Rochester leads the North Division by 3 points over Syracuse.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — By splitting their first two games in Week Eight of the American Hockey League season, the Rochester Americans (12-5-2-0) enter the final week of November with a 3-point cushion atop the AHL’s North Division standings over the Syracuse Crunch. The Amerks have collected 26 out of a possible 34 points in the last 17 games.
Following the Thanksgiving break, the Amerks hosted the Utica Comets in the first of back-to-back divisional games at the Blue Cross Arena. Despite recording a season-high 47 shots, which included 20 in the first period, Rochester was unable to find the equalizer in a 5-4 loss.
Reigning Amerks Rookie of the Year C.J. Smith tallied a career-high three-assist night while Wayne Simpson and Jack Dougherty each registered a goal and helper in the loss to Utica. The two-point performance was Dougherty’s first as an Amerk, which also featured is his first goal of the season. Forward Sean Malone rounded out the scoring while goaltender Adam Wilcox was dealt with the defeat.
The regulation loss against Utica was Rochester’s first since Apr. 1, 2017. Since then, the Amerks had posted a 6-0-2-3 record in the previous 11 games.
After Friday’s tilt, the Amerks closed out the road portion of their November schedule as they made their way down the southern tier for a matchup at Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena with the Binghamton Devils on Saturday.
Neither the Amerks nor Devils found the scoresheet in the opening stanza, but Rochester tallied a pair of markers in the second and third periods. Binghamton scored once in the middle frame before lighting the lamp twice in the final frame, but its comeback fell short as the Amerks held on for a 4-3 road victory.
Alexander Nylander pushed his point streak to three games as the Swedish forward tallied a multi-point game with a goal and an assist, while Kevin Porter, Wayne Simpson and Zach Redmond all found the back of the net in the win. Goaltender Scott Wedgewood, who was a member of the New Devils organization for parts of seven seasons, stopped 27 of 30 shots he faced to improve to 7-3-1 with the Amerks this year.
Through their first nine games outside the Flower City, the Amerks are the only club in the entire AHL with one regulation loss while their .778-win percentage is second-best in the league.
HOME SWEET HOME IN BUSY DECEMBER
On Friday night when they host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the Amerks begin a stretch of eight of the next 11 games within the friendly confides of the Blue Cross Arena.
“This is an important stretch for us,” said Amerks head coach Chris Taylor. “The points that are up for grabs are huge. We need to use our home-ice and crowd to our advantage. We haven’t been the strongest team on home ice in my time as head coach the last two seasons, so we have to do a better job playing a home.”
When the calendar flips over to December, the Amerks will have played 10 games in each of the first two months of the season, whereas in the final month of the calendar year, Rochester is scheduled to play 13 games in 29 days, which includes every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
“It’s going to be a busy month for us, but I think we need to use our depth not only this month but all year,” Taylor said. “Sometimes when a team is winning, we can get wrapped up and focus on winning instead of using our depth and keeping the team fresh.”
“It’s part of the process to develop each player, and in order to do that, they all have to get into game-like situations,” added Taylor. “The players understand that it is a process, but it isn’t easy to tell guys they’re not playing.”
RED HOT ‘REDS’
By scoring Rochester’s first goal of the game last Saturday in Binghamton, Zach Redmond notched his team-leading 13th goal in just his 19th game of the season. Earlier this season, Redmond 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 CHASING HISTORY
Redmond, who last season was the first Rochester blueliner in seven years to lead the team in scoring, is three goals away from matching his career-high of 15 from last season and needs just five more to tie the single-season franchise record for the most goals by a defenseman of 18, set by Hall of Famer Rick Pagnutti during the 1972-73 campaign. The AHL record for goals scored by a defenseman is held by John Slaney, who netted 30 for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton during the 1999-00 season.
THE BEST OFFENSE IS A GOOD DEFENSE
The Amerks own the top two defensemen in the AHL in Zach Redmond (13+9) and Lawrence Pilut (3+19), who enter the week tied for the team lead and pacing all league blueliners in scoring with 22 points each in 19 and 16 games, respectively. Of Redmond’s team-high 13 goals this season, six have held up as game-winning goals, a new career-high, while six have also been tallied on the man-advantage, good enough for second in the league in that category. Redmond, who had an AHL-best nine-game point streak to end the month of October, is second in the league in goals (13) and is tied for third in points (22), while his six game-winning goals are tops in the AHL.
PILUT RETURNS TO BUFFALO
Prior to earning his second recall in four days on Tuesday from the Buffalo Sabres, Pilut saw his career-long seven-game point streak end. It was just the third time all season that the former SHL Defenseman of the Year had been held without a point.
Pilut has recorded nearly half of his 22 points on the power-play this season, including two of his three goals, which are tied for eighth-most among all AHL blueliners. He enters the week with points in 12 of his last 14 games and currently leads the AHL in with 19 assists while his team-best plus-19 on-ice rating is also the best mark in the league in that category.
“There is nothing more gratifying to me as a head coach than telling a young player that he’s being recalled,” said Taylor. “For the players, it’s their dream to be up in the NHL, so for me to be able to share the news is one of the best parts of my job.”
POWER-PLAY STRUGGLES
The Amerks started the 2018-19 campaign by going 13-for-39 in the first nine games while on the man-advantage. At one point, the club’s 33.3% conversation rate and 13 goals were both tops in the AHL.
“We knew we were due for a regression,” said Amerks assistant coach Toby Petersen, who oversees the power-play. “We started the year with a high percentage, but I have liked how we haven’t got frustrated with the struggle. I like that we have maintained pressure on opposing teams but have not just had the same results.”
Taylor, too, echoed Petersen’s sentiments.
“We may not have had the success as far as getting goals lately, but I have liked that we are still gaining momentum on the man-advantage and creating opportunities,” Taylor said.
Despite scoring just three goals on 39 opportunities in the last 10 contests, Rochester shows a 20.8 percentage on the slate, which ranks 12th in the AHL.
“I think we need to get back to having the shooting-first mentality,” Petersen explained. “Even though there may not be a clear lane, when need to shoot more and that will lead to more second and third chances.”
TAYLOR’S THOUGHTS ON FIRST TWO MONTHS
“I like that we’re scoring a lot of goals this season and where we’re getting them from. They are coming from not only the forwards but the defensemen. The goals are coming on the man-advantage, even-strength and some shorthanded. We have had a balanced scoring attack through the first quarter of the season and I think everyone is pulling their own weight.”
“I don’t like that we have given up as many goals as we have so far. There have been some teams that I felt we should have beat but we haven’t. I don’t think we should have five losses either. We need to learn to bring our best game every shift and each night.”
LAST MEETING WITH THE PENS
In the last meeting with the Penguins back on Feb. 16, the Amerks away with a 12-3 victory. The 12 goals by the Amerks marked the first time Rochester has scored 12 or more goals in a game since April 7, 1985 in a 13-3 win over St. Catharines. The dozen goals were the most by any American Hockey League team since Dec. 8, 2002 (Hamilton 15, Cleveland 1). Additionally, Rochester’s power-play went 6-for-9.