By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
First it was just a speed bump when the Rochester Americans began to lose games with regularity back in January.
Then it was a mini slump in early February; no reason for alarm.
Then come the beginning of March, it was a real slump. Still, there was no reason for panic. After all, the rest of the American Hockey League’s North Division was so far in the rear view mirror that a playoff berth would be safe regardless of how badly the Amerks stumbled.
But now, well, let’s be honest; there’s reason for concern. And maybe even alarm.
Because unless someone in the dressing room can locate the on/off switch that triggers real, consistent, 60-minute hockey, then what’s the point of making the Calder Cup playoffs? One-and-done may be just as bad as going home after Game 76 of the regular season.
And right now, after Friday’s 4-2 loss to the still-lowly Binghamton Devils, Amerks coach Chris Taylor surely doesn’t know where that switch is.
His club has lost four straight and is an ugly 7-12-6-3 in the past 28 games since Jan. 13. That’s a win every four games. Ever see a team win a playoff series that way?
The Amerks lost three straight last weekend in New England so the coach certainly expected them to come out with great intensity on Friday on home ice. Boy, was he wrong. They were outshot 12-8 in the period and, far worse in Taylor’s mind, had just 12 shot attempts.
“Our first period, to me, was our worst in a long time,” Taylor said.
Defenseman Stuart Percy, who scored the Amerks first goal, admitted that, yes, maybe there should be a little concern.
“But I’d rather lose four straight now than April 15,” Percy said.
He has a point. Then again, with 1-5-1-0 record in the past seven games, and yet another loss to Binghamton (22-33-7-3), this is hardly how Cup contenders head down the stretch, especially with just 10 games to play.
The Amerks could have finally clinched the playoff spot that they’ve been in position to clinch since last weekend. A win in Saturday’s game against the Springfield Thunderbirds still will give them the clinch.
Maybe that’s just it, too. They know they’re going to be in, it may not matter whether they play Toronto or Syracuse in the first round since they’ll probably need to beat both of them in order to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.
And maybe that’s why defenseman Zach Redmond said “there’s no concern” within the dressing room.
But he also said that, despite “preaching sticking to our game plan right off the hop, we’re not doing it.”
Mind you, this is in late March, they’re not doing what Taylor has been imploring them to do. On Friday, what they couldn’t do was stay out of the penalty box. They gave the Devils five power plays, which led to three goals against Adam Wilcox.
“It’s unacceptable for our team,” Taylor said of the penalties. “It’s too late in the year to be telling guys they can’t take that man penalties.”
It’s also far too late to be talking about consistent play. Yet that’s what he’s still doing.
I think they’re just missing too much top-end talent. Will we get them back before the playoffs start?
Baptiste, Bailey, Guhle, Nelson and Ullmark will return. So will Criscuolo, who is hurt. But those players were all here in January and for much of February, and the Amerks weren’t playing well then.