Streaking Amerks make it six straight by thumping Hartford

By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA

Don’t look now but the Rochester Americans are hot.

Well, actually, go ahead and look, because they’re fun to watch.

Winger Isak Rosen scored a goal after setting up the first two and defenseman Zach Metsa assisted on three as the play-at-a-blazing-tempo Amerks ran their winning streak to six by throttling the Hartford Wolf Pack 6-3 on Friday night.

With a crowd of 9,011 packed into Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial – one of the largest pre-Thanksgiving week hockey crowds in building history – the Amerks opened a 2-0 lead in the first 10:15 and rolled to the convincing victory, milestone win No. 2,500 for the franchise.

Since a 3-2 loss at Toronto on Oct. 19, the Amerks have gone 6-0 and outscored opponents 32-13 to improve to 7-3.

“It’s a good feeling as a group, of course,” said Rosen, who pushed his team-leading point total to 13 (4 goals, 9 assists in 10 games). “We earned it, we played really good, we just have to keep it going.”

Whether this streak of domination is a mirage or is what the Amerks are truly all about is yet to be determined. Utica (0-8-0-2) and Cleveland (5-4-0-1) were opponents in five of those six games.

But first-year coach Michael Leone said his club is on the way to establishing the style of game they want to bring every night, which in the long run will lead to success.

“I think we have established an identity and a standard that we want to play with,” Leone said. “When we play smart, when we play hard and fast, we’re really hard to play against. I like where the group is at.”

He really liked where they were at in the first half of the first period, when the power play needed a combined 52 seconds to score two goals and for the 2-0 lead.

Rosen made a perfect goal-mouth feed to set up Brett Murray’s goal at 6:34, just 25 seconds after Matthew Robertson was penalized for slashing.

Then when Fairport native Nathan Sucese went to the penalty box for tripping, Rosen danced his way into the slot before setting up Jiri Kulich for a bullet one-timer from the right circle and it was 2-0 just 10:15 into the game.

“They lost their heads a little bit after that,” Rosen said. “It (the power play) was obviously good for us and won us the game.”

The power play has been potent of late. After going 0-for-24 through the first five games, the Amerks are 9-for-23 over the past five. They contend this is the real power play, and they expect to produce.

“We should with the skill we have,” Rosen said.

The Wolf Pack closed to within 2-1 when Dylan Roobroeck scored with 6:06 left in the first period.

But the Amerks sprinted clear in the second period, scoring three times in a span of 3:26. Using defenseman Brandon Scanlin as a screen, Viktor Neuchev zipped a shot past goalie Louis Domingue at 10:34.

The lead became 4-1 at 13:32 when Konsta Helenius – a target of body checks and cheap shots all night – dangled through the offensive zone before whipping home a shot from the right circle for his fifth goal.

When Josh Dunne one-timed home a Brendan Warren pass off a two-on-one fast break 28 seconds later, the rout was on.

“Obviously we’re feeling great but the group’s pretty good about taking it day by day,” Metsa said.

Not all was great for the Amerks, however. Goalie Felix Sandstrom was injured on a blatant cheap-shot by Wolf Pack defenseman Ben Harpur at 16:09 of the second period.

With the puck on the left wing in the Amerks zone, Harpur skated through the right circle and straight to the net, then bowled over Sandstrom with a shoulder check.

Leone said Sandstrom suffered an upper body injury. He was unable to continue and it is likely a goalie will be summoned to join the Amerks for Saturday’s game at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Harpur was assessed a charging major and game misconduct.

“It’s unfortunate that plays like that happen,” Leone said. “From the replay it looked like a bad play.”

Michael Houser took over and stopped 11 of the 13 shots he faced. Sandstrom stopped 14 of 15.

While the offense capitalized on chances, the Amerks play away from the puck was just as impressive.

“Guys get rewarded if you keep doing the same thing over and over, and our guys are playing a lot of winning hockey,” Leone said. “They’re starting to understand situations that happen in a game when you might not have it, but we’re doing a really good job of managing our game. We get a puck in, we get a puck out, we get a big block, and that’s a recipe for success.”

And it’s from pretty much everyone in the group. Helenius, just 18, is in his first season in North America, but he’s playing well beyond his age when it come to a complete game.

“He had a huge D-zone faceoff, he stopped in the house, got his stick, won a battle and gets rewarded for playing the right way,” Leone said of the play that preceded the Helenius goal.

That goal came after he had already endured his share of after-the-whistle hits and a cross-check to the mouth.

“He doesn’t shy away from contact, he wants to be first on the puck; he’s fearless,” Leone said. “He has a swagger about him in a good way.”

So, too, does Rosen. While he entered the game as the team leader in points, he didn’t think he was playing well enough.

“He holds himself to a certain standard,” Leone said. “He felt he probably wasn’t playing to that standard, even though he’s been good. I thought he took his game to another level tonight.”