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AHL Rochester Americans

Rochester Americans Game Preview: Friday, January 3, 2020 at Belleville Senators

January 3, 2020 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW

- The Rochester Americans (20-8-2-2) head north of the border for their first game of the New Year tonight when they take on the Belleville Senators (19-12-1-1) at 7:00 p.m. at CAA Arena. The contest will be the second of the six-game season series after Rochester claimed the first meeting between the two teams by way of a 4-3 score back on Dec. 27. Tonight's game will be carried live on The Sports Leader AM 950/95.7 FM ESPN Rochester as well as AHLTV.

LAST TIME OUT

- After scoring a power-play goal to tie the game midway through the third period, the Amerks saw the Utica Comets regain the lead with a power-play goal of their own before holding on for a 3-2 win Tuesday at Adirondack Bank Center. The Amerks attempted to stage a late third-period comeback but fell short and were defeated in back-to-back games in regulation for the first time all season.

- Despite the setback, however, the Amerks show a 15-5-1-1 record over their last 22 games dating back to Nov. 1, earning points in 17 games over that span, and share the top spot in the AHL's North Division standings with Utica going into the New Year. Additionally, Rochester has picked up points in 22 of the last 29 contests overall, going 18-7-2-2, while also earning 44 out of a possible 64 points through its first 32 contests of the season.

- For the second time this season, Taylor Leier tallied a pair of goals against Utica while blueliner Casey Nelson, who had a game-high five shots last Saturday, registered seven shots on net. Goaltender Andrew Hammond (10-6-2) stopped 15 of 18 shots he faced but suffered his fourth consecutive loss.

ROAD AHEAD FOR ROCHESTER

- Following tonight's contest with Belleville, Rochester makes its first trip back to Coca-Cola Coliseum since Game 3 of the 2019 Calder Cup Playoffs for another go-around with the Toronto Marlies at 4:00 p.m. The North Division matchup will be carried live on The Sports Leader AM 950/95.7 FM ESPN Rochester as well as AHLTV.

DALTON SMITH EARNS TWO-WAY CONTRACT WITH SABRES

- The Buffalo Sabres announced Monday the team signed forward Dalton Smith to a one-year two-way contract for the remainder of the 2019-20 season. Smith, 27, a former second-round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets (34th overall) in the 2010 NHL Draft, has four points (1+3) in 21 games in his third season with Rochester and has totaled 14 points (4+10) over 114 games for the Amerks since joining the organization in 2017-18. In all, Smith has appeared in 340 career AHL games with Rochester, Lehigh Valley, Providence, Syracuse and Springfield. The Oshawa, Ontario, native made his NHL debut Tuesday when the Buffalo Sabres hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning.

TEAM AND LEAGUE LEADERS

- Jean-Sebastien Dea shares the Amerks team lead in both points (21) and goals (10) in 30 games this season. Dea has four points (1+3) in his last seven games heading into Rochester's first game of the calendar year.

DYNAMIC DUO IN THE CREASE

- Anchored by the elite goaltending tandem of veteran Andrew Hammond and third-year pro Jonas Johansson, the Amerks own the top defense in the league, having allowed only 74 goals through the first 32 games of the season, the fewest in the AHL coming into the weekend. The duo has also combined for six shutouts and are tied for 11th among all AHL goaltenders with 10 wins each on the season.

- Hammond (10-6-2) comes into the matchup second among all netminders after notching his fourth shutout of the season on Dec. 14 in a 5-0 win over Laval, a new career-high. In his last 13 games, Hammond boasts a 7-5-1 record with four shutouts, a 1.74 goals-against average and a .940 save percentage. With four shutouts through just 19 games this season, he's on pace to match the franchise record for most shutouts in a season (8) set by Ryan Miller during the 2004-05 campaign.

- Having won eight straight appearances, Johansson shows an AHL career-best 10-2-2 record this season. Coming into the New Year, he has the second-best goal-against average in the league (2.00) and is tied for third among all netminders with a .933 save percentage in 15 games. Dating back to Nov. 13, the third-year netminder boasts a perfect 8-0-0 record with two shutouts, a 1.74 goals-against average and a .946 save percentage while allowing just two goals or less in six consecutive starts over that span.

THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENSE

- Rochester owns three of the AHL's top point-producing defensemen in Zach Redmond, Lawrence Pilut and Casey Nelson, all of whom have been mainstays on Rochester's blueline this season.

- The 2019-20 season is just a different chapter in the same story for the 31-year-old Redmond, who's averaged nearly a point-per-game through his first 29 games of the season. Redmond is currently tied for eighth in scoring among all defensemen with 21 points and ranks 10th with a team-high 16 assists. He's also tied for eighth in the AHL for goals by a defenseman with five.

- Coming off his third three-point outing of the season on Friday, plus another assist on Tuesday, Pilut enters tonight with 15 points (3+12) over his last 19 games dating back to Nov. 15 since returning from the Buffalo Sabres. The former SHL Defenseman of the Year has already matched his goal total from last season in three fewer games and is on pace to set a new career-high in points. His 16 assists are tied with Redmond for the most on the team.

- Nelson shows a team-best plus-16 on-ice rating through 30 games, tied for third among all active blueliners and fifth overall in the AHL.

BELLEVILLE'S ABRAMOV NAMED WEEK'S BEST

- Belleville Senators forward Vitaly Abramov was named the CCM/AHL Player of the Week for the period ending Dec. 29, 2019. Abramov notched four goals and two assists for six points in three games during a busy post-Christmas stretch for the Senators.

- In a Boxing Day matinee at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Thursday, Abramov tallied an assist to help Belleville to a 3-2 win over the Marlies. On Friday evening, he picked up a goal in a 4-3 loss at Rochester. And on Saturday, Abramov recorded his first career hat trick as part of a four-point effort as the Senators defeated Syracuse, 8-2.

- Abramov has totaled 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points in 24 games with Belleville this season, including 13 points during his current seven-game scoring streak. The 21-year-old native of Chelyabinsk, Russia, has also appeared in two NHL games with Ottawa in 2019-20, scoring his first career NHL goal vs. St. Louis on Oct. 10.

- Originally a third-round selection by Columbus in the 2016 NHL Draft, Abramov has collected 31 goals and 29 assists for 60 points in 98 career AHL games with Belleville and Cleveland, as well as one goal in three career NHL contests with Ottawa.

QUICK HITS

- Rookie defenseman Jacob Bryson is second in the AHL for all first-year players with a plus-15 on-ice rating while being the only Amerk to appear in all 32 games this season.

- The Amerks have claimed at least one point in nine of the first 13 meetings with the Senators dating back to the 2017-18 season. Rochester holds a record of 5-0-2-0 in the all-time road portion of the head-to-head series.

- Tonight is just the 14th all-time meeting between the North Division rivals. In eight of the first 13 contests, the team who has scored the first goal of the game has gone on to come away with the victory.

- The Senators lineup features two former Amerk defensemen in Jack Dougherty and Stuart Percy.

- Belleville's Drake Batherson comes into tonight tied for the league lead with a team-high 40 points while pacing the AHL with 28 assists through 32 games.

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