AHL Rochester Americans

Game Night: Amerks Host Pens Tonight At Blue Cross Arena

January 23, 2010 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


Tonight, the Rochester Americans continue their four-game homestand as they host the East Division Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the third of four get-togethers between the two teams this season. The 7:05 p.m. contest 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:

Fans can take advantage of the Amerks' Family Fun Pack, which includes four tickets for 200-End seating, four T-shirts, four hot dogs and four sodas for the low price of $52. Packages can be ordered by calling the Amerks office directly at (585) 454-5335 and speaking with a ticket sales representative.

Canada Triumphs in 2010 AHL All-Star Classic:

After an 18-12 win in Monday night's Skills Competition, Amerks defenseman Keaton Ellerby and the Canadian AHL All-Stars completed a sweep of the

2010 Time Warner Cable AHL All-Star Classic tonight with a come-from-behind 10-9 shootout win over PlanetUSA in the 2010 AHL All-Star Game at the Cumberland County Civic Center. All three Rochester players participating in the 2010 Time Warner Cable AHL All-Star Classic found the scoresheet with assists throughout the night; the first All-Star points of their careers. Goaltender Alexander Salak made AHL history on Brett Sterling's second goal of the game to give the PlanetUSA All-Stars a 3-2 lead midway through the opening period. With his assist at 9:32 of the period, Salak became only the second goaltender in as many years in AHL All-Star history to record a point in the AHL All-Star Game. Houston netminder Barry Brust became the first to accomplish the feat at last season's 2009 AHL All-Star Classic in Worcester. Salak would close out the first period, making six saves on eight shots.

Taylor Continues His Climb Up All-Time Lists:

More than five weeks removed from capturing his 1,000th career professional point against Hershey, veteran forward Chris Taylor continues his ascent up the Amerks' all-time lists. This season, Taylor has already surpassed both Norm "Red" Armstrong and Geordie Robertson into the No.6 spot on the all-time points table. In the same game, he scored a goal to move ahead of Gordie Clark into the No. 14 spot on the all-time goals list, in addition to skating in his 500th AHL contest. A week later, he skated in his 400th career game as an Amerk and moved into 10th all-time on the games played list one game ahead of Les Duff's 399-game benchmark. Having already slid by Dick Gamble into the No.4 spot on the all-time assist list, the 18-year pro now sits just five goals and eight assists away from moving ahead of Ron Garwasiuk and Gerry Ehman for 13th and third on the all-time lists, respectively. Most recently, he captured his 400th career point as an Amerk with a goal and is just 13 games away from 1,200 professional games.

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

With half of the season already in the books, home ice advantage has been beneficial for the Amerks. After earning their first regulation loss of the season at home, the Amerks are now 14-5-2-0 on home ice. Conversely, 11 of Rochester's 16 losses in regulation thus far this season have been away from the friendly confines of The Blue Cross Arena.

Head-to-Head:

The contest is third of four scheduled meetings between the non-divisional rivals this season. Rochester is 1-1-0-0 this season since dropping a 5-3 decision to the Penguins to start the New Year on January 2nd and is 11-7-6 lifetime against the Baby Pens.

Amerks Notes:

Rochester (25-16-2-0, 52 points) enters the contest after seeing its three-game winning streak come to a halt as the result of a 6-1 loss to the North Division-leading Hamilton Bulldogs last night at The Blue cross Arena. Veteran forward Jeff Taffe netted the Amerks' lone goal to extend his point streak to four games.

Jamie Johnson also continued his point streak to four games with an assist while Graham Mink also notched an assist in his first game back since a five-game absence with injury. Despite the loss, the Amerks remain currently second in the North Division and tied for ninth overall in the AHL with the Chicago Wolves. The Amerks have won 14 of the last 20 on home ice, and have the league's eighth best winning percentage (6.05).

The Amerks, who are just seven wins away from their 2,000th, have allowed the third fewest number of goals in their division with 135. Additionally, their 139 goals for are also the second most in the division. Rochester is sixth in the AHL with a 19.3 power-play percentage and is 17th with an 82.6 penalty-killing percentage.

Johnson, who has three goals and four assists in his last four outings, currently paces Rochester's offense in all offensive categories in goals (17), assists (25) and points (42). Averaging just under a point per game, Johnson is eighth in the AHL in overall point production after collecting 38 points (17+21) in his last 32 appearances. Further, his 17 goals and 25 assists are each 13th among the AHL's top scorers, respectively.

Defenseman Clay Wilson, who shows three points in his last three games, has a team-best 15 assists on the man advantage this season, good enough for second in the AHL in that category. Wilson continues to be Rochester's top scoring defenseman with 29 points (6+23) and remains tied for third in scoring among league blueliners. Amerks tough-guy Jimmy Bonneau is first on the team and sixth in the league with a team-high 138 penalty minutes. Third-year defenseman Jordan Henry continues to own the team's best on-ice rating with a plus-12.

Salak, who started between the pipes for the PlanetUSA All-Stars in the 2010 AHL All-Star Game, boasts a 19-6-0 record with 2.65 goals-against average and.917 save percentage along with 710 saves in 27 games. His save percentage is 13th best among league netminders, while his 19 wins are second best.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Notes:

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (21-20-1-1, 44 points), wrapping up a five-game road swing, comes into the matchup fresh off a 6-3 win over the Syracuse Crunch last night at the War Memorial at Oncenter. The win sapped the Penguins' four-game skid. Fifth-year pro Chris Conner had a big night for the Pens, scoring two goals and assisting on three others as goaltender Brad Thiessen's 33-save performance guided Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to its 21st win of the campaign.

Second-year forward Dustin Jeffrey, who had two points in the 2010 AHL All-Star Game, pilots the Penguins' offense in all offensive categories in goals (13), assists (30) and points (43), while his plus-12 on-ice rating is also a team best. Averaging 1.07 points per game, Jeffrey ranks seventh in AHL in scoring and his 30 helpers rank him tied for sixth. He is also eighth in the league with 128 shots on goal.

Forward Luca Caputi is first on the team and 11th in the league with seven power-play goals. Veteran forward Wade Brookbank, back for his second stint with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, leads the team with 89 penalty minutes, averaging 2.62 minutes per game.

With goaltender John Curry presently on NHL recall with the parent Pittsburgh Penguins, Thiessen has seen the majority of time this season between the pipes for the Penguins. Thiessen, in his first pro season for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, boasts a 2-5-0 record with a 3.29 goals-against average and.897 save percentage in seven games.

Next Game:

Rochester concludes the weekend on Sunday, January 24th as they welcome the inaugural visit from the expansion Adirondack Phantoms to The Blue Cross Arena. The game will be the first in 11 years since Rochester faced an Adirondack-based AHL team after the Adirondack Red Wings ceased operations following the 1998-99 season. The 5:00 p.m. matinee will be the first of four gatherings for the Amerks and the Phantoms and can be heard 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. Rochester is 17-19-4 all-time against the Phantoms, dating back from 1996 to 2009 when the franchise was located in Philadelphia.

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