Rochester travels to New England to take on 3 Atlantic Division opponents.
By Ryan Harr
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — As the Rochester Americans (10-3-1-0) look to return to action on Friday, Nov. 16 for their first three-in-three of the season following a rare weekend off, they do so tied for second place in the American Hockey League with 21 points. The Amerks, who have collected 21 out of a possible 24 points in their last 12 contests, have won five of their last six contests and hold an 8-1-1-0 record in the last 10 contests.
With a pair of victories last week, Rochester enters Week Seven of the 2018-19 season with a four-point cushion atop the AHL’s North Division standings over the Cleveland Monsters. The Amerks are just one of two teams in the league with double-digit wins while being the only club without a regulation loss on the road this season.
In the first of two games last week, the Amerks made their annual trek down the New York State Thruway to play at the KeyBank Center, home of the Buffalo Sabres, for the seventh consecutive season.
The Amerks renewed their rivalry with the Monsters, who joined the North Division for the first time since the 2013-14 campaign. In the first game between the two clubs since Apr. 10 2016, Justin Bailey and Wayne Simpson each scored twice to help the Amerks to a 5-2 victory.
With the win, Rochester improved to 21-5-2-3 in the season series since the start of the 2011-12 campaign. Additionally, the Amerks show a record of 5-2-0-0 in Buffalo since renewing their affiliation with the Sabres.
To close out the week, Rochester welcomed the Syracuse Crunch back to the Blue Cross Arena on Friday night as the Amerks held their annual Military Appreciation Night. Despite the Crunch tying the tilt in the final second of regulation, Zach Redmond scored the game-winning goal, his fifth game-deciding tally of the season, at the 2:37 mark in overtime to give the first-place Amerks their 10th win of the campaign.
AMERKS RED HOT
The Amerks enter the week having earned 21 out of a possible 24 points over their last 12 contests and carry an 8-1-1-0 record over their last 10, the best mark in the AHL over that span. More impressively, 12 of Rochester’s 21 points have come in the Flower City in nine home games.
Rochester’s recent and impressive surge has the club at the top of the North Division standings, four points in front of Cleveland, and just one point back of Charlotte for first-place overall. Only the Checkers have more wins (11) and a better points percentage (.786) than the Amerks.
By having outscored the opposition 49-29 over their last 12 games, the Amerks enter the week just four goals off the league lead with 53 goals scored, 13 of which have come on the power-play.
RED HOT ‘REDS’
After enjoying a career-setting year in 2017-18, Redmond has picked up where he left off this season as he shows a team-best 18 points (10+8) through his first 14 games to lead the league in scoring amongst defensemen.
Redmond is also tied for the league lead in power-play scoring with nine points (5+4) as five of his 10 goals this season have come on the man-advantage. The Traverse City, MI., native, who had an AHL-best nine-game point streak to end the month of October, is third in the league in goals and is fifth in points, while his five game-winning goals are tops in the AHL.
By scoring the overtime game-winner last Friday night against Syracuse, Redmond reached the 10-goal mark in just his 14th game of the season. The tally was also his fifth game-winner of the campaign, setting a new career-high. He became the first 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 season. McSween would later become the top scoring defenseman in franchise history.
Redmond, who last season was the first Rochester blueliner in seven years to lead the team in scoring, is five goals away from matching his career-high of 15 from last season and needs just eight more goals to tie the single-season franchise record for the most goals by a defenseman of 18, set by Amerks Hall of Famer Rick Pagnutti during the 1972-73 campaign.
HOW SWEDE IT IS
Along with Redmond, the Amerks own three of the AHL’s top nine point-getters coming into the week in defensemen Lawrence Pilut and forward Victor Olofsson.
Pilut, who leads all AHL skaters with 15 assists, ranks second behind only Redmond in points by a defenseman with 17 points (2+15) in his first 12 games in North America. The reigning Swedish Hockey League Defenseman of the Year has recorded half of his 17 points on the power-play this season, including his two goals, which are tied for fourth-most among all AHL blueliners.
With 15 points (1+14) in 11 of his last 12 games, Pilut has been held scoreless just twice all season while recording four multi-point performances during that stretch.
Olofsson, the CCM/AHL Player of the Month for October after leading the AHL in scoring through the first month of the season, is currently tied for eighth among the league’s top point-getters with 16 points (6+10) in 13 games.
Despite missing last Saturday’s contest, Olofsson has recorded points in eight of his last 11 games, including a seven-game point streak (5+9) to close out the month of October. The 23-year-old forward has been held scoreless in back-to-back games for the first time all season. Olofsson, who was also named the AHL’s Player of the Week for period ending Oct. 14, is tied for 10th among league leaders with 10 assists, including an AHL-best eight on the man-advantage.
GOLDEN GOALTENDERS
Having allowed 11 goals over its last six games, Rochester enters its first three-game weekend with the seventh-best defense in the league as the Amerks show a 2.79 goals-against average on the season.
In his first year with the red, white, and blue, goaltender Scott Wedgewood has got the nod between the pipes in seven of the previous nine games. After dropping his first two games of the campaign, the sixth-year netminder won six of his last seven appearances, including 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 campaign.
With a 6-3-0 record in nine appearances, Wedgewood enters the week tied for second among AHL goaltenders in wins (6) and 17th in minutes played (500). The Etobicoke, Ontario, native is just one of eight netminders this season with one shutout.
Rochester’s other half of the goaltending duo is five-year netminder Adam Wilcox, who shows a 6-0-2 record in his last eight appearances dating back to last year. Friday night, Wilcox helped the Amerks to their 10th victory of the slate as he made 30 saves in a 3-2 overtime win against his former club. With the win, his 50th of his career, the South St. Paul, Minn., native earned his fourth win of the season.
Along with a 4-0-1 record, Wilcox enters the week showing the fifth-best goals-against average (2.29) in the league and ranks 13th with a .915 save percentage.
THREE GAMES IN THREE DAYS
The Amerks are set to begin their first three-in-three of the young campaign this Friday as the face Springfield Thunderbirds at 7:05 p.m. Following the contest from the MassMutual Center, Rochester’s three-game swing through the Atlantic Division continues with a Saturday night matchup against the Providence Bruins before closing out the New England trip on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. in Hartford against the Wolf Pack.
Rochester will have a total of five 3-in-3 situations over the course of the 2018-19 campaign after playing just 3 last year. The Amerks have combined to go 14-9-2-2 in the last nine three-in-three situations, which included the club earning at least one point in 8 of the 9 games while going 4-1-2-2 in 2017-18.
SIMILAR NOTE
In the last 51 three-in-three games, Rochester has scored 287 goals for (3.18 goals for per game) and allowed 260 (2.88 goals against per game) against. In their last 43 regular-season road games over the last two seasons, the Amerks have scored 137 goals (3.18) while allowing 124 (2.88).