Rochester Americans vs. Toronto Marlies Playoff Preview

While the Buffalo Sabres sit idly at home with the NHL playoffs going on, their brethren down the Thruway in Rochester have managed to find their way into the AHL playoffs. They face off against division foe Toronto in the first round. The Americans and Marlies faced each other 10 times in the regular season, so to say that these two teams are old foes is an understatement. The Americans had a 3-4-3 record against Toronto this season and Toronto won three of the last five matchups in the regular season.

The Marlies were led in scoring by Mike Zigomanis this season. Zigomanis has 19 goals and 42 assists in 68 games played. In the series matchup between these two teams, Zigomanis led all players on the ice with 11 points, three goals and eight assists. Nazem Kadri has seen a lot of time with the Toronto Maple Leafs this season, playing in 21 games for the parent club. During that time, Kadri had five goals and two assists. During his time with the Marlies this season, Kadri has 18 goals and 22 assists in 48 games.

On the Rochester side of the ice, two players to keep an eye on are Luke Adam and Marcus Foligno. Adam spent most of his season with the Sabres, getting off to a torrid pace before hitting a cold streak and getting sent back to Rochester at the end of the season. In 27 games with the Amerks this season, Adam had four goals and nine assists, but no goal was bigger than the game winner against the Lake Erie Monsters last Saturday night to clinch the win for the team. Marcus Foligno was a stud for the Sabres at the end of the season and is coming into this series riding a three game point streak. He didn’t get much playing time against against the Marlies this season with one goal and two assists in five games played.

The schedule for the playoff series is below. The series is a best of five so Games four and five are played if necessary: