By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
The refrain in every sport as the regular season winds down is the same: be playing your best heading into the playoffs.
The opposite was true for the Rochester Americans, however. They lost their last five and eight of the final 11, needing a near-Herculean effort to get to overtime to earn a point in Sunday’s regular-season finale at Hershey just to sneak into the playoffs.
Which is maybe why Wednesday’s 5-0 loss to the Toronto Marlies at Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto in Game 1 of the North Division best-of-three play-in round was no surprise.
When you limp into the postseason, it’s tough to ramp it up to the level necessary to compete.
The Marlies dominated from start to finish, scoring three times in the first period and twice in the second while goalie Artur Akhtyamov was mostly bored. Vinni Lettieri produced a natural hat trick – scoring the final three goals – and Akhtyamov faced only 16 shots for the shutout.
“A lot of guys, especially older guys, have to look themselves in the mirror,” Amerks coach Michael Leone said. “We need more effort, more compete.”
The Marlies lineup was bolstered by the return of players that had been with the parent Toronto Maple Leafs. Still, the Amerks offered little resistance. Their only four shots in the first period came in a 37-second span during a power play. Otherwise, Akhtyamov had nothing to do.
“Just not good enough, all the way around,” Amerks forward Brendan Warren said.
Michael Pezzetta and Benoit-Olivier Groulx scored the other goals for the Marlies, who have home-ice advantage in this best-of-three series after finishing 10 points ahead of the Amerks in the North Division (82-72).
Game 2 will be played at 7:05 p.m. Friday in downtown Rochester, with Game 3, if necessary, set for 4 p.m. Sunday in Toronto.
The Amerks have lost their last two playoff games by the same score, 5-0. They dropped the fifth and deciding game of the North Division finals last spring to Laval.
The only more lopsided playoff loss by an Amerks team in the past 30 years came in Game 2 of the Calder Cup finals, a 6-0 blanking by the Providence Bruins.
“We have to reset,” Leone said. “It’s just one game.”
Pezzetta’s goal 7:07 into the first period staked the Marlies to an early lead, then two late goals in the period created the huge early deficit.
Groulx, the son of former Amerks coach Benoit Groulx, used some sleight of hand in the deep slot to deftly slip the puck past Levi for a 2-0 lead at 14:33. That came seconds after Lettieri was one-on-two against defensemen Zac Jones and Jack Rathbone in the left corner but still came away with the puck and centered for Groulx.
Lettieri then extended the lead to 3-0, driving a one-timer from deep in the left circle past Levi on the short side during a power play at 19:17.
Lettieri pushed the Marlies lead to 4-0 at 13:51 of the second period an instant after a turnover, then he completed his hat trick at 19:56 with another power-play goal.
Toronto went 2-for-6 on the power play while the Amerks were 0-for-4.
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