UTICA – If you wanted a supreme test for the some of the Buffalo Sabres' top prospects, it will come Tuesday night.
The Rochester Amerks play Game 1 of the AHL's North Division semifinals against the division champion Utica Comets and the 7:05 game will be a wild, whiteout atmosphere to open the best-of-5 series in cozy Adirondack Bank Center.
The Comets opened the season on a 14-game winning streak, finished with a .660 points percentage that was fourth in the AHL but closed the year with an 8-1 loss in Rochester on April 29 that helped the Amerks sneak into the playoffs.
"The games are going to be even harder, even tighter. Fans can expect a really good series," said Amerks forward JJ Peterka, the AHL's top rookie scorer with 68 points in 70 games. "(The Comets) are going to go crazy out of the locker room. They haven't played a game in 10 days. We'll expect they will come hard and we'll be prepared for that."
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"These two teams don't like each other," added Rochester coach Seth Appert. "And we've had 12 games against each other, each won six. I'd say eight of the 12 probably were pretty nasty, very physical, fights, a lot of animosity.
"You just have two teams that that both try to play honest, both try to play fast, attacking styles. Both are physical. Then you play 12 games against each other, you're gonna have that but that's great. That's what you want at this time of the season."
Greetings from Utica as we get set for tonight’s #Amerks playoff opener. pic.twitter.com/lJeRxrCS1H
— Mike Harrington (@ByMHarrington) May 10, 2022
Veteran Aaron Dell will be in net for Rochester. Appert said Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who was injured in his final regular season game against Utica, has been ruled out for the first three games and "I think it'd be a stretch for him to be back. But he is getting better and doing well."
Defenseman Mattias Samuelsson remains out of the lineup but Appert said he has "a higher potential of being in this series that UPL would."
Peterka and 2020 first-round pick Jack Quinn head a Rochester lineup that also includes down-from-Buffalo additions Peyton Krebs and Casey Fitzgerald. Utica is captained by former Canisius College star and Lancaster native Ryan Schmelzer, and former Sabres forward Brian Flynn is also on the roster of the New Jersey affiliate.
Flynn, who played 159 games for the Sabres from 2013-2015, said he's been particularly impressed by Peterka.
"He might be the fastest guy in the league," Flynn said. "He's dangerous on the rush and the same as (Quinn). You just can't give them space, let them get their feet moving through the neutral zone."
Rochester was second in the AHL in goals during the regular season and Utica, which has four 20-goal scorers, was tied for third.
"They're a great line rush team. They're excellent in special teams. They're dangerous on the attack," said Appert. "They're an interesting team because the guys away from the puck for Utica a lot of times are more dangerous than the guy with the puck. They lurk on the backside of the ice in the offensive zone. ... You have to have really good accountability defensively for guys away from the puck and just really cannot get puck focused."
Tonight's game is viewable on the AHL's web package. The teams have a long break in the series before Game 2 is played here Saturday night. Games 3 and 4 go Sunday and Monday in Rochester's Blue Cross Arena.
