By Toby Rice
While the Florida Panthers have underperformed through the first quarter of the season, their top affiliate in Rochester has done quite well. The Americans are chasing the Eastern Conference lead, currently five points back. Lowell (36), Grand Rapids (36), and Bridgeport (34) are leading the pack. Rochester is 15-13-1 in 29 games this season.
Leading the way for the Americans is veteran winger Jordan Caron with 40 points. Youngsters Jesse Ylonen and Dylan Guenther follow closely with 38 and 36 points, respectively. As the AHL is known for high scoring affairs, it is no surprise that all but two players have 20 or more points for Rochester. 16 of those players have averaged more than a point per game.
In net, Olof Lindbom and Matt Tomkins have shared duties fairly evenly this season. Lindblom is 8-9-1-2 in 18 games, while Tomkins is 7-4-0-1 in 11 games. A lot of eyes are on Lindbom's development after he showed a lot of promise last season. While his 7.50 GAA is currently his worst career average, there is still time to lower that this season.
While the Florida Panthers continue to struggle, we will be closely watching our farm. Should the Panthers' freefall continue, trade deadline time could be interesting, and we expect both pro and farm players will be on the move.
4/3/2022 - 219 words
