Rochester, N.Y. (WGR 550) – With 10 minutes left to go in regulation time, the Rochester Americans led the Hershey Bears, 2-0.
That was until Hershey scored two goals in 1:05 to tie it, three goals in 5:21 to take the lead and four goals in 8:57 to ice it.
Two of the Bears' goals came from defensemen who were wide-open, giving Hershey four goals from blue liners in the first four games of the series.
Yes, for 30 minutes the Amerks had spent most of their time in the defensive zone, in part, because they had to kill off three penalties. Malcolm Subban, who had been spectacular for 50:06, all of a sudden had trouble and the Bears took control.
By the way, Rochester did a fantastic job of killing those penalties, but it takes away from any offense you might produce. Rochester didn’t get its first shot in the second period until 12:11, and it came shorthanded.
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Thanks to Monday’s loss, Rochester has lost three-straight games and now must win three in-a-row to escape elimination.
Matt Savoie was out of the lineup Monday, because head coach Seth Appert wanted a heavier group for the game. He got that from Filip Cederqvist, who assisted on both of Linus Weissbach’s goals.
The only way Rochester can beat Hershey goalie Hunter Shepard is by tips, and going to the net on a rebound, which pretty much has been Shepard’s only mistake in three games.
After a horrible Game 1, Shepard has only allowed four goals in three games.
Appert, of course, was upset with the loss on Monday, especially the way it happened.
"We just lacked composure with the puck in some big moments," said Appert following the 4-2 defeat on home ice. "On their first two goals, we had pucks on our stick, one in the defensive zone and one in the offensive zone. We just made immature decisions with it, which led to them getting chances that went in."
On Hershey's second goal, Mason Jobst had the puck behind the Bears net and just threw it to nowhere, allowing them to get into transition and they scored off it.
Coming into the series, Jobst had 11 points. In the four games so far this series, he has one point. However, he’s not alone.
Jiri Kulich, Isak Rosen and Savoie have a combined one assist in this series.
With their experience, the Bears know how to take time and space away from these kids and at their age. They don’t have the strength or the knowhow to keep up.
Just like Jack Quinn last year, this will be a huge learning experience for these kids and in the end, they’ll be better for it.
The only players producing in this series for the Amerks are Weissbach, who has four points, and captain Michael Mersch, who has three.
Lukas Rousek has shown in this series maybe he’s not ready for the National Hockey League. He has just one point in four games.
With the score at 3-2 on Monday and with the net empty for Rochester, he coughed up the puck, leading to Mason Morelli’s game-sealing goal.
Rousek is 24-years-old, and has to be better than what we’ve seen in this series. In the first two rounds, he was fantastic, picking up nine points in eight games and playing extremely well defensively.
Hershey has veteran players in their late 20s and early 30s, and they know how to play. There’s a reason why they were the second-best team in the Eastern Conference, and had the second-best goals-against average in the AHL.
Shepard has helped take the Amerks' shooters out of this series, and Subban did that for the first 50 minutes on Monday.
"[Subban] was great, but I’m sure he was angry because there’s probably two he wants back at the end," Appert said. "We had a really good start, and Malcolm was really, really good in those 40-to-50 minutes."
In the last two periods, I felt the Amerks spent most of their time in their own end, and the shot totals back that up. Hershey outshot Rochester, 28-14, in the final two periods, and 36-22 in the game. Despite that, Appert saw things differently.
"We didn’t sit back," he said. "I thought we had a few guys that, unfortunately, made a few panicky plays with the puck, or immature plays with the puck, and a veteran, savvy team like that can make you pay for that.”
Rochester fell behind the Syracuse Crunch in Round 1, 2-0, but came back to win seven games in-a-row.
Now, a three-game losing streak means they have to win three in-a-row, and that will be very difficult against this Bears team, especially with Shepard in goal.
