Rochester continues to truck through their season, as they work their way closer to the Belleville Senators.

With two wins in three games, this past week of games goes in the books as another successful slate of games.

Here is to looking back:

Results

March 4 - Utica 3, Rochester 1

ROC: T. Leier (9)
ROC: A. Hammond – 24 saves (L - 15-12-3)

March 6 - Rochester 5, Belleville 3

ROC: K. Porter (7), J. Bryson (3), C. Smith (12), A. Oglevie (15), S. Wilson (11)
ROC: A. Hammond – 25 saves (W - 16-12-3)

March 7 - Rochester 4, Belleville 2

ROC: T. Leier (10), J. Bryson (4), W. Borgen (1). S. Malone (12)
ROC: J. Johansson – 24 saves (W - 14-3-3)

Three Big Things

1: Gaining Ground

Heading into this last week of games, Rochester had a very important slate of games ahead of them.

After the three game stretch, Rochester comes out on the other side of the tunnel with four of six points - all four coming against the Belleville Senators. That last part is incredibly important simply because Rochester continues to chase Belleville down for the North Division lead.

With a game in hand, Rochester is six points behind Belleville.

2: Johansson Returns

With Linus Ullmark returning to the Buffalo Sabres from a lengthy injury, the Buffalo Sabres returned goaltender Jonas Johansson to the Rochester Americans.

Despite his struggles at the NHL-level in his first career call up, Johansson was able to bounce back in his first AHL appearance since January 24.

Johansson’s 24 save performance continued his streak of dominant play. Dating back to November 13, Johansson has a 12-1-1 record with two shutouts, a 2.10 goals against average and a .929 save percentage.

A strong Johansson will be very important for the Amerks down the stretch.

3: Big Week for Bryson

Rookie defenseman Jacob Bryson had a great week for the Rochester Americans.

In the three aforementioned games this week, Bryson tallied four points (two goals, two assists). One of those goals happened to be Bryson’s first professional shorthanded goal.

As the season has progressed, so has Bryson. Not only has Bryson’s decision making improved but his feel for the professional style of hockey has improved.

“It comes with confidence,” Bryson recently told The Buffalo News. “I’ve played a lot of games now. I kind of know what to expect, and I think that I have the ability to make those plays.”

Standings

Coming Up

Wednesday, March 11 - Rochester Americans vs Binghamton Devils
Friday, March 13 - Rochester Americans vs Syracuse Crunch
Saturday, March 15 - Rochester Americans at Cleveland Monsters