By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
They were cruising to victory and, in doing so, on the verge of turning the Calder Cup Eastern Conference finals into a best-of-three showdown.
Just 10 minutes remained and goalie Malcolm Subban and the Rochester Americans were shutting out the Hershey Bears 2-0 on Monday night.
And then they collapsed.
After Linus Weissbach had staked the Amerks to a 2-0 lead with a goal early in the first and another late in the second, the Bears unleashed an overpowering offensive blitz that produced a 4-2 victory and gave them a 3-1 stranglehold on the best-of-seven series.
Defensemen Lucas Johansen and Logan Day scored just 2:05 apart to tie the score, then Mason Morelli swatted home a rebound only 3:15 later.
In just 5 minutes and 21 seconds, the Bears went from down and out to downright elated. And when Morelli hit an empty net with 56.8 remaining, the bewildered Amerks – and 10,687 fans – were left to ponder what just happened.
“That one kicks,” Amerks coach Seth Appert said.
It did largely because they kicked it away. Two giveaways led to chances for the Bears, and they didn’t miss, which tied the score. Subban, who was sensational through 50 minutes, was no longer able to save his team down the stretch.
“I think ‘Subbs’ did a great job tonight and I’m really sorry we let him down,” said winger Filip Cederqvist,
If they are to play again this spring at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial – where the past three games have sold out – then the Amerks must find a way to derail the Bears overwhelming momentum when Game 5 is played at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pa.
Game 6 would be at 7:05 p.m. Friday in Rochester, with Game 7 back in Hershey on June 5. But Appert said his team can’t look any farther ahead than to Wednesday.
“We can’t let this be more than one game,” Appert said. “We gave away a game we should have won. But we can’t let it be more than one game. Use it as motivation, be angry about it. All we have to do is go on the road and win a game, that’s it.”
They face elimination because they didn’t cope with possible success very well on Monday. Despite having the 2-0 lead, the Amerks couldn’t deny Hershey offensive zone time and then they started to make poor decisions.
“We just lacked composure with the puck in some big moments,” Appert said. “The first two goals, we had pucks on our sticks, one in the defensive zone, one in the offensive zone, and we just made immature decisions with it, which led to them getting chances.”
The first ill-fated decision was made by defenseman Mitch Eliot. He had complete control of the puck behind the net but his blind pass went directly to the blade of Sam Anas’ stick. The Bears then moved the puck deftly for the next 17 seconds before Aliasksei Protas set up Johansen in the slot.
Then an offensive-zone turnover by Mason Jobst led to the second Bears goal. He had possession as he circled behind the Hershey net, but his centering pass went to no one and Hershey sprinted away on a fast break.
As the Bears entered the Rochester zone, the Amerks lost defensive coverage on Day – Lukas Rousek attempted to catch up but was far too late – and with one top-shelf shot later the game was tied.
The go-ahead goal came after more non-stop offensive zone pressure. Subban stopped Day’s shot from the center point by Morelli, posted up at the top of the crease, kept his stick free from tie-ups by Zach Metsa and Joseph Cecconi and jammed in the rebound.
“Do you want to put guys on their rear end in front of the net? Yes, so I think we should have been more physical. But, I don’t think our forwards handled that situation very well up top (Kohen Olischefski and Cederqvist).
“What’s really important is you’re taking away backdoors on those situations. I know what the D are thinking. Sometimes when you come across and cross-check a guy out of the way, you vacate the backdoor and that’s a guaranteed goal on a rebound. The one in front is one that’s save-able, potentially.”
The Amerks attempted to apply extra-attacker pressure in the final 100 seconds but Protas was able to push through Jobst and escape from the Hershey zone before setting up Morelli for the long-range empty-netter from the neutral zone.
“We’re a confident group,” Weissbach said. “This is definitely not over.”
Injured Prow replaced by Eliot
Defenseman Ethan Prow was unable to play due to an unspecified injury. His playing status is day-to-day, Appert said.
Mitch Eliot, who played in seven of the first eight playoff games, returned to the lineup.
Prow missed only five of the 72 regular-season games.
Cederqvist in, Savoie out
Cederqvist was taken out of the lineup in Games 2 and 3 in favor of newcomer Matthew Savoie, Buffalo’s first-round pick in 2022.
But Savoie didn’t created little in his first two professional games, so Appert opted to put Cederqvist back in the lineup, in part because of the size and physicality he can provide against the much larger Bears.
Cederqvist responded by setting up the first goal and playing well on the wall.
“He had a little chip on his shoulder,” Appert said.
Said Cederqvist: “It’s never fun to be out of the lineup.”
dont expect any bouquets of flowers for this mess of a playoff game. I’d call it a total choke if not for the fact that hershey is the better team. Better in goal, on the boards, in the d-zone, in the o-zone..everywhere. Yet Amerks were in a position to steal this one…with a 2-0 lead with 10 minutes to play and Subban playing great.
then all the mistakes came home to roost, and Subban let in a couple of softies after making so many brilliant saves.
Amerks have been just awful at protecting leads in 3rd periods. They play not to lose rather than playing to win, The offense completely disappears and they let the opponent do anything they want. Hershey controlled the entire 3rd period almost like they scripted it. After they tied the game, I doubt anyone in that arena thought the Amerks were going to be able to score another goal.
This team has suddenly decided not to shoot the puck anymore. Instead they cross the blueline and pass it around until they have it stolen.
Bears have this series now. Our guys will say all the right words but words are not able to stem this tsunami that are the Bears. Wednesday will be a formality because I think the guys have pretty much packed it in. You don’t play the way they did in front of those two huge crowds and conclude they have what it takes.
While the Bears are the better, more talented team, losses like tonites are unacceptable no matter how its spun. If you are to lose, please don’t lose like this.
I’m happy that this team made it this far. Not happy when they blow a lead like this.
Bears are hungry. Amerks are scared. Bewildered. Shell shocked. And their season, barring a miracle will end Wednesday.