks rookies with 19 factors (7+12) and 57 pictures in 38 video games.
Final Saturday’s 2-1 extra time loss in Hershey was the third recreation during the last seven for Rochester that went past regulation, all of which completed in a 2-1 rating. Total, the Amerks have gone to further time on 18 totally different events, probably the most by any group this season, together with every of the primary three video games of the marketing campaign.
4 of the final seven video games in opposition to Syracuse have required further time to find out a winner, together with every of the final three which noticed the Crunch overcome a pair of 2-0 deficits earlier than defeating Rochester in extra time on back-to-back nights.
4 of Jiri Kulich’s team-high 5 game-winning objectives this season have come by means of extra time whereas Isak Rosen, Brandon Biro and Jeremy Davies have every netted the clinching aim throughout the additional body.
By no means earlier than within the close to 68-year historical past of the franchise have the Amerks opened a season with three consecutive extra time contests.
Of Rochester’s 12 video games in February, 5 have been determined previous regulation. The membership was 1-3 in extra time within the month and confirmed an 0-1 document within the shootout.
Relationship again to Jan. 20 of final season, 28 of Rochester’s earlier 90 regular-season video games have required extra time to find out a winner. Of the Amerks 40 wins throughout that very same span, 14 have come got here following the top of regulation.
The Amerks present a 7-6 document in extra time this season and are 3-2 within the shootout. Rochester tied an AHL document with 29 extra time video games in 2017-18, displaying a 9/11 document in extra time and 3-6 within the shootout.
Devon Levi has earned the beginning in 12 of the final 15 video games since being reassigned to Rochester on Jan. 20, together with 5 straight to open the month of February. He enters the weekend having gained 4 of his final seven and 6 of his final 10.
Levi, who boasts a 7-4-3 document in 14 appearances with the Amerks, totaled 130 saves on 136 pictures he confronted over his latest three-game win streak, boasting a powerful 1.95 goals-against common and a .956 save proportion over that span.
His career-high 52 saves in final Monday’s extra time win at Toronto have been probably the most by an Amerks goaltender since Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen had 54 in a 2-1 win at Syracuse on Feb. 25, 2022.
Levi, who ranks twelfth amongst rookie netminders with a 2.49 goals-against common, has held the opposition to 3 or fewer objectives in 11 of his 14 begins. He’s 7-1-3 this season in these video games.
Levi gained the Mike Richter Award, given yearly to the highest goaltender in males’s school hockey, for the second straight 12 months following the 2022-23 season.
The one two-time winner within the award’s historical past, Levi led the nation once more with a .933 save proportion, and tied for third in each shutouts (6) and saves (1,183).
Veteran goaltender Dustin Tokarski, who missed the primary eight video games of the season on account of an harm he sustained in coaching camp, made his season debut again on Nov. 3 in opposition to Utica.
In doing so, the two-time Calder Cup winner and AHL All-Star grew to become simply the 18th goaltender in league historical past to play in 400 profession video games, a listing that additionally consists of 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 tenth totally different AHL franchise, went 1-1-0 throughout a short two-game stint with Rochester as a part of the COVID-shortnened 2020-21 marketing campaign. He went 12-20-7 in 42 appearances with the Buffalo Sabres from 2021-23.
At present in his fifteenth season, he joins Marcel Paille and Michael Leighton as the one goaltenders all-time to play at the least 15 seasons within the AHL.
Tokarski, who’s 7-7-3 in his first 18 appearances, surpassed the ten,000-save mark for his AHL profession following a 31-save effort in opposition to Utica on Nov. 10. He additionally reached the 12,000-save mark for his professional profession the week prior when he made his season debut in opposition to the Comets.
Getting into tonight, the 34-year-old Tokarski, who at present is six wins away from tying Purple Almas for eleventh all-time in profession wins (218). He’s additionally two video games away from tying Neil Little for fifteenth all-time (419) and can tie Yann Danis for eighth all-time on his subsequent shutout.
Amerks ahead Mason Jobst enters tonight with 20 factors (9+11) over his final 21 video games, probably the most by an Amerk for the reason that flip of the brand new 12 months. Jobst, who appeared in his 2 hundredth skilled recreation at Utica on Feb. 14, recorded a career-best three-assist outing on Feb. 16 in opposition to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and adopted that up by scoring objectives in three straight video games, together with his career-high sixteenth aim of the season final Friday night time in opposition to Belleville.
After closing out the 2022-23 marketing campaign with career-highs in all offensive classes, the fifth-year ahead has already surpassed his aim whole in 18 fewer video games this season. Jobst, who’s the second Amerk this season to succeed in the 30-point mark, is second on the group in objectives (16) and factors (35) whereas his 19 assists are second-most amongst all Rochester forwards.
In 206 profession video games, all within the American Hockey League with Rochester, San Jose, Bridgeport, and Binghamton, the Ohio State product has notched 45 objectives and 66 assists for 111 factors.
Devon Levi earned his first win as an Amerk in his American Hockey League debut at Belleville again on Dec. 1. The rookie netminder stopped 40 of 42 by regulation and extra time earlier than turning apart all 4 Senators shooters within the expertise competitors. He’s appeared in 4 video games in opposition to Belleville this season, boasting a 2-2-0 document with a .923 save proportion.
Together with 4 of the primary 5 video games this season versus Belleville, Rochester has scored 11 first-period objectives courting again to begin the 2022-23 marketing campaign. The Amerks have scored in seven of the final 13 first durations throughout that span. Belleville (14) has scored in all however 4 first durations over that very same stretch.
In 33 of the final 39 conferences between the 2 groups courting again to the 2017-18 season, the Amerks have scored two or extra objectives whereas Belleville has discovered the again of the online in all however two video games throughout the stretch. There was only one shutout over the earlier 39 video games with Rochester developing on the fallacious aspect of a 2-0 rating on Feb. 7, 2018.
Amerks captain Michael Mersch enters tonight having performed 200 video games with Rochester since becoming a member of the membership throughout the 2020-21 marketing campaign. Mersch, who has 144 factors (60+84) with the Amerks, Friday night time he grew to become the 58th ahead in franchise historical past to skate in at the least 200 video games. On his subsequent aim, it might be the ninth time Mersch has recorded double figures in his profession ,the place he has skated in at the least 30 video games.
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