The chess match continues tonight.
Rochester’s exceptional speed gave Hershey considerable trouble in Game 1, a 5-1 Amerks win. Bears head coach Todd Nelson and his team made a concerted effort to contain that Amerks attack in Game 2, and came away with a 2-0 victory in which they held Rochester to 24 shots.
Now it’s Rochester head coach Seth Appert’s turn to adjust further.
“I don’t think we played fast enough,” Appert said after the Game 2 loss. “I don’t think our D moved the puck fast enough.”
Tonight’s game will be a sellout at Blue Cross Arena, where the Amerks are 3-0 this postseason and continue to create an impressive home environment. A run to the North Division finals last year created considerable buzz around the city, and this year’s run — the Amerks’ first appearance in the conference finals in 19 years — has only taken that energy further.
“It’ll be great,” Appert said. “Our crowds have been insane. The playoff run last year kind of reignited our fan base and then this group… Because of how young we are and how much the team had to grow to get to this spot, I think our fan base has really fallen in love with this team. Our guys have earned that, so it’ll be great to get back home to have their support.”
The Bears have a mission on their trip to Rochester: take back home-ice advantage.
Getting at least a split from Games 3 and 4 would do that for the Bears, who are 3-0 on the road this postseason. They also atoned for their Game 1 loss with a masterful 2-0 win in Game 2 that evened the series.
Coach Nelson came away happy with how his players handled Rochester’s pace and up-tempo attack.
“It was a lot better,” Nelson said. “They’re going to play their game, and it’s effective for them. Once they get possession, they’re gone, they’re playing fast, and they’re a fast hockey team.”
Nelson also acknowledged how urgent it was to take Game 2 after dropping the opening game of the series. And when the Bears took a 2-0 lead into the third period in Game 2, they shut down any chance of a Rochester comeback, limiting the Amerks to only seven shots in the final frame.
“It was very high,” Nelson replied when asked about the need to win Game 2. “Rochester has…a tough environment to play in. And to go back to Rochester if we’re down 2-0, that’s a tough road. So it’s a huge win for our hockey team. I like the way that we clamped down, doing all the things necessary to get the win.”
Win tonight, and Milwaukee can go back home happy.
The Admirals got their first in-person look at Coachella Valley in a 6-4 loss in Game 1 on Thursday. The Firebirds looked every bit the offensively potent team that the Admirals expected, but a win tonight in Game 2 would ensure the Admirals play the next three games of the series back home at Panther Arena.
“It wasn’t our best night,” head coach Karl Taylor said via the team website. “We’re going to have to regroup and make sure that we focus on the prize and what we’re trying to do, and that’s trying to get a split here on the road. We still have an opportunity to do that.”
The Admirals have shown that they can deliver on the road in hostile buildings. They took two out of three games in Texas in the Central Division finals, and they also earned a two-game split with Manitoba in the division semifinals. They also went 23-10-2-1 on the road during the regular season, a .681 performance that ranked third in the AHL.
“I don’t know if we necessarily had our best game,” Milwaukee defenseman Kevin Gravel said after a team video session Friday. “We get a win [tonight], and we’re in a pretty good spot going back to Milwaukee.”
― Patrick Williams
