The Rochester Americans earned three of a possible four points to open the 2023-24 regular season, but not the way that they would prefer. In both their home opener against the Bridgeport Islanders on Friday and on the road against the Toronto Marlies on Saturday, the Amerks started slow and had to rally.
The Isles outshot Rochester 42-27 and jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead before the Amerks responded with goals from Linus Weissbach and Isak Rosen in the second. Brandon Biro put them in the lead midway through the third, but Bridgeport tied the game late in regulation and won 21 seconds into overtime on Ruslan Iskhakov’s second goal of the game.
In a rematch of their second-round Calder Cup Playoff series, the Marlies held a 4-1 lead after 40 minutes, but Rochester rallied with goals from Brett Murray, Aleksandr Kisakov, and Jeremy Davies to tie the game, and won on Jiri Kulich’s one-timer 2:30 into overtime.
The Buffalo Sabres first-rounders have started off on the right foot, as Rosen had goals in both games, and Kulich and AHL newcomer Ryan Johnson have three points in two games.
Of concern for head coach Seth Appert should be his young club's shot suppression and defense. In the loss to Bridgeport, Devin Cooley allowed four goals on 42 shots, and on Saturday, Michael Houser faced 43 Marlies shots.