AHL Rochester Americans

Amerks, Pens Do Battle Again Tonight at Blue Cross Arena

Published on November 7, 2010 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


Tonight, the Rochester Americans close out their three-game in three-night stretch as they host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for the second time in three nights. The 5:05 p.m. contest will be the second of four meetings this between the non-divisional foes 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 matchup falls on the team's second annual "Salute to the Troops Night". Members of the various military services will be on hand with the help of Operation Tribute to Freedom. Members of the Armed Forces, both past and present, will receive $4.00 off the price of admission by presenting their government-issued Military ID card at The Blue Cross Arena Box Office. The discount is good for all price levels except 200 End and Balcony seating and is not valid with any other offers. The Amerks have also set up a Care-Package Donation Table and will honor local soldiers through an in-game tribute. Fans can also take advantage of the Zweigle's Family Four Pack and purchase four tickets to a game, four hot dogs and four sodas all for one low price of just $52.00.

Road Warriors: After coming home with three straight road victories to cap off a four-game road swing last week, the Amerks now show a 6-1-1-0 mark (.750 win percentage) when wearing their traditional blue away jerseys. Rochester opened up the season with back-to-back road victories and since then added four more to the win column. Conversely, the Amerks are just 1-4-0-0 when playing at home.

Taylor On The Move Again: Veteran forward Chris Taylor made his much anticipated return to the lineup last week in Abbotsford after missing the first eight games of the season with an injury. The next goal he scores will be his 135th as an Amerk, sliding him into the No. 11 spot ahead of Barry Merrell and Jim Pappin on Rochester's all-time goals list. The 19-year pro is five points shy of surpassing Stan Smrke for fifth on the points list and needs just six more games to leapfrog Dan Frawley into ninth all-time. He is also one assist away from his 300th in an Amerk uniform.

Head-to-Head: The contest is the second of four scheduled get-togethers this season between the two teams. Rochester dropped a 5-4 decision in the previous encounter with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Friday night at The Blue Cross Arena. The Amerks own a 12-9-6 all-time record against the Baby Penguins.

Amerks Notes: Rochester (7-5-1-0, 15 points) enters the contest after earning a 6-4 win over the Albany Devils in the inaugural matchup between the intrastate rivals last night at the Times Union Center. Five different players recorded multi-point nights to help Rochester secure its fourth win in its last five games. The Amerks currently share a second-place tie with the Manitoba Moose in the American Hockey League's North Division and have scored the most goals among any other divisional opponent with 44, despite having the third best winning percentage (.577) among the North's seven teams. Rochester also owns the most penalty minutes in the Division with 266 and is fourth in the league with a 23.0 power-play percentage.

Team and League Leaders: Third-year forward Michal Repik currently paces Rochester's offense with a team-high 15 assists and 18 points, having skated in all 13 games of the season thus far. Coming off a three-assist effort against Albany last night, Repik also currently leads the league in assists, while being one of three top-point getters in the AHL. Forwards Michael Duco and Bill Thomas each have a team-high six goals this season after finding the back of net in consecutive games this weekend. Despite missing the last five games with an injury, forward Triston Grant is first on the team and fifth in the league with 46 penalty minutes.

First-year defenseman Colby Robak reigns as Rochester's top scoring blueliner with nine points (2+7) in 13 games. Further, the Gilbert Plains, Manitoba, native is presently tied for eighth and fifth in overall scoring among league rearguards and rookies, respectively.

Fourth-year goaltender Tyler Plante made his season debut last Tuesday at Abbotsford and has posted consecutive wins in his three starts between the pipes. In just three games, Plante has a 2-1-0 record with a 3.02 goals-against average and a .895 save percentage. Jacob Markstrom, Plante's counterpart, has started 10 of the last 13 games for the Amerks and boasts a 5-5-0 record with a 3.40 goals-against average and a .889 save percentage. His five wins tie him for fifth among AHL netminders, while his 273 saves are sixth most.

Who's Hot: Evgeny Dadonov (4+3) and Repik (2+8) have points in six straight games coming into the new month. Thomas has 11 points (5+6) in his last six games, including a three-point (2+1) outing against the Devils last night. Robak is presently in the midst of a four-game point streak (2+3) of his own and Ryan Del Monte and Scott Timmins each have their first two goals in as many games in an Amerk uniform.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Notes: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (9-1-0-0, 18 points) comes into the matchup carrying a league-best .900 winning percentage after serving as the league's top team entering this weekend. The Pens' nine-game winning streak officially came to an end last night as a result of a 4-3 loss to the Syracuse Crunch on home ice. The loss halted Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's bid for its franchise record 10 consecutive win and ruined professional hockey's only perfect team. The Penguins currently have one of the best penalty-killing unit in the AHL with a 87.7 percent success rate. As a team, the Pens have only allowed six goals on 53 man-down situations and finished the month of October ranked first in the AHL in team defense, only allowing 1.88 goals per game.

Team and League Leaders: Third-year pro Dustin Jeffrey pilots the Penguins offense with a team-high eight assists and 11 points through the first 10 games of the season thus far. Joe Vitale and Tim Wallace pace their team with five goals apiece. Additionally, Vitale leads the AHL in both shorthanded goals (two) and game-winning goals (three), in addition to being the only member of his team to lead in three different goal-scoring categories. Veteran forward Jesse Boulerice leads the Pens with 29 penalty minutes.

Dynamic Duo: The AHL announced this past week that Pens goaltenders John Curry and Brad Thiessen have been named co-winners of the Reebok/AHL Goaltender of the Month award for October. Curry and Thiessen split the goaltending chores and combined to go 8-0-0 with a 1.84 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage as the Penguins remained the league's only unbeaten team. Thiessen and Curry have seen identical time between the pipes for the Penguins, who own the best goaltending tandem in the league. Curry currently shows a 2.17 goals-against average and .921 save percentage, respectively, after suffering his only loss of the season last night against Syracuse. Thiessen, a 2008-09 Hobey Baker Finalist as the nation's top collegiate player, boasts an unblemished 5-0-0 record with 131 saves in five games of service. His 2.36 goals-against average and .916 save percentage are presently 13th and 18th among AHL goaltenders.

Next Game: The Amerks return to action on Wednesday, November 10th for a midweek tilt with the Binghamton Senators at Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena. The 7:05 p.m. matchup will be the first of eight meetings between the longtime geographic rivals and can be heard live on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK and FM 107.3, Rochester's Sports Talk.

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American Hockey League Stories from November 7, 2010


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