By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
As the American Hockey League’s regular season winds down and the Rochester Americans tune up for the playoffs, their final eight games will determine whether they open the Calder Cup playoffs against the Toronto Marlies or Syracuse Crunch.
“Either one, I can’t say we’ve played better or worse against them,” defenseman Zach Redmond said. “You want to win to win, but I’m not sure the match-up is completely crucial.”
The Amerks can at least be thankful that the Utica Comets are not an option for the first round, because they simply can’t beat the Mohawk Valley’s favorite hockey team. At least not with any regularity.
In the 10 meetings this season, Utica won seven, including Wednesday’s matchup in downtown Rochester, 3-2 in overtime. Granted, seven went to overtime, but the Comets found a way to prevail five times beyond regulation.
And because Utica won on Wednesday, the Amerks hold third place in the North Division by just one point over the Comets. The team that finishes third gets the Crunch in round 1; the fourth-place team plays Toronto.
Wednesday was a chance for the Amerks to make a statement, a chance for the Amerks to show they’re nearing playoff mode with just 17 days left in the regular season.
And while they outshot the Comets 33-22, and attempted a whopping 87 shots by the count of the Amerks coaching staff, they still lost. And still didn’t play a complete game.
That’s become a common refrain, and it’s why the Amerks have won just eight of the past 30 games.
“I thought as a team we we working, we did a lot of good things, but at the same time we didn’t win,” said right winger Justin Bailey, who was reassigned by the parent Buffalo Sabres on Monday.
Gauging what lies ahead for Team Inconsistency isn’t easy. Major components are still due back from the Sabres when the NHL regular season ends: goalie Linus Ullmark, defensemen Brendan Guhle and Casey Nelson, and forwards Nick Baptiste and Kyle Criscuolo (who is hurt).
Still, this isn’t a team that scares the opposition. Not with just two wins in the past nine games, and six in the past 23.
Coach Chris Taylor will be using many of the final eight games to see if newcomers Will Borgen or Judd Peterson can help. They just joined the team this week following the end of their collegiate careers at St. Cloud State University.
But Taylor also wants to see who will be willing to play with playoff grit, intensity and passion.
“Every day we’re trying to figure out who’s going to be in our lineup,” Taylor said. “Who can be that big guy when we need it. Who’s going to put the puck in the net, who’s going to block a shot for us?”
Bailey could have been, actually should have been, that shot-blocker midway through the first period. Instead, a Frankie Simonelli point shot only hit the blade of Bailey’s stick in the high slot and continued on past goalie Adam Wilcox.
Taylor said the Amerks defensemen do quite well at shot blocking. The forwards need to be better. They need to sell out, they need to get into shot lanes quicker.
“It’s the new way of hockey,” he said. “It’s not just blocking shots but making them not shoot the puck.”
The positives on Wednesday: The power play went 2-for-4, with Redmond and Seth Griffith scoring the goals. The negatives: the penalty killing allowed two goals on six chances, although one came during two minutes of five-on-three man advantage for the Comets. The foolish penalties hurt the Amerks again.
In overtime, Comets center Michael Chaput stole the puck from Griffith from behind and then played sniper, picking the top left side of the net for the winning goal.
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