Amerks can't hold third-period lead in season opener, fall 4-3 to Bridgeport in overtime

There was so much excitement, so much anticipation for this hockey season in western New York.

Expectations are soaring for the Buffalo Sabres who will be trying to end a 12-year Stanley Cup playoff drought, and it’s no different for the Rochester Amerks who appear to have a stacked roster looking to build upon last spring’s playoff run that ended two victories shy of the Calder Cup finals.

And then ... splat.

The Sabres looked terrible in a 5-1 loss Thursday night to the New York Rangers, and Friday night at Blue Cross Arena, the Amerks blew a one-goal lead in the third period and lost 4-3 in overtime to Bridgeport.

The Amerks got off to a slow start as the Islanders overwhelmed them in the first period with their size and a relentless forecheck while opening a 2-0 lead. The Amerks regrouped in the second to pull even, took a 3-2 lead in the third on a goal by Brandon Biro, but then gave up a power-play goal with 4:05 left in regulation and the winner just 21 seconds into overtime.

“Probably as much as you talk about pressure and as much as you can tell them what’s coming and show a video and simulate it in practice, they’re a big, old, heavy team,” Amerks coach Seth Appert said of the Islanders. “Practice doesn’t simulate getting punched in the mouth, like they do to you. They’re a great forechecking team and they make the game really hard on you.”

In defeat, goalie Devin Cooley was outstanding. One of the most popular Amerks from last season’s Eastern Conference runner-up team was goalie Malcolm Subban who guided Rochester to within two victories of the Calder Cup finals.

When Subban left as a free agent to sign with the St. Louis Blues’ organization, the Amerks were in need of a No. 1 goalie, especially with the Sabres deciding to keep Devon Levi, Eric Comrie and Ukka-Pekka Luukonen in Buffalo to start the season.

Cooley, a 26-year-old Californian, was the choice, and while the end result was a loss, Cooley gave the Amerks a chance with 38 saves, many of them on high danger chances.

“Cooley played awesome,” said Biro. “That game could have been a lot worse than overtime, but it was nice to get a point out of it.”

First period: Amerks were dominated

The first 20 minutes of the season probably could have gone worse - after all, Bridgeport peppered Cooley with 15 shots - but it was certainly not what Appert was looking for.

Just 1:47 into the game, the Amerks twice failed to clear the puck which gave Brian Pinho a good opportunity from the right circle. Cooley stopped his shot and steered the rebound to the left circle, but there were no Amerks in the area and Bridgeport defenseman Dennis Cholowski pinched in and ripped a slap shot top shelf past Cooley.

More defensive zone trouble led to the Islanders second goal at 13:27. The Amerks got hemmed in because they lost a couple battles along the end boards and eventually the Islanders worked a pretty passing play as Matthew Maggio fed Pinho who quickly set up Ruslan Iskhakov alone in front to beat Cooley clean.

Later in the period the Amerks had 3:07 of power play time including a two-man advantage for 1:07 but managed just one shot.

Second period:

It was as if the teams changed uniforms during the first intermission because as dominant as Bridgeport was in the opening period, it was the exact opposite in the middle period. The Amerks outshot the Islanders 13-6 during the first 16 minutes and got within 2-1 on a goal by Linus Weissbach, and after Cooley made a few big saves during a late-period Bridgeport push, Rochester got the equalizer with just 3.1 seconds left on Isak Rosen’s tip-in.

Weissbach scored at 1:46 as Jiri Kulich fed Nikita Novikov coming down the middle and the rookie Russian defenseman found Weissbach cruising in on the right side for an easy layup on Islanders goalie Jacub Skarek.

Skarek had to be sharp several times as the Amerks were buzzing in the Bridgeport zone and he held firm until the dying seconds. Weissbach gained control of a loose puck and slipped it out to Ethan Prow in the high slot and as the clock was winding down, Prow wristed one on net and Rosen, stationed in front of Skarek, managed to get his stick on the puck and redirected it past the goalie.

“I thought in the second period we did a really good job of breaking out and finding speed, trying to take advantage of them being so aggressive,” Appert said.

Third period: Amerks get lead, can’t hold on

The Amerks surged into the lead at 8:46 on a play started by rookie defenseman Ryan Johnson who was making his AHL debut. The Sabres’ 2019 first-round draft pick carried the puck into the zone on the left side and drew two defenders to him and then slipped a pass to Brett Murray skating down the middle.

That put Murray in a 2-on-1 with Biro on the right and Murray teed it up for a Biro one-timer which did not miss as Skarek couldn’t get across the crease in time.

“Great play by (Johnson), good poise, especially in his first game not to panic and make a play,” Biro said. “And Murray had some really good poise there, put a little sauce on it to get it over to me so it was pretty easy for me. Just a really nice play by both of those guys.”

However, Biro took a ticky-tack interference penalty at 14:35 - one that Appert disagreed with given the way the game was played all night - and the Islanders tied it up on the power play at 15:55 when Arnaud Durandeau tipped Cholowski’s shot from the left point past Cooley.

Overtime: It was over quickly

In the 3-on-3 format, scoring chances can materialize quickly and one sure did for the Islanders. Cholowski collected the puck in his own end, skated into the Amerks zone and set up Iskhakov who ripped a wrister past Cooley for the winner. On the play, Rosen lost coverage on Iskhakov.

“It was a very poor defensive assignment by Isak, simple as that,” Appert said. “That’s a little surprising for him, he’s been a good defensive player since the second half last year. And I thought he did some you know, that line did some good things tonight at times. But that was 3-on-3, it’s not that complicated who’s got who.”

Blue Cross Arena: Popular fast-food chain opening concession stand

Game notes

Of the 27 players on Rochester’s opening night roster, 13 are Sabres draft picks including three first-rounders - Kulich, Johnson and Rosen.

The Amerks’ leadership group consists of Michael Mersch, who has now served as captain in three of his four years in Rochester, plus alternate captains Biro, Murray and Prow.

Fairport’s Cole Bardreau began his 10th AHL season for the Islanders. The 30-year-old Cornell graduate, who is an alternate captain, is coming off his best pro season in 2022-23 when he played in 67 games for Brideport and set career-highs in goals (15) and points (31). Bardreau thought he scored the go-ahead goal early in the third, but replay wiped it out.

Matthew Maggio, a fifth-round pick of the New York Islanders in 2022, is the reigning player of the year in the Ontario Hockey League as he scored 54 goals and 111 points in 66 games for Windsor last year. Maggio assisted on Bridgeport’s second goal.

This was just the second time the Amerks have opened a season against Bridgeport. The first came on Oct. 5, 2001 which happened to be the first game in the history of the Islanders franchise.

What’s next for the Amerks

They head to Toronto Saturday to play the Marlies who they swept out of the Calder Cup playoffs last year. Then it’s two road games at Laval next week before the next home game on Wednesday, Oct. 25 against Charlotte.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana and on Threads @salmaiorana1. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which comes out twice a week during the season, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Amerks can't hold lead, lose in OT to Bridgeport in season opener