Amerks Appert: It’s high time for expanded goal review in the AHL

By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA

After the Rochester Americans played their third game in 47 hours – and rallied late to earn a point at that – coach Seth Appert said it’s time for the American Hockey League to move into the 21^st century.

And he wasn’t talking about three-in-three scheduling, something prohibited in the NHL but a necessity in the AHL because of how valuable weekend dates are for ticket sales.

Appert said replay rules need to change, because a disputed goal helped the Syracuse Crunch to a 3-2 victory on Sunday afternoon in front of a Kids’ Day crowd of 8,352 at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial.

The Amerks did get a critical point in the standings, thanks to Jiri Kulich’s goal with 2:53 remaining in the third period.

But after killing an Isak Rosen goaltender interference penalty over the first 74 seconds of overtime, they still ended up losing when Darren Raddysh converted an Alex Barre-Boulet pass at 3:06.

The point earned for getting to overtime was good for team confidence, center Brandon Biro said, not to mention for playing positioning.

At 23-20-3-1 through 47 games, the Amerks have 50 points, three fewer than the second-place Crunch and five more than last-place Belleville in the North Division.

“It’s really important for the morale of the team the way we battled back, especially how tight the standings are,” Biro said. “Last year we made it in by one point. You never know what point may be the difference.”

Or what goal during a game will make the difference – especially when said goal, in the opinion of Appert and goalie Michael Houser – shouldn’t be allowed.

Barre-Boulet ended up with an empty-net tap-in during a second period power play after Gabriel Fortier drove down the slot and toppled into Houser just as the goalie was topping a shot. The puck trickled across the crease and Barre-Boulet swept it in at 8:15.

While defenseman Ethan Prow was alongside Fortier, replay showed the Crunch centerman had, on his own volition, barged toward the crease and then fell without any real assist by Prow.

“You find yourself down 2-1 on a call that was egregiously wrong,” Appert said.

Referees Jared Cummins and Mike Dietrich never sought help from video replay because – they can’t.

While there are cameras in every rink and while the overhead camera that exists in every AHL rink would have shown the action in the crease, league rules prohibit the use of replay review to determine possible goaltender interference.

Replay can only be used in limited instances, such as whether a puck was kicked into the net or if the net was dislodged before a goal is scored. When review was implemented, the league worried that not every rink had sufficient camera angles, so some venues would have better replay scrutiny than others.

“I’m not mad at the refs for it, the league has to do more to institute the same replays that the NHL has,” Appert said. “It’s too good of a league. To make a split-second call like that is so hard.

“I think that those calls are too important, games are too close, the standings are too tight. For goalie interference, we have enough camera angles. And it’s fair for whoever’s playing in that game, which is all that matters.”

Houser agreed with Appert’s assessment of the contact with Fortier.

“When I went down, I got nudged and kind pushed backwards,” he said.

That’s when the puck squirted free, provided the empty-net goal. The score didn’t change until 2:53 remained in regulation, when Kulich led a fast-break rush into the Crunch zone, passed to Rosen, then darted to the deep slot. Goalie Max Lagace stopped a shot by Anders Bjork but Kulich buried the rebound.

How can so many be so cold all at once?

Biro has gone 16 games without a goal, a drought directly on a the heels of a six-game point streak when he produced 4-7-11. Lukas Rousek also has gone 16 without scoring. Brett Murray has just one goal in his past 15 games. Filip Cederqvist’s goal on Saturday was his first in 20.

“I don’t really look at streaks,” Appert said. “We’ve talked about; it’s been hard to score lately, it’s hard this time of year. It’s hard to score if teams are playing the right way, and most are this time of year.”

Overtime turnover costly

Defenseman Lawrence Pilut’s backhanded pass at the Crunch blue line for Andres Bjork ended up resulting in Barre-Boulet’s breakaway and ensuing chaos that led to the winning goal.

“Once the rush stalls out in the O-zone play, you’re probably not creating a scoring chance, so let’s bring it back and build speed,” Appert said. “Even if that pass would have worked out, it wasn’t putting us in position to do anything of much with it.

“But those decisions are made in a split second and Larry makes a lot of good decisions for us. He makes more good than bad, I know that.”

Notes: With more healthy forwards than roster spots, winger Linus Weissbach sat out on Sunday. He’s second on the Amerks in goals with 13, but hadn’t scored in his previous 13 games. … The announced attendance was the largest in the regular season since Jan. 10, 2020 (8,422).