By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
The final seconds of regulation were ticking off the clock and the Rochester Americans were in full possession of the puck at their own blue line in a game that was tied 2-2.
But rather than hope to start a quick fastbreak and somehow weave through an already clogged neutral zone, defensemen Lawrence Pilut and Ethan Prow opted to play catch in hockey’s version of the four-corner stall.
The crowd at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial on Tuesday night wasn’t happy. Some booed, disenchanted with a safety-first approach. They were even more perturbed when the Amerks ended up losing in the tiebreaker shootout 3-2 to the Syracuse Crunch.
“Their heart’s in the right place,” Amerks captain Michael Mersch said of the fans.
The minds of Pilut and Prow were also in the right place. The chances of creating offense from a standstill against a defensively stout Crunch team was somewhere between very slim and none whatsoever.
So they ate the final 10 or so seconds off the clock and opted to take their chances in overtime. And despite dominating the extra five-minute period, outshooting Syracuse 6-0 and creating three great in-tight opportunities, they failed to score and then ended up losing the shootout 2-1.
“It’s not basketball, it’s not the NCAA tournament where I call time out and we set up a set play,” Amerks coach Seth Appert said. “You have to trust your players to make their own decisions on the ice. Our guys know Syracuse is excellent in the neutral zone. They have five guys back and we didn’t have a lot of speed built up.
“Would I have liked our guys to maybe go for it? Yeah, maybe so. But the odds are probably higher for them to create a turnover in that scenario.”
Considering how important every point is in the American Hockey League’s North Division standings, the late-game decision to stall was probably wise. With 12 games remaining, the fourth-place Amerks trail Syracuse and Utica by five points (68-63) and lead Belleville by two, Laval by three and Cleveland by four.
By the end of the weekend – after a Friday home game with Hershey, a Saturday road game at Utica and a Sunday matinee against Cleveland – those margins could be the same, or they may be dramatically altered.
“Everybody’s in it, everybody’s got a good team and there’s no freebies,” said Mersch, whose 15th goal of the season tied the score with just 4:08 remaining in the third.
He worked into the middle of the slot and used a mid-air redirection of Filip Cederqvist’s shot from above the left circle to beat goalie Max Lagace.
It was the second one-goal deficit the Amerks erased. They trailed 1-0 after the first period and tied it on Jiri Kulich’s team-leading 19th goal. The rookie forward has scored 13 of those goals in his past 21 games.
Jack Finley’s rebound goal 10:36 into the third period put the Crunch back on top but the Amerks were able to rally.
“We just have to keep accumulating points,” Appert said. “I think we deserved more than three last week but we got three. I thought we deserved more than one tonight but we got one. We just have to keep finding points.”
Notes: Leading scorer Brandon Biro missed his second consecutive game after suffering a lower body injury on Friday at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Appert said he won’t play this week, or next week, and then he will be evaluated. … Mason Jobst scored in the shootout for the Amerks but Kulich missed high by yards and Lukas Rousek was stopped by Lagace. Both Crunch shooters, Gage Goncalves and Lucas Edmonds, scored against Malcolm Subban. … The Amerks have allowed just eight goals in the past four games as they continue to play much better in their own zone. “We’ve defended the inner slot dramatically better than we did two months ago,” Appert said.
Appert saying his team is playing the best hockey of the season meanwhile they are in freefall mode is getting very tiresome! Also playing for a tie with 20 seconds left was something I’ve never seen in professional hockey how embarrassing in your own building! Appert and co confirmed they are not trying to catch Utica or Syracuse and merely content to sneak into the playoffs in the mini round by that incredibly embarrassing display of hockey the last 20 seconds! Granted this team is very thin and probably overmatched right now but they are professional athletes and that conduct is inexcusable I hope to never have to witness such an embarrassing display of hockey ever again on our home ice, different perhaps on the road completely inexcusable at home!
enjoyed the above comment. It continues to validate the
sabres philosophy for the Amerks…that being, winning is secondary to everything else. Results don ‘t matter much. This team continues to be a collection of individuals. Anyone who has watched Amerk hockey over the years knows the difference between a ‘team’ and organization that will skate thru a brick wall to win a hockey game and one that accepts losing and makes daily excuses
When you play not to lose rather than to win, 2022-23 is what you get. Its all very frustrating. Everything is totally out of sync.
they owned the OT..at least 3 or 4 sure-thing goals were missed.
then after a decent game, Subban can’t stop either shootout attempt.
Usually you get exactly what you deserve. Winners just never stop working against any odds. Amerks have played poorly at home this year..its no accident that they blow so many leads and miss so many chances to win.
If results aren’t important you can analyze any individual game or performance and say whatever you want to make someone feel good. That seems to be what we hear from our coach.
Winners make it happen; losers let it happen. Anyone see the Bruins-Ottawa game last night? Ottawa had everything to play for. Bruins not as much. Ottawa went all out but Boston made a 2-1 lead stand for the last half of the game including killing off a 5-4 and 6 on 4 final 2 minutes. They played like it was game 7 of the
finals. They love winning. They love playing for each other. Is their roster that much better than many others in the NHL? I would say no. But what they do better than anyone else is play as a team, not accepting losing.
I see no such desperation on the Amerks at all. They don’t go out trying to lose, I know that. But the Sabres just don;t instill the winning result as important here in Rochester. Not even a lot of lip service. So you get unimpressive 2-1 losses to Hershey and a very disappointing home loss last night when wins are so vital.
For the record: I hope that one day soon we will see the shootout retired forever. Its a cheesy way to decide a hockey game. Extend OT; bring back ties if need be; but ax the shootout…please