AHL Rochester Americans

Amerks Look For Win No. 2,000 Against Moose

Published on February 19, 2010 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


Tonight, the Rochester Americans continue their season-long five-game homestand with the second leg of a two-game set against the Manitoba Moose at The Blue Cross Arena. The 7:05 p.m. contest will be the fourth and final meeting between the North Division rivals this season and will be broadcast live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK and FM 107.3, Rochester's Sports Talk. The game will also be televised live on Time Warner Cable SportsNet Channel 26.

Promotions:

The first 5,000 fans will receive noise makers, courtesy of Time Warner Cable. The game also falls on the next installment of the Amerks Dollar Dogs 'N' Drafts promotion. Friday night, and now during every Friday night home game for the rest of the season, fans can take part in the "Dollar Dogs 'N' Drafts" promotion and purchase Zweigle's Hot Dogs and Draft Beers for just $1 each!

Amerks Nearing History:

Rochester enters the contest closing in on history just one win shy from capturing its 2,000th win in the 54-year history of the franchise. The Amerks will become just the second team in the American Hockey League and only the eighth team in North American hockey history to collect 2,000 wins. In addition to all the founding original six members of the National Hockey League, the only other AHL team to accomplish the feat is the defending Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears.

York Returns to Amerks:

After missing the past 33 games with personal leave and injury, forward Mike York is expected to make his return to the Amerks lineup tonight. York's last game was against Manitoba back on December 2nd in Winnipeg, his 100th career American Hockey League contest.

Taylor Hits 1,200 Games, Passes Ehman:

Veteran forward Chris Taylor recently skated in his 1,200th professional game and surpassed Gerry Ehman for the third on the all-time assist list (283) Tuesday night against Manitoba. The only two ahead of him is Bronco Horvath and Jody Gage. Further, the 18-year pro sits just five goals away from moving ahead of Ron Garwasiuk for 13th on the all-time goals list.

Home is Where the Wins Are... Not So Much the Road:

With just the final quarter of the season right around the corner, home ice advantage has been beneficial for the Amerks. After earning their first regulation loss of the season at home, the Amerks are now 18-9-2-0 on home ice. Conversely, 14 of Rochester's 23 losses in regulation thus far this season have been away from the friendly confines of The Blue Cross Arena.

Head-to-Head:

The matchup will be the second of back-to-back tilts between the two teams after the Amerks dropped a 6-3 decision to the Moose Tuesday night. The Amerks are 1-2-0-0 this season against Manitoba and 18-26-3 all-time against the Vancouver Canucks' affiliate.

Amerks Notes:

Rochester (31-23-2-0, 64 points) enters the game second in the North Division and tied for 11th overall with the Albany River Rats in the American Hockey League standings. Seventh-year pro Jamie Johnson, currently in the midst of a four-game point streak (2+2), continues to pace Rochester's offense in all offensive categories in goals (21), assists (34) and points (55). Averaging just under a point per game, Johnson is seventh in the AHL in overall point production after collecting 20 points (7+13) in his last 17 outings. Further, his 21 goals and 34 assists rank him tied for 11th and eighth in each category among the AHL's top scorers, respectively.

Veteran defenseman Clay Wilson, also on the heels of a four-game point streak (2+3), has a team-best 18 assists on the power-play this season, good enough for third in the AHL in that category. Wilson continues to be Rochester's top scoring defenseman with 41 points (10+31) and remains second in scoring among league blueliners.Additionally, Wilson is tied for 12th in the AHL with 31 assists. Amerks tough-guy Jimmy Bonneau is first on the team and 12th in the league with a team-high 143 penalty minutes.

Rookie goaltender Alexander Salak, who has started 13 of the last 17 games for Rochester, boasts a 23-11-0 record with a 2.73 goals-against average and a.915 save percentage in 36 games. His save percentage is currently 16th among league netminders, respectively, while his 23 wins are tied for second best.

Manitoba Notes:

Manitoba (27-24-5-1, 60 points), playing Game 3 of a season-high seven-game road trip, comes into the matchup the winners of three in its last five, after suffering a 4-3 loss to the Toronto Marlies Wednesday night at Ricoh Coliseum. The Moose's last win came Tuesday evening against the Amerks. Michael Grabner, Marco Rosa and Sergei Shirokov tallied the Moose's three goals as third-year netminder Cory Schneider turned away 29 saves in the losing effort. With the goal, Grabner has now scored in each of his last four games and collected six points (5+1) in that span.

Grabner's four-game point streak is the longest this season for the Villach, Austria, native. He has hit the net in every game dating back to February 12th, where he scored twice and added an assist against the Marlies. With a goal tonight, Grabner will establish the longest goal-scoring streak of the season among Moose skaters at five consecutive games.

Rosa enters tonight's matchup on a four-game point streak after collecting eight points (5+3) in his last four appearances. The fifth-year pro presently pilots the Moose in all offensive categories in goals (19), assists (22) and points (41) and is just one of two skaters to play in all 57 games thus far this season. He also leads the team with six power-play goals and 151 shots. He is currently on pace to break his season-high six-game point streak, which is also the team's longest this season.

Schneider has seen the majority of time between the pipes this season for the Moose. The former Boston College goaltender boasts a 23-17-1 record with a 2.66 goals-against average and a.911 save percentage in 41 appearances. Schneider has played in 12 of Manitoba's last 14 games, making 317 saves in that span. His 23 wins are tied for second in the AHL, while his three shutouts tie him for sixth. The Salem, Massachusetts, native also appeared in two games with the Vancouver Canucks.

Forward Travis Ramsey, the only other Manitoba skater to play in all 57 games, recently played in his 100th game as a Moose, while rookie defenseman Evan Oberg skated in his 50th in antlers Wednesday night against Toronto. Lawrence Nycholat has been hot for the Moose as of late, collecting eight points in his last seven games. Forward Tom Maxwell is first on the team and 10th in the league with 154 penalty minutes. Shirokov is currently sixth among league rookies with 35 points (17+18) through 54 games.

Next Game:

The Amerks remain home on Saturday, February 20th as the Portland Pirates journey west to The Blue Cross Arena for the first of two of get-togethers on back-to-back nights. The 7:05 p.m. matchup will feature the return of former Amerks Mark Mancari, Derek Whitmore, Marc-Andre Gragnani and 2010 AHL All-Star defenseman Mike Weber. The matchup will be the first between the Pirates and Amerks in Rochester in 10 years since the 2000-01 season. The last time the two teams met this season was back on November 12th when the Pirates denied Rochester its franchise-record 12th consecutive win in a 6-3 loss at HSBC Arena in Buffalo. Fans can tune in for the live broadcasts on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK and FM 107.3, Rochester's Sports Talk. The game will be shown live on Channel 98.

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American Hockey League Stories from February 19, 2010


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