AHL Rochester Americans

Game Day: Amerks, Moose Square off Tonight at Blue Cross Arena

Published on January 28, 2011 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


Tonight, the Rochester Americans remain home as former Amerk Victor Oreskovich and the Manitoba Moose make their first visit this season to The Blue Cross Arena. The 7:35 p.m. matchup will be the third of eight scheduled meetings this between the North Division rivals 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

Welcome, Class of 2011!: Prior to the game, the Amerks will induct former defenseman and assistant coach Doug Houda and longtime broadcaster Don Stevens into the franchise's Hall of Fame as the Class of 2011. The newest inductees will sign autographs starting at 5:45 p.m. in the upper atrium of The Blue Cross Arena as part of the next installment of the Amerks Legends Series, courtesy of the Seneca Gaming Corporation.

Promotions: The first 3,000 fans tonight will take home a Jason Pominville bobblehead, the second of three in the trilogy collection. The game also falls on the next installment of the "Dollar Dogs 'N' Drinks" promotion, presented by Molson Coors. Tonight, and now during every Friday night home game for the rest of the season, fans can purchase Zweigle's Hot Dogs and select draft products for just $1.00. Starting this season, however, fans will also have the opportunity to enjoy any fountain Pepsi products for $1.00. Further, the game features the Mark's Family Value Night special, offering fans four tickets, four T-shirts, one large one-topping pizza, two orders of jumbo wings and one two-liter bottle of soda for just $69.00 from any area participating Mark's Pizzeria location. Fans can purchase the package online at ticketmaster.com or in person at The Blue Cross Arena Box Office. For more information, please call the Amerks office at (585) 454-5335 and speak with a ticket sales representative today.

Head-to-Head: The matchup will be just the third of six get-togethers between the two teams this season. Rochester is 0-2-0-0 this season after the Moose earned a two-game sweep over the Amerks in Winnipeg this past November. Manitoba also maintains the upper hand with a 29-18-3 all-time record against Rochester. Dating back to last season, the Moose have taken the last five games against the Amerks, with Rochester's last win over the Moose coming on December 1, 2009. The Moose bring with them a 17-4-2-1 record in Rochester back to The Blue Cross Arena, where they last lost on March 28, 2008.

By The Numbers: Rochester is just 8-12-3-0 against North Division opponents this season, but shows an 11-11-0-2 mark against non-divisional rivals. Home ice has not been very welcoming for the Amerks, who are just 7-14-1-2 within the friendly confines of The Blue Cross Arena. Conversely, Rochester's road dominance is prevalent with a 12-9-2-0 mark. Excluding their 4-3 win over Lake Erie on January 4th and their subsequent 6-4 loss to the Monsters January 16th, Rochester has been held to two or fewer goals in 10 of its last 12 games.

Markstrom Makes His Mark in the NHL: First-year netminder Jacob Markstrom finally made his much anticipated National Hockey League debut this past Sunday in Florida's 5-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils. Recalled early Sunday morning to back-up Scott Clemmensen, Markstrom entered the contest before the start of the second period and finished the game with 12 saves and two goals against as the Panthers dropped their fourth straight game.

Taylor On The Move Again: Veteran forward Chris Taylor needs just one more goal to eclipse former fan-favorite Scott Metcalfe for 10th on the all-time goals list. Already on his list of achievements this season includes moving ahead of Stan Smrke for fifth on the all-time points list, appearing in more games than Bronco Horvath and scoring more career goals than Jim Pappin and Barry Merrell. Coming into tonight, the 19-year pro is also just one assist away from 700 in his professional career.

All-Star Bound: Amerks defenseman Clay Wilson and forward Michal Repikhave been named to the Western Conference All-Star team for the 2011 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Capital BlueCross, which will be held this weekend at the Giant Center in Hershey as a tribute to the league's 75th anniversary season. The league also announced that Amerks athletic trainer Kent Weisbeck will serve in the same capacity for the Western Conference All-Star team.

Comrie to Cincinnati: Defenseman Adam Comrie will rejoin the Cincinnati Cyclones for the second time this month following his reassignment to the ECHL team earlier today. Comrie, 20, returns to the Cyclones after registering three assists and 10 penalty minutes in 18 games with the Amerks this season. He has also notched two assists and 14 penalty minutes in six games with the Cyclones. A native of Kanata, Ontario, 6-foot-4, 213-pound blueliner is currently in his first professional season after being selected in the third round (80th overall) by the Florida Panthers in the 2008 National Hockey League Entry Draft.

Amerks Notes: Rochester (19-23-3-2, 43 points) enters the contest coming off a 3-2 come-from-behind shootout victory over the Grand Rapids Griffins Wednesday night on home ice. Despite facing a 2-0 deficit late in the second period, the Amerks used back-to-back tallies from Scott Timmins and Colby Robak to rally before Repik, AJ Jenks and Bill Thomas played sniper in the shootout to earn the win in four rounds. The victory was Rochester's second in its last three games and first home win (seventh overall) since December 26th. Markstrom turned aside 34 saves to pick up his 14th win of the season. The Amerks have scored the fifth most goals among any other divisional opponent with 128 and is fourth in the North with 825 penalty minutes. Rochester currently has the ninth best power-play in the league (20.3 percentage), but its penalty kill ranks 29th out of the 30-team AHL with a 77.3 success rate. As a team, the Amerks have also allowed a league worst 11 shorthanded goals against, six coming at home and five on the road. The Amerks remain in the basement of the American Hockey League's North Division standings, eight points out of third place and but 13 points behind the second-place Manitoba Moose.

Team and League Leaders: Repik continues to be Rochester's top point-getter with a team-high 31 assists and 38 points. Playing at just under a point-per-game pace, Repik is currently fourth in the AHL in assists, while also being among the league's top scorers in overall points. The Vlasim, Czech Republic, native also paces the Amerks with a team-best 138 shots on goal.

Following his return from injury over a month ago, Michael Duco has taken over the team lead in goals with 13, though being held scoreless the last five games. Seven of Duco's goals have come on the man-advantage, ranking him first on the team and 14th in the league. Rookie left wing Eric Selleck has a team-high 130 penalty minutes, while he also ranks 13th in the league and second among AHL rookies in that category. Selleck is also second in the league with 20 major penalties. Defensemen Mike Kostka (7+22) and Clay Wilson (8+20) are currently tied for sixth and eighth in scoring among American Hockey League blueliners, respectively. Kostka's 14 assists on the power-play are a team-best, good enough for 11th in the league, while Wilson, fresh off his recent NHL stint with the Florida Panthers, remains at a close second in that category with 13.

Markstrom, who has started four of the last five games for the Amerks, boasts a 14-19-1 record with one shutout, a 3.10 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage in 34 appearances. His 14 wins rank him 14th among AHL netminders, while he leads the league with 964 saves. Tyler Plante, who has also recently seen time in three straight games, shows a 5-7-1 record with a 3.51 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage in 15 games of service.

Who's Hot: Repik enters the contest on a three-game assist streak (0+3), establishing his first consecutive point string since a season-long eight-game run from October 25th to November 10th. Kostka continues to stay hot as of late, having collected six points (2+4) in his last 10 appearances, while being held scoreless in only five occasions during that stretch.

Manitoba Notes: Manitoba (25-13-1-5, 56 points), kicking off a six-game road trip tonight, comes into the matchup the losers of two in its last three, with its most recent loss coming in a 3-0 whitewash to the North Division-leading Hamilton Bulldogs Wednesday morning at Copps Coliseum. The loss was the Moose's fifth shutout of the season, having last been held scoreless on December 4th. Hamilton's Dustin Boyd scored all three goals at Curtis Sanford blanked his former team for his third shutout in four appearances. The Moose currently occupy second place in the North Division, 13 points ahead of the Amerks.

Team and League Leaders: Second-year forward Sergei Shirokov currently paces the Moose with a team-high 16 goals and 33 points, in addition to owning a plus-nine on-ice rating. A 2011 AHL All-Star, Shirokov has also netted a team-best four power-play goals this season while averaging .82 points-per-game. First-year winger Bill Sweatt is second on the team and seventh among AHL rookies with 29 points (11+18) and is the only member to appear in all 44 games thus far. Team captain Nolan Baumgartner leads his team with 20 assists. Mario Bliznak leads Manitoba with an impressive plus-15 on-ice rating.

Just 26 games into his professional career, rookie goaltender Eddie Lack has already established himself among the elite at his position. Coming into tonight, Lack shows a 14-9-3 record with 679 saves and a pair of shutouts. His 2.02 goals-against average and .928 save percentage presently rank him fourth and sixth among league netminders, respectively.

Local Product in 'The Show': The Moose own a piece of Rochester in forward Chris Tanev, who is currently on NHL recall with the parent Vancouver Canucks. Prior to turning pro and joining Manitoba this season, Tanev played his only season of collegiate hockey during the 2009-10 campaign at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). In 41 total games for the Tigers, the Toronto, Ontario, native scored 10 goals and 18 assists for 28 points. Upon earning a promotion to the Canucks a few weeks ago, he became the first RIT graduate to play for an NHL team. Since his call-up, Tanev has one assist in five games with the Canucks.

Next Game: The Amerks head to the Capital District of New York on Saturday, January 29th as they take on the Albany Devils at 7:00 p.m. from the Times Union Center. The matchup will be the final for both teams before the 2011 AHL All-Star break. Fans can tune in for all the live action on SportsRadio 1280 WHTK and FM 107.3, Rochester's Sports Talk.

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American Hockey League Stories from January 28, 2011


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