AMERKS BLANKED BY CRUNCH IN GAME 2
Best-of-five series shifts back to Rochester for must-win Game 3 on Friday, April 28
Apr 23, 2023The Rochester Americans (0-2) were unable to erase a two-goal first-period deficit nor generate much offensively as the Syracuse Crunch (2-0) took Game 2 of the North Division Semifinals by way of a 3-0 win Saturday at the Upstate Medical University Arena.
The Crunch now lead the best-of-five series 2-0 after taking the first two games in Syracuse as the series shifts to Rochester for a must-win Game 3 on Friday, April 28 at The Blue Cross Arena.
Defenseman Jeremy Davies led all Amerks with three shots on goal while fellow blueliner Zach Metsa made his professional debut after joining the team last weekend.
Goaltender Malcolm Subban (0-2) turned aside 29 of the 31 shots he faced but suffered his second straight defeat of the series. In two appearances against the Crunch, the Toronto, Ontario, native has stopped 66 of the 71 shots he’s faced.
Alex Barre-Boulet, who paced the Crunch offense during the regular season with 60 assists and 84 points, tallied a pair of helpers for his first two points of the playoffs. Gage Goncalves scored once in the first and third periods, respectively, while former Amerk Ryan Jones rounded out the scoring with his initial marker of the postseason.
Netminder Max Lagace (2-0) stopped all 18 shots he faced to earn his first-career playoff shutout as well as the win.
Less than two minutes into the opening frame, Felix Robert carried the puck across the Rochester blueline before leaving a drop-pass atop the left point for Jones. As Robert continued his path down the wall, Jones stepped into a shot and ripped it past Subban to give the Crunch a 1-0 advantage.
Syracuse, which held Rochester without a shot in the first period of play, doubled its lead halfway through the first frame.
Jack Thompson scooped up the puck in the offensive zone before centering a pass to Barre-Boulet, who skated down the slot and pulled Subban out of position. The Quebec native provided a last-minute feed for Goncalves to chip a shot into a wide-open net at the 11:29 mark.
Despite drawing three second-period penalties, including an extended five-minute major, Rochester was unable to crack Lagace’s shutout bid.
The Amerks, who faced a two-goal deficit to start the final 20 minutes of regulation, registered eight shots on goal.
Rochester pulled Subban for the last 60 seconds of the contest to try to spark a late comeback, however, Goncalves netted his second of the night into an empty net to give the Crunch 3-0 victory.
The Amerks look to stave off elimination as the best-of-five series shifts back to Rochester for Game 3 on Friday, April 28 at The Blue Cross Arena. Puck drop is slated for a 7:05 p.m. start and will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
Storyline Stripes
Zach Metsa was the 41st different Rochester player to appear in at least one game in 2022-23 and the 16th defenseman … Metsa was the fifth rookie to make his postseason debut after Tyson Kozak, Josh Passolt, Isak Rosen, and Kohen Olischefski all made their AHL playoffs debuts during Friday’s series-opener … The last time Rochester won three straight playoff games to win a series versus Syracuse came back in 2004 as the Amerks eliminated the Crunch 4-3 after facing a 3-games-to-1 deficit.
Goal Scorers
ROC: None
SYR: R. Jones (1), G. Goncalves (1,2)
Goaltenders
ROC: M. Subban – 29/31 (L)
SYR: M. Lagace – 18/18 (W)
Shots
ROC: 18
SYR: 32
Special Teams
ROC: PP (0/4) | PK (4/4)
SYR: PP (0/4) | PK (4/4)
Three Stars
1. SYR - M. Lagace
2. SYR - G. Goncalves
3. SYR - C. Koepke