By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
They had gone through stretches of failure, of being unable to close out games and win close games.
But with their playoff hopes in jeopardy in the penultimate week of the American Hockey League regular season, the Rochester Americans are rising to the occasion.
Despite giving up two goals four minutes apart in the first eight minutes of the second period, the Amerks fought back to force overtime, survived an overtime Springfield power play and then relied on the big-stage poise of their young guns in the shootout to post a 3-2 victory over the visiting Thunderbirds on Wednesday night.
Sean Malone’s deflection goal with 9:07 remaining in the third period tied the score 2-2. Then, after goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and the penalty killers denied the Thunderbirds’ power play late in overtime, Jack Quinn, JJ Peterka and Arttu Ruotsalainen put on dazzling display of skill in the shootout.
Quite simply, it was a little Quinn-sanity from all three as the Amerks won the four-round shootout 3-2. Only Mark Jankowski was stopped.
“They all have multiple moves in their arsenal, depending on the style of goaltender, if he’s out far, if he’s deep,” Amerks coach Seth Appert said. “But all three executed moves that they trust. You just like seeing your players and your team be yourself in big moments.
“And I thought our team did that, too, tonight. We played to our identity for large stretches of the game.”
In winning, the Amerks moved back into the fifth and final playoff spot in the North Division, at least for now. Their points-earned percentage is .563, a hair better than Toronto’s .561.
“This stretch of probably a month, everyone’s battling and clawing for points,” Malone said.
Quinn was the first shooter and combined his skill set with moves from Dancing With The Stars. He angled in off the right wing, deked, faked, stutter-stepped and then finally tucked the puck in around goalie Joel Hofer.
Sam Anas answered for Springfield, but JJ Peterka did his best to match Quinn for style points. He attacked on left wing, angled to the net and was able to fire a low shot past Hofer.
Will Bitten missed the net as Springfield’s second shooter, Jankowski ran out of real estate on his move and was thwarted, but James Neal – he of 298 NHL goals – was able to dangle and outwait Luukkonen to force extra innings.
Ruotsalainen led off the fourth round with what may have been the nastiest goal of the shootout. He swirled off right wing to the net, convinced Hofer he was cutting across the slot, then stopped on a dime and lifted a backhander in on the short side.
When Luukkonen denied Springfield’s fourth shooter, Nathan Todd, the Amerks had the all-important victory, thanks in the end to Quinn, Peterka and Ruotsalainen.
“I was impressed with just the courage to play that calmly and to go to things that they trust in such a pressure moment,” Appert said. “Everybody knows where we’re at, and to have that composure and poise in a moment that big, it was good to see.”
It was also enjoyable for teammates.
“It’s fun to watch when you have JJ, Jack, Janko and Rooster,” Malone said. “You’re pretty confident they’re going to put on a show.”
Malone’s third-period goal, his 18th, was obviously one of the biggest moments in regulation. The line of Quinn, Peterka and Malone had 10 of Rochester’s 35 shots, yet just one, the Malone redirect of an Ethan Prow point shot, found the back of the net.
“The last couple games we had so many chances,” Peterka said. “To get one at that moment was huge for us.”
For much of the season, for the Amerks to win, they needed to score at least four goals. But they won 2-1 over Hartford on Saturday and followed with Wednesday’s 3-2 shootout win.
“They’re trying to win their division, we’re trying to earn a playoff spot; offense is hard to come by this time of year,” Appert said. “If you get eight to 10 quality line-rush chances in December and January, you’re probably only getting three to four this time of year. Everyone is defending hard. Points are just too valuable.”
The Amerks got the two for the victory in large part because of Luukkonen. He did give up a not-so-great goal, on a shot from far out on left wing to Matthew Peca at 7:12 of the second period.
But he didn’t get rattled.
“I thought he remained extremely calm and poised, even when we were now playing from behind,” Appert said.
The same was true, but for different reasons, after the first Springfield goal, by Todd at 3:12 of the second period. Seconds earlier, Luukkonen made a sensational save when Bitten thought he was shooting into an open left side of the net.
Luukkonen showed the ability to put both moments behind him, the great save and the shot by Peca that he should have stopped.
“You try to be the backbone of the team in those situations,” he said. “In the end, it doesn’t matter what you did 10 seconds ago, good play or bad play.”
That’s the growth in Luukkonen that has been evident down the stretch.
“There’s an ownership to the position of goaltender that is very difficult,” Appert said. “You have to accept the fact that it’s kind of all on you at times, and I think he’s taken real strong ownership and responsibility for his role on our team.”
The best example came in overtime, after a slashing penalty by Mitch Eliot on a breakaway by Bitten gave Springfield a power play.
Luukkonen stopped three shots and two others were blocked.
Appert gave credit to assistant coach Mike Weber, who devises penalty killing strategy, for having the group ready, and to Luukkonen for standing tall.
“The key to any three-on-five or three-on-four kill is you don’t give up diagonal passes, you don’t give up backdoor plays, you make them go around the perimeter,” Appert said. You’re goalie’s going to have to make saves, it is what it is, so let’s make saves on predictable shots and not on those diagonal plays that usually end up in the back of the net.”
NOTE: The game was originally scheduled for December but postponed until April because of COVID-19. It was the Amerks first regular-season Tuesday home game since February of 2013.
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It was a huge win for the Amerks, who keep their flickering playoff chances alive. They still have to win their games to have a shot, realistically…but thats what the pressure of a playoff push deals you.
‘I think far too much was made of Quinn’s shootout goal. Did he stop, did he go backwards, was it legal? Watch the replay..his skates never stopped…he darted across the crease and made his move. Was it ‘close’? Perhaps, but folks, give it at rest. It counted. Too close to overturn.
UPL seems to be playing a notch better. Maybe knowing the net was his for the duration (maybe he won’t play all 3 this weekend but maybe he will…) has given his mental psyche a boost. No matter, we will need him to keep allowing very few.
Both Utica and Cleveland are North Division bookends. Neither team is playing well. Amerks should be able to win those games if they really want it bad enough. We still need some out of town help and its tough to know who to cheer for since they all play each other. I guess you need to keep the team behind you…behind you, so we cheer for Toronto to lose.