By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
Considering Daniel O’Regan spent about seven hours either on airplanes or in airports to get from San Jose to Rochester Tuesday night, and considering the second-year forward had only a morning skate to familiarize himself with his new team, Rochester Americans coach Chris Taylor liked what he saw.
“He skates well, I like how he anticipates where the play will go,” Taylor said. “He was really good.”
O’Regan himself would have liked his Wednesday night debut in the Buffalo Sabres organization even better if he hadn’t erred on defensive coverage in overtime.
Instead, Travis St. Denis was left alone in the slot to convert Josh Ho-Sang’s centering pass from the left corner, giving the Bridgeport Sound Tigers a 2-1 victory.
And so once again, the Amerks failed to earn two points. That’s now eight overtime or shootout losses in the past 18 games (4-6-5-3 in that span), and an AHL-high 15 OT or shootout losses for the season.
Yes, it’s a point. But it’s only a point, and that’s why the Amerks have been passed by the Syracuse Crunch for second place and are just a point ahead of the Utica Comets for third.
“We know we’re a good enough team to have two points every night; one point is not good enough,” said goalie Linus Ullmark, who stopped 25 shots.
O’Regan’s defensive miscue was the obvious mistake in overtime, and while he took the blame, there was plenty of blame to go around. Like the lackluster second period the Amerks played on the heels of a very strong first period.
Ah, that 60-minute game thing is still haunting them, even though February has ended and just 19 games remain.
On the game-winner, Ho-Sang sprinted clear on a breakaway but defenseman Taylor Fedun tracked him down and denied the scoring chance a hustling sweep check from behind, sending the puck to the left corner.
Fedun and Ho-Sang gave chase, but so did O’Regan. The newcomer actually had containment on Ho-Sang on the wall but the New York Islanders first-round pick from 2014 managed to make a perfect pass into the slot to St. Denis.
“That’s probably on me,” O’Regan said. “I didn’t think that guy would get that pass through.”
O’Regan joined the Amerks in Monday’s deadline-day trade by the Sabres that sent Evander Kane to the Sharks. He was the AHL’s Rookie of the Year last season, when he produced 23 goals, 35 assists and 58 points in 63 games for the San Jose Barracuda. He had 7-18-25 in 31 AHL games this season, and four assists in 19 NHL games with the Sharks.
“I felt OK but maybe it was the way the last couple days that caught up to me,” he said. “I didn’t have the energy out there. I didn’t have my A-game. I usually like to play a fast 60-minute game.”
The Sound Tigers scored first on Wednesday when Michael Dal Colle swept home a Stephen Gionta rebound at 13:49 of the first period. Sean Malone tied the score at 19:21 by firing in the rebound of an Alex Nylander shot.
O’Regan said the trade took him by surprise. He was on the ice in practice when he called off to the coach’s office.
“I was completely caught off guard,” he said. “I loved it in San Jose but I’m glad to be here.”
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