BEARS DOUBLE UP AMERKS IN GAME 3 TO TAKE SERIES LEAD
Metsa scores first pro goal, Subban stops 21 in 4-2 loss to Hershey in Game 3 of Conference finals
May 27, 2023The Rochester Americans (7-4) outshot the Hershey Bears (8-2) 25-12 over the final 40 minutes of play, but suffered a 4-2 defeat in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals Saturday at The Blue Cross Arena.
GAME SUMMARY PHOTO GALLERY POST-GAME REPORT
Despite dropping its first home game of the playoffs, Rochester shows a 15-5 record in the Flower City all-time against the Bears in the postseason.
Rookie defenseman Zach Metsa scored his first professional goal in the second period while Sean Malone netted his third midway through the final frame. Lawrence Pilut, Linus Weissbach, Michael Mersch and Brendan Warren all notched an assist for the Amerks.
Goaltender Malcolm Subban (7-4) made 21 saves in his 11th straight playoff appearance. The Toronto, Ontario, native is currently second in the league with 313 saves while being third in wins (7).
Hershey’s Aliaksei Protas, Sam Anas, and Logan Day each registered a goal and an assist for a multi-point performance. Connor McMichael capped the scoring with his fourth marker of the playoffs.
Goaltender Hunter Shepard improved to 8-2 as he stopped 31 of the 33 shots he faced in the contest, which included double digits in the second and third periods.
Facing a two-goal deficit to start the final period of regulation, Rochester came out in third period testing Shepard and the Bears.
The Amerks got rewarded for their hard work as Warren fought off a Hershey skater before kicking the puck down the corner to Mersch from one knee. As Rochester’s team captain retrieved the feed, he quickly fired an off-angle shot that was stopped only for Malone to flip the rebound under the crossbar with a backhanded shot at the 7:36 mark.
Rochester continued to search for the equalizer and pulled Subban for the extra attacker for the last two minutes of play.
Unable to capitalize after several grade-A chances, the Amerks saw their final attempt spoiled as Protas sealed the 4-2 score with an empty-net goal.
In the opening period, Hershey, which successfully cleared off its first penalty of the night and weathered the early emotions from the sold-out crowd, opened the scoring 12 minutes into the game.
The Bears opened the scoring as Day blasted Protas’ one-time feed from just inside the right point.
Hershey doubled its lead 22 seconds into its first man-advantage of the night on Anas’ third of the spring from Day and Hendrix Lapierre just over 14 minutes to play in the middle frame.
Two minutes after the Day goal, the Amerks got onto the board thanks to Metsa’s first professional marker just before the 8:00 mark.
Prior to the newcomer’s goal, Pilut, who was credited with the primary assist, fired the puck the length of the ice for Isak Rosen to track down in the right face-off dot. Rosen banked a pass off the end boards behind the netminder for Weissbach and it was returned for Pilut atop the left point.
As Metsa gathered Pilut’s pass, he wired it past a screened Hershey netminder from just inside the blueline.
Nearly three minutes after Metsa’s goal, the teams took coincidental roughing infractions and Hershey countered back to grab a 3-1 score at the 10:27 mark of the second period.
As the clubs were skating four-on-four, Joe Snively looped with the puck in the offensive zone before hitting Lucas Johansen, who joined the rush off the bench. As the defenseman took the pass down the left wall, he centered it for McMichael to steer in between Subban’s pads.
After the intermission break, the two clubs combined for 21 shots while also exchanging goals, but the Amerks were unable to completely erase the deficit as they fell 4-2
The Amerks look to even the series in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Bears at The Blue Cross Arena on Monday, May 29. Opening puck-drop is set for 6:05 p.m. and will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHL TV. Additionally, the game will be televised live on MSG Network.
Storyline Stripes:
With Sean Malone's third-period goal, the veteran forward has scored a goal in each playoff series this spring and has totaled 17 points (5+12) in 24 career playoff appearances with the Amerks dating back to the 2018 Calder Cup Playoffs ... Michael Mersch has three helpers in three games versus the Bears … With the primary assist on Metsa's goal, Lawrence Pilut ranks third in postseason scoring amongst all AHL defensemen with nine points (3+6).
Goal Scorers
HER: L. Day (2), S. Anas (3), C. McMichael (4), A. Protas (4)
ROC: Z. Metsa (1), S. Malone (3)
Goaltenders
HER: H. Shepard – 31/33 (W)
ROC: M. Subban – 21/24 (L)
Shots
HER: 25
ROC: 33
Special Teams
HER: PP (1/2) | PK (2/2)
ROC: PP (0/2) | PK (1/2)
Three Stars
1. HER - S. Anas
2. HER - L. Day
3. ROC - S. Malone