The Rochester Americans rolled to a 5-1 victory over the Hershey Bears in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final on Tuesday night at the Giant Center.
The Amerks, who entered the game on a six-game winning streak, needed just 14 seconds to pot the first goal of the series. Joseph Cecconi carried the puck into the Bears’ zone and sniped his second goal of the postseason.
Rochester doubled its lead at the 9:04 mark of the opening period when Brett Murray took a net-front pass from Michael Mersch and scored to make it 2-0.
Matt Bartkowski and Mason Jobst scored early in the second period, extending the lead to 4-0.
Lukas Rousek added an empty-net goal with 1:01 to play in the final margin.
Malcolm Subban made 21 saves for the Amerks, who now own the third-longest playoff winning streak in franchise history behind the 1991 (10 games) and 1996 (nine) teams.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is set for Thursday at 7 p.m.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to kyle@fingerlakes1.com.
