Amerks jump ahead early, win Game 1 of division finals

By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA

After fighting off elimination three times to advance out of the Calder Cup North Division semifinals, the Rochester Americans are writing a different script this time.

The visiting Amerks spotted the Toronto Marlies an early 1-0 lead, then rattled off four unanswered goals and held on for a 4-3 victory on Thursday night in Game 1 of the North Division finals at Coca-Cola Coliseum.

Kohen Olischefski and Brett Murray scored in the first period, Isak Rosen scored a power-play goal late in the second period and Jiri Kulich provided clinching insurance on a power play early in the third.

The Amerks went 2-for-2 with the man advantage while killing all four Toronto power plays – with Olischefski scoring short-handed.

“Special teams were huge and that was the difference,” said center Mason Jobst, who set up the goals by Olieschefski and Kulich.

Game 2 of the best-of-five series will be at 4 p.m. Saturday in Toronto, with Game 3 at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial. Game 4, if necessary, is at 7:05 p.m. Friday in downtown Rochester. Game 5 would be at 4 p.m. on May 21 in Toronto.

The fast start in this series is in stark contrast to the previous round, when the Amerks dropped the first two games on the road before rattling off three wins in a row.

“I did like our mentality, I thought we came out aggressive,” Amerks coach Seth Appert said.

That’s even despite the Marlies scoring just 3:04 into the game, when they took advantage of a fortunate bounce. Joseph Blandisi’s centering pass out of the right corner hit the skate of Jobst and caromed to the left of the slot, where Nick Abruzzese was free to fire it home.

But the Amerks tied the score on Olischefski’s short-handed goal at 9:00. Jermey Davies broke up Logan’s Shaw’s rush into the Amerks zone and banked the puck out to center. Jobst sped away on a two-on-one break down the left wing and then passed to Olischefski, who roofed a shot from the right of the slot.

“I did think the momentum was turned by the short-handed goal,” Appert said.

Murray’s tip-in goal at 18:16 put the Amerks on top 2-1. Ethan Prow wristed a shot from the right point and Murray, having posted up at the top of the crease, redirected it past goalie Erik Kallgren.

“I thought Murray was one of the guys that willed our team back in the last series,” Appert said.

He was powerful again on Thursday, helping create the scoring opportunity first by maintaining puck possession on zone entry, then establishing position at the top of the crease.

The score didn’t change until 1:02 remained in the second period, when Rosen one-timed home a Linus Weissbach pass.

Kulich’s goal 2:07 into the second period pushed the lead to 4-1. The rookie forward has scored a goal in each of the four playoff games he has played.

The goal turned out to be critical because Blandisi scored at 7:56 and then Kyle Clifford tipped in a shot at 16:49 after Kallgren was pulled in favor of a sixth attacker.

“Kulich was just OK tonight, but he got better as the game went on and he still found a way to deliver for his teammates,” Appert said. “And that’s a big goal. Because we didn’t just sit back and got that extra goal, now that six-on-five goal that they got only gets them within one instead of tying it up.”

Notes: Weissbach left the game with an unspecified ailment. Appert didn’t have an update. … The Amerks had never defeated Toronto in a playoff game. They were swept three straight times, in 2012, 2013 and 2019. … There were just 43 shots on goal in the game, 23 by the Marlies, 20 by the Amerks. The Amerks held Toronto to just 11 shots in the first two periods, making life rather easy for goalie Malcolm Subban.