CRUNCH RALLY PAST AMERKS IN OVERTIME TO TAKE GAME 2
Apr 28, 2024The Rochester Americans (1-1) scored once in each period, including Mason Jobst’s game-tying goal late in the third to force overtime, but the Syracuse Crunch (1-1) prevailed midway through the extra session to claim a 4-3 win in Game 2 of the North Division Semifinals Sunday at The Blue Cross Arena.
GAME SUMMARY PHOTO GALLERY POST-GAME REPORT
The intrastate rivals are knotted at 1-1 in the best-of-five series as it shifts to Syracuse for Game 3 on Thursday, May 2.
The overtime contest was the 80th all-time in Amerks playoff history and second in the last three games against Syracuse dating back to Game 5 of the 2023 North Division Semifinals.
While Jobst scored his first of the playoffs in the third period, Michael Mersch and Linus Weissbach both scored in the first and second frames, respectively, for the Amerks. Jobst notched his first multi-point effort of the spring whereas Lukas Rousek, Ryan Johnson, Jiri Kulich, and Ethan Prow all added assists. Johnson’s helper was his first professional playoff point.
Goaltender Devon Levi (1-1) made his second appearance of the playoffs, stopping 30 of the 34 shots he faced. The rookie netminder made nine saves in the third period as well as the overtime frame but suffered his first postseason loss.
Gabriel Fortier (1+1) and Philippe Myers (0+2) both registered their first multi-point efforts of the postseason. Fortier’s goal served as the overtime-winner while Gage Goncalves, Sean Day and Jordy Bellerive all scored in regulation for the Crunch. Goaltender Brandon Halverson (1-1) made 24 saves for his first career AHL playoff victory.
Late in the third period with Rochester trailing 3-2, Johnson gathered the puck to the left of the Amerks net. The rookie defenseman slid a pass to Prow at the opposite corner of the zone before Jobst ultimately gained possession. As the team’s regular season MVP skated towards Halverson, he somehow managed to pick the upper corner despite warding off a pair of Syracuse defensemen to even the score at 3-3 with just under four minutes to play in regulation.
In the overtime period, Syracuse tested Levi several times in the first half of the extra frame, including a grade-A stop on Bellerive on the doorstep.
Just past the halfway point, the Amerks broke the puck out of their own zone, but the home club was whistled for an icing violation, resulting in an offensive zone face-off for the Crunch.
Syracuse won the ensuing draw and Declan Carlile fired a shot from the point for Fortier to steer in-behind Levi and give the visitors a 4-3 win.
Rochester opened the scoring for the second time in as many games and seventh time in the previous eight postseason contests against the Crunch dating back to 2018 Calder Cup Playoffs.
The Amerks drew a high sticking penalty with 9:33 left in the first period and only needed 13 seconds before Mersch converted amid a net-front scramble as he was parked to the right of the Crunch crease.
In the middle frame, as the Amerks successfully cleared off their first of two infractions of the afternoon, Rousek broke up a centering attempt in the defensive zone. The AHL All-Star sped ahead to retrieve the puck before he provided a nifty no-look, behind-the-back break-away pass to Weissbach, who promptly slid it though the legs of Halverson with seven minutes to play.
Syracuse responded with the game’s next three goals to take a 3-2 lead, their first of the series, but Jobst knotted the score late in the third period.
Following the conclusion of the third period, the Crunch outshot the Amerks 9-2 in the overtime frame before Fortier sealed the 4-3 win at the 10:56 mark.
The Amerks look to reclaim control of the series when the intrastate rivals reconvene for Game 3 on Thursday, May 2 at Upstate Medical University Arena in Syracuse. The matchup will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV.
Stars and Stripes:
Including the regular season, Lukas Rousek has notched an assist in five consecutive games while Ethan Prow has three points (1+2) in three straight tallies over that same span … With an assist tonight, Ryan Johnson became the sixth different first-year skater for the Amerks to record a point through the first two games of the series … Of Michael Mersch’s seven playoff goals with the Amerks, five have come against Syracuse.
Goal Scorers
SYR: J. Bellerive (2), G. Goncalves (1), S. Day (1), G. Fortier (1)
ROC: M. Mersch (1), L. Weissbach (1), M. Jobst (1)
Goaltenders
SYR: B. Halverson – 24/27 (W)
ROC: D. Levi – 30/34 (L)
Shots
SYR: 34
ROC: 27
Special Teams
SYR: PP (0/2) | PK (0/1)
ROC: PP (1/1) | PK (2/2)
Three Stars
1. SYR - G. Fortier
2. ROC - M. Jobst
3. SYR - J. Bellerive