Courtesy of Amerks.com
Utica, N.Y. – The Rochester Americans (1-1-0-0) jumped out to a two-goal lead in the first period before scoring twice more and never looking back on their way to a 4-1 victory over the intrastate rival Utica Comets (0-2-0-0) Saturday at the Adirondack Bank Center.
With the win, Rochester’s first of the campaign, the club concluded its opening weekend with a 1-1-0-0 mark and outscored its opponents 6-4 in its first two contests of the season. The victory also served as Michael Leone’s first as head coach of the Amerks.
Forwards Isak Rosén and Viktor Neuchev each recorded their first multi-point efforts of the season as they both scored a goal and added an assist in the win. Defensemen Kale Clague and Nikita Novikov capped the win as they both netted their initial goals of the season. Lukas Rousek and rookie blueliner Vsevolod Komarov chipped in an assist, with Komarov’s serving as his first professional point. Ty Tullio made his Amerk debut and registered one shot.
Goaltender Michael Houser (1-0-0) stopped 19 of the 20 shots he faced in his near-perfect season debut to earn the win. Over Houser’s last nine appearances in Utica, he boasts an astounding 7-1-0 record with one shutout, a .924 save percentage, and a 1.86 goals-against average.
Max Willman scored Utica’s lone goal on the night in the second period from Dylan Wendt and Shane Bowers while netminder Nico Daws (0-2-0) suffered his second straight defeat.
FIRST PERIOD
After each team had a pair of shots in the opening minutes of the contest, Zach Metsa rimmed the puck around his own net to kick-start a quick transition play. The puck eventually made its way to Neuchev, who was streaking through center ice. After gaining the Utica zone with a defenseman in pursuit Neuchev backhanded a shot that was initially stopped by Daws, but he tucked in his own rebound for his first of the season 4:07 into the period to put Rocheser in front 1-0.
The Amerks continued to test Daws as they held a 10-2 shot advantage at one point before the two clubs would each be for coincidental infractions, thus resulting in a four-on-four situation for 1:03 near the halfway point.
On the ensuing shift, Komarov began the play behind his own net. The rookie defenseman eventually retrieved the puck before carrying it through center ice and leaving a drop pass for Rousek. The speedy forward took a stride down the near wall before hitting Clague in-between the dots for a quick release past Daws with just under nine minutes to play in the frame.
Rochester took the 2-0 lead into the intermission as well as a 16-2 shot advantage.
SECOND PERIOD
After being held scoreless through the first four periods of the season, the Comets finally broke through five minutes into middle frame as Willman, a former Sabres draft pick, finished off a feed from Wendt and Bowers.
Rochester’s two-goal cushion was restored four minutes after Willman’s tally as Neuchev stripped Utica of the puck at his own blueline. The Russian forward pushed it ahead to Rosén, who was sprinting up the ice. The latter carried it down the left wing on his forehand before wrapping around the net and slipping in the puck as Daws was too slow to cover the far post.
The two clubs combined for 22 penalty minutes following Rosén’s marker at the halfway point, however, the Amerks took a 3-1 lead into the final 20 minutes of regulation.
THIRD PERIOD
The Amerks clamped down defensively in the third period as they allowed Houser to stop all eight shots he faced and were content with forcing Utica to press to get back into the contest.
Daws was pulled for an extra skater in the final 90 seconds of the frame, but after blocking a shot to the left of his goaltender, Novikov sealed the 4-1 victory with an unassisted goal as he fired it the length of ice.
UP NEXT
The Amerks return home for the front-end of a home-and-home weekend series with the Toronto Marlies on Friday, Oct. 18 at The Blue Cross Arena. The 7:05 p.m. North Division matchup will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV on FloHockey.
Much better effort and intensity against Utica. The power play is still troublesome…now already 0-10 in the young season. When the opponent gives you these opportunities, you have to make them pay.
Houser was good, as he usually is against Utica. I’m hoping maybe given this chance to play more regularly, he might round into a reliable AHL goalie. We’ll see.
Its a different ballgame when you take the lead early and dominate the period. Amerks will win a lot of games with what we saw last night (minus the powerless play)