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Amerks Weekly – Oct 30 – Nov 5

Posted on by Steve Lopez

Amerks Games This Week

  • Wednesday – 10/30 – 7:05pm – vs Providence (5-3-0-2)
  • Saturday – 11/1 – 7:05pm – vs Binghamton (3-4-2-0)
  • Saturday – 10/26 – 7:00pm – at Utica (7-0-0-0)/

AHL North Division Standings as of October 30th

The Amerks went 2-0-0-1 last week, picking up five of six points to keep pace in the division.  Utica remains the league’s only unbeaten team, while Toronto has yet to lose in regulation.

What Happened Last Week?

Record Oct 23-Oct 29: 2-0-0-1

Check out our latest Amerks Review post for details on last weeks performances.

Notable: the story of last week was one of growth and resilience.

Last season, more often than not, the Blue Cross Arena was a house of horrors on Wednesday nights. After getting thoroughly shellacked last Sunday in Utica, the Amerks returned home for their first Wednesday night home game of the season and bounced back to deliver a punishing performance of their own, holding Hershey scoreless through most of three periods on their way to a 5-1 victory.

Saturday night’s game in Syracuse was terrifying in its own right… for the goalies. Check out the scoring:

There were six lead changes, and the Amerks battled back to tie or take the lead on four separate occasions, including J.S. Dea’s game-tying goal with just 13 seconds remaining in regulation. Lawrence Pilut finally connected in the final minute of OT to secure the win.

Also notable: the Amerks put up an astounding 26 shots on goal in the first period of Sunday’s loss, on their way to 50 shots total for the game. The only reason they didn’t win that game was because Springfield goalie Chris Driedger was playing like a man possessed. Somehow he was only awarded the 2nd star for the game (behind Henrik Borgstrom who scored the game winner).

TNotable:

Three Stars

J.1.

.1. Jonas Johansson – He nearly posted a shutout on Wednesday night, then came on in relief of Hammond late in the game on Saturday night in Syracuse, stopping three important shots to keep the team in the game. Then on a quick turnaround after a long bus ride, he stopped 35 of 37 shots on Sunday to help the team secure another point – earning 3rd star honors in an away game in which he was the losing goalie. In the comments last week I was pretty sure that Jonas would ultimately end up in Cincinnati once UPL is ready for Rochester, but if Jonas keeps out-performing Hammond, things might get interesting. Of course, there are no roster size limits in the AHL, so there is nothing stopping the Sabres from keeping all three on the Amerks roster outside of concerns about playing time.

.2. Scott Wilson – After a slow start, Scott seems to have stepped up his game and is making himself noticed on the ice for good reasons rather than bad. 1+2=3 last week as he builds chemistry on the LW alongside J.S. Dea and Curtis Lazar. That line had a tremendous week all around, so hopefully interim head coach Gord Dineen will refrain from making any tweaks there.

.3. Casey Fitzgerald – Saturday night was a big night for Casey, as he scored his first professional goal, first professional assist, and first professional fight all in one game; a Gordie Howe hat trick in just the fifth game of his very young career. The fight left a bit to be desired, but kudos to him for not being afraid to drop the gloves when necessary.

Stats Leaders

Look Ahead

Wednesday night will see the Providence Bruins make their only appearance in Rochester this season. They’ll remain home on Friday night for the first of ten matchups with the Binghamton Senators before zipping down the thruway for a Sunday night rematch against Utica where they’ll look for revenge after last week’s embarrassing 7-1 loss.

Transactions

  • October 25, 2019 – William Borgen (D) – ⬆️ from Rochester to Buffalo
  • October 26, 2019 – William Borgen (D) – ⬇️ from Buffalo to Rochester
  • October 27, 2019 – William Borgen (D) – ⬆️ from Rochester to Buffalo/

Video Room

Game 7 – 10/23/2019 – Home Win vs Hershey

Game 8 – 10/26/2019 – Away Win at Syracuse

Game 9 – 10/27/2019 – Away Loss at Springfield

[Video Not Available At Press Time]

Injury Report

  • Taylor Leier – Shoulder – Month-to-Month. Leier also had offseason shoulder surgery, but he is not expected back until sometime in December.
  • Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen – Hips – Week-to-Week. UPL is now practicing with the Amerks and is nearly ready for game action. Don’t be surprised if he gets some conditioning games with Cincinnati before getting into any games in Rochester./

Farmville

The Cincinnati Cyclones are 2-1-1-0 as they start their quest to return to the top of the ECHL and avenge last season’s premature ending. They finished 2018-2019 with the best record in the league but fell to rival Toledo in the second round of the playoffs.

Old Friends

  • Justin Bailey: 3+2=5 in 7 games with AHL Utica
  • Nicholas Baptiste: 0+2=2 in 3 games with AHL Toronto.
  • Kyle Criscuolo: 0+2=2 in 6 games with AHL Lehigh Valley
  • Jack Dougherty: 1+0=1 in 7 games with AHL Belleville
  • Brendan Guhle: 0+0=0 in 2 games with AHL San Diego, 0+3=3 in 7 games with NHL Anaheim
  • Alexander Nylander: 2+3=5 in 9 games with NHL Chicago
  • Danny O’Regan: 2+7=9 in 9 games with AHL Hartford
  • Matt Tennyson: 0+0=0 in 1 game with AHL Binghamton, 0+3=3 in 4 games with NHL New Jersey
  • Scott Wedgewood: 1-1-1-0, 4.32 GAA, .862 SV% in 4 game with AHL Syracuse/

Talking Points