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AHL Rochester Americans

Rochester Americans Game Preview: Friday, November 22 vs. Hartford Wolf Pack

November 22, 2019 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW

- The Rochester Americans (10-3-1-2) look for their fourth straight win tonight as they welcome the Hartford Wolf Pack (11-2-0-5) back to The Blue Cross Arena for the only time this season. The matchup will be the second and final meeting between the two teams this season and will be carried live on The Sports Leader AM 950/95.7 FM ESPN Rochester as well as AHLTV. Rochester claimed the previous get-together back on Oct. 13 when the Amerks erased a 2-0 deficit in the third period before completing the comeback in the shootout.

LAST TIME OUT

- The Amerks fell behind 2-0 in the first five minutes of last Saturday's contest with the Utica Comets at the Adirondack Bank Center before countering with four straight goals to earn a 4-3 victory and push their point streak to a season-long six games. The matchup was the third in four weeks between the two teams after splitting the first two games of the season series.

- Amerks rookie Brett Murray turned in his second two-assist game of the week to help the club to its third straight win while Andrew Oglevie, Sean Malone, Zach Redmond and Casey Nelson all found the back of the net. In his first appearance since shutting out the Comets back on Nov. 2, goaltender Andrew Hammond made 25 saves to improve to 6-1-1 on the season.

- The win capped a perfect week for the Amerks, whose three straight wins have them sitting just two points behind the Toronto Marlies for the top spot in the AHL's North Division standings. Additionally, Rochester has now earned 23 out of a possible 32 points through its first 16 games of the campaign and has picked up points in 11 of the last 13 contests overall, going 8-2-1-2 over that span.

ROAD AHEAD FOR ROCHESTER

- The Amerks make their way to the southern tier on Saturday, Nov. 23 for a North Division showdown with the Binghamton Devils at Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena. The matchup will be the third of the month after splitting the first two games of the 10-game season series. Game time is slated for a 7:05 p.m. start and will be carried live on The Sports Leader AM 950/95.7 FM ESPN Rochester.

SHOOTING GALLERY

- One of the biggest factors attributed to Rochester's early season success is the fact that the Amerks have outshot their opponents in all but two games so far this season, including a season-high 50 shots in Springfield back on Oct. 27. The Amerks come into the weekend ranked sixth in the AHL in total shots (534) and are averaging 33.38 shots per game, the most in the Eastern Conference. Going into last Friday, the Amerks were the only team in the league to have outshoot their opponent through the first 14 games of the 2019-20 campaign.

TEAM AND LEAGUE LEADERS

- With five points (3+2) over his last six games, including goals in two of his last three, forward Jean-Sebastien Dea leads the Amerks with seven goals and is tied for the team lead with 12 points through the first 16 games of the season. Dea, who had his first four-point effort since Apr. 6, 2019 back on Oct. 26 in Syracuse, has recorded 19 points (10+9) over his last 21 AHL contests dating back to last season.

- Currently on recall with the Buffalo Sabres, Tage Thompson has totaled 23 points (14+9) over his last 27 games with the Amerks dating back to last season, including the two goals he scored in the first round of the 2019 Calder Cup Playoffs against the Toronto Marlies. More impressively, Thompson has scored 12 goals in just 24 career regular-season games with Rochester, easily surpassing the total he set over a 30-game stint with San Antonio during his rookie season. The third-year pro has a share of the team lead in points (12), and despite being on recall with Buffalo, ranks second in the league with 67 shots.

- Coming off his second multi-point effort in three games, first-year forward Brett Murray is tied for 13th in scoring among all AHL rookies with nine points (2+7) in 11 games.

- Andrew Hammond is tied for 10th among netminders in wins (6).

THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENSE

- The Amerks come into the weekend owning three of the AHL's top point-producing defensemen in Zach Redmond, Casey Nelson and Lawrence Pilut, all of whom have nine points from the blueline. The start of 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 13 games of the season. The reigning Eddie Shore Award winner and two-time AHL All- Star has collected 10 points (2+8) in his last 18 games dating back to last season.

- Nelson's three goals this season are tied for eighth-most by a defenseman while his team-best plus-12 on-ice rating is tops in the league among all active blueliners.

WORKING OVERTIME

- Rochester's 3-2 overtime win last Friday over Cleveland was the seventh game so far this season that went beyond regulation for the Amerks, the most behind only Hartford. The Amerks, who tied an AHL record during the 2017-18 season with 29 overtime games, are 3-1 in the bonus period this season and show a 1-2 record in the shootout.

MALONE ON THE MOVE

- Third-year forward Sean Malone saw his career-long seven-game point streak come to a halt last Friday night, which was the third-longest in the AHL this season. After being held without a point in his first four games of the 2019-20 campaign, the West Seneca native has responded by recording four goals and four assists dating back to Oct. 19, a span of nine games. Malone has already equaled last season's four-goal output in less than half the games and is on pace to match his career-high 22 points he set during his rookie season in 2017-18.

SERIES NOTABLES

- Tonight is just the 27th all-time meeting between Rochester and Hartford with the Amerks owning a 14-10-2 record. The Amerks have won nine of the last 16 meetings with the Wolf Pack.

- In the last five meetings between the two clubs, the visiting team won all five games.

- The Wolf Pack enter tonight's contest as one of two teams in the AHL with only two regulation losses on the season. Hartford, who started the season on a nine-game point streak, shows an 11-2-0-5 record and 27 points, which are most in the AHL's Atlantic Division.

- Hartford's Danny O'Regan is a former Amerk who spent the majority of the 2018-19 season with the Amerks and part of the 2017-18 campaign after being acquired from San Jose at the trade deadline.

- Last season, O'Regan reached the 20-goal plateau for the first time in his career and recorded a personal-best 28 assists in 70 games. He currently leads all Wolf Pack skaters with four assists.

*The 2019-20 Amerks Digital Press Box can be viewed. It can also be found on the Amerks website under the "Stats" tab.

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