Sabres Daily: Americans Beat Down Bears

The Rochester Americans were thought to be the underdog in the Calder Cup Eastern Conference Final against the Hershey Bears, but the Amerks jumped out to an early lead and never let their opponent catch up in a 5-1 victory at the Giant Center on Tuesday.

Now that's how you start game one of the Eastern Conference Finals 👏 pic.twitter.com/hKNqSGpj2R

— x-Rochester Americans (@AmerksHockey) May 23, 2023

Joe Cecconi, Brett Murray, Matt Bartkowski, Mason Jobst, and Lukas Rousek scored for Rochester, Michael Mersch and Jeremy Davies each had a pair of assists, and Malcolm Subban made 21 saves in the Americans seventh consecutive playoff victory.

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The Americans took control just 14 seconds into the game, as Cecconi beat Bears goalie Hunter Shepard from long range. Murray extended the lead on a goalmouth feed from Michael Mersch to make it 2-0 after 20 minutes. Another long-range blast from Bartkowski and Jobst’s third goal of the postseason chased Shepard.

Rochester held the Bears off the scoresheet until Aaron Ness scored midway through the third, but Hershey could not claw any closer.

Jiri Kulich registered an assist in the game, giving the promising prospect a point in each of his seven playoff games.

MASON JOBST, LET'S GOO 🚨 pic.twitter.com/VlBIHYBjTV

— x-Rochester Americans (@AmerksHockey) May 24, 2023

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