By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
There was very much a plan in place when the Buffalo Sabres decided Jiri Kulich should join the Rochester Americans for the Calder Cup playoffs instead of playing for his home country of Czechia in the World Championship.
Even though Kulich spent most of the season in the NHL, the Sabres wanted their skilled young prospect to experience more of the intensity of playoff hockey, to prove he could be both a difference-maker and a leader with his play.
Which is just what he did on Sunday evening. Kulich delivered an absolute dagger to the collective soul of the Syracuse Crunch, scoring a power-play goal in the closing seconds of the second period that propelled the Amerks to a 2-0 series lead.
The goal with 13.3 seconds remaining in the period instantly extinguished a period of mounting momentum for the Crunch, giving the Amerks a 2-0 lead in what became a 4-0 victory in front of 6,884 fans at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial.
“That’s what Jiri does,” coach Michael Leone said. “You need your big-time players to come up in big-time moments and that’s what he did for us.”
Kale Clague extended the lead to 3-0 5:53 into the third period, then Isak Rosen provided clinching insurance by scoring into an empty net with 4:50 to play.
The victory puts the Amerks in position to wrap up the best-of-five North Division semifinals on Thursday when the puck drops at 7 p.m. for Game 3 in downtown Syracuse.
The Amerks, of course, know that a 2-0 lead doesn’t mean it’s over. In 2023, they lost the first two games to the Crunch and then pulled off the “reverse sweep” by winning three straight.
“We’ve got one more to go, it’s the hardest one,” Leone said.
Konsta Helenius scored the Amerks first goal, Clague had two assists to go along with his first career playoff goal and goalie Devon Levi made 35 saves for his first career playoff shutout.
And the Amerks clamped down and blanked the Crunch even though they played 10 minutes with just four defenseman, and the final 23 ½ minutes with five.
Vsevolod Komarov was injured in a fight with Crunch forward Jack Finley, perhaps knocked unconscious by a vicious punch that silenced the arena and put a scare in his teammates.
“It was probably a five-, 10-minute delay there; just thinking about that was pretty heavy,” Levi said. “But I think he gave us a little extra motivation to go out and do it for him.”
That fight certainly gave the Crunch an added boost of confidence in a period they had dominated, and moments later they ended up with a power play and a chance to tie the score 1-1.
Instead, the Amerks and their four defensemen killed it off and then ended up with a power play of their own when Crunch winger Joel Teasdale foolishly slashed the stick out of the hands of Noah Ostlund on a nothing play.
Kulich and the Amerks needed just 4.4 seconds to make Teasdale pay.
Josh Dunne cleanly beat Gabriel Dumont on a faceoff in the left circle, drawing it back to Clague at the left point. He quickly passed to the right circle, where Kulich unloaded an absolute rocket one-timer that soared past goalie Brandon Halverson’s left shoulder.
“My job was just to put it in the net,” Kulich said.
The goal instantly flipped the momentum.
“There’s certain moments of a game, it kind of changes,” Leone said. “Any time you score with a minute left in the period, it’s tough for teams to come back. You’ve got to really regroup.
“A big-time faceoff, big-time play. That’s why he’s here, to have those big moments. When we needed him the most, he came through in the clutch.”
Assistant coach Vinny Prospal opted to have Dunne take the faceoff, which Leone said was huge, and Helenius also played a big role by creating traffic and preventing a defender from getting to Kulich.
“Hele didn’t get a point on that play but he set a real nice pick,” Leone said. “Great pass by Claguer and then that’s what Jiri does.”
Clague then scored the clinching third goal 5:53 into the third period. This time Kulich beat Dumont on a faceoff in the left circle, drawing it back to Clague. He veered toward the middle point before unloading a slap shot that Halverson probably never saw.
From that point, the Amerks played smart and protected the lead efficiently. But they didn’t stray from their identity. Even with a 4-0 lead, Graham Slaggert was diving to block a shot with 65 seconds remaining.
“Everything throughout the course of the year prepared us for this moment,” Leone said. “You talk about being selfless, adversity throughout a game, the highs and lows. The guys willed it out.”
Amerks looked they were really having fun this weekend. They looked like they weren’t having fun the final couple weeks.
Perhaps the playoffs will do this to you! Keep moving the chains guys. Lookin’ good