Remarks: Amerks season ends with dramatic loss in triple overtime


ROCHESTER – Even in defeat, fans who stayed through five and a half hours of playoff hockey in three overtime gave a huge standing ovation to thank the first Amerks team to reach the third round of the playoffs since 2004.

A postseason run that included memorable and exhilarating comebacks, individual heroics and depth-sapping injuries had just ended at Blue Cross Arena on Wednesday night with the Rochester Americans losing 6-5 to the Laval Rocket in triple overtime.

The Amerks players were still catching their breath when the Rocket celebrated JS Dea’s game-winning goal 1:51 into the third extra period. Laval swept the best-of-five series to advance to the conference finals, where he will play either Springfield or Charlotte.

Rochester had to accept that their season was over just six days after they won at Utica to eliminate the top-seeded Comets. Tears were shed. Many of the 10,662 fans who packed the arena stayed to watch the exhausting effort. JJ Peterka still had his skates on when he spoke to the media 45 minutes after it all ended.

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“This is a great group that went through so much adversity, never gave up on each other,” Amerks coach Seth Appert said.

Twice Wednesday night, Rochester seemed destined for a quiet exit. Leading 2-0, he allowed four goals in a span of three minutes, 56 seconds late in the second period to fall behind by two at halftime.

Brett Murray scored two of the Amerks’ three goals in the third-period rally that gave them a 5-4 lead, but Jesse Ylonen sent the game into overtime on his tie score with an extra spiker on the ice for a power play with only 67 seconds left in the rulebook.

“There were a lot of swings in momentum,” Murray said. “It was emotional to be a part of that, for sure.”

The Amerks had opportunities to extend their season. During the first overtime, they started with the power play and later, Ethan Prow’s shot went wide of goalkeeper Cayden Primeau before the puck grazed the right post. Winger Brendan Warren hit the crossbar in the second overtime, followed by a one-shot from Jack Quinn that hit the knob of Primeau’s stick.

But in the end, a controversial penalty led to the winning goal. Rochester defenseman Brandon Davidson was called for delaying the game when his punt attempt went over the glass. Appert expressed confidence that the puck was deflected by a Laval player.

Thirty-one seconds into the ensuing power play, Dea scored his second goal of the game to end the marathon.

“We created a lot of chances to win,” Appert said. “There’s no question about that, whether it’s at the end of the third or in overtime. We had a lot of looks to win the game. We just didn’t make it from an offensive perspective.”

This game, like most this postseason, showed the resolve of the Amerks. They endured a tumultuous regular season in which injuries forced Appert to use makeshift lineups and caused them to drop down the standings. Rochester qualified for the playoffs on the last day of the regular season.

There were wins that came from behind in the playoffs, starting with Game 1 against Belleville in the play-in series. Twenty-one of Rochester’s last 56 games have gone to overtime. They played their last match without Michael Mersch, the team captain. Appert fielded seven defensemen and 11 forwards throughout the playoffs.

“It’s hard to even think about that so quickly,” Murray said, his throat tight as he recalled what he and his teammates endured. “You don’t see a lot of teams coming together, coming together like we did through adversity all season long… This is an extremely special group.”

Still, this situation looked dire at the second intermission.

Peterka and Mark Jankowski scored in the first period to put Rochester up 2-0. The Rocket then took over with goals from Brandon Gignac, Danick Martel, Xavier Ouellet and Dea.

Gignac headed a shot from the edge, Martel scored when he was left open in the slot and Ouellete tied his shot through traffic. Ultimately, Dea got to a loose puck around the crease as Dell was slow to come after taking a hit to the mask with the opening shot, while Laval reassured the crowd by making it 4-2 with 2:12 remaining in the second period. .

“Everyone believes everyone in that room,” Prow said. “Everyone is giving it their all, and we all believed we could do it.”

The Amerks’ rally began with Murray scoring the first of two goals just 13 seconds into the third period. Peterka then completed a cross from Peyton Krebs to equalize, and Rochester took the lead again when Murray redirected Prow’s shot from the spot with 11:25 remaining.

Goalie Aaron Dell made 54 saves to try to avoid elimination. Quinn finished the postseason without a goal, but he had another standout performance on Wednesday night.

This team will not return intact next season. Quinn and Peterka could graduate to the NHL. Krebs and Casey Fitzgerald will return to the Sabers. Veterans will sign elsewhere. Arttu Ruotsalainen’s future looks uncertain. But they will always have this playoff run that made the building swell with pride when it was all over.

“It’s a resilient group,” Appert said.

Here are other observations of the game:

Murray and Ryan MacInnis, both power forwards who get to the front of the net, were at the center of Rochester’s plan to create offense. Primeau, a Canadiens prospect, allowed just two goals in the first two games of this series, while Rochester failed to create traffic up front. He saw too many shots, including Quinn’s eight in Game 2.

MacInnis moved to the top lane and blocked Primeau on Peterka’s goal that made it 2-0 on Wednesday. Murray then had a significant impact in the third period.

Oskari Laaksonen, a 22-year-old defenseman, was unhappy with the Amerks coaches’ decision to cut him after he had 34 points in 71 regular-season games. An AHL star as a rookie in 2020-21, he was suddenly trailing non-prospects like Mitch Eliot and Josh Teves on the depth chart.

Laaksonen, a third-round draft pick by the Sabers in 2017, finally made his postseason debut in Game 2 on Monday and helped Laval break. Appert explained that Laaksonen’s defensive shortcomings, particularly in handling a physical opponent, led to him being scratched in rounds one and two.

Laaksonen played just six at-bats in regulation Wednesday and struggled to handle the puck in overtime.

“I was not happy with the decision and probably everyone else in the stands is not happy,” Laaksonen said. “But this is a team, the manager decides who plays and we’re so far apart so I’m not going to look back. Now is my chance to get involved and try to help the team the best I can.”

Goalkeeper Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was unable to return from a lower-body injury for Game 3 but is “very close”, Appert said. Luukkonen, 23, has not played since the end of the regular season on April 29, when he was injured in a collision with Ryan Schmelzer of Utica. The injury occurred at a time when Luukkonen was playing well for Rochester, raising his season save percentage to .900.

Luukkonen returned to practice with the Amerks over the weekend, skating solo on Tuesday afternoon after the team returned from Laval.

“Uppie is close, very close,” Appert said after the morning skate. “It’s just interesting. Having played the position, it’s tough because it’s not like a striker or a defender where you think, ‘Oh, I’m only 80 percent and I can go out there and play and if I’m not playing that well, we’ve got other guys.’ If you’re a goalkeeper and you’re not 100 percent sure you can help your team win, then you’re really putting your team at a disadvantage.”



Reference-buffalonews.com

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