Penalties, goaltending doom Amerks in loss to Crunch

By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA

With the roster the Rochester Americans have right now, mistakes in what often is a game of mistakes become oh-so-costly.

As coach Michael Leone said, there’s little margin for error.

Thus, when the Amerks took three consecutive minor penalties in a span of 5:32 in the middle chunk of the second period, they weren’t just tempting fate, they were staring down Godzilla with a BB gun.

Sure enough, the Syracuse Crunch used all three power plays to produce goals, turning a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead in what became a 5-3 victory at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial.

“We didn’t make a ton of mistakes,” Leone said, “but the mistakes we did make ended up in the net.”

So, too, did at least one shot that wasn’t even a scoring chance. Still, Conor Geekie somehow managed to slide the puck past goalie Scott Ratzlaff 4:08 into the third period and the Syracuse lead became 4-1.

Big saves and critical junctures of a game often change momentum. Failing to make a save on a low-percentage shot does the opposite.

“The fourth one was deflating, for sure,” Leone said.

The proof came on the next shift, when Nick Abruzzese converted Dylan Duke’s goal-mouth pass and it was 5-1 with just 5:03 gone in the third period.

Needless to say, Ratzlaff didn’t take advantage of an opportunity to show he deserved to play instead of Devon Levi starting seemingly every game.

“We were 15 minutes in (to the third period) and they had two goals on three shots, and five on 21 (for the game),” Leone said. “That can’t happen at this time of year, especially the fourth one.

“I know he’s a young kid; he had an opportunity to grab the net and it’s unfortunate because I really liked our game five-on-five.”

Indeed, the Amerks outshot the Crunch 32-21 but Syracuse left town with a 36-19-3-2 record while Rochester lost for the 11^th time in 12 games and fell to 25-24-5-4.

If nothing else, the 6,774 fans saw what may have been the goal of the year. After leaving Geekie wondering where he went at the top of the slot, All-Star defenseman Zac Jones dangled his way to the net before firing a point-blank shot past goalie Brandon Halverson for a 1-0 lead late in the first period.

“That was pretty special to watch,” said winger Riley Fiddler-Schultz, who along with Carson Meyer scored goals for the Amerks late in the third period. “We’ve been accustomed to seeing him make plays like that. That was pretty fun to watch.”

Jones began his attack at the right point, wheeling across the top of the slot and giving the impression he would continue toward the left wing. Except he abruptly changed direction, cutting down the slot and leaving a bewildered Geekie in his wake.

Jones then continued down the slot and made two quick fakes before sliding the puck between the legs of Halverson.

The lead disappeared in the second period after a string of penalties allowed the Crunch to crank up their offense.

First, Fiddler-Schultz air-mailed the puck into the stands at 4:12, and 59 seconds later Geekie scored one a one-timed bullet from the right circle.

“Guys like that, they just need one (chance),” Leone said. “We were in the shooting lane and he shoots it by us and in off the post. You just have to tip your cap.”

Then with Meyer serving a minor for playing with a broken stick – it broke in half but he never dropped the top portion while continuing to battle for the puck – Mitchell Chaffee scored his 21^st goal at 7:50.

The Crunch pushed their lead to 3-1 at 11:47, this time scoring three seconds after their third power play ended. Ethan Gauthier’s behind-the-back dish across the goal mouth gave Nick Abruzzese and empty-net tap-in.

“They capitalized on them and that’s what shifted the tide of the game,” Fiddler-Schultz said.