***This Week’s Top Storylines***
*The Amerks earned four out of a possible six points this past week which included two key wins over a pair of North Division rivals. Rochester began the week on the winning end of a 2-1 decision over the Utica Comets to snap a six-game skid before defeating the Toronto Marlies by a 3-2 score Friday on home ice. The Amerks opened the scoring in both contests, improving to 6-5-0-1 on the season when doing so.
*The Amerks play their first full weekend away from The Blue Cross Arena as Rochester travels to the Keystone State for the final three games of its season-long four-game road swing. The Amerks take on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on back-to-back nights before closing out the weekend Sunday in Hershey for a clash between the AHL’s two oldest teams.
*Second-year forward Nick Baptiste has been Rochester’s leading point-getter since returning from his most recent NHL call-up on Nov. 18. A third-round pick of Buffalo in 2013, Baptiste became the first Amerk this season to reach the 10-goal mark with his first-period goal against Toronto on Friday. Even more impressively, Baptiste reached the mark in just 13 games with the Amerks. He’s currently tied for fifth in the AHL in goals and is tied for sixth with five power-play tallies.
*The Amerks own the eighth-best power-play in the AHL to begin the week after converting on 20 of 93 power-play opportunities for a 21.5% efficiency rate. Rochester has scored at least one power-play goal in six of its last nine matchups, going 8-for-41 over that span. The power-play unit is most effective on home ice, where the Amerks have scored 14 times on 48 man-advantage opportunities (29.2% success rate) to rank second in the league.
