Amerks stumble in season opener

By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA

For the better part of the last two weeks, issues with the ice-making equipment prevented the rink crew from getting Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial ready for the American Hockey League season.

Those issues, however, were solved this week and the ice was just fine when the Rochester Americans opened their 69^th AHL season on Friday night.

It’s the parts above the ice that still need a little fine-tuning.

The Belleville Senators scored two power-play goals and defeated the Amerks 3-2 in front of an opening-night crowd of 6,184.

“I thought at times we just didn’t play the way we had been in the preseason,” new Amerks coach Michael Leone said. “It’s a good learning experience, for sure, the waves of the game, and I just thought the second period got away from us.”

Newcomer Josh Dunne, a Clarkson University product now in his fourth pro season, scored the first goal and third-year veteran Tyson Kozak the second for the Amerks, who were outshot 31-24 and went 0-for-5 with the man advantage.

“We missed the net quite a bit and I think sometimes you just have to deliver pucks to the net and you need to have bodies there,” Leone said. “I thought we had good looks and o-zone time, but to take it to the next level I think we’ve got to be harder in the blue paint.”

The Senators, meanwhile, went 2-for-6 on the power play, using it to score their first goal, by Xavier Bourgeault at 17:05 of the first period to tie the score, then by Phillippe Daoust 4:17 into the third period to extend their lead to 3-1.

The Amerks did pick up the tempo the rest of the way, pulling within 3-2 when Kozak slammed in the rebound of an Isak Rosen shot, but they couldn’t produce the equalizer.

“That last 10 minutes of the third period I thought was great, our desperation, we just have to start with that,” Dunne said.

The 6-foot-4, 211-pound Dunne was prominent throughout the night in the offensive zone, in large part because of three breakaways.

“I don’t think I’ve had three breakaways in my career so that was kind of goofy,” he said.

He connected on the first one 12 minutes into his first game as an Amerk. Viktor Neuchev moved in on left wing, eluded defenseman Donovan Sebrango and then made a perfect pass into the slot.

Dunne was alone and fired high into the right corner of the net for a 1-0 lead.

“He’s heavy, he’s hard, he gets to the net, he kills penalties,” Leone said. “He’s going to help us big-time.”

Belleville tied the score on Bourgeault’s goal, then moved ahead with 2:07 remaining in the second period when Cole Reinhardt, alone in the left circle, was able to fire a low wrist shot in off the glove of goalie Felix Sandstrom.

Sandstrom’s reaction said he should have made the save but Leone wasn’t so sure.

“I don’t fault him on the second (goal),” Leone said. “If you look at the play, we didn’t get a puck in and those plays are tough. I thought he did a great job; he gave us a chance to win.”

The game-breaking goal came with defenseman Nikita Novikov in the penalty box serving a double minor for high sticking. Defenseman Zach Metsa swung behind the net with the puck but, instead of continuing around and out the other side, he reversed, lost the puck and an instant later Daoust was swatting it home.

The game marked the North American debut of Konsta Helenius, the first-round draft pick (14^th overall) of the parent Buffalo Sabres in June. The 18-yaer-old native of Finland quarterbacked one power play unit and had three shots on goal but was on the ice for two Belleville goals.

“My first game was maybe not my best game,” Helenius said. “There were some good things but we lost the game so we need to be better.”

Dunne has been impressed throughout camp with the rookie.

“He works so hard, he wants to be great,” Dunne said. “He’s continuing to learn and grow. He’s a humble kid who wants to be great and he’s got all the tools in the world so it’s going to be exciting to watch him grow.”