By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
His teammates had a two-week head start on him, not to mention the preseason, so Lawrence Pilut was playing catch-up on Friday night.
Off-season shoulder surgery kept the second-year defenseman from participating in games of any sort through training camp and half of October.
Thus, when he was finally given the go-ahead to return to the lineup against the Cleveland Monsters, he wanted as much ice time as the coaching staff would give him.
While it was clear he hadn’t played in six months, Pilut showed flashes of his talent with and without the puck in the 4-3 shootout loss at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial.
“I felt all right but I think I’m a little rusty,” Pilut said afterward. “I think I can clean up a few things.”
The 23-year-old native of Tingsryd, Sweden, said he didn’t know going into camp precisely when he would be given medical clearance to play.
“I felt good but just from a security standpoint (with the health of the shoulder) you want to be really ready,” Pilut said.
Asplund injured
Second-year center Rasmus Asplund played just 2 minutes, 15 seconds on Friday before an injury forced him out of the game.
Asplund went down to block a shot in the slot and was apparently struck somewhere on upper body. He immediately left the ice and headed straight to the medical room. He did have X-rays but coach Gord Dineen did not have an update afterward.
Dineen said had Asplund returned, “he would have been compromised probably.”
Dea-Wilson no strangers
Jean-Sebastien Dea centered a line with left winger Scott Wilson and right winger Andrew Oglevie, and there was some instant chemistry with Dea and Wilson.
Of course, there should have been. They were teammates with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in 2014-15 and ’15-16, their first two seasons in pro hockey.
While they weren’t on the same line that often with the Penguins, there is definite familiarity.
They each assisted on the other’s goal on Friday.
Dea plays sniper
With Victor Olofsson now with the Sabres, Taylor Leier still recovering from off-season surgery and Wayne Simpson and Danny O’Regan no longer in the organization, the Amerks need Dea to score goals.
He scored a dandy against Cleveland, playing the puck ahead to himself as he dashed in on the left wing before snapping a shot to the far side, over the glove of goalie Matiss Kivlenieks for his second goal of the season.
“I just saw the hole and I guess it’s just natural instinct,” Dea said. “I just rip it like I used to do in junior.”
Dea scored 45 and 49 for Rouyn-Noranda his final two seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He scored 17 in 46 AHL games last season with Springfield and Wilkes-Barre, along with 4 in 23 NHL games for New Jersey and Pittsburgh.
Gerbe shines
Former Sabres winger Nathan Gerbe assisted on all three goals by the Monsters, including the tying goal by Stefan Matteau with 5:31 left in the third period.
Kivlenieks shuts the door
The Monsters goalie split last season between the ECHL and AHL but he looked like a No. 1 on Friday, making 28 saves.
Two of his best came in overtime, robbing Tage Thompson with the glove at 50 seconds before sprawling to stop a Dea shot with 57 seconds remaining.
He then denied Thompson, Dea and C.J. Smith in the shootout.
Hi Kevin–Amerks play Hershey tonite. Used to be a big deal. Now its nearly nothing at all, which is really a shame. Would you care to write something about the once great rivalry for those of us who remember and witnessed our very first Calder Cup against the Bears.