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Rochester Americans Host Flames, Comets In Weekend Rendezvous

By Melissa Kania

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After a 2-1 win over the Utica Comets on Wednesday, the Rochester Americans face a pair of home games this weekend against two division rivals.

The Adirondack Flames head into town tonight on the heels of a crushing 10-0 victory over the Syracuse Crunch.

The Utica Comets will then come to Rochester for a Valentine’s Day matchup with the Rochester Americans.

As it stands right now, here’s the AHL North Division standings:

  1. UTICA COMETS (28-13-5-1, 62 pts)
  2. ADIRONDACK FLAMES (25-19-3-1, 54 pts)
  3. HAMILTON BULLDOGS (24-18-6-0, 54 pts)
  4. TORONTO MARLIES (19-18-9-0, 47 pts)
  5. ROCHESTER AMERICANS (21-26-3-0, 45 pts)

The Rochester Americans sit last in the division, but they’ve also played the most games of any team in that division — including four more than the Marlies.

Overall, the Amerks are 5-3-2-0 in their last 10 games and have earned at least a point in each of their last five games.

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    • Looking at the conference as a whole, the Oklahoma City Barons sit atop everyone with a 30-11-3-3 record and 66 points. The Amerks sit 13th, with a five-point lead over the Charlotte Checkers and a nine-point lead over the last-place Iowa Wild.

    As it stands right now, the Rochester Americans are nine points out of the playoff bubble. They’d have to move up five spots in order to get a spot in the postseason, and while it’s not impossible, the team will need to step up in the remainder of the season.

    Heading into this weekend, here’s a run-down on some of the hot players in the Rochester Americans lineup.

    • Center Philip Varone leads the Rochester Americans with 38 points in 45 games, including a team-high 26 assists.
    • Left winger Johan Larsson has racked up 34 points (13-21) in 39 games.
    • Center Tim Schaller has a team-high 14 goals on the season; add 19 assists to that for a total of 33 points in 47 games. Schaller also has a team-high 62 penalty minutes.
    • Defenseman Chad Ruhwedel leads the team with seven power play goals — literally 100% of his goals have come with the man advantage.

    The Rochester Americans have played five games in the month of February, winning three of those and garnering at least a point in each game.

    Several players have been incredibly productive for the team in this month, including:

    • Zac Dalpe is on a six-game point streak dating back to January 17. He missed the first two games of February but returned on the 7th. He later had a three-point night against Milwaukee on Sunday. Overall, his current streak has seen him score four goals and add five assists for nine points in six games.
    • Jerome Gauthier-Leduc, William Carrier, Varone and Jerry D’Amigo each had at least a point in three of five games.
    • Larsson is on a two-game point streak and overall has points in three of five games this month.
    • Defenseman Jake McCabe saw a four-game point streak come to an end Wednesday.

    There’s a solid core of players producing for the Rochester Americans right now, but the team will have contend with the loss of forward Joel Armia as a result of Wednesday’s trade. This season, Armia had 10 goals and 15 assists in 33 games with the Rochester Americans.

    Once again, the Rochester Americans host both the Adirondack Flames and Utica Comets this weekend at the Blue Cross Arena. Both games begin at 7:05 p.m.

    Friday’s game is Val James night, where the former Buffalo Sabres and Rochester Americans player will sign autographs prior to the game and participate in a ceremonial puck drop.

    Friday’s game will also be televised on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel in the Rochester and Buffalo markets.

    Find ticket info for both of this weekend’s games, plus all Rochester Americans home games, here at the team’s website.

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