ROCHESTER, N.Y.- Game two of the North Division Semifinals was nothing short of thrilling. The Rochester Americans hosted the Syracuse Crunch, after winning the first game of the series a couple days prior. The Amerks did not come out victorious, loosing in overtime with a final score of 4-3. Despite the loss, the Amerks kept the fans engaged the entire game, and had Blue Cross Arena really rocking.
Michael Mersh scored a greasy one halfway through the first period, with assists from Juri Kulich and Mason Jobst. The Amerks and Crunch both took minor penalties, but the penalty kill was strong for both teams.
The Amerks pulled ahead in the second after Lukas Rousek put in the work for Linus Weissbach to score. However, the Crunch responded several minutes later with a goal from Jordy Bellerive. The Amerks gave up one penalty, and the Crunch gave up two, but neither team scored on the power play.
The Crunch played a very strong third period, and pulled ahead with goals from Gage Goncalves, and Sean Day. Late in the third, Mason Jobst was able to even things up with a goal for the Amerks. The period ended tied 3-3, and sent the game to overtime. Neither team took a penalty in the period.
An intense overtime led to Gabriel Fortier scoring for the Crunch ten minutes deep. The goal was controversial for the Amerks – they had been called for icing, but had clearly deflected the puck into the zone. On the ensuing face-off in the Amerks zone, Fortier was able to find the back of the net. Weissbach really let the refs know his displeasure with the call as everyone was leaving the ice.
Devon Levi stopped 30 of 34 shots faced for the Amerks, and Brandon Halverson stopped 24 of 27 shots faced for the Crunch.
These teams will continue their series on Thursday, May 2nd in Syracuse.
Checkout this gallery from Inside The Rink’s photographer, Brett Ballachino, for action from the game.
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