By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
Matthew Peca has worn a Rochester Americans uniform for only four weeks, but it’s already quite evident why his No. 63 sweater also includes the captain’s C.
A free-agent signee over the summer, the 12th-year veteran center provides the complete package. He can score, he can defend, he can play the body and he can lead.
“He’s our captain for a reason,” winger Jason Polin said. “He’s not the most vocal; he’s vocal when he needs to be but just the way he shows up every single day, that work ethic, it’s pretty easy to follow him.”
Like on Friday night, when the Amerks to a man knew they needed a bounce-back effort after Wednesday’s lackluster 3-2 loss to Hershey on home ice.
Peca scored one goal and set up two others as the Amerks rolled past the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 6-3 in front of 5,210 fans at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial.
This was certainly no one-man show. Polin scored two power-play goals and Jake Richard, Riley Fiddler-Schultz and Matteo Costantini each had one as the Amerks (5-4-0-1) opened a 2-0 lead in the first 7:08, led 4-1 after two periods and were in control throughout.
“We stuck to the game plan, we stuck to the pre-scout,” Peca said.
That game plan included getting the puck deep and pressuring the Phantoms D-corps.
“We wanted to be hard on their D; they struggle to break the puck out,” Peca said.
Talk about a perfect scouting assessment. On the game’s third shift, Costantini barged into David Goyette on the boards behind the net, creating a turnover. Aidan McDonough pounced, then passed to the bottom of right circle, where Richard was free to one-time a shot past goalie Carson Bjarnason at 2:03.
Polin’s first goal pushed the lead to 2-0 at 7:08. Peca won a faceoff to Bjarnason’s left and drew the puck directly to Polin in high right of the slot. With Trevor Kuntar providing a screen in front, Polin’s shot zipped into the net.
A turnover by defenseman Radim Mrtka led to a goal by Lehigh Valley’s Zayde Widsom at 9:04, but the Amerks retaliated on a goal by Fiddler-Schultz at 13:39. Kuntar created the goal on the forecheck, pick-pocketing defenseman Cam Dineen behind the net and then setting up his linemate for the goal.
“This was our standard,” Polin said the dominating performance.
It was also the standard Peca expects from himself. His three-point night pushed his team-leading point total to 12 (5 goals, 7 assists) in 10 games. He has points in all but one game.
“It’s putting a lot of time and effort into playing the right way,” Peca said. “I take pride in doing the right things.”
Indeed, there’s far more to his game than the goals and assists.
“You watch the game tonight, he had five or six hits,” Polin said. “He can throw in some scrappiness.”
Which all goes into the reasons he wears the C, an honor he appreciates. He also understands the significance “for a team as storied as Rochester.”
“It means a lot but it’s not something that changes me,” he said.
He set up Polin’s second goal as well, again on a power play. Knowing he had plenty of time and space while deep in the right circle, Peca drew defenseman Ty Murchison to him before passing into the deep slot, where Polin swatted home his fifth goal of the season.
In a 3-for-27 slump, the power play went 2-for-4 on Friday.
“Again, we stuck to the game plan,” Peca said. “There are a few things we wanted to try and a few things we wanted to avoid.”
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