Rochester, N.Y. (WGR 550) – The Rochester Americans will get two opportunities to close out the Utica Comets in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Game 4 of the series is in Rochester on Tuesday, and the Amerks come into the game 4-1 in this year’s playoffs. All four of Rochester's wins have come in overtime.
“It fits this year," said Amerks head coach Seth Appert. "When you think of this year and the amount of guys we’ve had out and the lineups we’ve had to muster together to try to survive and getting in on the last day of the season, it's probably pretty fitting.”
JJ Peterka is coming up big in the biggest games. He scored the overtime winner in Game 2 in Utica, had two assists in Game 3, and has four goals and four assists in five playoff games.
Many fans didn’t understand why Peterka was sent down to Rochester after scoring goals in the preseason games. The problem many didn’t see is Peterka didn’t have a clue how to play the game at this level or in North America, where the ice surface is smaller.
The thing that helped Peterka improve this year is having Michael Peca on the Amerks' coaching staff. Other than Craig Ramsay and Don Luce, Peca is probably the best two-way player the Sabres have ever had.
Appert didn’t hesitate in the least in talking about the improvement of the First-Team AHL All-Rookie winger.
“It’s how hard he’s playing defensively," Appert said. "When you have his talent level and his explosiveness, now he’s using those legs because he had some great hits on the forecheck, and some elite backchecks. Michael Peca tells him those are his money makers, those legs. But they can’t just be money makers on offense. If you want to be an elite player and help your team win, you need to use them for checking as well, and he’s been so bought into that in the playoffs.”
Things didn’t look so good when these playoffs started. The Amerks were playing their only Round 1 home game and trailed the Belleville Senators, 3-0, in the third period. Rochester ended up coming back tin win that game in overtime.
“We were down 3-0 in Game 1 of the playoffs, and we came back to tie it and found a way to win in overtime. That gave us confidence for the next night in overtime, and that does start to build," Appert said. "Guys look around the room, because the best feeling you can earn in a locker room is looking around the room to each other and staring each other in the eye knowing you’re not going to let each other down.”
The Buffalo Sabres' sixth-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, Lukas Rousek, came to training camp this year and found out he had to have knee surgery. The winger only got to play 19 regular season games and five playoff games. However, he has two goals and three points in the playoffs, and his goal on Sunday gave Rochester a 2-1 lead.
Appert feels like this kid is going to be a good one once he hits his stride.
“He’s been outstanding," he said of Rousek. "It was his first time in North America, he gets the bad news in training camp that he has to have the ACL surgery and be out six months, but he showed up every day. He was the first guy here, doing his rehab, and that young man put a lot of work in. It's been impressive how he’s handled this level of hockey being out that long.
“His hockey intelligence is through the roof. It’s high-end hockey intelligence. Guys love to play with him, because he finds plays. 'Quinner' and Peterka giggle in practice at some of the stuff Rousek can do, and how he sees plays that most people don’t see.”
Rousek is just another draft pick taken by former general manager Jason Botterill and his staff that is a diamond in the rough.
Back in late March, Amerks general manager Jason Karmanos made an AHL trade to acquire Mark Alt from the San Jose Barracudas for forward Mason Jobst. With injuries, the 30-year-old Alt has been a strength on the blue line.
Alt played 14 regular season games and five playoff games after putting in 46 games with the Barracudas. Appert says his team really needed a player like Alt on this roster.
“What a trade Jason Karmanos pulled off to get Mark Alt," he said. "Without adding [Ben] Holmstrom and Alt to our lineup during a really tough time, I know we wouldn’t have made the playoffs.”
One thing I’ve noticed from this Amerks team during the playoffs is they stay pretty calm no matter what happens in the game. Utica got a fluky goal to tie the game at 3-3 on Sunday, but I never got the impression that Rochester was letting it bother them. They drove play in the third period, but were being stopped by Comets goalie Akira Schmid.
“It’s just doing the right things," said defenseman Casey Fitzgerald. "We get our chances and eventually they’re going to go in, because if you play the right way, you’re going to get rewarded.
“Nothing out there happens by accident. We work hard, and we earn those goals.”
The Amerks are a small team, but players like Peterka and Peyton Krebs have refused to be intimidated.
“We’re not afraid to play a physical game either, so we embrace it," Fitzgerald said. "It's playoff hockey, so it comes with the territory. We’re not going to shy away from anything.”
Even without Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Mattias Samuelsson, these playoffs have been such a great experience for Fitzgerald, Krebs, Peterka, Quinn, Brandon Biro, Brett Murray and Rousek. This is when hockey is at its best, and those players are finding out the extra that it takes to succeed.
Faceoff for Game 4 on Tuesday is set for 7:05 p.m. ET.
***Photo: Micheline Michaelina (@MiMiV4682)
