Kevin Oklobzija

@kevinoDandC

Opening weekend has come and gone for the Rochester Americans.

Does the American Hockey League have a provision for mulligans?

As starts to a season go, this wasn't pretty. The Amerks came out of the weekend with one thank-their-lucky-stars victory (translation: be grateful Hershey Bears goalie Joe Cannata couldn't make a save) and two doing-things-the-wrong-way losses.

That included a 6-3 setback on Sunday evening, when the Syracuse Crunch built a 4-1 cushion in 30 minutes and cruised to the finish line.

"We've got a lot of growing to do as a team," veteran defenseman Tyson Strachan said, "but we've got a lot of time to do it."

Here are the five biggest takeaways from the first three games. Oh, and don't ask about giveaways. There were dozens. And Dozens. "Enough for a couple weeks," coach Dan Lambert said.

1. Goaltending wasn't good.

The key word in that statement is "wasn't." The word was not "isn't." Or so the organization believes right now. Amerk fans will need to see it for themselves before they agree.

Linus Ullmark started the first two games and was so-so. The second-year pro made saves on great scoring chances and let shots get past him that AHL goalies must stop. On Friday he allowed four goals on 29 shots to Hershey. Saturday at Syracuse he was peppered with 44 shots and made 40 saves.

Rookie Jason Kasdorf made his first AHL start on Sunday and stopped 24 of 30 shots.

"It has to be better," Lambert said of the goaltending. "Our goalie has to be good for us."

2. They can't get out of their own zone.

Lambert's perfect-world scenario of having a team that spends little time in the defensive zone is right now quite a dream.

Between turnovers, passes to the wrong person, passes to a person who wasn't there, or the inability to slow down the opposition's forecheck, the whole game is played in the D-zone.

The players seem to have missed the finer points of what must be done.

"When you don't do what you're asked to do ..." Lambert said, pointing out much of what happened was due to deviation from the game plan. "If you're doing it and it's not working, that's one thing. If you're not doing it, that's the problem."

3. They don't spend nearly enough time in the offensive zone.

The forecheck lacked tenacity and rarely was their anything resembling the cycling of the puck and the wearing down of the defense. Merely creating a shot was an accomplishment on Friday (just 12) and Saturday (21).

Not having Nick Baptiste (recalled) and Dan Catenacci (injured) the past two games took away speed and ferocity on the attack. But with Derek Grant in Buffalo, there's simply not enough scoring talent on the roster to compete on a nightly basis.

They must sign one of the available free-agent forwards, such as Zach Boychuk or Aaron Palushaj.

They need to complement the talent that is here. Justin Bailey doesn't look anything like he did a year ago, not speed-wise or in making himself dangerous. He had four shots on goal in three games.

4. Alex Nylander will be really good, but give him time to learn.

Drafted in the first round (eighth overall) in June, the 18-year-old right winger can dazzle. He has a dynamite shot, which is what he used to score his first pro goal on Sunday. He also hit a post. In three games he has a goal and two assists.

But he also turned the puck over (then again, who didn't?) and wasn't always where he needed to be in the defensive zone.

5. There simply wasn't enough hard work.

Hockey is a game of mistakes. The team that forces the most usually wins.

Hockey is also a game that requires hard work. Float through a shift or let up on hits is no way to play.

"The issue is, we need to play desperate form the get-go," Lambert said. "Everybody needs to be better. When you look at our lineup, we need our top six guys to be better and we need our bottom six to be able to compete."

KEVINO@gannett.com

Syracuse 2 3 1 — 6

Rochester 1 1 1 — 3

First period: 1, Rochester, Rodrigues 1, 5:31. 2, Syracuse, Gourde 1 (Halmo, Richard) 16:11. 3, Syracuse, Peca 1 (Conacher) 19:14. Penalties: Witkowski, Syr (boarding) :06; Carrier, Roch double minor (slashing, roughing) 10:32; Dotchin, Syr (roughing) 10:32; McGinn, Syr (goaltender interference) 12:16; Gourde, Syr (tripping) 13:58.

Second period: 4, Syracuse, Bournival 2 (Dotchin, Walcott) :39. 5, Syracuse, Peca 2 (Conacher, Erne) 10:26 (pp). 6, Rochester, Strachan 1 (Bennett, Nylander) 13:31. 7, Syracuse, Conacher 1 (Vermin, Taormina) 15:14. Penalties: Erne, Syr (boarding) 1:57; Walcott, Syr (roughing) 6:08; Kea, Roch (roughing) 6:08; Austin, Roch (interference) 9:18; Kea, Roch (hooking) 16:36.

Third period: 8, Rochester, Nylander 1 (O'Reilly) 9:34. 9, Syracuse, Vermin 2 (Condra, Richard) 16:06 (pp). Penalties: Lane, Roch (slashing) :29; Austin, Roch (interference) 6:49; Dotchin, Syr (tripping) 10:54; Carrier, Roch (high sticking) 15:37; Wilcox, Syr (delay of game) 17:47.

Shots on goal: Syracuse 10-14-6--30. Rochester 6-8-7-21.

Goalies: Syracuse, Wilcox 1-0 (21 shots, 18 saves). Rochester, Kasdorf 0-1 (30, 24).

Power-play conversions: Syracuse 2 of 6. Rochester 0 of 7.

Penalties/minutes: Syracuse 9/18. Rochester 8/16.

Attendance: 3,012.

Referees: Nick Gill, Guillaume Labonte. Linesmen: Don Jablonski, James Tobias.