Amerks have won 7 of last 8 games, including 5 in a row
Chris Taylor has resumed head coaching duties and will be behind the bench this weekend
by Rochester Americans @AmerksHockey / Amerks.com
Chris Taylor resumed head coaching duties of the Amerks on Monday, making his return to Rochester after spending the previous two months with the Buffalo Sabres coaching staff.
Taylor filled in for Sabres assistant coach Don Granato, who was forced to take an extended medical leave while he recovered from pneumonia-related complications. Amerks assistant coach Gord Dineen took over in the interim, leading the Amerks to a 12-3-1-2 record, including the team's recent five-game win streak.
Rochester enters the week riding a season-long eight-game point streak (7-0-0-1), the longest active streak in the Eastern Conference, and have won eight of its last 10 games, with seven wins coming against North Division opponents.
Coming off Saturday's come-from-behind win at Binghamton, the Amerks have earned points in 13 of their last 15 contests, going 10-2-1-2 over that span, putting them two points behind the Toronto Marlies for the top spot in the AHL's North Division going into Friday's showdown.
Scoring leaders
| Player | GP | G | A | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Jean-Sebastien Dea* | 18 | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| 2. Tage Thompson* | 16 | 6 | 6 | 12 |
| Andrew Oglevie | 18 | 6 | 6 | 12 |
| Scott Wilson | 16 | 5 | 7 | 12 |
| Zach Redmond | 15 | 2 | 10 | 12 |
| *On recall with Buffalo |
Goaltending leaders
| Player | GP | W | L | OTL | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Hammond | 10 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2.63 | .902 |
| Jonas Johansson | 10 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2.35 | .916 |
News and notes
- With Jean-Sebastien Dea and Tage Thompson both on recall with the Sabres, the Amerks are currently without the services of their top two point-getters.
- However, the Amerks come into the week owning three of the AHL's top point-producing defensemen in Zach Redmond, Casey Nelson and Lawrence Pilut, all of whom have been mainstays on Rochester's blueline this season.
- And after being reassigned by the Sabres this past Saturday, defenseman John Gilmour made an immediate impact on the scoresheet in his Amerks debut, earnomg the secondary assist on Eric Cornel's game-winning goal during the second period that night.
- With the addition of Gilmour, who last season led the Harford Wolf Pack with a career-high 34 assists and 54 points in 70 games, the Amerks now have two of the AHL's top three point-producing defensemen from last season on the same blueline. Gilmour's 54 points were four better than Redmond's while Redmond led all AHL blueliners with a franchise-record 21 goals.
- With six assists in the last five games, first-year forward Brett Murray is tied for 10th in scoring among all AHL rookies with 11 points (2+9) in 13 games.
- Goaltender Andrew Hammond (7-1-1) is tied for fifth among all netminders with seven wins on the season. In his last five starts, he has posted a four straight wins, two shutouts, a 1.25 goals-against average and a .954 save percentage.
- His counterpart, Jonas Johansson, also boasts a three-game win streak and recently set a new AHL career-high with his fifth win of the season Saturday in Binghamton.