Rochester Amerks season comes to an end with 5-2 playoff loss in Game 5 to Syracuse Crunch

Had the Syracuse Crunch played the third period last Saturday night at home the way they played it Friday night at Blue Cross Arena, their North Division semifinal series with the Rochester Amerks would have already been wrapped up.

Clearly learning their lesson after inexplicably blowing a 3-0 Game 4 lead and ultimately losing 4-3 in overtime, the Crunch took a much more precarious 3-2 advantage into the final 20 minutes Friday, then choked the life out of the game with a superb lockdown defensive performance that limited the Amerks to just seven shots on goal, none of which would have been considered dangerous.

And so, after an exciting run to the Eastern Conference finals last spring that had Rochester’s passionate hockey fans electrified for more than a month, the Amerks’ season came to a meek end in the first round as the Crunch pulled away late for a 5-2 victory in front of a disappointed sellout crowd of 10,758.

“Yeah, that one stings,” Amerks coach Seth Appert said. “I said it earlier, unfortunately, somebody’s going to lose. Both Syracuse and us are teams that are capable of deep runs. It just happens that the North Division is such a bear that you have to play each other early.”

The Amerks had played so well in the final six weeks of the regular season, nearly winning the division outright, and that late run gave them home-ice advantage against their arch rivals from down the Thruway in this best-of-five. However, they wound up losing Games 2 and 5 in the downtown barn and that proved to be the difference between advancing and packing their bags for the summer.

“They’re all tough,” defenseman Ethan Prow said of the season ending early. “It’s tough when you have a core group that cares for each other, that battles day in and day out. And when we get younger guys and they’re stepping up and they’re buying right in right away, that makes it tough because you don’t get those teams every year. And that’s what probably makes it harder to swallow.”

Here’s what happened in Game 5:

First period: Not the start the Amerks wanted

You would have expected that playing in a do-or-die game in front of a sellout crowd would have inspired a better start for the Amerks, but it was the Crunch who came out flying and they dominated the first half of the period while scoring twice.

“Another kind of unacceptable start,” said forward Mason Jobst. “We dug ourselves a hole a few times in this series and we were lucky enough to get out of it, but you can’t continue to do it and expect to just come back and hope that (goalie Devon) Levi continues to shut the door back there. It’s just not gonna work in the long run.”

Just 2:38 into the game, Declan Carlile fired a shot from the blue line and it glanced off the right post and hit the middle bar in the back of the net, and that caused confusion as to whether the puck actually went in. After nearly two minutes of replay review, the goal was properly counted.

And then at 9:43, Cole Koepke sent a seeing-eye wrist shot from the right circle just inside the left post as Levi was getting bumped in the crease. However, it was determined that Amerks defenseman Joseph Cecconi, who was battling with Gabriel Fortier, created the contact by pushing Fortier into Levi so after another review, that goal also went on the board.

The Amerks didn’t get their first shot on net until 10:39 when Linus Weissbach put one on Brandon Halverson, but from then on, they were much more active in the Syracuse zone and that resulted in two goals, though only one stood. At 16:47, Anton Wahlberg’s shot from the right circle was blocked in front and the puck then went off Justin Richards’ skate, but it was determined that he used a kicking motion to steer it into the net so, after another replay review, the goal was waved off.

Finally at 17:33, the Amerks broke through when Cecconi sent a beautiful pass from the right boards through the crease where Jeremy Davies was crashing to the net and Davies redirected the puck past Halverson who had no chance. No review was needed for that one.

Second period: Nothing changes

The Crunch re-established their two-goal lead at 8:35 when Walterri Merela, the Game 3 double overtime hero, cashed in on a 2-on-1 rush. The Amerks turned the puck over at center ice and Syracuse’s Felix Robert outfought Isak Rosen to gain control. He carried into the zone with Merela on his right, waited patiently before feathering a pass across the slot and Merela beat Levi clean to make it 3-1.

However, the Amerks got that one back two minutes later on a power play. Brandon Biro fed Jiri Kulich in the right circle and he snapped a shot that would have gone wide left but Michael Mersch went to the net and managed to get his knee on the puck as he was going down and it got past Halverson.

Rochester had to play down a defenseman from the 7:17 mark when Jeremy Davies got run over by Jordy Bellerive in a collision at the Amerks blue line. No penalty was called because it did look like Bellerive tried to avoid the hit at the last second but couldn’t.

“I thought a big difference tonight was when we lost Jeremy Davies,” Appert said. “Davies takes that head hit and it was a harder game for us after that. I know how much Jeremy Davies means to our team, but if anybody wondered, just watch the last 30 minutes tonight, because we were not nearly as dynamic.”

Third period: Amerks offense stifled

Syracuse got into its 1-1-3 defensive shell in the final 20 minutes and the Amerks could not generate any chances. With nine minutes left they still had only 13 shots on goal for the game, and finished with a mere 18.

“They did a good job in the third, throughout the game, of slowing it down, slowing the tempo,” Appert said. “We play better fast and north-south. They’re a big, physical, older team, slow and structured.”

Still, the score was only 3-2 heading into the final 10 minutes and there was hope, but the killer mistake came with just 5:10 left, an unfortunate turnover at the blue line by Zach Metsa who fanned on a shot which led to Syracuse’s clinching goal. Devante Stephens seized the puck and sent the Crunch on a 2-on-1 with Alex Barre-Boulet eventually setting up Koepke for a one-timer from the right circle that beat Levi on the short side.

The Crunch then added an empty netter by Robert with 3:11 remaining to end all hopes of a Rochester comeback.

“It was a great series,” Appert said. “I’m really proud of our guys for the season we had, tying for first place in this division. We just didn’t find a way tonight.”

Inside the numbers

∎ This probably comes as no surprise, but the Amerks’ Game 4 victory was the first time in franchise history they scored four straight unanswered goals to overcome a 3-0 deficit entering the third period and win in the postseason while facing elimination.

∎ Friday’s game was the 19th winner-take-all game in Amerks postseason history and the second straight against Syracuse. Despite being outscored 59-55 in such games, Rochester holds a 12-7 all-time record, including a 6-4 mark on home ice.

∎ This was the Amerks’ first winner-take-all game at home since Game 7 of the North Division semifinal against Abbotsford on April 27, 2010. The team’s last home win in a winner-take-all contest was in Game 5 of the Empire Division semifinal against Albany on April 16, 2000.

∎ Of Mersch’s eight career playoff goals, six have come against Syracuse.

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 every other Friday during the offseason, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester Americans ousted in Calder Cup playoffs by Syracuse Crunch