**This Week’s Storylines**
SABRES ACQUIRE DRAFT PICK FOR FEDUN
The Buffalo Sabres made a trade over the weekend, sending veteran defenseman Taylor Fedun to the Dallas Stars in exchange for a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. Fedun recorded 44 points (8+36) in 83 games over parts of three seasons in Rochester while also adding eight assists over 34 games with the Sabres. He also served as an assistant captain with the Amerks since the 2017-18 season.
PILING UP THE POINTS
The Amerks enter the week having earned 21 out of a possible 24 points over their last 12 games and boast an 8-1-1-0 record over their last 10, the best mark in the AHL over that span. Rochester’s recent and impressive surge has the Amerks at the top of the North Division standings, four points in front of Cleveland, and just one point back of Charlotte for first-place overall. Only the Checkers have more wins (12) and a better points percentage (.786) than the Amerks.
OFFENSIVE MINDED
The Amerks have outscored the opposition 49-29 over their last 12 games and enter the week just four goals off the league lead with 53 goals scored, 13 of which have come on the power-play.
ROC-STAR STATUS
The Amerks own three of the AHL’s top nine point-getters coming into the week in defensemen Zach Redmond and Lawrence Pilut and forward Victor Olofsson.
Redmond – After enjoying a career-setting year in 2017-18, Redmond has picked up where he left off this season as he shows a team-best 18 points (10+8) through his first 14 games to lead the league in scoring amongst defensemen. Redmond is also tied for the league lead in power-play scoring with nine points (5+4) as five of his 10 goals this season have come on the man-advantage. Redmond, who had an AHL-best nine-game point streak to end the month of October, is third in the league in goals and is fifth in points, while his five game-winning goals are tops in the AHL.
Pilut – Pilut is off to a hot start in his North American debut, ranking second behind only Redmond in points by a defenseman with 17 points (2+15) in 12 games. Pilut, last year’s SHL Defenseman of the Year, has recorded half of his 17 points on the power-play this season, including his two goals, which are tied for fourth-most among all AHL blueliners. He enters the week with points in nine of his last 10 games and has been held scoreless just twice all season.
Olofsson – named the CCM/AHL Player of the Month for October after leading the AHL in scoring through the first month of the season, he’s currently tied for eighth among the league’s top point-getters with 16 points (6+10) in 13 games. Oloffson has recorded points in eight of his last 11 games, including a seven-game point streak (5+9) to close out the month of October, and has been held scoreless in back-to-back games for the first time all season. Olofsson, who was also named the AHL’s Player of the Week for period ending Oct. 14, is tied for 10th among league leaders with 10 assists, including an AHL-best eight on the power-play.
REDMOND CHASING HISTORY
By scoring the overtime game-winner this past Friday against Syracuse, Redmond reached the 10-goal mark in just his 14th game of the season. The goal was also his fifth game-winner of the year, setting a new career-high. He became the first Amerks defenseman to score 10 goals in the fewest amount of games to begin the season since Amerks Hall of Famer Don McSween reached the mark in his first 21 games during the 1989-90 campaign. McSween would later become the top scoring defenseman in franchise history. Redmond, who last season was the first Rochester blueliner in seven years to lead the team in scoring, is five goals away from matching his career-high of 15 from last season and needs just eight more goals to tie the single-season franchise record for the most goals by a defenseman of 18, set by Amerks Hall of Famer Rick Pagnutti during the 1972-73 campaign.
BUSY BETWEEN THE PIPES
Scott Wedgewood has got the nod between the pipes in seven of the previous nine games. After dropping his first two games of the season, the sixth-year netminder has won six of his last seven appearances, including five straight to close out the month of October, matching the career-best mark he set while backstopping the Albany Devils during the 2015-16 campaign. He enters the week tied for second among AHL goaltenders in wins (6) and 17th in minutes played (500).
IRON MAN SIMPSON
Rochester forward Wayne Simpson is the AHL’s current leader in consecutive games played with 201. Prior to joining the Amerks, the Boxborough, Mass., native appeared in all 76 regular-season games with the Hershey Bears and Providence Bruins over each of the last two seasons, in addition to 35 straight appearances for the Portland Pirates dating back to the 2015-16 campaign. Simpson, who registered his first two-goal outing since Mar. 20, 2016 last Wednesday against Cleveland, has tallied seven points on four goals and three assists through 14 games with the Amerks this season.
POTENT POWER-PLAY
With 13 power-play goals through its first 14 games, Rochester boasts the ninth-best power-play unit in the AHL with a 22.4% conversion rate.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
After a rare weekend off, the Amerks embark on their first three-in-three of the young season on Friday, Nov. 16 when they visit the Springfield Thunderbirds at MassMutual Center. Rochester’s three-game swing through the Atlantic Division continues with a Saturday night matchup against the Providence Bruins before closing out the New England trip on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. in Hartford against the Wolf Pack. The Amerks have earned at least one point in each of their five road games this season, going 4-0-1-0 while outscoring the opposition 21-12. Rochester also remains the only team without a regulation loss on the road so far this season.
