By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
For six months, Lukas Rousek could only make an educated guess on what playing in the American Hockey League would be like.
When he signed his two-year, entry level contract with the Buffalo Sabres in April and prepared to leave the Czech Republic for New York, he had fully intended to use this season to prove his talents.
But during training camp, the Czech-born right winger underwent knee surgery. Instead of learning the North American game with the Amerks, he became an expert in knee rehabilitation.
He was at the rink pretty much every day from October to March but never got to practice, let alone play.
Now, however, he’s become a valuable component as the Amerks continue to make waves in the Calder Cup playoffs.
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The 23-year-old Rousek scored the Amerks second goal in what became a 4-3 overtime victory over the Utica Comets on Sunday evening. Ahead 2-1 in the best-of-five series, the Amerks will try to close out the series in Tuesday’s 7:05 p.m. game in downtown Rochester.
The young guns like JJ Peterka, Peyton Krebs and Arttu Ruotsalainen have been providing the dynamic scoring as the Amerks have won four of five postseason games. But Rousek has quietly shown what he’s capable of doing.
“Rousek has been outstanding; outstanding,” Amerks coach Seth Appert said. “It’s hard to describe the way he handled the injury. His first time in North America, he gets the bad news at training camp that he has to have ACL surgery and he’s going to be out six months or whatever it is.
“He showed up every day, doing his rehab, smile on his face, saying hello to everybody, just happy as a lark. That young man put a lot of work in and it’s been impressive how he’s handled this level of hockey being out that long.”
He may be even more important in Game 4 because captain Michael Mersch won’t be able to play. He was injured on a check to the head by Utica defenseman Robbie Russo in the closing seconds of regulation in Game 3.
Rousek didn’t play his first game of the season until March 18, and his only regular season goal didn’t come until April 23, Game 74 in the 76-game regular season.
“We were so excited when he finally got back,” Peterka said. “He was always at the rink but never on the ice with us. He’s such a smart player and so, so skilled and I’m really happy when I’m out there with him.”
In some ways, the extended rehab period has meant Rousek is fresh compared to teammates and opponents that have already endured the regular-season grind. He’s just reaching top form at the most important time of the year.
His goal in Game 1 of the play-in round against Belleville sparked the Amerks’ comeback from a 3-0 third-period deficit to a 4-3 overtime victory.
With Appert choosing a lineup with seven defensemen and 11 forwards, Rousek hasn’t had regular linemates and sometimes hasn’t had a regular shift. He has skated with either Ryan MacInnis or Brandon Biro, and then Appert rotates through Quinn, Peterka or Routsalainen as the other linemate.
“Whether it’s MacInnis or Biro and Rousek, and when you rotate Quinn and Peterka and Routasalainen through them, that becomes a harder matchup for your opponent because that’s a pretty skilled fourth line,” Appert said.
“That’s not a traditional fourth line; we don’t look it as a fourth line. It’s not a heavy, go-run-people fourth line. It’s a speed, skill line that really has had a lot of effectiveness.”
Rousek provides a lot of that skill.
“His hockey intelligence is through the roof; it’s high-end hockey intelligence,” Appert said. “Guys love to play with him. Quinner and Peterka giggle in practice at some of the stuff that Rousek can do, how he sees plays that most people don’t see.
“Nobody minds when I put them with Lukas because he’s a very smart, creative player.”
While the Amerks have momentum and great confidence, a loss in Game 4 and they’ll be forced to play a make-or-break deciding fifth game on Thursday in Utica. Overtime victories often mean the winner made one fewer critical mistake than the loser.
“They’ve just been great hockey games where we’ve found a way to make one more play,” Appert said. “It’s two really good teams that have gone toe-to-toe and fortunately we’ve found a way to make a play in overtime both nights.
“This (Utica) is a great team. They won our division, which we believe is the best division in the American Hockey League. Utica is a great team that believes they’re poised to go on a great run.
Mersch won’t play
Amerks captain Michael Mersch will miss Tuesday’s game with an upper body injury, the result of a check to his head by Utica defenseman Robbie Russo in Game 3.
Russo was assessed a minor for a hit to the head with 14.8 seconds remaining in the third period, and the Amerks turned the penalty into Ruotsalainen’s winning power-play goal in overtime.
Appert wants Russo suspended. There was anger in his voice when he provided an injury update on Monday.
“Hopefully the league’s looking at that because that was a dirty, predatory hit,” Appert said. “There’s been enough of those against us in both series. I’m certainly sick of seeing it and I hope the league does something about it.”
Injury updates
Appert said defenseman Brandon Davidson is probable, defenseman Mattias Samuelsson remains day-to-day but seems unlikely to play Tuesday, goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is week to week and winger Linus Weissbach is “getting better. He’s headed in a good direction. He’s not yet cleared to practice.”
Every once in awhile there surfaces one of those ‘cloak and dagger’ player issues that just frustrates fans. It has happened several times over the years involving player availability and the information is always murky, by design. I think that is the case with Samuelsson. Nothing really adds up with his situation since the end of the Sabres season and his return here…day to day.
Is it really day to day or is something else going on that the Sabres don’t want us to know. I wish instead of teasing us every day, just either shut him down for the duration or get him out there to help us win hockey games. Generally most hockey players are willing to skate thru broken glass to complete in post season. Something just doesn’t pass the sniff test here.
My observation based on past history of these things.