
By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
When the franchise history spans 68 years over eight decades, it’s not easy to accomplish “firsts.”
But in staving off elimination on Saturday night by rallying from a 3-0 third-period deficit to defeat the Syracuse Crunch 4-3 in overtime, the Rochester Americans did just that.
Never before had the Amerks dug out of a 3-0 hole to win an elimination game in the Calder Cup playoffs. So maybe it’s time to add to the club’s playoff current slogan: Proud to Pesky … and Makin’ History in the Process.
The improbable victory tied the best-of-five North Division semifinals 2-2, with the deciding fifth game set for 7:05 p.m. Friday at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial.
“Never a doubt, never a doubt with this group,” said defenseman Joseph Cecconi, who helped ignite the rally by setting up the first goal and scoring the second. “We knew we weren’t done playing hockey this early. Now we get to go home to our fans Friday and get the job done.”
While Amerk players said there never was a hint of “it’s over” after two periods, they sure knew a comeback was unlikely. Heck, never in franchise history had it been done. And the Crunch are known for their defensive prowess, and their big, mobile defensemen had spent much of the past three-plus games suffocating the Amerks offense.
Yet the Amerks found a way, with Brandon Biro providing spark by converting a Cecconi goal-mouth feed just 19 seconds into the third period.
Cecconi then scored at 10:20, just after a faceoff on a set play where, with the focal point of play along the right wing boards, he charged from the blue line to the net and was by himself to steer home a Lukas Rousek pass.
“You score one that early, the other team, they get uneasy, and then you score another one and you keep on going,” Cecconi said.
When Biro tied the score at 14:48, the Crunch were reeling and the hundreds of Amerks fans in the crowd of 5,888 at Upstate Medical University Arena were making it sound like the War Memorial.
“This crowd is unbelievable,” Cecconi said. “To take time out of their day to come support us, it means a lot. I think there’s a marching band outside, they’re playing drums. We really appreciate that.”
Winger Brett Murray then provided victory 11:46 into overtime, slamming home the rebound of a Mason Jobst shot. Murray was playing for the first time since April 3, when he was injured in the closing moments of a 6-1 victory over the Cleveland Monsters.
His return gave the Amerks a much-needed physical presence on the wall and in front of the net, which is where he was when he scored the game-winner.
“We’ve created such a special bond here that watching my brothers fight without me was difficult,” Murray said. “But getting back in the lineup today and winning in such dramatic fashion just brings us closer.”
Murray took the first-star curtain call but he gave stick-taps to others.
“Brandon Biro, Lukas Rousek, Linus Weissbach and Joe Cecconi, you gotta give them credit,” Murray said. “They willed us back into this game with three gritty goals.”
That’s because the entire group – most of whom were part of last spring’s march to the Eastern Conference finals – knew it was way too early for summer to begin.
Well, once they actually were allowed to play, that is. The start of the game was delayed 16 minutes because of an issue with the boards at the maintenance exit. And just like in Game 3 on Thursday, won 2-1 by the Crunch in double overtime, the ice was hardly good, which meant bouncing pucks and myriad of bobbles.
“It was probably the most typical game in Syracuse that you could get,” Biro said. “It’s always tight here, the boards were broken, the game didn’t on time, the ice was a little bit soft. So this was basically the most typical game in Syracuse.”
A trifecta of overtimes
After a 3-2 victory by the Amerks in Game 1, overtime was needed to decide the next three. The Crunch won 4-3 in Game 2 and 2-1 in double overtime in Game 3.
The last time the Amerks played three consecutive OT games in a series was in 1983 in the semifinals against New Haven. Rochester won the series 4-3 en route to the Calder Cup.
Amerks memorable third-period comebacks
The Amerks turned this 3-0 third-period, comeback trick in Game 1 of the play-in mini round in 2022 against Belleville.
Down 3-0 after two periods, they rallied on goals by Rousek at 3:13, Jimmy Schuldt at 13:19 and Casey Fitzgerald at 16:03 before Arttu Ruotsalainen provided victory at 16:54 of overtime.
One of the most memorable, backs-to-the-wall, third-period comebacks ever by an Amerks team came in the 1993 semifinals against the powerhouse Binghamton Rangers (an AHL record 57 wins and 124 points).
Binghamton led 3-1 in the third period of Game 6 and were looking to close out the series. But the Rangers collapsed under overwhelming pressure by the Amerks, who scored six times in the final period to win 7-5 on home ice.
The Amerks then won Game 7 in Binghamton, 3-2, to complete one of the greatest upsets in AHL history and earn a berth in the Calder Cup finals, where they lost in five games to the powerhouse Cape Breton Oilers.
Even more remarkable than the Amerks ability to upend Binghamton was the playoff scoring of Oilers forward Bill McDougall. He scored 26 goals and 26 assists for 52 points – in 16 games.
great story Kevin. Nice walk down memory lane. We were at that comeback game against Binghamton. The place was a looney bin of frenzy in the 3rd period. Then the first game of the finals against the Oilers. It was a pond hockey high scoring game we won in OT, but as we left, we all said, we’ll never win this series if we play like that again. And sure enough, McDougall &Co slaughtered us in game 2 and we never recovered.
Syracuse sort of fell prey to the tactic that never seems to work in game 4. Whenever you go into ‘prevent defense’ for a whole period, bad things happen. Especially after Biro’s first goal 19 seconds in. Friday night should be memorable. I expect a full house.
And a win.