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Rochester Amerks and the Hershey Bears kick off the Eastern Conference Finals tonight

by Chad DeDominicis - 0

The Rochester Amerks are on a long playoff run for the second year. They’ve gone one step further this season by reaching the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2004. They’ll face the Washington Capitals AHL affiliate, Hershey Bears.

If you reside in Buffalo, MSG will broadcast Games 1 and 2 in Hershey.

Scoring Heater

The Amerks are riding a scoring wave through the first two rounds of the Calder Cup playoffs. They’re the highest-scoring team in the postseason at 4.75 goals for per games played. Their power play continues to be effective as it was in the postseason. It has hit another level in the playoffs, however, hitting at 44%.

On the flip side, the Bears have been one of the best defensive teams in the playoffs. They’ve allowed a league low 1.71 goals against so far in the playoffs. Their penalty kill has also been respectable at 80%.

This series is likely going to come down to which trend continues. The hot scoring of the Amerks or the defensive ability of the Bears.

The Prospects

Speaking of a scoring heater, Jiri Kulich is on fire. The Buffalo Sabres 2022 first-round pick has scored in six straight games. He’s recorded nine points in six games during the playoffs. The Czech forward missed the first two games of the playoffs. Rochester has not lost since his return in Game 3 against the Syracuse Crunch. He continues to make the case that he could be ready to jump to the NHL next season.

He’s not the only former first-round pick having success. Isak Rosen from the 2021 class has been impressive thus far. He has come on strong in the second half of the season and it has flown under the radar because of what Kulich has been putting together.

Rosen has four goals and eight points in eight games. He has shown that his size isn’t the concern that some believed it would be. The Swedish-born forward can get in on forechecks to retrieve pucks and knows how to find ways to get open in the offensive zone.

Tyson Kozak has had a few big moments too over the first two rounds. It’s rare to see a seventh-round pick from just two years ago be as effective as he has been.

The last prospect of note in this series has not played a game yet, Matt Savoie. The ninth overall pick from the 2022 NHL Draft joined the Amerks this week after his WHL season came to an end. When he was assigned, the initial belief is that he wouldn’t play as we’ve seen with Olivier Nadeau and Noah Ostlund.

Turns out, that won’t be the case. Amerks head coach Seth Appert said that Savoie will go into the lineup when he’s acclimated. They have been going with a lineup of 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the majority of the playoffs. That leaves a spot for him to jump into.

Veteran Impact Players

While the prospects have been the headliners, there are a handful of Amerks veterans playing key roles. Lawrence Pilut has been excellent playing top pair minutes with Jeremy Davies. Mason Jobst has been excellent stepping in at first-line center for the injured Brandon Biro. Jobst leads the Amerks with 13 points during the playoffs.

Lastly, Malcolm Subban has been strong between the pipes. He has registered one shutout and a .910 save percentage in his eight appearances.

Da Bears

Hershey will bring an experienced roster into this matchup. Their two leading scorers this season are a pair of Mikes in Mike Sgarbossa and Mike Vecchione. In their playoffs, their leading scorer has been big forward Aliaksei Protas.

The 2019 third-round pick of the Capitals did appear in 58 NHL games this season and performed well in a bottom-six role.

There are a few younger prospects to watch out for on the Bears roster. Connor McMichael is a little older but was a first-round pick in 2019. Hendrix Lapierre was a first-round pick from the Caps 2020 class. He can be a dangerous player if he can find space on the ice.

The biggest challenge for the Amerks will be getting pucks by goaltender Hunter Shepard. He was good for Hershey during the regular season putting up a .916 save percentage while splitting the net with Zach Fucale.

Shepard has been the go-to guy for the Bears in the playoffs. Rightfully so with his .933 save percentage in seven games. You may recall that he was the backstop behind the dominant Minnesota-Duluth teams in the NCAA a few years ago.

The 27-year-old goaltender was also a development camp invite by the Sabres back in 2018.

This will be a fun series of a veteran-heavy roster facing off against a team with young players in key roles. As I mentioned earlier, we’ll see if it’s the offense of the Amerks or the defense of the Bears that punches their ticket to the Calder Cup Final.

Photo Credit: Rochester Amerks/Facebook
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