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AHL Rochester Americans

Amerks Host Syracuse Tonight At The Blue Cross Arena

November 20, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


Tonight, the Rochester Americans will renew their infamous I-90 rivalry as the Syracuse Crunch make their fourth visit this season to The Blue Cross Arena. The 7:05 p.m. contest will be the fifth of 10 scheduled meetings this season between the longtime rivals and will be broadcast live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK and FM 107.3, Rochester's Sports Talk. Fans can also tune in to watch the game live on Channel 98.

Promotions: In the spirit of Thanksgiving, the Amerks will be hosting Turkey Bowling, along with Scoro during the first intermission. The game also features the return of the Amerks' Star Toss. Stars for the 50/50 raffle are being sold for $1.00 or in groups of six for $5.00. Half of the proceeds raised will be presented to the winner of the contest, while the other half will be donated to a recipient of choice through the Rochester Knighthawks/Americans Charitable Foundation, Inc.

Big Mac is Back: The Amerks will be reinforced with the addition of rugged forward Steve MacIntyre. The Brock, Saskatchewan, native was claimed off waivers last Tuesday by the Florida Panthers after being placed on waivers by the Edmonton Oilers, which is the same team that claimed him last year when the Panthers attempted to send him to Rochester. The 6-5, 250-pound MacIntyre, who topped 200 penalty minutes in five of his six AHL seasons, signed as a free agent on July 3, 2008, but was claimed off waivers by Edmonton two months later. MacIntyre had two goals in 22 games last season for the Oilers. In four games this season, he recorded seven penalty minutes.

Head-to-Head: The Amerks, who have outscored Syracuse 14-6 this season, own a perfect 4-0-0-0 record against their archrivals, which includes a flawless 3-0-0-0 record on home ice. The Amerks are 86-75-15 all-time against the Columbus Blue Jackets' affiliate.

Amerks Notes: Rochester (13-2-1-0, 27 points) enters the week currently second overall in the AHL and trail the West Division Texas Stars by three points. The Amerks, however, still maintain a two-point lead over the Manchester Monarchs, in addition to a three-point cushion over the Hershey Bears and Hamilton Bulldogs. The Amerks have won 12 of their last 13 games, which includes eight straight at home, and own the league's best winning percentage (.844). The last time the Amerks started the season with 13 wins and 27 points was during the 2006-07 campaign. Rochester earned seven consecutive wins to kickoff the season and were victorious in 14 of the first 15 games.

The Amerks, who are tied for third in the AHL with four shorthanded goals, have outscored their opponents 47-25 in the last 12 games and have allowed the second fewest number of goals in their division with 36. Rochester currently ranks second in the AHL with a 24.1 power-play percentage and sixth with an 88.8 penalty-killing percentage.

Sixth-year pro Jamie Johnson posted seven points over the past three games (3+4), including back-to-back three-point outings, to become Rochester's top point-getter with a team-high 16 points. Johnson currently ranks tied for eighth in overall point production, while his seven goals are equal to that of teammate David Brine for the team best. In addition to presently riding a three-game point streak, Johnson has now picked up seven goals and five assists for 12 points in his last eight games, averaging a point per game. The power play extraordinaire has accumulated five of his nine helpers on the man advantage, tying him with fellow special teams line mate Clay Wilson for fifth best in the league in that very category.

Mike York, currently on a three-game assist streak (0+4), paces the Amerks offense with a team-high 11 assists and continues to be the team's frontrunner in the power-play assists table with seven. A veteran of 579 NHL games, York is tied for third in the AHL with seven power play helpers, while his three goals on the man advantage also tie him for fifth in the AHL. Further, his 11 assists tie him for sixth best in the league.

Veteran forward Chris Taylor, whose 15 points are tied for second best on the team, sits just two assists away of surpassing Dick Gamble into the No.4 spot on the franchise's all-time list. Additionally, Taylor sits just two goals and eight points away from moving ahead of Craig Charron and Norm "Red' Armstrong for 15th and seventh on the all-time list, respectively. He needs just eight games to leapfrog the 390-game benchmark set by Amerk legend Don Cherry.

Amerks tough-guy Jimmy Bonneau is first on the team and tied for 13th in the league with a team-high 64 penalty minutes after dropping the gloves 10 times in his last 10 games. Defenseman Jason Garrison, coming off a five-game point streak, stands one point ahead of Wilson in the fight for Rochester's top scoring defenseman. The duo is currently tied for ninth and 10th in scoring among league blueliners, respectively. Garrison also has the team's best on-ice rating with a plus-eight.

Salak, who was named the AHL's Reebok/AHL Rookie of the Month for October, shows a 10-1-0 record with 329 saves in just 12 games. His 1.87 goals-against average and .940 save percentage are currently ninth and sixth among league netminders, respectively, while his 10 wins are presently a league best. Additionally, despite tabbing his first loss of the season against Portland last week, the Rochester netminder still holds the best record in the AHL among active goaltenders. Salak has started the last nine games for Rochester, posting an 8-1-0 record in that time with 257 saves and just 15 goals against. In 12 games, Salak has only allowed 21 goals.

Syracuse Notes: Syracuse (5-8-2-2, 14 points), who is finishing up a three-game road swing tonight, comes into the matchup on the heels of a three-game skid with its most recent loss coming in a 5-2 setback to the Albany River Rats Wednesday night at the Times Union Center. The loss was Syracuse's sixth in its last seven games.

The Crunch will be without the services of forward Tom Sestito after the forward was recalled to National Hockey League this week by the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Rome, NY, native leaves the Crunch after recording eight points and 64 penalty minutes in 16 games with Syracuse. The Crunch, however, have been replenished with the addition of NHL veteran Bates Battaglia. The 33-year-old signed a 25-game professional tryout with Syracuse on Wednesday and is expected to make his Crunch debut tonight against Rochester. Battaglia appeared in 59 games with the Toronto Marlies last season, registering 17 goals, 34 assists and 55 penalty minutes. In addition, Battaglia has skated in 580 combined NHL games with Carolina, Colorado, Washington and Toronto, tallying 80 goals, 118 assists and 385 penalty minutes.

Fifth-year pro Alexandre Picard presently leads the Crunch offense with a team-high eight goals and 13 points. His eight tallies this season currently rank him tied for fourth in the league. Tough-guy forwards Jon Mirasty (89) and Kevin Harvey (71) are first and second on the team in penalty minutes, respectively. In addition, the duo holds the third and ninth rankings in the AHL in the same category. Harvey will miss tonight's contest as he is serving his fifth and final game of a five-game suspension levied by the AHL two weeks ago. Fourth-year netminder Dan LaCosta has seen the majority of time in net thus far, sporting a 3-6-1 record with a 3.77 goals-against average and a .894 save percentage in 10 games. The Crunch currently sit at the bottom of the AHL's East Division after making the jump to the Eastern Conference this season.

Next Game: Rochester heads north of the border on Tuesday, November 24th to battle the Hamilton Bulldogs at Copps Coliseum. The 7:30 p.m. contest will be the first in Hamilton this season and the second of 10 meetings between the North Division rivals. The matchup can be heard live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK and FM 107.3, Rochester's Sports Talk.

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