Amerks look to conclude road trip on high note before All-Star Weekend

The Rochester Americans made their inaugural visit to Charlotte over the weekend, where they took three out of a four possible points during a weekend set with the Checkers. Sunday's game saw Rochester (24-9-5-5) rally from 4-1 deficit behind a pair of third-period goals from Kevin Porter.
The Amerks have compiled points in 30 of their last 35 games dating back to Nov. 1, including eight of their last nine games since the start of the New Year.

Scoring leaders

1. C.J. Smith: 14G - 23A - 37 PTS
   2. Kevin Porter: 12G - 15A - 27 PTS
      Zach Redmond: 8G - 19A - 27 PTS
   3. Sahir Gill: 12G - 13A - 25 PTS
   4. Seth Griffith: 8G - 16A - 24 PTS

Goaltending leaders

Linus Ullmark: 17-6-3; 2 SO; 2.35 GAA; .926 SV%
Adam Wilcox: 7-3-2; 2.69 GAA; .907 SV%

News and notes

• With his eighth goal of the campaign in Sunday's 5-4 overtime loss, forward Seth Griffith extended his point streak to four games. Griffith, who remains on a point-a-game pace, shows 24 points (8+16) in 24 games with the Amerks. Following his only three-game pointless stretch of the season, the former AHL All-Star has recorded 15 points (5+10) over the last 13 games since Dec. 23, which includes a pair of three-point performances.

Jan. 17: RCH 2 - UTI 3 (SO)

Watch: Youtube Video
For the second time in three days, the Rochester Americans found themselves on the short end of a shootout loss to the Utica Comets, dropping a 3-2 decision in the back-end of a midweek home-and-home series Wednesday night at Adirondack Bank Center. Tonight's game was ninth meeting of the season between the North Division rivals, and the sixth of which was played beyond regulation.
Kevin Porter (1+0) and C.J. Smith (1+0) tallied the Amerks goals, with helpers from Seth Griffith (0+1), Zach Redmond (0+1), Eric Cornel (0+1) and Stuart Percy (0+1). Linus Ullmark stopped 35 of 37, including six in overtime, in what was his third straight start for Rochester, which saw its winless streak reach three games.
The teams combined for 10 shots during a heated back-and-forth overtime period, but neither side could find the winner and the shootout was needed for the second straight game. Much as he did earlier in the night, Porter scored in the opening round before Reid Boucher and Nikolay Goldobin each converted on their chances to secure the 3-2 win for Utica.

Jan. 20: RCH 4 - CHA 1

Timely goals along with big saves helped the Rochester Americans extinguish a three-game winless streak as the Amerks picked up a 4-1 victory in the opening game of a two-game set with the Charlotte Checkers (23-17-0-1). Saturday night's matchup was the first-ever meeting between the two clubs at the Bojangles' Coliseum and just the second all-time in franchise history.
With the win, the Amerks have earned points in 29 of their last 33 games and have collected 49 points dating back to Nov. 1. Additionally, the Amerks improved to 10-0-1-1 in the 12 road games when they have scored the game's opening goal and 13-2-4-3 overall while away from The Blue Cross Arena on the season.
Rookie forward C.J. Smith notched his ninth multi-point outing of the season as he led the Amerks with three points (1+2) while Seth Griffith recorded his sixth multi-point effort with his two assists.
Eric Cornel, Kyle Criscuolo and Sean Malone rounded out the scoring for Rochester while goaltender Adam Wilcox, who made his third start in the last six games, made 23 saves to record his seventh win of the campaign. The Minnesota native shows a 7-3-4 record in his first 16 appearances with the Amerks and holds a 6-1-2 mark in his last nine games.

Jan. 21: RCH 4 - CHA 5 (OT)

Trailing 4-1 at the halfway point, the Rochester Americans pushed back with three straight unanswered goals to take the game beyond regulation, but fell 5-4 in overtime in the second of back-to-back games against the Charlotte Checkers (24-17-0-1) Sunday afternoon at Bojangles' Coliseum.
The overtime loss gives the Amerks three out of a possible four points on the weekend, with two games remaining in their season-long five-game road swing prior to the AHL All-Star break.
Kevin Porter scored twice in a span of 2:28 in the third period, the second of which tied the game at 4-4 with 2:01 left to play, with Hudson Fasching assisting on both goals.
Rookie Sean Malone (1+0) scored his second goal in as many games, while Seth Griffith (1+0) rounded out the scoring to extend his point streak to four games, keeping him at a point-per-game pace. The former AHL All-Star has totaled five points (2+3) over his current point streak to move into fifth on the team in scoring. Linus Ullmark made 23 saves on the day.

Coming up

Rochester continues its season-long five-game road swing on Friday, Jan. 26 as the Amerks head north of the border for a North Division showdown against the Toronto Marlies at Ricoh Coliseum. Game time is slated for a 7:00 p.m. start and will be broadcast live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM ESPN Rochester.
The 2018 AHL All-Star Classic presented by Turning Stone Resort Casino gets underway on Sunday, Jan. 28 with the 2018 AHL All-Star Skills Competition at 8 p.m. The 2018 AHL All-Star Challenge will then take place on the evening of Monday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. using the 3-on-3 format. All events will be held at the Adirondack Bank Center in Utica.