Amerks lock up home ice for 1st-round playoff series

Following their 2-1 win over Cleveland on Monday, the Rochester Americans secured home ice for the best-of-five opening round series of the 2019 Calder Cup Playoffs.
The Amerks will host:
Game 1 on Friday, April 19 at 7:05 p.m. at Blue Cross Arena
Game 2 on Sunday, April 21 at 3:05 p.m. at Blue Cross Arena
Game 5 (if necessary) on Sunday, April 28 at 5:05 p.m. at Blue Cross Arena

The complete opening round schedule will be released at a later date as soon as Rochester's first-round opponent has been determined. The first 3,000 fans in attendance for Game 1 will receive a custom Amerks hard hat, courtesy of Nissan.
The Amerks are one point behind Syracuse for first place in the North Division.
Tickets for all first-round home games are on sale now. Individual game tickets for Round One of the 2019 Calder Cup Playoffs start as low as just $14 and range in price up to $28 depending on seat location. All tickets purchased on the day of the game will increase by $2.

Fans also have the opportunity to purchase all potential home playoff games with a Playoff Pack, which are currently on sale. Convenient payment options are available and guarantee your seating at the lowest rates for all home playoff games at Blue Cross Arena. Additionally, new and current Amerks Season Ticket Members will be able to purchase additional single-game tickets for all first-round home playoff games for as little as $12.
Visit Amerks.com for full details.

Scoring leaders

| Player | GP | G | A | PTS | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1. Victor Olofsson | 64 | 27 | 33 | 60 | | 2. C.J. Smith | 60 | 28 | 30 | 58 | | 3. Zach Redmond | 56 | 21 | 29 | 50 | | 4. Danny O'Regan | 68 | 20 | 26 | 46 | | 5. Wayne Simpson | 69 | 21 | 21 | 42 |

Goaltending leaders

| Player | GP | W | L | OTL | GAA | SV% | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Scott Wedgewood | 47 | 28 | 13 | 2 | 2.67 | .908 | | Adam Wilcox | 27 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 2.78 | .897 |

Regular season concludes this weekend

The Amerks wrap up the 2018-19 campaign with three games in three nights beginning on Friday, Apr. 12 at 7:05 p.m. when they host the intrastate rival Binghamton Devils in the regular-season home finale at Blue Cross Arena.
Rochester will then close out the year with a return trip to Syracuse on Saturday before visiting Belleville on Sunday afternoon. All three matchups 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

April 5: Crunch 6 - Amerks 1
Watch: Youtube Video
By allowing a pair of goals in the first period and three in more in the third, the Rochester Americans fell in the first game of the weekend home-and-home series with the Syracuse Crunch by the final score of 6-1 at Blue Cross Arena on Friday night.
Defenseman Jack Dougherty tallied his second goal of the season from Kevin Porter and Tage Thompson, who has four points (2+2) in his first three games since joining the club after being reassigned from the Buffalo Sabres. Netminder Scott Wedgewood (27-13-2) made 19 saves on the night but took the loss.
April 6: Amerks 5 - Syracuse 2
Watch: Youtube Video
After dropping Friday's contest in the first game of the weekend home-and-home series with the Syracuse Crunch (45-21-4-3), the Rochester Americans returned the favor Saturday night at War Memorial Arena as they left with a 5-2 victory.
Forwards Wayne Simpson (2+0) and Rasmus Asplund (0+2) each turned in a pair of points for the Amerks, who show a 4-0-1-0 record this season in Syracuse. Andrew MacWilliam, C.J. Smith and Yannick Veilleux rounded out the scoring.
Netminder Adam Wilcox (13-8-4) stopped 15 of 17 shots he faced to improve to 5-0-1 against his former club on the campaign. In his last four outings, Wilcox shows a 3-0-1 record.
April 8: Amerks 2 - Cleveland 1
Watch: Youtube Video
On the strength of a pair of goals from newcomer Tage Thompson and 36 saves by goaltender Scott Wedgewood, the Rochester Americans (45-22-4-2) picked up their league-leading 24th road win of the season with a 2-1 victory over the Cleveland Monsters (36-28-7-2) Monday night at Quicken Loans Arena.
With the win to close out their season series with the Monsters, the Amerks improved to 26-7-2-3 over Cleveland since the start of the 2011-12 campaign.
Thompson netted his fourth and fifth goals of the season to help the Amerks improve to 8-2-0-0 over the last their last 10 road games, which includes five straight. The club has also collected 50 out of a possible 72 points in the last 36 games overall.
Wedgewood, who came within three minutes of earning his sixth shutout of the season, stopped 36 of 37 shots he faced to push his record on the campaign to 28-13-2, including a 5-1-0 in six games against the Monsters this season. He remains on pace to become the first Amerks netminder to reach 30 wins in a season since former two-time MVP David Leggio reached the mark in 2012-13.
Cleveland is clinging to the fourth and final playoff spot in the North Division.