AHL Rochester Americans

Rochester Americans Game Preview: Saturday, January 25, 2020 at Syracuse Crunch

Published on January 25, 2020 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW

- The Rochester Americans (23-13-2-4) close out the weekend tonight with a North Division matchup against the Syracuse Crunch (20-18-3-3) at Upstate Medical University Arena. The 7:00 p.m. contest will serve as the front-end of a home-and-home series between the two teams that concludes after the annual AHL All-Star break. The game will be carried live on The Sports Leader AM 950/95.7 FM ESPN Rochester as well as AHLTV.

LAST TIME OUT

- With four goal different goal-scorers, including a pair from Andrew Oglevie, the Amerks defeated the North Division rival Laval Rocket at The Blue Cross Arena on Friday night.

- The win was Rochester's third this season against Laval while having outscored the Rocket 13-4 over that span. Additionally, the Amerks improved to 12-3-0 all-time versus the Rocket to remain within four points of first place in the AHL's North Division standings going into the final game prior to the annual All-Star break.

- Along with Oglevie's 11 and 12th goals of the campaign, Sean Malone, C.J. Smith and Scott Wilson all rounded out the scoring for the Amerks. Goaltender Jonas Johansson (13-3-3) made his second straight start and stopped 31 of the 33 shots that he faced in net to improve to 11-1-1 in his last 13 appearances. Dating back to Nov. 13, the Swedish netminder shows a .930 save percentage to go with his 2.11 goals-against average.

ROAD AHEAD FOR ROCHESTER

- The Amerks return from the All-Star break on Friday, Jan. 31 with another go-around against the Crunch as the home-and-home series shifts to The Blue Cross Arena. Rochester then makes its way down to the southern tier on Saturday, Feb. 1 for a North Division showdown with the Binghamton Devils at Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena at 7:00 p.m. Both matchups will be carried live on The Sports Leader AM 950/95.7 FM ESPN Rochester as well as AHLTV.

AMERKS GET TRIO FROM BUFFALO

- The Buffalo Sabres reassigned forwards Rasmus Asplund and Scott Wilson as well as defenseman Lawrence Pilut to the Amerks on Sunday and all three have made an immediate impact on each of the last two Amerk victories. During Wednesday night's 3-2 overtime win, Pilut scored the game-winning goal with 96 seconds left in the extra period. In last night's 5-2 victory, Wilson scored his seventh goal of the season at the 9:32 mark of the third period while Asplund earned the secondary helper on C.J. Smith's second-period goal. The trio has combined for 36 games with the Sabres this season, including 28 from Asplund, who made his NHL debut against Ottawa on Nov. 16 and scored his first NHL goal against New Jersey on Dec. 2.

TEAM AND LEAGUE LEADERS

- Jean-Sebastien Dea continues to lead the team in points (29) in 40 games this season while being tied with Oglevie for most goals (12). Coming into weekend, Dea, who is also second among all Amerks forwards with 76 shots on goal, has 11 points (2+9) in his last 15 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 112 goals through the first 42 games of the season, 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 10 and 13 wins on the season, respectively.

- Hammond (10-9-2) 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 23 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.

- Having won 11 of his last 13 appearances, Johansson shows an AHL career-best 13-3-3 record with two shutouts this season. He has the third-best goal-against average in the league (2.19) and ranks fourth among all netminders with a .925 save percentage in 20 games. 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 eighth in scoring among all defensemen with 26 points and 10th with a team-high 21 assists, nine of which have come on the power-play. Additionally, three of his five goals this season have come on the man-advantage.

- Back from his second recall of the season with Buffalo, 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 ninth among all active blueliners with a team-best plus-16 on-ice rating through 38 games while rookie Jacob Bryson is 14th in the AHL for all first-year players with a plus-8 on-ice rating.

SERIES NOTABLES

- The Amerks have scored a power-play goal in 13 of the last 26 games against Syracuse, going 18-for-109 (16.5%) with the man-advantage over that span.

- After going 4-5-1-0 against the Crunch during the 2017-18 campaign, the Amerks have posted a 9-5-1-1 against Syracuse over the last 16 contests.

- The Amerks are facing a familiar name in goaltender Scott Wedgewood tonight. Wedgewood went 28-16-1 with five shutouts in 48 games last season for Rochester, ranking second in the AHL in wins.

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American Hockey League Stories from January 25, 2020


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