Buffalo Sabres: Jiri Kulich shines in playoff debut for Amerks

Buffalo Sabres prospect Jiri Kulich is one name to watch when training camp rolls around in September. And on Friday night, he showed why that’s the case.

The Rochester Americans entered Game 3 in their playoff series with the Syracuse Crunch staring down elimination. Their leading goal scorer in the regular season, Jiri Kulich, had been a scratch thanks to injury over the first two contests, and the Amerks missed him like none other, especially in that second game.

In Game 3, Kulich returned, and he played a phenomenal role in tonight’s big win over the Crunch. On the power play, a clean sequence left Kulich wide open at the top of the circle. Kulich took a pass, skated into the slot, and bam, put one past goaltender Maxime Legace. And in case you missed it, you can check out the play for yourself below:

Buffalo Sabres have got to be happy with performances from multiple prospects

Kulich wasn’t the only one who shined in tonight’s outing. We also need to give a huge shoutout to Isak Rosen, who had an outstanding goal just over five minutes into the opening frame. Lawrence Pilut started things off, finding Linus Weissbach, who then dropped the puck back to a beelining Rosen just inside the circle. The rook did the rest, putting the Amerks up 1-0.

Rosen also provided an assist on Kulich’s power play goal along with, you guessed it, Lukas Rousek. Rousek impressed during his cameo appearances with the Buffalo Sabres, and like Kulich, he too could be heading for the Queen City next season. And if Rosen keeps playing solid hockey in Rochester, what’s not to say he doesn’t eventually follow?

Great game from the Amerks overall, and let’s see if they can take Game 4 this Sunday. If the Amerks win, they’ll tie the series, and it will head back to Syracuse for Game 5.

(Statistics provided by theAHL.com)