Amerks look to rebound after losing back-to-back OT games to Syracuse

If you thought it was a frustrating weekend for everyone who is not a Kansas City Chiefs fan watching the inevitable happen in the Super Bowl, the Rochester Amerks would like a moment of your time.

Last Friday night, the Amerks jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead at Blue Cross Arena, only to allow the Syracuse Crunch to score the final three goals with the winner coming 38 seconds into overtime.

And then Saturday night, the Amerks jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead at Syracuse’s Upstate Medical University Arena, only to allow the Crunch to score the final three goals with the winner coming 18 seconds into overtime.

Yeah, not ideal losing back-to-back games to their fierce Thruway rival, results that allowed the Crunch to move into first place in the AHL’s North Division while the Amerks remained stuck in a tie for third with Toronto, nine points behind Syracuse.

“You have to learn all the time,” Amerks coach Seth Appert said. “If you stay the same, other teams are going to go past you. You’re always trying to get better, trying to improve. I thought both games, if we could have gotten a third goal, that makes them more uncomfortable.”

In the first game, Brandon Biro and Mason Jobst scored 2:05 apart midway through the first period and the Amerks were buzzing on offense as they managed 12 shots on goal against a team that can be tough to generate chances against. That point was proven as Rochester had just nine shots on goal the rest of the way.

“It’s hard to play against Syracuse,” Amerks winger Lukas Rousek said. “It’s always about details.”

Amerks: Rochester may lean on rookie goalie Devon Levi in their push for the playoffs

Meanwhile, the Crunch tied the game with a pair of goals in the second, the latter of which was plain old lucky as a shot by Joe Carroll that was headed well wide of the net hit Devante Stephens and caromed past goalie Devon Levi who had no chance.

“You’d like to get out of the second up 2-1,” Appert said. “You’re not going to outplay a team of their caliber for 60 minutes. We had chances to score in the second that we didn’t capitalize on them and they capitalized on theirs. They got a lucky bounce, the tying goal was probably going three feet wide and it ricochets off a shin.”

After a scoreless third, the Amerks lost in the overtime when Waltteri Merela wristed one from the left faceoff circle past Levi on a 2-on-1 where defenseman Kale Clague left him a little too much room to operate.

“I think he could have made it more uncomfortable in the neutral zone,” Appert said of the way Clague laid back, seemingly more concerned about a potential pass. “It was only a 2-on-1 if you give up the blue line. He probably could have surfed over and just pushed him wider. That’s too much good real estate to give up there.”

Saturday, it was Rousek and Brett Murray scoring in the first 4:48 of the first period, each of them setting up the other, to get the Amerks rolling, but Syracuse tied it before the period ended. And after two scoreless periods, the Crunch won it again early in overtime.

Cole Koepke’s attempted pass that was broken up by diving Amerks defenseman Jeremy Davies and the puck bounced toward the net. Levi stopped it but the rebound came free and Koepke was able to regain possession, spin around and beat Levi as he was trying to scramble back into the crease.

“There’s a lot we can take from it moving forward,” Murray said. “It doesn’t feel good to drop both of them, but to come out with two points feels like a silver lining.”

Amerks power play showed a little life

In both games against Syracuse, the Amerks scored with the man advantage as Biro scored Friday and Murray Saturday. But there were also moments when the power play was a mess, especially during a four-minute opportunity Friday when they managed just one shot and failed to expand on a 2-1 lead. Instead, four minutes later the game was tied.

“It’s kind of one of those where it’s a great opportunity for yourself, but if you don’t capitalize it does seem in most games to give the other team momentum,” Jobst said. “That one was pretty lackluster, we couldn’t really get set up and the breakouts weren’t great. They may have had more scoring chances on that one than we did. So yeah, that was a missed opportunity for sure.”

Overall, Appert said he felt once the Amerks got set up in the zone they were pretty good, but their entries were poor, particularly Friday, and glaringly so on that wasted four-minute chance. For the weekend the Amerks went 2-for-8, but for the season their 25 power-play goals are tied for the fourth fewest in the AHL, though part of the explanation is that they have had only 136 opportunities which is second-fewest in the league.

“Our power play has not been clicking and it’s cost us some games so to get one there was nice and give our unit a little bit of confidence for sure going forward,” Jobst said of Biro’s goal on Friday. “I think the message has just been simplicity and trying to get more shots through. We’re moving around the perimeter a little too much and not getting bodies in front, so just keeping it simple and trying to get more pucks to the net.”

Zach Metsa is as steady as they come

The 25-year-old defenseman joined the Amerks in time for the 2023 Calder Cup playoffs, fresh off leading Quinnipiac to the NCAA Division I national championship and Appert did not hesitate using him. Even though he had never dressed in a regular-season AHL game, Metsa played in 13 of Rochester’s playoff games because, simply put, he was ready.

And now this year, while he missed most of December with an injury, he has played in 25 games and has contributed three goals and 11 points while providing smart, reliable play in his own end.

“He’s coming in with five years of training because of the Covid year at one of the best programs in the country, with the weight room and good coaching, and the physical and mental maturity to be able to withstand this league,” Appert said. “He’s coming in as a rookie at (25) … versus 18, 19, 20. That’s a big difference mentally and physically. He’s been excellent. Moves the puck well, breaks us out well, defends hard.”

The Wisconsin native played a whopping 177 games at Quinnipiac and he scored 31 goals and 121 points, some of that due to his stellar work on the power play.

“He’s not on the power play right now … he’s an excellent power-play quarterback, he was excellent in college,” Appert said. “That part has been a little bit of a chore for him lately, but I think his 5-on-5 play and his penalty killing has been excellent.”

Jobst - who played his 200th career AHL game Saturday - also took the college route on his way to pro hockey. He admitted he was not ready to play in the AHL when he was 18, 19, 20 years old; he needed seasoning in college and he thinks that may have been the same for the 5-foot-9, 192-pound Metsa.

“I don’t know how old he was but he was 24, 25 when he finished (at Quinnipiac) so same thing for him,” Jobst said. “He was a leader on that team, led that team to a national championship and he’s been great for us.”

Amerks lineup notes

▶ F Brandon Biro drew a point on all four Amerks goals over the weekend, scoring once and assisting on three, giving him 27 points in 33 games this year. “He’s a rare player that is one of your best offensive players and is one of your best defensive players and that doesn’t happen all the time, so that’s a real luxury to have,” Appert said.

▶ F Isak Rosen remains in a scoring slump. He was shutout by Syracuse and in his last seven games all he has to show is one goal. The 20-year-old hasn’t drawn an assist in the last nine games.

▶ F Jiri Kulich missed both Syracuse games and Appert did not specify if he was injured. What Appert did say is that Kulich has played a lot of hockey in the last calendar year so this may have been a decision based on just giving him a little time off. "Still day-to-day; I'd say he's probably for Wednesday."

▶ G Devon Levi went back-to-back against the Crunch, a sign that the Sabres have told Appert they want the rookie tested in every way possible, including workload. He stopped 55 of 61 shots and in seven games his goals-against average is 2.57 and his save percentage is .912.

What’s next for the Amerks?

A busy week as they travel to Utica Wednesday, then host Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at 7:05 p.m. Friday, and Utica comes to Blue Cross Arena for a 3:05 game on Sunday. It’s part of a seven games in 11 days stretch that will tax the Amerks.

Syracuse (57 points) and Cleveland (55) have created some separation at the top of the seven-team North, but three points separate the other five teams as the Amerks and Toronto are at 48, Belleville has 47, Laval 46 and Utica 45. These division games are massive from here on out.

WB/S sits in third place in the Atlantic with 55 points, so that will be a tough test for the Amerks who really want to finish at least third in the division so they can avoid the best-of-three play-in series.

“We’re going to need our whole lineup, that’s huge,” Appert said. “Everybody is going to need to play because the volume of games and the turnaround and timing, it’s going to be high and guys are going to have to come in and out. We need to find a way to come out on the positive side of this seven-game stretch so we keep pace with the standings with how tight the North Division is.”

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which comes out each Friday during the offseason, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Amerks look to rebound after losing back-to-back OT games to Syracuse