Amerks open up March with back-to-back wins, set for pair of home games

The Rochester Americans opened the month of March with back-to-back wins, their first since Jan. 5 and 6, and took five out of a possible six points this past week. Additionally, Rochester has notched at least one point in 18 of its last 25 games since the turn of the New Year.
The Amerks are 16-4-8-3 in 31 games away from The Blue Cross Arena this season. The four regulation losses are the fewest in the American Hockey League while their 43 road points are tied for second-most in the league.

Scoring leaders

1. C.J. Smith: 14G - 25A - 39 PTS
   2. Kevin Porter: 15G - 20A - 35 PTS
      Zach Redmond: 12G - 23A - 35 PTS
   3. Kyle Criscuolo: 15G - 19A - 34 PTS
      Seth Griffith: 13G - 21A - 34 PTS

Goaltending leaders

Linus Ullmark: 19-11-4; 2 SO; 2.42 GAA; .924 SV%
Adam Wilcox: 10-4-2; 2.63 GAA; .908 SV%

News and notes

Check out more on Chris Taylor in the latest episode of Americans Made:

• Alexander Nylander carries a career-best five-game point streak (1+4) into the week and shows nine points (3+6) over his last nine games, a stretch which began with four points (2+2) in a 12-3 win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Feb. 16.

• Rochester embarks on another busy stretch of three games in three nights this weekend. After hosting the Providence Bruins for the only time this season on Friday, the Amerks will take on the Syracuse Crunch on back-to-back nights to close out the weekend.

Feb. 28: BRI 2 - RCH 1 (OT)

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The Rochester Americans closed out the month of February with a 2-1 overtime loss to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at The Blue Cross Arena Wednesday night. The contest was the 24th that has been decided after regulation for the Amerks this season and the 11th since the turn of the New Year.
The Amerks, who have earned at least one point in 16 of their last 22 games since Jan. 1 and 38 of the last 49 overall dating back to Nov. 1, have a 19-point lead on the fifth-place Laval Rocket in the AHL's North Division heading into March.
Rookie Sean Malone netted his eighth goal of the season for Rochester to push his point streak (3+1) to a career-long four games while Alexander Nylander, who appeared in his 100th AHL game, extended his point streak to three games as he recorded the primary assist. Goaltender Linus Ullmark stopped 25 of 27 but took the overtime loss. The Swedish netminder carries a record of 18-11-9 in 39 appearances on the season.
The game also marked the Amerks debut of forward Daniel O'Regan, who was acquired by the Buffalo Sabres during Monday's NHL Trade Deadline from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for Evander Kane.
Michael Dal Colle opened the scoring with his seventh marker of the campaign for Bridgeport, which snapped a six-game road winless stretch dating back to Jan. 16. Travis St. Denis sealed the 2-1 overtime victory as he notched his 14th goal of the season while goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis made 25 saves to improve to 8-10-5.

March 3: RCH 4 - TOR 1

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For the second time in a week, the Rochester Americans left the Ricoh Coliseum victorious after defeating the league-leading Toronto Marlies. Newcomer Daniel O'Regan scored his first two goals for Rochester to help lead the Amerks to a 4-1 win Saturday evening.
With the victory, the Amerks, who have earned at least one point in 17 of their last 23 games since Jan. 1, have a 21-point lead on the fifth-place Laval Rocket in the AHL's North Division standings heading into tomorrow's 3:05 matinee in Rochester.
O'Regan netted his eighth and ninth goals of the season while Justin Bailey and Zach Redmond rounded out the scoring for Rochester, which remains the only team in the AHL with four regulation losses away from The Blue Cross Arena through 31 games. Goaltender Linus Ullmark made 26 saves to snap a four-game winless streak while improving to 19-11-9 in 40 appearances on the season.
Andreas Johnsson, who was dabbed as the CCM/AHL Player of the Month earlier this week, scored the lone tally for the Marlies, who have lost five of their last six games, while netminder Calvin Pickard stopped 27 of 30 but suffered the loss.

March 4: LAV 2 - RCH 4

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The Rochester Americans closed out the first weekend of March with a 4-2 win over the Laval Rocket at The Blue Cross Arena Sunday afternoon. The victory gives the Amerks back-to-back wins since the first weekend in January. Rochester has also won three of its last four.
With the win, the Amerks, who have earned at least one point in 18 of their last 24 games since Jan. 1, have a 21-point lead on the fifth-place Rocket in the AHL's North Division standings following today's contest.
Rookie Justin Danforth recorded his first-career AHL multi-point effort with a goal and assist while Daniel Muzito-Bagenda registered his first two-point outing of the campaign. Zach Redmond and Kevin Porter rounded out scoring for Rochester, which has taken five of the last six points. Goaltender Adam Wilcox made 21 saves to record back-to-back wins in his last two outings while improving to 10-4-6 in 22 appearances on the season.
Willie Corrin netted first-career AHL goal while Adam Cracknell plotted his 22nd of the campaign for the Rocket, who has dropped two of the last three games. First-year netminder Michael McNiven took the loss as he stopped 25 of 28.