By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
So close but yet so … undisciplined.
The Rochester Americans were just 8.2 seconds from defeating the Hershey Bears on Friday night when Mike Vecchione forced overtime with a power-play goal before scoring on a breakaway in overtime.
That double-dagger delivered by the Bears talented winger meant instead of victory over the two-time defending Calder Cup champions, the Amerks were 4-3 losers in front of 5,423 fans at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial.
“I know we’re a young group but the scoreboard doesn’t care,” Amerks coach Michael Leone said. “It’s about winning hockey games.”
And winning hockey teams don’t take foolish penalties. The Amerks did, and as a result fell to 8-5-3-0 despite a pair of goals by defenseman Kale Clague, a goal by Brett Murray and a pair of assists by Konsta Helenius.
Early in the third period, Lukas Rousek was assessed a 10-minute misconduct because of a not-so-nice something he said to the referees. That resulted in 10 minutes that the Amerks would play without one of their top two-way players.
But the killer penalty came with just 26.5 seconds remaining in the third period. As Amerks forward John Dunne skated to the bench on a line change, he ended up taking an interference penalty.
The Bears, of course, capitalized. Hershey super-scorer Mike Sgarbossa gathered in a loose puck behind the net and passed into the slot, where Vecchione darted to open space and fired it past goalie Devon Levi.
Just 8.2 seconds remained. Then overtime was total Hershey domination until Vecchione gathered in a 120-foot Hail Mary pass from Sgarbossa and worked a little stickhandling magic to find the top shelf.
While a one-goal loss to what still may be the American Hockey League’s best team doesn’t look bad, Leone wanted nothing to do with the suggestion of a moral victory.
“I thought we took a really undisciplined penalty coming to the bench,” Leone said. “You’re coming to the bench, just get on the bench.
“The best teams are poised and composed in those situations.”
Leone tried to deflect a little of the blame to himself, saying it’s the coach’s responsibility to make sure players understand what they should and should not do.
“That falls on the head coach,” he said. “I have to do a better job of probably talking about those things, in moments like that.”
That sounded nice, that the coach was sharing in the blame. In reality, however, it was nonsense. Professional players shouldn’t need to be told that mindless penalties with a one-goal lead in the waning seconds are bad.
So instead of back-to-back victories over top-end teams, the Amerks lost for the fifth time in six games. That one victory was a 2-1 win at Laval (12-3-1-0) on Wednesday.
“The last four games we played a team that’s 12-2 (Laval), 10-1 (Toronto) and the best team in the league (Hershey, with a 12-4-2-0),” Leone said.
They don’t have much to show for it, although Leone liked a lot of what the Amerks did on Friday. “I thought we played to our identity,” Leone said. “We’ve played 16 games and we’ve been in every one except one (a 5-0 loss at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Nov. 9).”
The Bears jumped ahead just 4:40 into the game on a rebound goal by Alex Limoges. Levi made a super save on Pierrick Dube’s shot from the left wing, kicking out his left leg to deny Bears winger, but Limoges was free in the high slot to fire home the rebound.
Clague tied the score at 10:35, also on a long rebound. Bears goalie Clay Stevenson stopped a well-placed Helenius wrister from the right circle but the rebound caromed to the bottom of the left circle and Clague drove it into the net.
“I was yelling for him to pass into the slot but the defenseman took the lane away,” Clague said. “He made a smart play by throwing at the feet and it came right to me.”
Chase Priske’s power-play goal with :44.7 seconds remaining in the first period put Hershey back on top. His shot from the center point was inadvertently tipped into the top left corner of the net by Amerks winger Graham Slaggert, who was defending in the slot.
Helenius set up Murray for the tying goal 3:49 into the third period on a power play, then Clague fired home the carom off the end boards from Vsevolod Komarov’s point shot and the Amerks had their first lead with only 3:40 remaining.
But the Bears didn’t panic and Vecchione played the role of hero.
“There’s a reason they’ve won two championships (back-to-back),” Leone said. “They’re never out of it.”
‘Streaking’ Utica comes to town
The Utica Comets finally have a win.
Mike Hardman’s power-play goal with 1:13 remaining gave the Comets a 4-3 victory at Syracuse on Friday, ending their 13-game winless drought (0-10-2-1).
Three of their losses have been to the Amerks, all in Utica, by scores of 4-1 on Oct. 12, 8-1 on Nov. 1 and 3-2 in a shootout the next night.
The Baltimore Skipjacks of 1987-88 hold the record for longest winless streak at 21 games (0-19-2). The Skipjacks operated with no NHL affiliation that season and finished with a 13-58-9 record.
Its not THAT they lose, its HOW they lose. Most aggravating game of the season hands down. And its why Hershey wins Cups and Amerks are still trying to figure out why they don’t.
When is this team going to stop giving up goals in the final minute. (twice last night). When will they develop special teams that take rather than give away? When will they stop with the lame-brained penalties? (in the offensive zone with the pressure on and 27 seconds to play, they get an interference call)
I don’t care if its 6 on 4. With 8 seconds to play you do ANYTHING (including perhaps another penalty to stop the clock and get a chance to win a faceoff) to make sure a goal isn’t scored. 8 seconds.
Then the clown show OT where everytime Amerks touched the puck they coughed it up, never even coming close to getting a shot. they let Hershey just plain free run until the inevitable GWG. It looked like everyone of them was out of gas.
Amerks have lost 5 straight at home to those guys. And most all of them have been clinics on how winners win the close ones. Our players should be ashamed of last nights performance. They make the same mistakes over and over. Letting up in the final minutes; incredibly inept power play; foolish penalties. When will it end?
Refs seemed to miss a lot of calls against Hershey but honestly would giving amerks more power plays have helped? Most the time they barely could get into the zone. The one they did score was right after their 2 man advantage ended. Big deal.
You leave a game like last night feeling like the coach should decline the loser point because they didn’t deserve anything but scorn (‘despite the loss’ HAHAHA)
A very small crowd for a game with the Bears looked on. Wonder why? Too early in the year? The weather? Very surprised at how empty the BCA looked (5,400) In retrospect probably a good thing given the crappy game.
So whats the deal with these guys? 5 losses in the last 6. 3 in OT. Clearly they are incapable of putting teams away in the close games. The loser points mask this problem.
Some losses hurt more than others. Last night was a kick in the groin loss. Hershey wins games and Cups. Amerks are left wondering what went wrong, time after time after time. Frustrating and discouraging for the fans.
Excellent summation, Kevin! I attended the game with my boy and Rich Andressi. The Amerks played a solid game, but it’s those decisions made in the heat of battle, in pivotal moments, that so often determine whether victory or defeat result. And right now, the young Amerks are still learning that, while most of the Bears battle tested core have already lived and learned from that, particularly over the last two seasons, and that showed during this game. Lastly, I commend you for calling out the players for their actions, while also thoroughly explaining what the coach was trying to do for his charges. Keep up the great work!
Excellent summation, Kevin. The Amerks played a solid game, but in the end they defeated themselves. In the heat of battle, there are pivotal moments, where decisions that are made, some subtle, and some glaring, that so often determine the difference between victory and defeat. And right now, school is still very much in session for this young Amerks club. While the Bears, with their core having accumulated so much experience over the past two seasons in winning the two titles, obviously have more often than not, either made the right decision, or refrained from making the wrong one. Fortunately for the Amerks, it’s better to absorb this setback in November, where they gained a point in the standings, than in the post-season where there would be no such consolation. Lastly, kudos for calling out the player for his actions, while also doing a thorough job of explaining what the coach was trying to do for his charge. Keep up the great work!