AHL Rochester Americans

Rochester Americans Game Preview: Wednesday, December 15 at Charlotte

Published on December 15, 2021 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Rochester Americans News Release


With five players performing at or near a point-per-game pace, the Amerks have the AHL's top offense and are currently the only team averaging just under four goals per game. Collectively, Rochester's 79 goals this season are most in the North Division and third in the AHL.

The Amerks enter the week with three of the league's top 15 point-getters in Jack Quinn, JJ Peterka and Michael Mersch. Quinn led all AHL rookies in scoring for the second straight month and is currently tied for fourth in the league in both goals (11) and points (24) through 17 games.

Peterka enters tonight with 14 points (3+11) over his last 15 games dating back to Oct. 30. With 19 points (4+15) on the season, he's tied for the team lead in assists (15) with Peyton Krebs and is tied for third in overall scoring.

Coming off his second-period goal last Friday night, Mersch is tied for the AHL lead with a team-high 12 goals and is on pace to reach the 15-goal mark for the fifth time in eight years. He has totaled 19 points (12+7) and five multi-point outings over his last 18 games. The Amerks captain began that stretch with a five-game goal-scoring streak, the longest of his career and the longest in the AHL this season, while his five-game point marked his longest since posting a career-best seven-game point streak back in 2015.

Sean Malone has been one of Rochester's most consistent point-getters as of late. Malone, who became the second Amerk this season to reach the 20-point mark, has produced 10 points (6+4) over his last six games, including three power-play tallies over that span. The fifth-year pro has recorded multi-point showings in four of his last six games.

Rochester's power-play is presently tops in the AHL after scoring 20 times on 72 opportunities for a league-best 27.8% conversion rate. In just the last five games alone, the Amerks have gone 9-for-19 on the man-advantage, including scoring four in the 7-3 win over Hershey back on Nov 26. Mersch, Malone and Quinn share the team lead with four power-play goals each.

Wednesday | December 15, 2021 | 7:00 PM ET | Bojangles' Coliseum | Game 347 | AHL TV, The Fan Rochester

Prior to last night, the Amerks had won five straight and six of their last seven games to move into sole possession of second place in the AHL's North Division standings. The Checkers, meanwhile, are winners of four of their last five games after going 1-4-1-0 to close out the month of November.

Rochester enters tonight showing a 1-8-0 record against Charlotte since the start of the 2018-19 campaign and a 3-9-1 mark dating back to 2017-18.

The Amerks are searching for their first win in the Queen City against the Checkers since earning a 4-1 victory back on Jan. 20, 2018.

HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES SNAPSHOT

The Rochester Americans (13-7-0-0) have a chance at redemption tonight against the Charlotte Checkers (12-10-2-0) as the Eastern Conference rivals meet in the back-end of a two-game set at Bojangles' Coliseum. The 7:00 p.m. rematch will be the second of four matchups between the two teams this season and will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.

Last night's contest, won 11-1 by the Checkers, marked Rochester's first trip back to Charlotte since Feb. 11 and Feb. 12, 2020. The Amerks have been outscored 20-5 over their last three contests in Charlotte.

THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENSE

The Amerks currently own four of the AHL's top scoring rookies in Jack Quinn, JJ Peterka, Peyton Krebs and Linus Weissbach who have combined for 68 points (21+47) through the team's 20 games this season.

Buffalo's eighth overall pick in 2020, Quinn comes into the week leading all AHL rookies in goals (11) and is second among all scorers with 24 points. He is one of only 14 players in the AHL this season to reach the 20-point mark and he and Sean Malone are the only two Amerks to accomplish the feat.

Peterka, meanwhile, is third amongst all first-year players with a team-high 15 assists while his 19 points are tied for fourth-most. He and Quinn, taken just 26 picks apart from one another by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2020 NHL Draft, currently make up one of only five rookie duos across the entire AHL to rank inside the top-four on their team in scoring.

With his second-period assist last night against Charlotte, Krebs has amassed 17 points on two goals and 15 assists in 15 games this season, tying for sixth among all AHL rookie skaters.

Despite missing the previous six games, Weissbach comes into the contest with three points (1+2) over his last four games. Weissbach, who was Buffalo's seventh-round selection (192nd overall) in the 2017 NHL Draft, has totaled eight points through his first 14 games.

FANTASTIC FOUR

Coming off last night's win over Rochester, the Checkers have gone 4-1-0- 0 in their previous five contests to move into fifth in the Atlantic Division.

Overall, Charlotte has produced a 2-4-0-0 mark against North Division opponents this season with the wins coming against the Crunch on Saturday and Amerks last night.

By way of going 6-for-20 (30.0%) while on the power-play over the last six games, the Checkers come into tonight with a 22.4% success-rate this season, which is third-best in the AHL. Charlotte has recorded 19 goals on the man-advantage this season and is only one back of the league-lead.

Additionally, the Checkers have scored an AHL-best 83 goals this season, with last night's 11-1 win over the Amerks marking the most in team history.

The Checkers are fueled offensively by rookie forwards Cole Schwindt (9+8) and Logan Hutsko (5+11), both of whom have appeared in 23 games.

The duo were taken in the third round by the Florida Panthers one year apart and make up one of only five rookie duos across the entire AHL to rank inside the top-four on their team in scoring.

SCOUTING THE CHECKERS

Charlotte forward Scott Wilson spent the parts of two seasons with the Amerks. In 54 games from 2019-20, Wilson, produced 14 goals and 15 assists for 29 points.

Before last night Casey Fitzgerald and Sean Malone were the only two Amerks that played in the last meeting with Charlotte.

In 11 combined games all-time against the Checkers, Malone (eight games, 4+0) and Fitzgerald (three games, 0+1) have posted five points.

Charlotte assistant coach Dan Bylsma had a brief two-game stint with the Amerks during the 1992-93 season, recording one assist. Bylsma, who won both a Stanley Cup and was named the 2010-11 Jack Adams Award winner as the NHL Coach of the Year with the Pittsburgh Penguins, also served as head coach of the Buffalo Sabres from 2015-17.

Both Rochester (9-0-0-0) and Charlotte (7-0-2-0) enter tonight with winning records this season when leading after two periods.

Charlotte captain Zac Dalpe scored 16 goals as part of a 28-point campaign with the Amerks in 2014-15, his only season in Rochester.

SERIES NOTABLES

Second-year defenseman Oskari Laaksonen has recorded an assist in six of his last eight games. The Finnish blueliner leads the league with a team- high 11 power-play assists as all but one of his 12 assists this season have come on the power-play.

With his second goal of the season during the second period of last night's contest with the Checkers, Amerks rookie defenseman Mattias Samuelsson has notched 11 points (2+9) over his last 11 outings and is already within one point of matching his offensive output from 2020-21.

Samuelsson ranks fourth among all Amerks rookies with 12 points and is tied for third in the AHL among all first-year blueliners with 10 assists.

Samuelsson had entered last night's contest by having produced multi- point efforts in back-to-back outings for the first time in his pro career.

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