The Amerks played twice over the weekend and came away with split results. They also may have come away with an answer for a still too-thin problem at center.
During the Amerks game on Friday with the Adirondack Phantoms, Luke Adam found his way back to center thanks to the injury to Cody Hodgson and a Phil Varone illness. Although the Amerks lost 2-1, Adam impressed WGR correspondent Matthew Coller enough to pen an entire piece singing the enigmatic forward’s praises. Said Coller,
Paired with one should-be NHL’er in Marcus Foligno and speedy winger Brian Flynn, Adam looked like the same player who [scored] 20 points in his first 32 games with the Sabres in 2011-12.
He had the first-step jump as he did before he was sent to the NHL Skills Competition at the All-Star Game. He looked like the guy who scored 62 points in 57 AHL games in 2010-11 and not the one who scored only 18 in his past 57 games between the NHL and AHL.
Saturday’s contest saw a more favorable outcome for Rochester, with the Amerks defeating Syracuse 5-2 thanks to three goals in the third period. The Amerks goals came from Foligno, Flynn, Rankin, Tarnasky, and TJ Brennan, who also had the Amerks lone goal on Friday. Goaltender David Leggio played well in both contests.
Though the Amerks finished the weekend in the same place they entered, in fifth place in the Western Conference, if they gained a productive Luke Adam, then they’ll have finished the weekend with something much more important than points.