GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS CHASE HISTORIC 2,500TH WIN AGAINST HARTFORD

Amerks look to remain red hot, create history on home ice

Nov 7, 2024

By Andrew Mossbrooks | @Mossbrooks48

The Rochester Americans (6-3-0-0) make a brief stop back home to host the Hartford Wolf Pack (5-3-1-1) Friday night at Blue Cross Arena.

Tonight is the first of two meetings with Hartford this season and the lone appearance for the Wolf Pack in the Flower City. The Amerks travel to Hartford later in the season, concluding the season series on Jan. 25 at XL Center.

Jiri Kulich returned to Rochester after being reassigned from the Buffalo Sabres and made an instant impact, scoring the game-winning-goal Wednesday evening in the Amerks’ 4-2 win over the Cleveland Monsters. The win was Rochester’s fifth straight and capped off a perfect four-game sweep of the team’s road trip, with two wins a piece against Cleveland and Utica.

In addition to Kulich, Graham Slaggert, Konsta Helenius, and Aleksandr Kisakov scored, while Felix Sandström made 22 saves to secure his second win as an Amerk, while subsequently remaining undefeated lifetime against Cleveland with a 4-0-0 record.

While Rochester was topping Cleveland, the Wolf Pack played host to Syracuse and pulled off a 2-1 overtime win against the Crunch on Wednesday. With seven seconds left in overtime, veteran forward Alex Belzile netted the game-winner.

Since the 2017-18 season, Rochester has won nine of the previous 13 meetings with Hartford, including all five encounters with the Wolf Pack at Blue Cross Arena.

The Amerks have won five straight games and while extending their winning ways to six is the goal, there is a bigger milestone within reach.

Should Rochester secure a win Friday, it would mark the 2,500^th win in the near 69-year history of the AHL’s second-oldest franchise. Only the Hershey Bears (3,107) have reached 2,500 wins in the AHL, allowing the Amerks to become the second team in the 89-year history of the league to reach such a feat.

Over 5,177 games, the Amerks are 2,499-2,090-401-115 all-time. Of the team’s 69 seasons, the Amerks have been an affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres for 43 of them.

Amerks forward Isak Rosen is riding a team best five-game point streak, scoring two goals and totaling seven points in the process. The third-year Amerk leads Rochester in scoring with 10 points (3+7) through nine games. His 10 points are tied for 12^th in league scoring, while Rosen’s…