Pilut’s OT goal propels resilient Amerks past Crunch

By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA

SYRACUSE – They had just done what isn’t easy to do, squander a 4-1 lead in 21 minutes in a winner-take-all playoff showdown against their most bitter rival.

The Rochester Americans had no answer for a relentless forechecking onslaught unleashed by the Syracuse Crunch, and when Trevor Carrick completed the comeback and tied the score with just 29.9 seconds remaining in the third period, the Amerks looked defeated.

And yet coach Seth Appert displayed no panic and no disgust when he walked into the dressing room seconds after the pre-overtime intermission began on Saturday night.

“I went in there immediately, which I don’t normally do,” Appert explained, “and I said, ‘Take a breath, calm down, we’re going to win this game.’ ”

Lawrence Pilut went out and proved his coach right. The gritty defenseman fired a shot from the high slot past screened relief goalie Hugo Alnefelt on a power play 11:35 into overtime to give the Amerks a 5-4 victory and a berth in the best-of-five Calder Cup North Division finals.

“Coming back into the room after the third period, you really recognize how much character there is on this team,” Pilut said. “I’m so grateful to be on this team.”

Two weeks ago, the Amerks were staring down elimination, their season about to end before the playoffs had barely begun. Now they’ll spend the next five days preparing for Thursday’s opener of the division finals on the road against the Toronto Marlies.

They advanced when Pilut took a pass from Rosen near the center point, danced away from Ryfors and then wristed a shot that Alnefelt never saw because of traffic.

“I could manipulate the first guy and found a little pocket and just shot,” Pilut said.

He remembers seeing it go in. He remembers nothing afterward.

“I just blacked out, I’m not gonna lie,” he said.

The goal triggered instant pandemonium on the ice, with well over 1,000 Amerks fans cheering wildly as their team celebrated.

“I can’t really put it into words, the feeling, it was phenomenal,” said rookie center Tyson Kozak, who scored the game’s first goal.

Two weeks earlier, trudging off that same sheet of ice at the Upstate Medical University Arena, the feeling was total depression. The Amerks had opened the North Division semifinals with 3-2 and 2-0 road losses.

Yet they willed their way back into the series on home ice, winning 8-5 and then 4-0 to force the deciding fifth game.

“It was tough, obviously, but we just had to find a way to regroup,” captain Michael Mersch said. “It’s tough to close a team out. You saw it tonight, whether it was them or us.”

Indeed, the Amerks took every big hit the Crunch threw at them in the first 35 minutes and bounced right back up. And then they delivered the counter-punches with the puck, building a 4-1 lead on goals by Kozak in the first period and by Pilut Jiri Kulich and Mersch in a span of 5:13 in the second period.

When Mersch threaded the needle with a top-shelf, short-side goal with 5:01 left in the second period, the night was over for Crunch goalie Max Lagace. He stopped just 11 of 15 shots and was replaced by Alnefelt.

Up 4-1 with just over one period remaining, the Amerks allowed the Crunch to gain hope in the waning minutes of the second period.

Joseph Cecconi was incorrectly penalized for high sticking at 17:55 when he struck Alex Barre-Boulet in the face on the follow-through. When Pilut was correctly called for tripping at 19:31, the Crunch had a two-man advantage and needed just 15 seconds to score, with Simon Ryfors firing home an across-the-goal-mouth pass by Gabriel Dumont.

Dumont then cut the Amerks lead to 4-3 at 9:36 of the third period, flicking a long-range wrister on goal from near the blue line that found its way past Subban with Crunch winger Shawn Element possibly providing a screen.

The Amerks then couldn’t avoid the inevitable, giving up the tying goal with 29.9 seconds left, after what seemed like 90 never-ending seconds of offensive-zone pressure.

Subban made a sensational save on Element, kicking out his left leg to deny a sure goal, but the Amerks couldn’t get control of the puck and the Crunch finally scored. Ryfors opted not to shoot from the right circle and instead passed to Carrick in the left circle and his low shot slithered in under Subban.

Appert has talked repeatedly about how the Amerks are at their best when they’re on the attack, that prevent defense is death. Yet his team couldn’t rise above the temptation to sit back and protect. They were outshot 20-2 in the third period and 31-8 from the 17:55 mark of the second period.

But they won.

The message in the room before overtime was basically it’s a 0-0 game, go win it.

“It’s in the past now, just get the next goal,” Rosen said.

Both teams had solid chances in overtime, and Amerks goalie Malcolm Subban was in charge in his crease while the Amerks blocked shots and passes with regularity. The biggest block was by defenseman Jeremy Davies as Philippe Myers wound up with a booming slap shot 8:35 into overtime.

“In playoff hockey, it’s whatever it takes,” Appert said. “Guys were willing to do whatever it took.”

Just over two minutes later, the Amerks ended up with only their second power play of the game when Kulich’s forechecking pressure on defenseman Jack Thompson forced a hurried clear that sailed into the stands for an automatic delay of game penalty.

“It was nice to be able to get a power play,” Appert said. “I thought they had great composure and Larry made a really nice play. Larry’s a pretty dangerous shooter when he gets it in that spot.”

Pilut also was feeling a little guilty. Three times his penalties gave the Crunch power plays, including the trip that led to the two-man advantage that ignited the Syracuse comeback.

“I felt like I had to give back to the guys,” Pilut said. “Three penalties? I think that’s a career high for me.”

He enjoyed another career high as well, however: His first overtime playoff goal.

Notes: There were plenty of hugs and heartfelt words during the traditional center-ice handshake line after the game. “Obviously there’s a lot of respect there,” Mersch said. “They didn’t go down without a fight and we didn’t either.” … Not five seconds after Pilut scored the winning goal, Crunch captain Gabriel Dumont skated from the Crunch bench to the penalty box to console Thompson, obviously telling the defenseman that the loss wasn’t his fault.

Calder Cup North Division finals schedule

Game 1 – Thursday, at Toronto, 7 p.m.

Game 2 – Saturday, at Toronto, 4 p.m.

Game 3 – Wednesday, May 17, in Rochester, 7:05 p.m.

* Game 4 – Friday, May 19, in Rochester, 7:05 p.m.

* Game 5 – Sunday, May 21, at Toronto, 4 p.m.

*-if necessary