Blink and you’ll miss it – wait – there it goes! The Rochester Americans have finished up their preseason after just two games against the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, and are set to open the regular season on Friday, October 12.
The Amerks split the home-and-home series with the Baby Penguins, with both games finishing 4-3. Luke Adam, Phil Varone, and Brayden McNabb scored in the first game, and Varone added a goal in the second game, but it was defenseman Nick Crawford who was the big preseason winner. Crawford scored two goals in the second game and scored the shootout winner as the Amerks won 4-3.
In net, rookie goaltenders Connor Knapp and Nathan Lieuwen split time in the second game while last season’s team MVP David Leggio played all of the first.
Hopefully the Amerks used their two games to figure out how to deal with the influx of NHL talent that’s come their way thanks to the lockout. Having guys like Cody Hodgson, Marcus Foligno, and Brayden McNabb is great, but those players are taking the jobs of someone else until the NHL and NHLPA stop tickle-fighting and get back to hockey. Since the Sabres do not have an ECHL affiliate, it will be interesting to see what happens with the Amerks roster over the next few days.
The Amerks season begins on Friday at home against the Syracuse Crunch, so we’ll have plenty more Amerks coverage later this week.