Rochester Amerks score 14 seconds into game, cruise to 5-1 victory over Hershey

The primary storyline heading into Game 1 of the Calder Cup Eastern Conference finals centered on how the Rochester Americans’ suddenly dynamic offense would fare against one of the best defensive teams in the American Hockey League.

During the regular season, Hershey gave up the second-fewest goals in the 32-team league, and then in bull-rushing Charlotte and Hartford out in the first two rounds, Bears goalie Hunter Shepard allowed only 12 goals in seven games.

Fourteen seconds into Tuesday night’s series opener at GIANT Center, we began to get the answer. Amerks defenseman Joseph Cecconi ripped a wrist shot from the slot past Shepard, and before 27 minutes had been played, Shepard’s night was done after he allowed four goals on just 16 shots.

From there, the Amerks cruised to a 5-1 victory for their seventh consecutive postseason victory, the club’s longest streak since 1991 when they won 10 straight before ultimately losing to Springfield in the Calder Cup Finals.

“I don't think we were great tonight, but we were pretty good,” Amerks coach Seth Appert said. “Hershey is gonna be great in Game 2, and so our game’s got to go up, our competitiveness in how we manage the puck, and we'll need to be willing to make adjustments to try to take away things they did to us or try to exploit things that we can with them.”

In winning six straight to eliminate Syracuse and Toronto, the Amerks averaged six goals per game and they were getting production from everywhere, and that continued again. Cecconi isn’t exactly a goal scorer, and neither is fellow defenseman Matt Bartkowski who blew a slap shot past Shepard early in the second period.

More expected were the goals by Brett Murray in the first, Mason Jobst in the second , and Lukas Rousek into an empty net in the third in what was a very impressive performance from puck drop to final horn.

Here’s what happened in Game 1:

First period: The ultimate in fast starts

Cecconi’s goal was a shocker, for sure, and it set the tone for the night. Murray tapped the puck to Cecconi at the red line and he skated up the middle unguarded and beat Shepard low to the blocker side, one the goalie surely would have liked to have back.

Malcolm Subban protected that early lead when he stopped Garrett Pilon on a breakaway and a little more two minutes later, the Amerks went up 2-0. Jeremy Davies pushed in from the right wing and backhanded a pass to Michael Mersch who was camped on the right post. Mersch quickly slipped a backhand pass to the other post where Murray had an easy tap-in.

Late in the period the Amerks, who have struggled when shorthanded, killed off the only penalty of the period, allowing just one shot on goal.

Second period: Doubling the lead

Bartkowski got things rolling when his blast from the left point sailed past Shepard low blocker side, a shot he never saw thanks to a screen by defenseman Zach Metsa at 1:42.

Not quite five minutes later, Jobst scored a beautiful goal to make it 4-0. He rushed into the zone with speed, made a quick move to his left to create separation from defenseman Lukas Johansen and from the left circle he wired a wrist shot top shelf over Shepard’s glove at 6:32.

At that point Shepard made the skate of shame to the bench, Zach Fucale replaced him, and he needed to be sharp right away as he kicked out his left pad to stop Jiri Kulich on a power play, then robbed Isak Rosen all alone on the doorstep.

The Amerks killed off another late penalty, and by not scoring and bringing some momentum into the third period, Hershey was done. It capped a solid defensive period.

“That was nice to see,” Appert said. “I think our defense was pretty good in the Toronto series for the most part … probably better than the number of goals scored looked like, but that’s a really good team. Subby did his job. He was excellent when he needed to be excellent. I thought especially in the middle period we defended really well, that got us out in transition a little bit more and it was a key to our win tonight.”

Third period: Dialing it back, holding on

Third periods have been a little weird for the Amerks in the playoffs when they’ve had a lead. They don’t play with the same aggressive style they do early, and they put almost zero pressure on Fucale. They didn’t get their first shot on goal until nearly 14 minutes had been played

Meanwhile, the Bears broke Subban’s shutout when Aaron Ness scored on a shot from the bottom of the left circle at 9:42. However, they weren’t able to get any closer as the Amerks continued to lock it down on defense before Rousek hit the empty net with 1:01 left to play.

“I thought we did a better job tonight of managing it than maybe some of the other leads we’ve had in the playoffs,” Appert said. “We didn’t sit back, but I’d still like us to attack more. There’s a balance; you need to stay aggressive because we’re a better team when we’re aggressive, without playing risky and not managing the puck.”

Inside the numbers

▶ These two teams have been playing each other since 1956, the year the Amerks joined the AHL. The Bears joined in 1940 and in regular-season play, they have dominated Rochester, posting a record of 217-194-53. They met twice this year, the Bears winning 2-1 at home March 18, the Amerks winning 4-3 in a shootout March 24.

▶ In the postseason, the tides are completely flipped as the Amerks now own a 25-10 record, having won six of the seven series they have played. The Amerks first Calder Cup championship came in a 4-1 rout of Hershey in 1965. The last time they faced each other in the postseason was 2000 and the Amerks swept 4-0 in the conference finals before losing to Hartford in the Calder Cup finals, their last visit.

▶ With a 44-19-5-4 record for 97 points in the regular season, the Bears finished one point behind Providence for the top spot in the Eastern Conference and earned the franchise’s 70th postseason berth including its 14th in 16 seasons while affiliated with the Washington Capitals.

▶ Entering the series, the Amerks were 12-for-29 (41.4%) on the power play in the first two rounds, but were also just 19-for-28 on the penalty kill. In this game they didn't score on their lone power play, and they killed off both of Hershey's man advantage situations.

Rochester Amerks vs. Hershey Bears schedule

• Game 1: Amerks 5, Hershey 1

• Game 2: Thursday, GIANT Center, 7 p.m.

• Game 3: Saturday, Blue Cross Arena, 7:05 p.m.

• Game 4: Monday, Blue Cross Arena, 6:05 p.m.

• Game 5 (if necessary): Wednesday, May 31, GIANT Center, 7 p.m.

• Game 6 (if necessary), Friday, June 2, Blue Cross Arena, 7:05 p.m.

• Game 7: (if necessary): Monday, June 5, GIANT Center, 7 p.m.

Rochester Amerks vs. Hersey Bears tickets

If you plan to travel to Hershey for any of the games, tickets are available at Ticketmaster.

Tickets for the games in Rochester are selling fast and it’s very likely the games will eventually be sold out. They start for as low as $22. You can get them either in person at the Blue Cross Arena box office, online or by calling 585-454-5335.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana.To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which will come out every Friday during the offseason, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester Americans rout Hershey Bears in Game 1 of Calder Cup East finals