It was a great weekend for the Rochester Americans as they won two consecutive games against the Syracuse Crunch to force a decisive Game 5 in the AHL’s North Division semifinals.
Malcolm Subban stopped all 31 shots he faced, and the prospects delivered offense as the Amerks blanked the Crunch, 4-0, in front of 7,265 fans at the Blue Cross Arena on Sunday afternoon.
Jiri Kulich opened the scoring in the first period with a power-play goal, his second of the playoffs. After nobody found the back of the net in the middle stanza, Lawrence Pilut sniped his first goal three minutes into the third period to extend the lead to 2-0. With just over five minutes remaining in regulation, Mason Jobst potted his second to push it to 3-0 before Tyson Kozak sealed the victory with an empty netter.
Syracuse outshot Rochester 31-26 but had just one power play and couldn’t get anything past Subban, who recorded his first playoff shutout.
Max Lagace turned aside 22-of-25 shots for the Crunch.
The two teams will square off in Game 5 at the Upstate Medical University Arena on Saturday, May 6. The puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].