Written By Intern Justin
In the second installment of the Sabres and Amerks Players of the Week, Buffalo and Rochester played impressively. Both teams put up a winning record in the third week of March and had a lot of variation at point scoring. At least 10 players on both Buffalo and Rochester recorded a point this week. The Americans will prepare for the AHL playoffs as the Sabres get ready for the trade deadline on March 21.
Sabres Overview:
The Sabres participated in their second consecutive week of playing all playoff teams; the Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames. Also, Buffalo has played nine playoff teams in their last 10 games and compiled a 5-5-0 record. This week, they went 2-1-0, defeating the Maple Leafs and Flames on Sunday and Friday respectively, but losing to the Oilers on Thursday. Despite coming out on top in two-thirds of the games, the Sabres were outscored 8-7 on the week. The offense clicked in the first game and not so much in the subsequent games, so the player of the week will be the most impressive one from the Toronto game.
Sabres’ Player of the Week: Vinnie Hinostroza (2 goals, 3 points)
None other than Vinnie Hinostroza gets the honor of the Sabres’ player of the week. Hinostroza had a career day in Hamilton against the Maple Leafs where he tied his career-high in single-game points with three. He scored the game-tying goal eight minutes after Auston Matthews got his NHL-leading 45th goal. The 27-year-old followed up that tying goal with a game-winning goal in the third period, scoring his 10th goal of the year and putting Buffalo in a comfortable spot. He tied with Tage Thompson for the most points this week, but in such a dominating performance against a bitter rival, the nod went to Hinostroza.
Though Hinostroza hasn’t been playing on the top line this season, he’s been one of the team’s best depth forwards, accumulating 10 goals and 21 points in just 42 games. It will be interesting to see if he warrants any trade interest from teams looking for a bottom-six forward and what the Sabres could get for him. After all, Nicolas Deslauriers, a former Sabre, just got traded to the Wild for a third-round pick and Hinostroza is a far better player than Deslauriers.
Americans Overview:
This Amerks team has sparked the intrigue of many Sabres fans who want to see how the prospects are developing. Many young players have been thriving in Rochester as the team has been contending for the Calder Cup playoffs with a 30-23-4-2 record. This week, nine Amerks put up multiple points in a stint of three games that saw a lot of scoring. The Americans outscored their opponents 14-13 with all three games being decided by one goal. Their 2-0-1-0 record took two overtimes to achieve, but they’re still sitting in a good position in March.
Amerks’ Player of the Week: Jack Quinn (2 goals, 6 points)
Jack Quinn has been on an absolute tear since he came back from injury. Quinn has three goals and nine points in his last three games and remains of the top AHL rookies. He’s tied for second among rookies in goals (21) and fourth in points (44) despite playing in just 28 games. This week, he led the Amerks in points with six, but he only played in two games.
Quinn has been far and away the best rookie in the AHL when healthy and looks to be a shoo-in to get called up in the coming weeks. JJ Peterka, who scored three times with four points this week, and Quinn have spent a large portion of their year down in Rochester, developing their games and becoming very comfortable competing at a high level. Sabres fans are anxious to see both of the youngsters come up to Buffalo and it should happen very soon.
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