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Rochester Americans Kick Off Four-Game Road Trip

By Melissa Kania

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The Rochester Americans have just 18 days remaining in their season. Nine games remain on tap for the AHL team, starting off with a four-game road trip that begins tonight in Utica. The Amerks will face the Utica Comets for the ninth time this season.

Heading into tonight’s game, the Rochester Americans are coming off a 3-in-3 last weekend that saw them beat Hamilton and Syracuse before falling to Toronto by a one-goal deficit on Sunday, despite a third-period rally.

With Andrey Makarov still up with the Sabres, it’ll be Anthony Peters making his fourth start in goal for the Amerks. The team is working on finding a backup goaltender for tonight’s game.

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    • The Comets are one of the teams that the Rochester Americans face the most this season, with 10 total match-ups between the teams. They’ve particularly seen a lot of each other lately, meeting five times since February 11 prior to tonight’s game.

    The Comets have won six of eight meetings this season, including each of the last three. They’ve outshot the Rochester Americans collectively 252-214 this season. One game went to overtime, while another required a shootout to be decided.

    Andrey Makarov suited up in six of those eight meetings, with Matt Hackett playing in the other two games. For the Comets, Joacim Eriksson and Jacob Markstrom have each played four games against the Rochester Americans this season.

    Players to watch tonight for the Utica Comets:

    • Bobby Sanguinetti (D) – 8 points in seven games vs. Rochester this season (5-3)
    • Cal O’Reilly (C) – 6 points in eight games vs. Rochester this season (0-6)
    • Alexandre Grenier (RW) – 5 points in eight games vs. Rochester this season (1-4)

    All in all, 24 different Utica Comets players have registered at least a point versus the Amerks this season, with 18 players recording multiple points.

    For the Rochester Americans, the team is missing four of its top five scorers vs. Utica. Tim Schaller (6 pts vs. UTI) and Zac Dalpe (3) are both up in the NHL, while William Carrier (4) and Jake McCabe (3) are hurt.

    Remaining for the Amerks is defenseman Jerome Leduc, who has three points vs. Utica this season. Matt MacKenzie, Jordan Samuels-Thomas, Brady Austin and Michael Pelech each have recorded a pair of points against the Comets this year.

    Twenty-six Rochester Americans players have recorded a point vs. Utica this season — but half of those players are not on the current roster.

    The Amerks are, of course, dealing with a depleted lineup due to numerous injuries and call-ups to the NHL. The injuries include Brodie Reid, Brayden Irwin and William Carrier, all out with upper-body injuries. Carrier is sidelined for the season, while Irwin may also be out for the year.

    Zac Dalpe, Andrey Makarov, Philip Varone, Tim Schaller and Mikhail Grigorenko are all up with the Buffalo Sabres. Jerry D’Amigo, called up to the NHL, is done for the year due to injury.

    Suffice to say that the Rochester Americans lineup has changed a lot lately.

    They’ve got a handful of players signed to ATOs (Jayden Hart, Matt Prapavessis, Curtis Leonard), PTOs (Anthony Peters, Michael Pelech, Justin Mercier) and others called up from the ECHL (Allan McPherson), all in the last month or so.

    Also add in Jack Nevins, who joined the team after being traded from the Hamilton Bulldogs in early March.

    Puck drop for tonight’s game is at 7 p.m. in Utica, but Rochester Americans fans can catch the game on AHL Live or listen to the broadcast online.

    After tonight’s game, the Amerks head out west to face Iowa and Rockford this weekend. Both of those games begin at 8 p.m. EST.

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