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AHL Rochester Americans

Rochester Americans Game Preview: Saturday, February 1, 2020 at Binghamton Devils

February 1, 2020 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW

- The Rochester Americans (25-13-2-4) look to make it five in a row tonight as they make their way down to the southern tier for a North Division showdown against the Binghamton Devils (21-19-4-0) at Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena at 7:05 p.m. The matchup will be carried live on The Sports Leader AM 950/95.7 FM ESPN Rochester as well as AHLTV.

LAST TIME OUT

- Led by a pair of goals and an assist from Scott Wilson, the Amerks doubled-upped the Syracuse Crunch by a 4-2 score for their fourth consecutive victory last night at The Blue Cross Arena.

- The contest was the second of a home-and-home series between the two clubs and sixth overall in the head-to-head series this season. In the last 18 games dating back to last season, Rochester shows an 11-5-1-1 record, which includes a 5-1-0-0 mark in 2019-20.

- Along with Wilson's three-point outing, rookies Jacob Bryson and Brett Murray each added a pair of assists to keep the Amerks within four points of the first-place Belleville Senators. The multi-point game by Bryson was the first of his career. Forwards Casey Mittelstadt and C.J. Smith rounded out the scoring as they recorded their seventh and ninth goals of the campaign, respectively. First-year goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen evened his season record to 1-1-1 while he made 31 saves.

ROAD AHEAD FOR ROCHESTER

- The Amerks make a return trip to Cleveland on Wednesday, Feb. 5 for a rematch against the Monsters as Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse at 7:00 p.m. Following the contest, Rochester returns home to The Blue Cross Arena on Friday, Feb. 7 for another go-around with the Crunch at 7:05 p.m. before concluding the weekend with a 4:00 p.m. matchup north of the border against the Toronto Marlies at Coca-Cola Coliseum. All three North Division games will be carried live on The Sports Leader AM 950/95.7 FM ESPN Rochester as well as AHLTV.

GOALTENDERS ON THE MOVE

- The Buffalo Sabres recalled goaltender Jonas Johansson from the Amerks Wednesday. In a corresponding move, Rochester called up fellow goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen from the ECHL's Cincinnati Cyclones. Johansson earned his first-career recall to Buffalo after posting a 13-3-3 record in 20 games this season for the Amerks. The 24-year-old netminder currently ranks third among all AHL goaltenders with a 2.19 goals-against average and is fourth in the league with a .925 save percentage while also being tied for 15th with 13 wins. Luukkonen returns to Rochester on his third recall of the season. In three games with the Amerks, he shows a 1-1-1 record with a 2.93 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage.

TEAM AND LEAGUE LEADERS

- Prior to earning his second recall of the season to the Sabres on Friday, Jean-Sebastien Dea became the first Amerk this season to reach the 30-point plateau in 41 games and is tied with Andrew Oglevie for the team lead in goals (13). Coming into weekend, Dea, who is also second among all Amerks forwards with 84 shots on goal, has 12 points (3+9) in his last 16 games dating back to Dec. 20.

SHARING THE CREASE

- Anchored by the goaltending tandem of veteran Andrew Hammond and third-year pro Jonas Johansson, the Amerks own one of the top defenses in AHL, having allowed only 116 goals through the first 44 games of the season, the third-fewest in the AHL coming into this weekend. The duo has also combined for six shutouts and continue to rank among the AHL's goaltending leaders with 11 and 13 wins on the season, respectively.

- Hammond (11-9-2) ranks second among all netminders after notching his fourth shutout of the season back on Dec. 14 in a 5-0 win over Laval, a new career-high. With four shutouts through 24 games this season, he's on pace to tie the franchise record for most shutouts in a season (8) set by Ryan Miller during the 2004-05 campaign.

- Johansson, whose first NHL recall came just days after representing Rochester at the 2020 AHL All-Star Classic in Ontario, Calif., owns a career-best 13-3-3 record with two shutouts this season. He had the third-best goal-against average in the league (2.19) and ranked fourth among all netminders with a .925 save percentage in 20 games leading up his NHL promotion. Dating back to Nov. 13, the third-year netminder boasts an impressive 11-1-1 record with two shutouts, a 2.11 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage while allowing just two goals or less in eight 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, Casey Nelson and Lawrence Pilut, 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 hasn't gone more than five games without a point all season. The two-time AHL All-Star and reigning Eddie Shore Award winner is presently tied for 13th in scoring amongst all defensemen with 26 points and ranks 10th with a team-high 21 assists, nine of which have come on the power-play.

- Back with Buffalo for his third recall of the season, Pilut has 17 points (5+12) over his last 22 games dating back to Nov. 15, including goals in four of his last eight outings. Having already established a new AHL career-high in goals (6), the former SHL Defenseman of the Year is also on pace to set a new career-high in points.

- Nelson is tied for sixth among all blueliners with a team-best plus-19 on-ice rating through 40 games while rookie Jacob Bryson is tied for ninth among all first-year players with a plus-10 on-ice rating.

SERIES NOTABLES

- The Amerks enter the matchup with points in 21 of the last 27 games against the Devils dating back to the start of the 2017-18 season. Rochester holds a 15-6-3-3 record during that span, which included a 10-game point streak.

- Amerks rookie defenseman Casey Fitzgerald is the son of former NHL forward and current Binghamton general manager Tom Fitzgerald.

- Andrew Hammond played parts of his first four pro seasons with the Binghamton Senators from 2013-17. He recently picked up his 100th pro win.

Check out the Rochester Americans Statistics



American Hockey League Stories from February 1, 2020


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