By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
Now in the twilight of his career and playing for a team with a stable of young defensemen, Nathan Paetsch doesn’t get on the ice very often anymore with the Rochester Americans.
Andrew Oglevie also hadn’t played much lately, although his time at suite level was due to injury, not a coach’s decision.
Both, however, made big contributions to Sunday afternoon’s 5-1 victory over the Binghamton Devils at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial.
Here’s your Sunday Big Ditch Brewing Amerks Six Pack:
1. Critical goal and assist for Oglevie
The rookie forward had missed 29 games with a concussion until returning to the lineup Friday night, and he was very good against the Devils on Sunday.
An undrafted free agent out of Notre Dame, Oglevie scored his second pro goal to give the Amerks a 3-1 lead at 10:36 of the second period, then assisted on a goal by linemate Remi Elie 7:08 later for a 4-1 lead.
“It was a good team win and I’m just excited I got to contribute a little bit,” he said.
His goal came off a two-on-one fast break, after Taylor Leier won a puck battle on the wall near but the blue line in the Amerks zone to spring Oglevie and Elie. Oglevie looked to pass but instead fired a perfect shot high on the short side.
It was a back-breaker for the Devils, who just 55 seconds earlier had their own two-on-one but Michael McLeod was denied by Amerks goalie Scott Wedgewood.
2. Paetsch full of energy
Even with Lawrence Pilut on recall to the Buffalo Sabres, the Amerks still have eight defensemen on the roster, so Paetsch, at age 35, plays only sporadically.
Sunday was just his fifth game, and first since Jan. 2. He looked like he has played every night, though, firing a team-high five shots on goal (on eight attempts) while providing efficient defensive-zone coverage and smarts.
“I was a little rusty in the first period, there were a couple reads I didn’t make properly, but then I felt fine,” he said. “I thought the forwards did a great job tracking back and made it easy on the D standing up in the neutral zone.”
Considering most of the players on both teams were playing for the third time in 44 hours, Paetsch figured he had an advantage.
“I should have fresh legs — everybody just played two games in 48 hours,” he said. “I was able to stay home (instead of making Saturday’s trip to Syracuse) and go to bed at 10:30.”
While playing is fun, Paetsch says he relishes the role of big brother and unofficial coach.
“I’m here to help the team in any way possible,” he said. “That’s my job and I love it. My whole reason for being here is to help the Rochester Americans win a Calder Cup.”
3. Elie starting to dominate
The fourth-year left winger arrived in Rochester on Feb. 3 after clearing waivers. He went three games without a point but now has 3-2-5 in the past four.
His goal came off a perfect across-the-slot feed from Leier, but it was far from run of the mill, Paetsch said.
“What he did on his goal isn’t easy,” Paetsch said. “Leier-sie fired it to him, on his strong side, and he went top shelf. That’s impressive.”
4. Quite a makeshift line
Leier, Elie and Oglevie had never played together until Sunday. They looked like they’d been together all season.
“Sometimes it clicks,” Leier said.
Said coach Chris Taylor: “I liked their speed, their creativity, their strength.”
And the three goals they produced (Andrew MacWilliam scored the other when the line was on the ice).
5. Three-in-three fun
Both teams were playing their third game in three nights, which is always a physical as well as mental test. The NHL doesn’t allow teams to play on three consecutive nights but the AHL must in order to capitalize on weekend attendance spikes.
“A veteran (Chris Conner) told me (early in his career in the Philadelphia Flyers organization) that the best players in the league know how to play well on Sundays (in the third weekend game), because nobody wants to be playing,” Leier said.
“You pretty much get undressed (on Saturday) and then you’re right back at the rink.”
He obviously persevered because he was always making something happen. In 11 games since being traded to the Sabres organization for Justin Bailey, Leier has 2-4-6 as well as two winning goals in shootouts.
6. Back on top
The Amerks (31-16-3-2) dropped out of first place by percentage points with Friday’s 1-0 loss to Syracuse but now have a three-point cushion on the Crunch, 67-64.
The Crunch have played two fewer games (one of those games in hand will be played Monday at Toronto).
Utica is third at 62, Toronto fourth at 60 and Belleville fifth at 58.
“You see how tight the standings are getting; the top five teams are bunching up,” Paetsch said. “We have to find a way to separate ourselves.”
Bonus: no more in-Buffalo game
The Amerks have scrapped the annual game in Buffalo and will play all 38 regular-season home games in downtown Rochester in 2019-20.
Since the Sabres returned as the parent team in 2011-12, the Amerks have made the short trip down the Thruway for a game at KeyBank Center to showcase prospects to the Buffalo fans.
The event, however, has run its course and the popularity has waned greatly. While the crowd at KeyBank Center for the Nov. 7 game against Cleveland was announced at 15,965 the actual crowd was well under 4,000, according to persons at the game. The inflated attendance is because the game is included in Sabres season-ticket packages.
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