Amerks home for the holidays with 5 of next 6 games at Blue Cross Arena

The Rochester Americans continue on a busy stretch which keeps the team on home ice for five of its next six games beginning this weekend through the Christmas break.
Rochester will see four different Eastern Conference opponents over that stretch, including a home-and-home series this weekend with Cleveland before a back-to-back set with the Hartford Wolf Pack next weekend in the final two games leading up to the annual Christmas break.

Stats leaders

| Player | GP | G | A | PTS | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1. Zach Redmond | 24 | 14 | 9 | 23 | | 2. Victor Olofsson | 21 | 9 | 13 | 22 | | Lawrence Pilut | 16 | 3 | 19 | 22 | | 4. C.J. Smith | 24 | 7 | 12 | 19 | | 5. Alexander Nylander | 24 | 6 | 12 | 18 |

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Goaltending stats

| Player | GP | W | L | OTL | GAA | SV% | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Scott Wedgewood | 14 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 2.91 | .907 | | Adam Wilcox | 10 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3.13 | .891 | | Jonas Johansson | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.50 | .944 |

News and notes

Coming up

The Amerks get into the heart of a busy December schedule on Wednesday, Dec. 12 when they welcome the Binghamton Devils for a North Division showdown at The Blue Cross Arena.
Following the 7:05 p.m. contest with the Devils, the Amerks host the Cleveland Monsters in the front-end of a home-and-home series on Friday, Dec. 14 at 7:05 p.m.

The action then shifts to Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland on Saturday, Dec. 15 for a rematch with the Monsters.
All three games will be carried live on The Sports Leader AM 950/ 95.7 FM ESPN Rochester as well as AHLTV.

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Game recaps

December 5: Comets 2 - Amerks 5
Watch: Youtube Video
The Rochester Americans scored twice in each of the last periods and rode a 25-save effort from goaltender Jonas Johansson to defeat the Utica Comets (10-13-1-1) by a 5-2 decision Wednesday at The Blue Cross Arena.
Forward Rasmus Asplund registered a career-high three-assist outing to give Rochester 30 out of a possible 40 points in the last 20 games. Wayne Simpson, Victor Olofsson and Matt Tennyson, who was reassigned by the Buffalo Sabres earlier today, all tallied a goal and an assist.
C.J. Smith and Andrew MacWilliam rounded out the scoring while Johansson made his season debut after earning his first recall of the season from the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. The 23-year-old netminder stopped 25 of 27 to record his first AHL win of the year.
December 7: Bruins 1 - Amerks 2
Watch: Youtube Video
With a pair of first-period goals from forward Justin Bailey and 26 saves from goaltender Jonas Johansson, the Rochester Americans defeated the Providence Bruins (11-9-4-0) by the score of 2-1 Friday night at The Blue Cross Arena.
Bailey, who has nine points (8-1) in six career games against the Bruins, turned in his third two-goal effort of the season to give the Amerks a four-point lead for first place in the AHL's North Division standings going into tomorrow night's showdown with the Syracuse Crunch.
Johansson made his second straight start in the blue paint since being recalled from the Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL) and was nearly flawless in stopping 26 of the 27 shots he faced. The second-year netminder improved to 2-0-0 on the season with the victory.
December 8: Amerks 4 - Crunch 3
Watch: Youtube Video
Fueled by a pair of goals less than six minutes into Saturday night's contest and one in each of the final two periods of regulation, the Rochester Americans (16-6-2-0) came away with a 4-3 victory over the Syracuse Crunch (13-6-2-0) at the War Memorial Arena.
Rochester forward Wayne Simpson recorded his fifth multi-point effort of the campaign as he netted a goal and an assist, while Tyler Randell, Zach Redmond and Victor Olofsson rounded out the scoring for the Amerks.
In his third start of the season against his former club, goaltender Adam Wilcox made 25 saves to earn his third win over the Crunch this season. Overall, Wilcox boasts a record of 6-2-1 in 10 appearances.