TACO BELL WRAP-UP: AMERKS BATTLE FOR THREE POINTS IN ‘DEMANDING GAMES’
Another two-goal effort from Kulich, Milestones for Appert
Dec 18, 2023
By Andrew Mossbrooks | @Mossbrooks48
The Rochester Americans (12-8-2-1) faced three different Atlantic Division opponents over a four-day road trip, going 1-1-0-1 with games against Springfield, Hartford, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
All three games were decided by one goal, beginning with the Amerks earning a standings point in a 4-3 shootout loss to Malcolm Subban and the Thunderbirds, followed by the team’s rally for a 3-2 overtime win Friday against the Wolf Pack, courtesy of another heroic two-goal effort from Jiri Kulich. The trip concluded in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Saturday evening, with the Penguins prevailing in a narrow 2-1 contest.
A TALL ORDER
Each of Rochester’s opponents on this most recent road trip were teams in playoff positioning.
“They’re demanding games,” said Amerks head coach Seth Appert. “Those are three really good teams with heavy, old lineups. None of the teams are prospect heavy teams. They’re veteran heavy teams, so they’re demanding games and good hockey games. We also faced three NHL quality goaltenders (Malcolm Subban, Louie Domingue, Magnus Hellberg). These are goalies that have spent extensive time in the National Hockey League.”
The Amerks also find themselves in the thick of things with regards to their own division, sitting with 27 points in the North Division.
“I think at this time of the year you start to look at the standings a little more, but it’s more about how you play still, and we hadn’t been as good as we should’ve been the last couple of weeks. I thought our 12 periods of play this week had honesty of intentions that was really strong and good to see.”
PK TRENDING UPWARD
This past week saw good signs for an Amerks penalty kill that had struggled for much of the season. Over the three-game road trip, Rochester killed off all 10 man-down situations.
“Paetscher (Amerks assistant coach Nathan Paetsch) does a great job of making adjustments on our kill. The kill was huge this week. Special teams won us the game in Hartford and it was excellent on Saturday. That’s a great sign and obviously to have strong penalty killing, you need to have strong goaltending. Both of our goalies were great this week.”
“I felt pretty good,” said goaltender Devin Cooley. “It was nice to get three out of four points in the games that I played. I definitely think it’s a step in the right direction.”
Cooley started Wednesday and Friday, combining for 75 saves on the week, while Dustin Tokarski stopped 29 shots against the Penguins, one of his former teams, on Saturday.
“I know how I perform in practice and I know how I work. The last few games I’ve been coming in and treating it like a practice and knowing I could do it and having the confidence. I think it’s starting to reflect on the ice, which is nice.”
VIKTOR-IOUS
Though he didn’t find the scoresheet, rookie forward Viktor Neuchev looked like he took a big step forward, playing more critical minutes, including some shifts on the power-play.
“That’s his best week of the year,” said Appert. “As a coaching staff, we’ve seen it in the last four or five weeks that he’s been trending in a good direction. It starts in practice and his daily habits, which it always does. He’s made big steps in his daily approach. He’s practicing better, and therefore it’s leading to more opportunities in games. The only thing he hasn’t done is finish off some of those plays. He was really good this week in three hard games for a young kid.”
Buffalo selected Neuchev with the 74th overall pick (third round) in the 2020 NHL Draft. The 20-year-old out of Chelyabinsk, Russia, has two goals and two assists through his first 18 AHL games. Here’s hoping that this week is a sign of things to come and that Neuchev’s play will continue to blossom.
THE TARGETED DUO
Jiri Kulich was re-accompanied by fellow forward Isak Rosen entering this week after Rosen’s reassignment from the Sabres following his first seven NHL games.
Rosen earned one assist during the road trip, while Kulich heated up on the weekend, scoring three goals, including the overtime winner Friday in Hartford, and entering the new week as the AHL’s leading goal scorer with 16. More impressively, he has four overtime game-winning goals to his credit.
With 16 goals through 22 games, he remains on pace to become the first AHL player to reach the 20-goal mark in the fewest number of games to begin the season since Frank Vatrano scored 20 goals in just 18 games to begin the 2015-16 campaign.
“Rosen and Kulich have a target on them. They got better as the week went on. 18 and 25 are circled. A lot of teams in the American League are circling guys like Riley Nash (Hartford) and Alex Nylander (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton). Some older guys like that. When teams are prepping for us, they’re circling 18 and 25 and they’re saying ‘you better hit them and get bodies on them.’ That’s demanding, but that’s the kind of preparation you need to grow your game and get ready for the NHL.
Rosen and Kulich continue to lead the Amerks in scoring, with the pair owning a combined 42 points. Kulich leads the team with 22 points (16+6), with Rosen trailing only by two at 20 (8+12).
A MILESTONE FOR APPERT
Saturday’s 2-1 loss in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was the 200th regular-season game for Appert as Rochester’s bench boss. He becomes just the seventh head coach in franchise history to reach the mark.
He’s also four wins away from 100 career coaching victories, a list that also includes only six others before him.
COMING UP NEXT
The final week before the holidays sees the Amerks face another trio of opponents over a four-day span, beginning this time with games on home ice at Blue Cross Arena against Cleveland on Wednesday, then hosting the team’s annual Freeze Fest game Friday against Providence. The pre-Christmas schedule ends Saturday in Syracuse with the Amerks visiting the Crunch. Like last week, all three of Rochester’s opponents are teams currently occupying a playoff spot.