Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
Mix excitement, fatigue, relief and urgency to sum up the 48 hours that the Rochester Americans just went through.
A 3-in-3 weekend, as messy as it was, got them into the Calder Cup Playoffs. Six months of work before that went toward getting there.
The Utica Comets, 18 points out of a playoff spot at the All-Star break, pulled into a tie with the Amerks heading into the final day of the regular season on Sunday. But Rochester had one last advantage – a game in hand on the Comets. While Utica watched and waited, the Amerks had a date with the Hershey Bears at Giant Center on Sunday afternoon.
Securing that one last point proved to be frustratingly elusive for the Amerks. Utica swept a season-ending home-and-home series with the league-leading Providence Bruins. The Amerks had lost four consecutive games going into their regular-season finale.
“They just kept winning and winning,” forward Carson Meyer said of the Comets, “and we couldn’t get the point.”
The Amerks dropped a late 2-1 heartbreaker to the visiting Cleveland Monsters on Friday. Then they were thumped, 8-0, at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Saturday. That set up a Sunday in which Rochester needed to earn at least a point to extend its season.
“These are the meaningful games that you dream of as a kid,” goaltender Devon Levi said. “This was a playoff game. This was a Game Seven for our season.”
By no means was it pretty, but it was an utterly determined effort. Rochester unleashed 23 shots on Hershey in the first period. Only Clay Stevenson’s excellent work in net had kept the game scoreless. Finally, the Amerks broke through 1:36 into the second period, using Trevor Kuntar’s power-play goal to put them ahead. But Hershey countered with a pair of goals 4:02 apart that had the Amerks down.
A reply from Konsta Helenius followed by a Jake Leschyshyn goal restored Rochester’s lead. Then two more quick strikes from the Bears put the Amerks down a goal once again.
In the final minutes of their season, Rochester kept pushing. Then on the power play again, Meyer sent a long shot from inside the blue line that slipped past Stevenson with 7:15 to go in regulation.
4-4.
From there, Amerks head coach Michael Leone had a decision to make. Remember, they only needed one point to lock down that playoff berth that had so far eluded them. Should they play those final minutes ultra-safe, get the game to overtime, earn their point, and send themselves on to the Calder Cup Playoffs?
“It’s a weird spot,” Meyer acknowledged.
They split the difference. They avoided anything too cute with the puck, certainly did not force chances. But they also steered away from anything too cautious that would have let Hershey control play. As it turned out, the Bears managed just two more shots in regulation, which Levi easily handled.
The Amerks had their point and a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs. Just like their season, their finale had dramatic swings in emotion, responses, and finally success.
“Finally,” Meyer said. “We really felt that our backs were against the wall and really elevated our game as a team.”
Ivan Miroshnichenko’s overtime goal gave Hershey a 5-4 victory. It was a result that meant plenty for the Bears – specifically avoiding a trip to Charlotte for the first round in favor of a match-up with Bridgeport. For the Amerks, they happily took their one point and looked toward something much bigger – the Calder Cup Playoffs.
After a nonstop weekend, Rochester got back on the bus, went home for a quick bit of rest, and then was back on the road to Toronto for tonight’s Game 1 of the North Division first-round series with the Marlies.
Getting this far has been an accomplishment for the Amerks, who have been hit by waves of roster moves and injuries. AHL All-Star sniper Isak Rosén was dealt to the Winnipeg Jets at the NHL trade deadline. Captain Zach Metsa spent much of the season in Buffalo, playing just 19 games for the Amerks. Riley Fiddler-Schultz missed 10 games before returning to the lineup on Sunday. Forward Viktor Neuchev went to the Carolina Hurricanes in a deal. Defenseman Nikita Novikov is with the Ontario Reign now. Another blueliner, Vsevolod Komarov, has been out of the lineup of late.
“It was crazy,” Leone said of wrangling that final point. “I’m so proud of this group. Has it been perfect? No. But we fought until the end, and I’m just so proud of this team to get in. This league is hard. We faced a ton of adversity.”
As the Amerks celebrated after the game, Levi could hardly stop smiling.
“I mean, that was the happiest thing we’ve ever been, I’ve ever been, after a loss and after we let in five goals,” Levi said. “We got the job done.”
Stress and pressure come with pro sports, especially with a playoff berth on the line. Levi embraces this sport’s many emotions, though. He tied for the AHL lead among goaltenders, and his 3,029 minutes led the league. But if he was tired after another demanding weekend, it certainly did not show.
“That,” Levi said, “was probably the most fun game I’ve ever played.”
On the American Hockey League beat for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.