Despite Levi’s 60 saves, Amerks fall to Crunch in double OT

By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA

SYRACUSE – The clean-up crew was all that remained inside Upstate Medical University Arena late Thursday night but the scoreboard – with the final score and shot totals – remained illuminated.

The shot counter read Syracuse Crunch 62, Rochester Americans 34. The final score: a hard-to-fathom 2-1 in favor of the Crunch after 90 minutes and 18 seconds of Calder Cup playoff hockey.

Despite the brilliance of Amerks goalie Devon Levi, the Crunch prevailed when Waltteri Merela scored on a breakaway 10:18 into the second overtime, giving the Crunch another one-goal victory as well as a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five North Division semifinals.

Syracuse will look to clinch on home ice in Game 4 at 7 p.m. Saturday. If the Amerks win, the deciding fifth game is in Rochester on Friday, May 10.

“It’s just a loss, it’s not more than a regulation loss,” Levi said after his 60-save performance. “As much as this sucks, losing in double overtime, the series is not over.”

In reality, the game never should have gone to overtime. The Crunch had a boatload of prime chances, especially in the first two periods, but Levi was terrific.

The only shot to elude him in regulation – on shot No. 26 – came 11:10 into the second period, when defenseman Declan Carlile set up Alex Barre-Boulet for a goal-mouth tap-in and a 1-0 lead.

But the Amerks were able to tie it when Isak Rosen was tripped by defenseman Philippe Myers while on a breakaway and was awarded a penalty shot. He scored on the rare playoff penalty shot with 54.4 seconds left in the second period.

And then Levi and Crunch goalie Brandon Halverson refused to let the game end. Each made great stops. Each battled through traffic in the goal crease to find the puck and keep it out of the net.

Maxim Groshev had two great chances to win the game in the first overtime for the Crunch but Levi stopped both shots. He also kicked out his left leg to rob Daniel Walcott from the slot with 6:35 remaining in the first OT.

Three minutes later, Mason Jobst and Rosen sprinted in alone on a two-on-zero fastbreak. Jobst’s quick shot off the return pass from Rosen bounced harmlessly off Halverson’s left arm.

Merela finally ended it nearly 4 hours and 51 minutes after the opening faceoff by scoring on a breakaway. He took the long outlet pass from Gage Goncalves just inside the blue line, darted down the slot, got Levi to bite on a fake and then weaved around him and hit the empty net.

“He made a nice fake and got me down and the ice was so bad I just stuck to the ice,” Levi said.

The opportunity came after a poor decision by rookie winger Anton Wahlberg. He wheeled off the right wing boards at center and picked up speed as he attacked up the middle and entered the Crunch zone.

The problem: He was trying to stickhandle past three Crunch players. Gabriel Fortier slowed his progress and Goncalves finished the takeaway. One quick pass later and Merela was on way to becoming the Game 3 hero.

“He tried to go one-on-one at the blue line in double overtime with four guys back,” Amerks coach Seth Appert said. “An all risk and no reward play.”

So now the Amerks find themselves facing elimination when the series resumes. Of course, a large part of the group has been here before. Just last spring, the Amerks fell behind 2-0 in the series to the Crunch and then rallied to win the series, including an OT triumph in Game 5 in Syracuse.

“We’ve won series the last couple years with our back against the wall, on the road,” Appert said, referring to the Syracuse series last year and the division semifinals against Utica in 2022.

But if they’re going to defeat the reinforced Crunch, they must create a whole lot more offensive zone pressure. The big, mobile defensive corps of the Crunch is now even better with the return of Max Crozier and Emil Lilleberg from the parent Tampa Bay Lightning.

“It’s playoffs, I think we need to do a better job winning battles in the offensive zone,” Rosen said. “The puck battles in the offensive zone we’re really there.”

Notes: Rosen said Michael Mersch suggested he shoot high glove on his penalty shot. He did, and scored. “The ice was so bad I just tried to get a good shot away.”

The last Amerk to take a penalty shot in a playoff game was defenseman Dean Melanson against the Hamilton Bulldogs in 1999. He failed to score. Team and AHL records are spotty, so the last Amerks playoff penalty shot goal isn’t known.

The Amerks hadn’t gone to double overtime since Game 3 of the division finals against Laval in 2022. The Rocket won 6-5 in triple overtime to complete the series sweep at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial.

The Amerks hadn’t gone to a second overtime in a road playoff game since Game 3 of the 2007 best-of-seven first-round series against the Hamilton Bulldogs, a 5-4 loss 17 seconds into OT No. 2. Craig Anderson made 46 saves for the Amerks while Carey Price stopped 33 Rochester shots.

Walcott needed medical attention after he suffered a cut on his face when, while off balance, he was driven heavily into the end boards by Amerks defenseman Joseph Cecconi with 3:36 left in the first period. Cecconi was following through on a check when Walcott started to fall, and his head ended up about hip high when he was hit. He returned for the second period.