To veteran winger Brett Murray, reaching the do-or-die Game 5 against the Laval Rocket illustrates what a special group the Rochester Americans had this season.
The Amerks, whose 5-0 road loss Sunday afternoon ended a season with championship hopes, faced the daunting task of having to win two out of three games against the AHL’s top team in Place Bell, a hostile rink for visitors, to advance in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
After losing Game 3 of the AHL North Division final on Wednesday, they roared back in Game 4 on Friday, winning 5-1 to stave off elimination.
“It shows everything that this team was, that this team had,” Murray said on a Zoom call Sunday. “On the road, it’s not an easy place to play, especially the first-place team in the league.
“We were able to push it to Game 5 against a good team. I thought we gave ourselves a chance.”
Then the Amerks, who won 42 games and earned 92 points during the regular season, laid an egg Sunday, falling behind 2-0 by the 14:30 mark.
“They were heavy, they were hard and they just kept coming at us,” Amerks coach Mike Leone said.
When the Rocket scored again 24 seconds into the second period, the Buffalo Sabres’ affiliate looked finished.
“I thought we played really well in the series,” Leone said. “We just happened to have our worst game tonight. The guys have battled all year. Respond in Game 2. Respond in Game 4 in a really tough environment.
“The guys did a really great job. I just told the group I was really proud of them for what we accomplished this year.”
Leone said Laval, the Montreal Canadiens’ affiliate, was “just better in every facet” Sunday.
“You got to credit them,” he said. “They were just really good tonight – really good. We had no answer.”
Murray said the Amerks “waited a little to long to try to get to our game.”
“We sat back a little bit too long,” he said. “And then they were jumpy, they were ready to go.”
Alex Barre-Boulet, Sean Farrell, Lucas Condotta, Joshua Roy and Oliver Kapanen scored for Laval. Goalie Cayden Primeau stopped 27 shots.
Amerks goalie Devon Levi made 29 saves.
All season, the Amerks and Rocket, two of the AHL’s heavyweights, seemed on a collision course to meet in second round.
“Playing these guys throughout the year, it was obvious at times that it felt like we were the top two teams in a really good division,” Amerks captain Mason Jobst said. “Very competitive. I think if you had told me throughout the year that you’re going to face these guys for a divisional championship and it’s going to go the distance, I would’ve said, ‘Absolutely.’”
What made the Rochester such a unique team? For starters, everyone – their high-end prospects, young veterans and role players – seemed to buy in.
“They were consistent with their effort,” Leone said. “There wasn’t too many times where we went through stretches where we didn’t play well. Maybe not the outcome was there, but the process was really good, and we just happened to run into a team that was really good, really well-coached.”