**This Week’s Storylines**
**Amerks General Manager Randy Sexton announced yesterday the team has signed Brian Gionta to a one-game Professional Tryout. Gionta is expected to be in the lineup on Friday. The 39-year-old Rochester native has practiced with the Amerks since October in preparation for the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympic Games, which are set to begin Friday, Feb. 9 in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
**The 2018 AHL All-Star Classic concluded on Monday with Linus Ullmark and C.J. Smith helping the North Division to a 1-0 win over the Pacific in the championship game of the AHL All-Star Challenge. Smith scored the lone goal for the North, one of his five points on the night, and was later named MVP.
**The Amerks return from the All-Star break on Friday when they host the first-place Toronto Marlies at The Blue Cross Arena. Rochester went 2-1-1-1 over its season-long five-game road swing, which ended with 4-3 overtime win over the Belleville Senators this past Saturday.
**Coming off a 21-save effort Saturday in Belleville, goaltender Adam Wilcox boasts a 7-1-2 mark in his last 10 contests. Wilcox has allowed two goals or less in two of his three games over his current three-game win streak while owning a 2.00 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage over that span.
**With an assist on Kyle Criscuolo’s overtime-winning tally last Saturday night in Belleville, forward Seth Griffith shows six points (2+4) in his last six contests. Since joining the Amerks on Nov. 27, the former AHL All-Star has recorded 25 points (8+17) in 26 games, including 12 points (4+8) over his last 11 games since the turn of the New Year to jump up to fifth on the team in scoring. After enduring a season-long three-game stretch in December in which he failed to find the scoresheet, Griffith hasn’t gone more than a game without a point since.
**The Amerks are hosting “Hometown Heroes Night,” presented by Advantage Federal Credit Union, on Friday. The team will honor all first responders such as police officers, fire fighters, and emergency medical technicians, as well as military members and veterans. Prior to the Amerks-Marlies matchup that night, the Rochester Police Department will face-off against members of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Jail Bureau in an exhibition hockey game starting at 4:00 p.m.
