By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
Mark Jankowski took the post-game curtain call as the game’s first star on Saturday night, a reward for scoring the winning goal with just 15.6 seconds remaining in overtime.
But in the mind of Rochester Americans coach Seth Appert, defensemen Nick Boka and Jimmy Schuldt played equally important roles in the 6-5 victory over the Cleveland Monsters.
Boka helped spur the comeback after the Monsters opened a 4-1 lead in the first 30 minutes, looking for a fight but settling for a goal.
Then in overtime, Schuldt spent about 30 seconds in full control of the puck, winning physical battles and keeping the Monsters trapped in their own zone and moments later Quinn dangled to the net and Jankowski swatted home the rebound.
“That was one of the more amazing shifts I’ve seen,” Jankowski said. “I thought he was done after two laps, after three laps, and he just kept going.”
It was truly a I-won’t-be-denied moment.
“Jimmy Schuldt had a such man’s shift,” Appert said. “I think he won four puck battles, created scoring chances, the building was going crazy, the bench was going crazy. That’s not on the scoresheet but I felt it was a huge reason we won.”
But long before overtime, Boka showed again he’s willing to do whatever it takes to help his team win.
He’s a defenseman who had never played forward until a preseason game this year. But with the Amerks still short forwards, Appert used Boka up front and on the back end this weekend in the two games against Cleveland.
On Saturday, the Monsters used their physicality to batter the Amerks, and made it a point to hit Quinn and JJ Peterka whenever they could, legally or otherwise.
Along the way, they built a 4-1 lead by the midway point of the second period, even after falling behind 4:01 into the game when Quinn fired home his 21st goal.
Boka had seen enough. He attempted to fight defenseman Thomas Schemitsch, who ignored two or three invitations, hoping to change the tone.
He found no takers but instead scored a momentum-changing goal. Mitch Eliot’s hot caromed off a defender’s stick and into the face of Schemitsch, which dropped the defenseman to his knees. That left the puck and Boka free in the deep slot, and he showed slick hands to score on the backhand at 12:36 of the second period.
“They were trying to intimidate us and he challenge their bench, he challenged four guys to fights, he went after one of their best players,” Appert said. “And then he executes a line rush perfectly. Again, he’s a defenseman but he kicks it out, drives right through, does exactly what he’s supposed to do as a forward and gets rewarded.
“And then he continues to challenge their bench right afterward.”
The damage, however, was done with the goal, even if it wasn’t the gameplan.
“It’s not the way I drew it up,” Boka said, “but I’m definitely happy with the way it worked out.”
Just 33 seconds later, Josh Teves drove a slap shot from the left point past goalie Jean-Francois Berube, and when Arttu Ruotsalainen scored on a breakaway at 18:47, the score was tied 4-4.
Zach Jordan put Cleveland back on top at 6:15 of the third period, but Michael Mersch tied the score with a power-play goal at 10:07, steering home from his knees a centering pass by Peterka.
Jankowski then provided victory in the waning seconds of overtime, enabling the Amerks to escape despite being outplayed. The Monsters outshot Rochester 39-24, dominated on the boards and, in Appert’s words, created chaos in the Amerks zone.
Goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen did give up five goals, but it could have been far more.
“That’s one of the best five-goal games a goalie can have,” Appert said. “It was a hard night, we were poor defensively in the first 30 minutes, and I thought his battle and compete – in spite of not probably feeling great with pucks going in – stayed incredibly strong tonight.”
Which is why the Amerks managed to improve to 30-23-4-2, and the victory vaulted them from sixth to third in the American Hockey League’s North Division with a .559 points percentage. Just .23 percentage points separates second place from sixth.
Why AHL experience is so valuable: Beaten by the puck skills of Quinn and Peterka on Friday, the Monsters wanted to be sure that if they lost on Saturday, it was because of someone else.
They punched, shoved, checked and bowled over Quinn and Peterka every chance they had. It was called the star treatment.
Quinn still scored a goal and set up the winner. Peterka shoved and punched back often, including a punch to the jaw of Justin Scott in the third period.
“That’s part of the importance of elite players like that being in the American League,” Appert said. “The American League is probably even more physical than the NHL. Here, Peterka and Quinn are go-to guys and when teams are trying to intimidate you, run you, they’re talking, they’re trying to match against you, how do you handle that, both in your physical play but also your emotional state of not getting frustrated, not letting them consume you. That’s such a benefit of elite players spending time in the American League.”
Injury update: Ruotsalainen left the game midway through the third period and did not return. There was no injury report. Defenseman Brandon Davidson, who suffered a lower body injury in the first period of Friday’s game, will be out “longer than shorter.”
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