Buffalo Sabres: Tyson Kozak has an incredible assist in Amerks loss

If anyone on the Rochester Americans want to find themselves in a Buffalo Sabres uniform next season, the Calder Cup Playoffs is their audition.

While the Rochester Americans lost their playoff opener to the Syracuse Crunch 3-2, it was an adrenaline-pumping affair from start to finish. The Amerks and Crunch combined for four goals in the second period, with Syracuse scoring on two of their power play attempts, but the Amerks had an answer each time.

Tyson Kozak, one of my top Sabres prospects to watch, was the catalyst on one of those goals. Blanketed by a Syracuse player, Kozak found the puck along the boards, and made what looked to be a blind, one-handed pass across the ice to Linus Weissbach, who skated down the slot near the left circle, virtually unseen.

Kozak’s pass somehow made it to Weissbach, who did the rest to even the score at one roughly nine minutes into the second period. If you didn’t see the play, it’s more than worth the look.

Buffalo Sabres had to be impressed with the likes of Kozak, Subban

Besides Kozak coming up big on Linus Weissbach’s goal, Malcolm Subban had quite the game at goaltender. While he couldn’t save the Amerks in the end, Subban stopped everything at even strength, only allowing the power play goals over the game’s initial 60 minutes.

Subban finished the game with 37 saves on 40 shot attempts, good for a 0.925 save percentage. This came following a season where he became a staple in the net for the Amerks following Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s recall. In the regular season, Subban notched a .903 save percentage and a 2.94 GAA, which could be enough to keep him as Rochester’s top man next season should he elect to return.

Overall, the game didn’t end the way we wanted it to. But Kozak’s assist and Subban’s performance were fun to watch. Let’s see if the Amerks can respond tomorrow night.

(Statistics provided by amerks.com)