2/19-20 Recap: Armia clicking; Makarov gets baker's dozen

Andrey Makarov extended his winning streak to 13 straight starts Wednesday, making 35 saves to backstop Saskatoon to a 5-1 win over Moose Jaw. The Russian netminder has been excellent in 20 starts since returning from the World Junior Championship, racking up 15 wins with a sturdy .941 save %. Makarov now has 30 wins on the year, the most for a Sabres goaltending prospect since Adam Dennis posted 44 in 2005-06 as a member of the OHL's London Knights. (Nathan Lieuwen of the Kootenay ICE posted a total of 33 in 2010-11, but he wasn't yet drafted.) The Blades will look to set a new franchise mark for consecutive victories on Friday when they host Brandon.

Brady Austin logged a plus-one rating as Belleville won their seventh straight game 8-5 over Ottawa. Draft eligible Sean Monahan contributed a pair of assists for Ottawa. The top dogs in the OHL's Eastern Conference, Belleville will look to continue their roll Saturday against Peterborough.

In the AHL, the Rochester Americans were defeated 5-1 by the visiting Texas Stars. Alex Biega scored the lone Amerks goal, while David Leggio made 33 stops in defeat. The Amerks return to action Friday when they meet Hamilton at Bell Center in Montreal.

In Tuesday play, Joel Armia picked up two assists as Assat won their eighth game in a row 3-1 over Ilves. The 6-foot-3 winger has collected multiple points in his last three outings (2+5), pushing his season totals to 15-12-27 through 40 games played. Assat, who currently sits in the seventh playoff spot with eight games remaining, looks to continue their surge Friday versus SaiPa.