Reinforcements fuel Amerks, but need still exists

Reinforcements arrived for the Rochester Americans on Friday.

The questions are, 1) how long will they stay, and 2) do the newcomers alleviate the deficiencies that were so evident on opening weekend?

The answer to No. 2 is yes, at least to some degree, as evidenced by Friday's 5-2 victory over the Toronto Marlies at Blue Cross Arena at the Community War Memorial. As for question No. 1: no one knows that answer yet.

Right winger Nick Baptiste was returned to the Amerks after a six-day recall to the Buffalo Sabres, and right winger Hudson Fasching and defenseman Casey Nelson came along with him.

With one mid-afternoon announcement of player reassignments, there was an instant upgrade to the forward lines of Buffalo's American Hockey League affiliate.

Not that it was evident right away. The Amerks were outshot 7-3 in the first, 19-5 through 35 minutes and trailed 1-0 on the scoreboard.

But late second period power plays led to the tying goal by Taylor Fedun, then Fasching turned a giveaway by Marlies defenseman Andrew Nielsen into a breakaway goal at 18:09 and the Amerks took a 2-1 lead into the third period.

Goalie Linus Ullmark was terrific, making every necessary key stop, and third-period power-play goals by Justin Bailey and Nelson provided enough of a cushion before Dan Catenacci hit an empty net to clinch it.

While Fasching and Nelson have had NHL time with the Sabres late last season and this month, they made quite an instant impression with the Amerks, especially considering they arrived in Buffalo around 6 a.m. after Thursday's through-the-night flight from Vancouver.

"I thought both of them played a big role in our success," Amerks coach Dan Lambert said after his club improved to 2-2.

The Sabres notified Fasching and Nelson about noon that they'd be Rochester-bound. They rode together down the Thruway. Both sat out the final two games of the Sabres western Canada road trip.

"It was actually an exciting ride," Nelson said. "I think we were excited to play a little more minutes, to just being the lineup and get going again."

Inserting Baptiste and Fasching up front gave the Amerks three lines that should keep them competitive, and enable them to generate more sustained offensive-zone pressure than they did on opening weekend, and also much more than they did Friday night.

The top line had Cal O'Reilly at center between Cole Schneider and Baptiste. They accounted for four goals in the 5-4 opening-night win over Hershey on Oct. 14. Evan Rodrigues was at center between Alex Nylander and Fasching, and Catenacci played center between William Carrier and Bailey.

"We would love to see more OZ (offensive zone) time," Lambert said.

If they'll don't play in the other end a whole lot more, they'll end up with 40 losses because there's no way their goaltending and defense will survive onslaught after onslaught. The Marlies outshot the Amerks 36-21. For four games they've been outshot 139-75.

What they desperately need is another point-producing centerman. Rodrigues does his best work on the wing; he's being used in the middle out of necessity. There is no one else. In the offensive zone, it's fine. In the defensive zone, where responsibilities differ greatly between the center and the wingers, the opponent can create advantageous match-ups and take advantage of Rodrigues' not-so-large frame.

Once upon a time, the organization thought they had that other top-gun centerman in free-agent signee Derek Grant. Except Grant was so good in training camp he earned a job with the Sabres. If he ever comes down, problem solved.

But will he? He may stay in Buffalo. Even when Jean Dupuy (upper body injury) is healthy, you're not looking for him to pile up points. Hits and blocked shots, yes.

Which is why the Sabres needed to take advantage of high-quality veterans on the market earlier this month. But most, like Zach Boychuk, are now gone. The Sabres' wait-and-see approach was very Darcy-like.

Do the Amerks have the personnel to find strength at center and become more dangerous offensively and play a more well-rounded game?

"I can tell you this," Lambert said. "We'll die trying."

KEVINO@gannett.com

Toronto 0 1 1 — 2

Rochester 0 2 3 — 5

First period: No scoring. Penalties: Schneider, Roch (high sticking) 4:21; Bailey, Roch (slashing) 9:18; Valiev, Tor (hooking) 18:30.

Second period: 1, Toronto, Kapanen 2 (Gauthier, Valiev) 4:14. 2, Rochester, Fedun 1 (O'Reilly, Schneider) 14:27 (pp). 3, Rochester, Fasching 1, 18:09. Penalties: Catenacci, Roch (high sticking) 4:45; Fedun, Roch (kneeing) 9:13. Soshnikov, Tor (tripping) 10:19; Greening, Tor (holding) 12:22; Loov, Tor (tripping) 13:02; Toronto bench, served by Lindberg (too many men on ice) 19:52.

Third period: 4, Rochester, Bailey 2 (Fedun, Nylander) :53 (pp). 5, Toronto, Froese 1 (Campbell, Leipsic) 4:44. 6, Rochester, Nelson 1 (O'Reilly, Schneider) 17:28 (pp). 7, Rochester, Catenacci 1, 19:45 (en). Penalties: Johnson, Tor (interference) 7:05; Valiev, Tor (high sticking) 15:31.

Shots on goal: Toronto 7-15-14--36. Rochester 3-9-9--21.

Goalies: Toronto, Sparks 1-1 (20 shots, 16 saves). Rochester, Ullmark 2-1 (36, 34).

Power-play conversions: Toronto 0 of 4. Rochester 3 of 7.

Penalties/minutes: Toronto 7/14. Rochester 4/8.

Attendance: 5,509.

Referees: Chris Ciamaga, Keith Kaval. Linesmen: Tim Kotyra, James Tobias.