By Ryan Harr / Rochester Americans
By splitting the home-and-home with the Toronto Marlies last week, the Rochester Americans (23-13-2-0) reached the halfway point of the 2018-19 season with a two-point cushion atop the AHL’s North Division standings over the Utica Comets.
The Amerks have won five of their last eight games, and among all AHL teams, only the Charlotte Checkers have more wins (28) than the Amerks (23).
Following five consecutive weeks of three games in four nights, the Amerks played a back-to-back weekend set with the Marlies that included a pair of 5-1 outcomes for the road team.
LAST WEEK’S RECAP
In the first-leg of the home-and-home last Friday night in-front of a season-high crowd of 8,326 at The Blue Cross Arena, the Amerks were on the wrong side of a 5-1 setback. It marked first game in the last six meetings between the two clubs dating back to last season that Rochester failed to earn a point against the defending Calder Cup champions.
Alexander Nylander tallied his ninth goal of the season while goaltender Scott Wedgewood saw his four-game win streak halted.
The regulation loss against Toronto was Rochester’s first since Feb. 23, 2018. Since then, the Amerks had posted a 5-0-0-0 record in the previous five games and outscored the Marlies 27-15 over that span.
Following Friday’s tilt, the Amerks wrapped up the set with the Marlies as they made their first trip north of the border to the newly named Coca-Cola Coliseum for an afternoon matinee.
In his first game back with Rochester after being reassigned by the parent Buffalo Sabres, Amerks reigning Rookie of the Year C.J. Smith led the club to a 5-1 victory as he tied a career-high with four points (3+1). The hat-trick was Smith’s second of his professional career and first since Mar. 18 last season on the road against the Hartford Wolf Pack.
In addition to Smith, Zach Redmond (0+2) and Kevin Porter (1+1) each turned in a multi-point effort. Victor Olofsson completed the scoring on the day as goaltender Wedgewood upped his record to 14-7-1 as he stopped 26 of 27 shot he faced.
C.J’s BIG WEEK
Last week, second-year forward C.J. Smith, scored his first-career NHL goal – the game-winner – in Buffalo’s 5-1 rout over New Jersey on Jan. 8. After being reassigned to the Amerks Friday evening, Smith tied a career-high as he recorded his second-career hat-trick to go along with an assist in a 5-1 victory against the Toronto Marlies.
With his four-point (3+1) outing, Smith grabbed sole possession of the Amerks points lead as he 33 points through 34 games this season with Rochester. Over Smith’s last nine games, the Des Moines, Iowa, native has 14 points (9+5), which includes four multi-point efforts.
RED-HOT ALL-STAR REDS
Redmond has scored a team and career-high 16 goals this season, including eight on the power-play, good enough for sixth in the league in that category. Redmond, who had an AHL-best nine-game point streak to end the month of October, enters the week tied for 14th in the league in goals (16) and second amongst all active AHL defensemen with 32 points, while his seven game-winning goals are tops in the AHL. His 16 goals are also the most by an AHL blueliner.
REDMOND INCHING CLOSER TO HISTORY
Having set a new career-high with his 16th goal in just his 38th game of the season, Redmond is on a record-setting pace to etch his name in team and league history. Earlier this season, he became the fastest Amerks defenseman to score 10 goals in the fewest amount of games to begin the season since Amerks Hall of Famer Don McSween reached the mark in his first 21 games during the 1989-90 campaign. McSween would later go on to become the top scoring defenseman in franchise history. Redmond, who last season became just the first Amerk blueliner in seven years to lead the team in scoring, needs only two more goals to tie the single-season franchise record for the most by a defenseman of 18, set by Rick Pagnutti during the 1972-73 season. The AHL record is held by John Slaney, who netted 30 for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins during the 1999-00 campaign.
STAYING BUSY BETWEEN THE PIPES
Rochester goaltender Scott Wedgewood has gotten the nod in nine of the last 12 games for the Amerks, going 6-3-0 over that span, which prior to Friday night’s loss, included a four-game win streak. After dropping his first two games of the season, the sixth-year netminder won a season-long five straight to close out the month of October, matching the career-best mark he set while backstopping the Albany Devils during the 2015-16 season. He enters the week tied for third among all AHL goaltenders in shutouts (3) and fourth in wins (14). Wedgewood’s 24 appearances this season are seventh-most in the league while his 1,326 minutes are ninth. Wedgewood is one shutout away from tying a career-best from 2013-14season.
POWER-PLAY LIGHTING THE ROAD LAMP
The Amerks tallied three power-play goals in Saturday’s win, and dating back to Dec. 8, have recorded at least one goal with the man-advantage in seven straight road games. Saturday marked the eighth time this season Rochester recorded two or more tallies on the man-advantage.
The Amerks, who have gone 12-for-34 over the last seven games outside the Flower City, own the AHL’s top-ranked road power-play percentage with a 31.0% success rate on the campaign.
REACHING THE HALFWAY POINT
Last Saturday, the Amerks earned their 23rd victory of the 2018-19 campaign. Through the halfway point of the season, Rochester shows a record 23-13-2-0 and sits atop the North Division with 48 points. Through 38 games the Amerks have scored 123 goals and hold a 3-0 record in games decided past regulation.
Looking at the 2017-18 numbers after game 38, the Amerks boasted a 23-8-4-3 record and had 53 points, which were second in the Division. The club had tallied 120 goals and a 2-3 record in games in the extra session.
Much like this season, Smith led the team with 33 points as the team played its 38th game of the slate while the Amerks had 205 total assists like this year. Goaltender Adam Wilcox appeared in 15 games in the first-half of each of the past two seasons.