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Rochester Americans

Rochester Americans Game Preview: Wednesday, April 13 vs. Laval

April 13, 2022 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


Rochester's power-play has gone 58-for-245 with a 23.7% conversion rate that is currently fourth-best in the AHL. The Amerks' 58 goals on the man- advantage are most among all North Division teams and are five shy of the AHL lead behind Ontario.

The Amerks have scored at least one power-play goal in 36 of their first 68 games this season and have registered multiple power-play tallies in 14 overall, including a season-high four goals in the 7-3 win over Hershey back on Nov. 26 and in the 6-2 victory against Belleville on April 9.

Rookie forwards JJ Peterka and Jack Quinn continue to find the scoresheet on almost a nightly basis as the duo rank first and second on the team in scoring with 62 and 54 points, respectively.

With 10 points to start the final month of the regular season, which includes three multi-goal efforts, Peterka became the first Amerk this season and the lone AHL rookie to reach the 60-point mark.

Quinn, meanwhile, who also has recorded 10 points (4+6) in his last seven games, became just the second Rochester skater and only the fourth AHL rookie to reach the 50-point plateau.

This season marks the first time in nearly 30 years the Amerks have had multiple rookies record more than 50 points in the same season since 1992-93 when the club had five: Todd Simon (93), Scott Thomas (59), Doug MacDonald (58), Jozef Cierny (54) and Mike McLaughin (54).

Rochester is a perfect 7-0-0-0 this season when both players record multi- point outings in the same contest. The Amerks are 14-1-1-0 when Quinn produces at least two points and show a 13-3-0-0 record when Peterka has more than one point.

Tonight's contest is the eighth and final meeting between the North Division rivals and the third in 10 days after Laval claimed both matchups last week north of the border. Rochester has gone 0-3-1-0 against the Rocket after claiming the first three meetings of the season series.

Both Laval and Rochester rank among the top six offensive teams in the AHL. The Rocket on average score 3.43 goals per game while Rochester is averaging 3.41 goals per contest. The Amerks have scored the second-most goals in the league with 232 trailing only the Ontario Reign in that category.

The Amerks entered this season with a 6-2-0-0 record in eight games in the Flower City versus Laval but have since gone 1-2-0-0 in the three meetings so far this season.

HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPSHOT

The Rochester Americans (33-26-6-3) begin a four-game homestand tonight as they close out their season series against the Laval Rocket (35-23-3-2) at The Blue Cross Arena. The North Division matchup gets underway at 7:05 p.m. and will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.

With three wins in their last six games, the Amerks have earned points in 10 of their last 13 games and are 4-3-2-1 over their last 10. The Rocket make their final trip to Rochester this season the winners of four straight.

By way of a 6-5 overtime victory over the Cleveland Monsters on March 19, Seth Appert became the sixth straight head coach to reach the 30-win mark in his first full season behind the bench.

Should the Amerks win seven of their remaining eight games this season, Appert will become the first bench boss to lead his team to 40 wins in his first full season at the helm since Hall of Famer Randy Cunneyworth, who in nine seasons went on to become the winningest coach in franchise history.

Appert is 44-41-12 in 97 career games leading the Amerks dating back to the start of the 2020-21 season.

PETERKA FLOURISHING IN SECOND HALF

Coming off his three-goal outing against Cleveland to kick-off the month of April, forward JJ Peterka became the third Amerk this season and just the seventh AHL rookie to reach the 20-goal mark.

After scoring just four times through the first three months of the season, Peterka has notched 42 points (20+22) in 39 games to begin 2022, including goals in back-to-back games on five different occasions over that span.

Peterka, who was taken 34th overall in the 2020 NHL Draft by the Sabres, leads all AHL rookies and is fifth in the AHL with 197 shots on goal. He's only gone two games all season without recording at least one shot on goal.

Peterka made his highly anticipated NHL debut on Dec. 28 as Buffalo hosted New Jersey before visiting the New York Islanders the very next day.

Following his return to the Amerks, he totaled five points on two goals and three assists in two games before being honored as the AHL's Rookie of the Month of the Week for the period ending Jan. 2, 2022.

Peterka has been held scoreless just 14 times since Dec. 19 and hasn't gone more than two games without recording a point during that same span.

More impressively, the Amerks are 13-3-0-0 this season when Peterka registers a multi-point game, including 6-0-0-0 on home ice.

With a team-high 62 points (24+38) through 62 games, Peterka is the first Amerks rookie to reach the 60-point mark since Thomas Vanek had 68 points (42+26) in 74 games during the 2004-05 season. Peterka also leads the team and is ninth in the AHL with 38 assists.

Coming into the week, he's one of only five AHL rookies currently leading his respective team in scoring.

HEAD-TO-HEAD BREAKDOWN

After the cancellation of the remainder of the 2019-20 season and a truncated 2020-21 campaign failed to produce a 20-goal scorer for just the fourth time in franchise history, the Amerks could potentially have several by season's end with eight players currently with 10 or more goals.

Michael Mersch and Quinn, who both returned to the lineup on March 18 against Cleveland, both reached the mark in their first game back, despite Quinn appearing in 20 fewer games than Mersch. Peterka joined the group on April 1 against Cleveland while Arttu Ruotsalainen (18), Sean Malone (16), Brett Murray (15) are all closing in on the milestone as well.

The Amerks currently own four of the AHL's top scoring rookies in JJ Peterka, Jack Quinn, Brandon Biro and Linus Weissbach, all of whom have combined for 187 points (72+115) through Rochester's first 68 games this season.

Peterka's torrid start to the second half of the year has him leading all rookies in points (62), tied for second in assists (38) and third in goals (24) in 62 games this season.

Quinn, the Buffalo Sabres' eighth overall pick in 2020, is second among all first-year players with 25 goals and ranks fourth in points (54) despite only appearing in 37 games.

Quinn became the 101st AHL player this season to make his NHL debut when he took the ice against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan. 11. He finished with team-highs in shots (3) and shot attempts (6) while earning 16:30 of total ice time. He then returned to the Sabres a day after scoring his 18th goal of the season for Rochester and was rewarded with his first two NHL points, including a goal against Vezina Trophy winner and Stanley Cup champion Braden Holtby in the Sabres' 5-4 loss to the Dallas Stars on Jan 20.

Despite missing the last 19 games due to injury, Biro is still tied for 17th in scoring amongst all rookies with 36 points (9+27) in 40 games.

Weissbach has notched 15 points (5+10) in his last 25 games. He finished February with 11 points (1+10) in 13 contests, including a season-high three- assist effort on Feb. 27 at Toronto to bring the month to a close.

Peterka and Quinn are the first pair of Amerks rookies taken from the same Draft class (2020) to record 50 or more points in the same season since Scott Thomas and Doug MacDonald (1989) did so in 1992-93.

FANTASTIC FOUR Rochester has two of the league's top point-producing defensemen in Ethan Prow (9+32) and Oskari Laaksonen (5+27), who enter the weekend fifth and tied for 19th in scoring amongst all blueliners, respectively.

Prow, who reached the 40-point mark for the second time in his AHL career, is also fourth with 32 assists, which are five more than Laaksonen. His nine goals are tied for ninth-most by a defenseman this season and only three off the league lead. With an assist on Wednesday against Laval, Prow has recorded 23 points (5+18) over his last 32 games. Additionally, he has totaled 122 points (36+86) over his last 177 AHL contests dating back to the 2018-19 campaign.

Laaksonen, who shows six points (1+5) over his last 12 games coming into tonight, also ranks fourth among defensemen with 21 power-play assists, as all but six of his 27 assists this season have come on the man-advantage.

Equally as impressive, 25 of his 32 points have come on the power-play.

His best performance of the season came back on Jan. 12 when he recorded a career-high four assists in the 7-6 win over Utica, including three in the first period and three of which came on the power-play. He finished two assists shy of tying the franchise record for most in a single game.

THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENSE

Of the 16 different defensemen the Amerks have used this season, 15 have notched at least one point while 11 have recorded at least one goal. Additionally, of the 26 different forwards to appear in one game for Rochester, 19 have scored a goal and 22 have produced a point.

Over his last 43 games since the turn of the New Year, Amerks forward Arttu Ruotsalainen has tallied 45 points on 18 goals and 27 assists, a stretch which began with a three-point effort versus Hartford on Jan. 2.

Ruotsalainen has also turned in a multi-point effort in 12 games over that same span, an impressive run highlighted by three consecutive two-goal games for the first time in his AHL career. He's recorded at least one point in 16 of his last 19 outings since Feb. 27.

He was named the AHL's Player of the Month for March has scored 10 goals and added 13 assists for 23 points in 18 games since the start of March.

Rochester is one of two teams in the Eastern Conference this season with three players who have 50 or more points. Additionally, the Amerks are one of two teams in the league to have three different rookies with at least 10 goals, 20 assists and 30 points in Peterka, Quinn and Weissbach.

OTHER AMERKS NOTABLES The 4-3 overtime loss this past Friday at Laval was Rochester's 17th game this season - and 10th since Feb. 11 - that went beyond regulation for the Amerks.

The Amerks are 6-6 in overtime but show just a 2-3 mark in shootouts.

Only four more teams have played more overtime games than the Amerks.

Rochester tied an AHL record with 29 overtime games in 2017-18.

WORKING OVERTIME

After an injury-riddled season has limited him to just 31 games, Sean Malone has certainly made up for lost time in the back half of the season with the Amerks.

In just the short amount of time he's been in the lineup, Malone has already shattered his offensive total from the 2019-20 season with Rochester. The fifth-year forward has recorded 16 goals and 33 points, both career-highs, while his 17 assists are just one away from equaling his best.

More impressively, he surpassed the 30-point mark in 30 fewer games from 2019-20 and remains on pace to score 20 goals for the first time in his pro career.

He enters tonight riding a career-long 10-game point streak dating back to Dec. 18, totaling eight goals and five assists for 13 points over that span.

Malone is the first Amerk to produce a point in 10 straight games since Jamie Johnson tallied a 10-game point streak (5+10) from Jan. 10 to Feb. during the 2009-10 campaign.

Last Saturday against Belleville, Malone appeared in his 200th game as an Amerk and needs just two more points to reach the century mark in the red, white and blue. He is the 59th forward in team history to skate in 200 or more games in his career. In 200 games, the Malone has registered 44 goals and 54 assists for 98 points since the start of the 2017-18 season.

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