AMERKS WEEK 3 ROUND-UP: REDEMPTION IN LAVAL, REINFORCEMENTS ARRIVE AT THE BLUELINE

Nov 1, 2022

By Suzie Cool

 

Something that resonated with us last week was when Rochester Americans head coach Seth Appert said, “It’s hard to beat the same team in back-to-back games in back-to-back nights.”

 

Going into the third week of play, the Amerks were once again faced with games on both Friday and Saturday, this time against the Laval Rocket, a team Rochester hadn’t seen since the North Division Finals last season.

 

While game one of the two-game set in Laval ended up with Rochester on the wrong end of a lopsided 8-1 loss on Friday, the Amerks flipped the script on the Rocket on Saturday, prevailing 5-1. By splitting the weekend series, Rochester finished the first month of the regular season with .571 winning percentage as they show a 4-3-0-0 record through its first seven games.

 

With the page now turned to November, let’s take a closer look as to what Appert thought of the weekend split in Laval and the first full month of action for the Amerks.

 

BIGGEST DIFFERENCE MAKER FROM FRIDAY TO SATURDAY:

 

“Well, there's a lot of difference. We were awful on Friday,” admitted Appert when asked what the biggest difference maker was in Friday’s output compared to Saturday’s win. “Once the game started getting away from us about 30 minutes in, we were okay. Laval was excellent. They were physical. They were fast. They put us in uncomfortable positions.”

 

 

Through the first month of the 2022-23 season, we’ve emphasized on the young group of forwards that Appert and staff are developing this year. Although Friday’s 8-1 loss was tough, it turned into a major learning opportunity for the young group.

 

 

Especially when the puck dropped the very next day against the very same team not even 24 hours later.

 

Appert continued with, “When you have a young team, you kind of like it to go real south because it's more of a teaching moment and it was like we had to play the same team (on Saturday). Sometimes if you play a different team that plays a different style, you get let off the hook from having to address your own issues, but when you play the same team that pushed you around and was more physical than you, was faster than you – you have to address those issues within a 12-hour time span before you play the next game and it's an opportunity for your team to grow.”

 

And Appert liked how his team responded in such a short amount of time, which rewarded Rochester with their first road win of the season.

 

“Saturday we were harder to play against, we were more predictable with the puck, and we were smarter as a team. So, that was a good response in a very hard place to play.”

 

FINDING THE GOOD IN AN EVERCHANGING D CORE:

 

As of Saturday’s game against Laval, the Amerks have used 11 different defensemen, which was tied for most in the American Hockey League alongside the Cleveland Monsters.

 

 

“I think we had 54 players play for us last year. So, you get accustomed to this,” Appert laughed as he was asked how to find the positivity through the chaos.

 

At the start of the season, Rochester had a lethal defensive core which starred five players with NHL experience. After the Buffalo Sabres called up defensemen Lawrence Pilut and Kale Clague two weeks ago, and following subsequent injuries to Peter Tischke and Chase Priskie, the Amerks blueline is slowly starting to get pieced back together.

 

 

Last week. the Amerks promoted Zach Berzolla from the Cincinnati Cylcones, while veteran defensemen Brandon Davidson and Matt Borkowski were signed to PTOs later in the week. Both met the team in Laval at some point over the weekend.

 

All moves that are impressive to Appert and his staff to try and reinforce Rochester’s defense.

 

“It’s a credit to Jason Karmanos (Amerks General Manager) on getting Brandon Davidson and Matt Borkowski because to find guys like that, that can be leaders and stabilizers for a young team with the guys we have out right now is huge. Matt Bartkowski, I think, landed at like 11 p.m. in Montreal on Friday night and was in the lineup at 3:00 the next afternoon. So, that was really important, and that shows why your management team is so critical to your success as well.”

 

BIGGEST TAKEAWAY FROM FIRST MONTH OF ACTION:

 

“Our biggest takeaway is we're growing,” commented Appert when reflecting on the team’s first month overall.

 

At this point we know the Amerks’ 5-1 win over the Rocket helped push the team over the 500 mark in their first month of play. That feat now marks the seventh straight season the club has a .500 winning percentage or better dating back to 2016-17.

 

 

Though a lot of growing pains through the first seven games of the year, Appert is excited to continue to get better with the young team he has at hand.

 

Appert then finished with, “I think if you would have said, ‘hey, you're going to be above 500 after this month,’ I probably would have taken it not knowing exactly that there's going to be some games like Friday you don't like…but there's got to be a lot of learning and a lot of growth early, and there has been, but we need to keep getting better to make sure we become the team we want to be.”

 

 

LOOKING AHEAD TO THIS WEEK:

 

The Amerks begin the second month of the season with three games over a four-day stretch starting on Wednesday, Nov. 2 versus the Syracuse Crunch for a 7:05 p.m. puck-drop at The Blue Cross Arena. Rochester then wraps up the week with a home-and-home series against the Utica Comets.

 

All three games will be carried live on 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.