Mersch, Kulich power goal-fest as Amerks stay alive

By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA

There was little room for error on the ice and no wiggle room in the series whatsoever.

Down 2-0 and facing elimination in the Calder Cup North Division semifinals, the Rochester Americans were in position to see their playoff run end before they ever even left the starting gate.

But as a group, this team collectively announced with their play on Friday night that they weren’t going home. Not yet.

So even after surrendering a 1-0 lead in the first period, even after giving up a 2-1 lead in the second period, and even after squandering a 4-2 lead in the third period, the Amerks found a way to prevail because their big guns came up huge.

Captain Michael Mersch scored three goals and rookie Jiri Kulich, their leading goal-scorer, fired home the winning goal as the Amerks defeated the Syracuse Crunch 8-5 in front of a boisterous, rally-towel-waving home crowd of 9,101.

“Our guys haven’t wavered,” Amerks coach Seth Appert said. “This group has always had a resilience, a fighting spirit, a collectiveness to them.”

A lot of that starts with the leadership group, and Mersch in particular. He didn’t just lead with words and his presence; he led by example.

“In big-time moments, he shines,” said center Mason Jobst, whose short-handed breakaway goal 4:22 into the third period gave the Amerks a 4-2 lead.

Mersch, however, deflected the spotlight, which wasn’t easy to do after caps rained down following his clinching empty-net goal with 36 seconds remaining.

“If I blocked three shots instead of scoring three goals, that’s just as good for me,” said Mersch, who scored the second, sixth and eighth goals. “It just feels good to get the win and stay alive.”

Indeed, that’s all that Friday’s victory provided: a chance to play another game. The Crunch still lead the best-of-five series 2-1, with Game 4 to be played at 3:05 p.m. Sunday at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial. Game 5, if necessary, goes back to Syracuse at 7 p.m. next Saturday.

The difference between the two losses in Syracuse and the victory on home ice was massive. The Amerks were able to maintain sustained offensive-zone pressure. They were able to evade the Crunch forecheck with some regularity. And they actually looked as though they had a man advantage when they were on the power play.

After going 0-for-7 on the power play in Games 1 and 2, the Amerks went 3-for-4 on Friday. And perhaps the power play provided the spark the Amerks needed, as Isak Rosen provided a 1-0 lead at 5:31 of the first period, just 17 seconds into power play No. 1.

The crowd went wild.

“That was one thing I said before the game, bring the fans into the fight early and often,” Appert said.

Then, when the Amerks really needed to produce on the power play, they did. Given a rare five-on-three man advantage for a full two minutes, the Amerks converted on both.

They were still trying to regain momentum after the Crunch stormed back from a 4-2 deficit with goals from Simon Ryfors at 5:25 and scoring dynamo Alex Barre-Boulet at 7:38.

“I thought we were excellent for the first 40 minutes, they had very few scoring chances,” Appert said. “And the third period went completely sideways for both teams.”

It turned upside down for the Crunch with 5:49 to play and the score tied 4-4. Ryan Jones was given a slashing minor and, with the delayed penalty upcoming, Daniel Walcott committed a blatant trip.

Appert sent out Linus Weissbach, Sean Malone, Lukas Rousek, Kulich and Rosen to start the five-on-three. Despite their youth, and some impatience by the crowd, they showed great poise, with purposeful passing finally setting up Kulich for an uncontested shot from the mid slot, and he didn’t miss.

“I thought they kept their composure, they didn’t force things and they got the shot we needed,” Appert said.

The ovation was deafening.

“That was crazy,” Kulich said.

He missed the first two games of the series because of a lower body injury but his return provided needed spark.

“The first two games were tough for me; I wanted to help my teammates,” Kulich said.

The Amerks then converted on the back end of the five-on-three, with Mersch firing home a bad-angle shot from the right corner that somehow beat goalie Max Lagace on the short side for 6-4 lead.

Still, the Amerks weren’t safe. Ryfors completed his hat trick at 17:27 by firing home a pass from Barre-Boulet after Lagace was pulled for a sixth attacker. Barre-Boulet finished with a goal and four assists.

But with Lagace still pulled, Barre-Boulet made his only bad pass of the night, dropped the puck to the point, except there was not Crunch player at the blue line. Brett Murray won the race to the puck in the neutral zone and hit the empty net.

What was maybe most impressive was how the Amerks dealt with the win-or-go-home pressure. They didn’t play a cautious, protect-the-house style. They didn’t show fear.

“The regrets you have in a game like this is when your team plays tight and plays tentative and they play trying not to lose,” Appert said. “You love a group that doesn’t give in. We played an attacking game tonight, which is when we’re at our best.”