The Rochester Americans showed up last night to fight for their season.
Now they will have another opportunity to do so Sunday afternoon after an 8-5 win over Syracuse in Game 3 of their North Division semifinal.
Rochester had to fend off a Crunch team that continued to push and broke three Rochester leads, including a two-goal advantage during a wild third period in which the clubs combined for eight goals. But the Amerks scored four times in the final 4:39 and staved off elimination.
“This group has always had a real resilience, a fighting spirit, and a collectiveness to it,” Amerks head coach Seth Appert said via the team website. “As a coach, that’s what you want to have. You love a group that doesn’t give in, and they fight for each other.
“This is real playoff hockey.”
The Amerks showed that fighting spirit against an opponent that had frustrated them in a Game 2 in which Rochester did not manage a single shot on goal during the first period of a 3-0 loss.
But Appert and his club had five days between games to adjust, and they did, taking leads of 1-0, 2-1, 4-2 and 6-5 before finally putting the Crunch away with two late empty-netters.
“The guys have had a really good week,” Appert continued. “We were frustrated and a little down after last weekend. I just liked our response all week, the way they came to the meetings, the way they came to practice. We played an attacking game, which is when we’re at our best offensively and defensively.”
Milwaukee Admirals head coach Karl Taylor had an influx of faces returning from the Nashville Predators, but he knew one thing: he also had a tight-knit group that would put the team’s best interests first.
In Game 1 against Manitoba last night, Luke Evangelista, Mark Jankowski, Michael McCarron, Zach Sanford, Kiefer Sherwood, Spencer Stastney and Phil Tomasino all returned to the lineup after finishing the regular season in Nashville.
Taylor had acknowledged that he had difficult decisions — and discussions — on who would dress for the playoff opener. Veteran defenseman Roland McKeown and forwards Isaac Ratcliffe and Tim Schaller ended up sitting out the 6-2 Admirals victory.
“I think the group is tight,” Taylor told the team website after the game. “I think they’ve been that way all year even with the roster movement we’ve had. I think they truly care about each other. Sometimes we throw around those words loosely, but this group is very invested in each other and invested in what we’re doing here.
“Our energy, our determination, and our emotion in the game and trying to support each other was outstanding. That goes a long way as a team as you’re trying to win games in the playoffs.”
Goaltenders Arvid Holm and Oskari Salminen rejoined the Moose before Game 1, returning from the Winnipeg Jets after the NHL club was eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Thursday night by the Vegas Golden Knights. They arrived back in Winnipeg on the NHL club’s flight home from Las Vegas.
Holm dressed for Game 1 with the Moose and was pressed into action when head coach Mark Morrison pulled starter Evan Cormier after the Admirals scored on three of their first seven shots. Holm finished out the game with 14 stops.
The goaltending upheaval was new territory for the Moose, who saw Salminen and Holm start 70 of their 72 regular-season games. Cormier only made two AHL appearances this season before his Game 1 start, both during the final week of the regular season.
“It’s playoff hockey. You’re never out of it.”
Calgary Wranglers head coach Mitch Love had a good feeling even after his club went down 3-1 to Abbotsford after two periods in Game 2 of the teams’ Pacific Division semifinal series last night.
“Our guys sensed that,” Love told the media after the game. “I think they felt like they were playing a better hockey game than we did in Game 1.”
The Wranglers got goals from Ben Jones and Dryden Hunt early in the third period to tie the game, and Matthew Phillips finished it in overtime to give Calgary a 2-0 series lead.
“He’s a gamer,” Love said of Phillips, his First Team AHL All-Star. “He senses big moments in big games. He’s a consummate pro, and we’re fortunate to have him on our side. He’s a courageous little guy.”
Two nights after Jakob Pelletier had scored the overtime winner in Game 1, Phillips became Calgary’s latest hero.
“It’s great, kind of a pinch-myself type thing,” Phillips said of playing postseason hockey in his native Calgary. “Just driving in, a playoff game here in this atmosphere, a Canadian match-up. It’s tons of fun, just trying to soak it all in.”
― Patrick Williams
