Reunited with his old linemates, Jobst’s hat trick propels Amerks

By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA

Vinny Prospal is just six games into his stint as an assistant coach with the Rochester Americans, but he already has a pretty good feel for what the forwards he’s coaching can do.

He also has a pretty good idea about what helped make the Amerks tick during their ride to the Calder Cup Eastern Conference finals last spring.

Which is why he wanted to see Mason Jobst, Michael Mersch and Brett Murray back together on a line.

Head coach Seth Appert relented on Friday night, and it turned out to be a great decision.

Jobst scored three goals as the Amerks out-gunned the run-and-gun Laval Rocket 7-4 at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial.

Lukas Rousek, Brandon Biro, Isak Rosen and Matt Savoie also scored goals as the Amerks enjoyed their best offensive night of the young season and improved to 4-1-1-0.

“Nothing seemed to deflate us tonight, nothing seemed to deter us from trying to play the right way,” Appert said. “I thought that was our second game in a row where the honesty of our intentions was pretty darn good.”

That certainly included Jobst, who scored the second and third goals and then added the clinching empty-netter with 4:33 remaining.

Now in his fifth pro season, the 29-year-old native of Speedway, Ind., didn’t find the net in his first four games. And while he’s much more passer than shooter, he still believes he must contribute goals.

“I’ve kind of been squeezing the stick a little tighter, so to get three feels pretty good,” said Jobst, who produced 14-24-38 in 61 games with the Amerks last season.

Being reunited with Mersch and Murray certainly didn’t hurt.

“Vinny’s been yelling at me all year to put that line back together, because that line was our best line in the playoffs,” Appert said. “Maybe I’m dumb and I didn’t listen right away.”

The familiarity as linemates is perhaps just as important as the complementary talents.

“Obviously we built a lot of chemistry,” Jobst said. “I think it’s underrated how important chemistry is when you’re playing with the same guys over a long period.”

Like on his first goal, which came off the rush. Defenseman Zach Metsa head-manned from the defensive zone up the right-wing boards, where Michael Mersch simply chipped it on into the Laval zone.

“Mersch bumps it and he’s just so good at it,” Jobst said, “it allows me to time the play.”

Sure enough, Jobst sped into the zone, picked up the puck, curled to the net and made a quick move to the inside to slide a shot past goalie Jakub Dobes.

“That’s a gutsy play, you can get hit hard when you take pucks there,” Appert said.

While Jobst’s empty-net goal late in the third period showed some long-range accuracy, it was everything he did leading up to the play that was most impressive.

“The empty-netter was him to a ‘T,’ ” Appert said. “He took charge defensively on a sort-out five-on-six; really loud, he called out the formation he wanted to get us into. Then he blocked a shot and then he scored a goal.

“And that’s Mason.”

Big saves when necessary from Cooley

In between Jobst’s first goal and his empty-netter, there was plenty of offense, plenty of great chances for both teams and some pretty big saves by Amerks goalie Devin Cooley.

Cooley gave up one questionable goal, but he stopped two breakaways and a series of high-quality chances during third-period power plays by the Rocket.

“I told him yesterday, and I’m a (Minnesota) Twins fan, and if Jack Morris got five runs from his team, he might give up four, and if he only got one, he’d give up zero; he just wanted to win,” Appert said. “Cooley’s done a really good job of making big saves in big moments.

“Even though he didn’t know who Jack Morris was when I talked to him about this, he has done a really good job that when the moment’s big, he’s put the wall up.”

Crazy talent on display by Rousek

While on a first-period short-handed breakaway, Rousek was grabbed by his left arm and taken to a knee as he sped down the right of the slot.

But he managed to right himself, keep control of puck, pull his arm away from the grasp of defenseman Mattias Norlinder and then get his hand back on his stick, and then roof an in-tight shot into the top left corner of the net.

“That was impressive,” Appert said. “I really like how competitive he has been on the puck. Forget the offense, we know he’s got great offensive instincts, I think he’s been a real driver of our competitiveness that last couple weeks.”

Hit of the night … on the referee

Just as a delayed penalty was being called at 7:29 of the first period, referee Rob Hennessey turned toward the benches but had no idea he was in the path of Amerks defenseman Kyle Clague, who ran him over in open ice.

For someone wearing full gear, it would have been a pretty big hit. For a referee, it was a thundering check and Hennessey may have suffered a knee injury. He could not return to the game.

“I feel terrible,” said Clague, who assisted on three goals. “It seemed like he came out of nowhere.”