The key moments haven't proved too big for the Rochester Amerks in the Calder Cup Playoffs. Until Tuesday night.
Putting forth a stinker at home with a chance to clinch a series was a fair bit of ill timing. Frankly, it was out of character for a team that's 4-0 in overtime in this postseason to suddenly cower at the chance it had.
Alas, that's what happened to the Sabres' affiliate in Game 4 of the North Division semifinals. The folks in Blue Cross Arena were awfully disappointed to see their team get schooled by the Utica Comets in a 4-2 defeat that wasn't remotely that close. It could be the last game they see this season, which would be a shame for all this club has gone through.
But maybe it won't be. It's back to Utica for Game 5 on Thursday night in Adirondack Bank Center, where the Amerks built a 2-0 lead in each of the first two games before dropping the opener and pulling out Game 2 in overtime.
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The winner advances to the best-of-5 North Division finals against the Laval Rocket, which pulled an escape act in Game 5 of its series against Syracuse, winning in overtime after tying the game with 39 seconds to go.
The Amerks, however, need to be much better to knock out a Utica team that opened the season with 14 straight wins and has been one of the AHL's top three or four clubs all season. You just got the feeling there was a holy-cow feeling to Game 4. The Comets got to their transition game fast. The Amerks were skating in the mud, getting just 11 shots on goal in the first two periods.
"I think they rose their physical urgency and their physical competitiveness by 10-15%," Amerks coach Seth Appert said of Utica. "And that put enough of our guys just kind of on our heels for a second."
Nowhere was that more obvious than with the continued struggles of Jack Quinn, whose 26-goal, 61-point regular season is a memory now. The Sabres' No. 1 pick in 2020 continues to have a postseason washout on the stat sheet, with one assist in six games.
"This isn't the first time that Jack or (Peyton) Krebs or JJ (Peterka), our young forwards, have went through adversity," Appert said. "The American Hockey League is demanding. It's physical – a lot of times it's probably more physical than the NHL. All of them have responded with flying colors every time they faced it. And Jack's facing it. I have full faith that he's going to respond and play a heck of a game in Game 5."
When times got tough Tuesday, the Amerks really missed veteran captain Michael Mersch. Felled by a head shot near the end of Game 3 by Utica defenseman Robby Russo that landed a one-game suspension, Mersch is the guy who keeps the peace in the locker room and on the bench.
"You missed his physicality. You missed his voice and (missed him) on the bench," Appert said of Mersch, whose status for Game 5 is uncertain. "He wins puck battles at an incredible rate. I thought we lost puck battles at an incredible rate tonight. So you certainly missed them. But we have other guys in that room are plenty capable. And they just need to raise their standard."
And at the very least, play free and easy. You would think the pressure has switched a little to Utica feeling the heat to make sure it wins Game 5 at home.
"I just think we didn't have the swagger we normally do, especially on home ice," Amerks defenseman Jimmy Schuldt said. "It will be exciting to see what we can do with our backs against the wall in a hostile environment."
"It's a great series. It's two really good teams going at it and there's going to be a Game 5," said Amerks forward Mark Jankowski, a veteran of 272 NHL games. "It's a do-or-die. I think we have what it takes in that locker room and we know it. We've proven it in this series alone. We're definitely excited for the opportunity and we'll be ready."
The Sabres have to love this chance for their farmhands. They've already won one series, against Belleville, and knocking off Utica would be massive on the development scale. Just playing in this kind of game is something they would not have had the chance to do without sneaking into the playoffs on the last day of the season.
Appert said he's not much for long chats with his team after games, and the conversation after Game 4 was status quo on its brevity. The message was simply that the Amerks didn't come close to their standard for physicality and competitiveness – but still have one more chance.
"It's a series for a reason," Appert said. "I'm not surprised it's going to five games. I wish it was four. But I'm not surprised it's five."
