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Rochester Americans Game Preview: Saturday, November 30, 2019 at Cleveland Monsters

November 30, 2019 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


TONIGHT'S GAME OVERVIEW

- The Rochester Americans (12-3-2-2) put their season-long nine-game point streak on the line tonight when they visit the Cleveland Monsters (11-8-1-1) for a North Division showdown at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The matchup will be the third between the two teams this season after both sides came away with an overtime win during the first two meetings in Rochester. Game time is slated for a 7:00 p.m. start and will be carried live on The Sports Leader AM 950/95.7 FM ESPN Rochester as well as AHLTV.

LAST TIME OUT

- While the Amerks extended their point streak to a season-long nine games (7-0-1-1), it was the Toronto Marlies who took the extra point as they left The Blue Cross Arena last night with a 3-2 overtime win.

- Despite the loss in overtime, Rochester has earned 28 out of a possible 38 points through its first 19 games of the campaign and has picked up points in 14 of the last 16 contests overall, going 10-2-2-2 over that span, including earning at least one point in every game in November.

- Forwards Scott Wilson and Brett Murray each recorded their sixth and fourth goals of the season, respectively, while netminder Andrew Hammond (7-1-2) stopped 28 shots but was dealt the overtime loss. Kevin Porter earned the primary assist on Murray's goal in the first period, pushing his current point streak to six games while skating in his 500th career American Hockey League contest.

ROAD AHEAD FOR ROCHESTER

- The Amerks open the final month of the calendar year on Wednesday, Dec. 4 when they return back to The Blue Cross Arena for a rematch with the Toronto Marlies. The matchup will be the first of a season-long four-game homestand and second between Rochester and Toronto in a five-day span. Game time is slated for a 7:00 p.m. start and will be carried live on The Sports Leader AM 950/95.7 FM ESPN Rochester as well as AHLTV.

WELCOME BACK, CHRIS TAYLOR

- Chris Taylor resumed head coaching duties of the Amerks earlier this week, making his official return to Rochester after spending the previous two months assisting the Buffalo Sabres coaching staff. Taylor filled in for Sabres assistant coach Don Granato, who was forced to take an extended medical leave while he recovered from illness. Amerks assistant coach Gord Dineen took over in the interim, leading the Amerks to a 12-3-1-2 record, including the team's recent five-game win streak. Prior to last night's tilt with the Marlies, Taylor's last game behind Rochester's bench was Game 3 in Toronto during the 2019 Calder Cup Playoffs.

TEAM AND LEAGUE LEADERS

- With Jean-Sebastien Dea and Tage Thompson both on recall with the Sabres, the Amerks come into the weekend without the services of their top two point-getters. With six points (3+3) over his last six games, Dea, who made his Sabres debut Wednesday against Calgary, leads the Amerks with seven goals and 13 points through 18 games. He's also third on the team with six assists. 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 Marlies. More impressively, Thompson has scored 12 goals in just 24 career regular-season games for Rochester, easily surpassing the total he set as a rookie with the San Antonio Rampage in 2017-18. His 67 shots are seventh in the AHL.

- With one goal, six assists and a pair of multi-point efforts over his last six games, first-year forward Brett Murray is tied for ninth in scoring among all AHL rookies with 12 points (2+10) in 14 games.

- Andrew Hammond is tied for seventh among all netminders with seven wins on the season. In his last six starts, he has posted four wins, two shutouts, a 1.58 goals-against average and a .943 save percentage. His counterpart, Jonas Johansson, also boasts a three-game win streak and recently set a new AHL career-high with his fifth win of the season last Saturday in Binghamton.

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 been mainstays on Rochester's blueline this season. 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 16 games of the season. The reigning Eddie Shore Award winner and two-time AHL All-Star is currently tied for eighth in scoring among all defensemen with 13 points and is tied for seventh with a team-high 11 assists. Nelson's three goals this season are tied for 14th-most by a defenseman while his and Jacob Bryson's team-best plus-12 on-ice rating is third in the league among all active blueliners.

- After being reassigned by the Sabres last Saturday, defenseman John Gilmour made an immediate impact on the scoresheet in his Amerks debut, earning the secondary assist on Eric Cornel's game-winning goal during the second period. With the addition of Gilmour, who last season led the Harford Wolf Pack with a career-high 34 assists and 54 points in 70 games, the Amerks now have two of the AHL's top three point-producing defensemen from last season on the same blueline. Gilmour's 54 points were four better than Redmond's while Redmond led all AHL blueliners with a franchise-record 21 goals.

SCOUTING THE MONSTERS

- Cleveland comes into the matchup sitting just four points behind the Amerks for the second spot in the AHL's North Division standings. The Monsters have won three of their last four games.

SERIES NOTABLES

- Tonight is just the 11th meeting between the Amerks and Monsters since the 2015-16 season. Rochester holds a record of 27-7-3-3 over Cleveland since the start of the 2011-12 campaign.

- Amerks assistant coach Toby Petersen spent the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons behind the bench with the Monsters. Petersen helped the team earn its first Calder Cup in 2016.

- Zac Dalpe leads all Cleveland skaters with a team-high 16 points (5+11) through the first 21 games of the campaign. The former Amerk and Buffalo Sabre finished the 2018-19 season tied for second in the AHL with a career-high 33 goals, which set a new single-season franchise record for the Monsters.

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