Amerks fight to tie series against Bears at Blue Cross Arena Friday night

Jackson Roberts and Evan Bourtis News10NBC

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester Americans have a chance to tie their series against the Hershey Bears on Friday night at the Blue Cross Arena.

It’s the sixth game in a best-of-seven series to decide which Eastern Conference team makes it to the Calder Cup finals. The Amerks are still trailing the series with two wins and three losses but are coming off a win in Hershey, Pennsylvania which extended the series.

If the Amerks win, they force a game seven in Hershey. If they lose, they’re eliminated from the playoffs. The puck drops at 7:05 p.m. and you can get tickets here. The Genesee Brew House is holding a pep rally with food, drinks, and giveaways on Friday from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. before the game.

On Wednesday, the Amerks defeated the Hershey Bears 4-1 during game five. News10NBC was in Hershey covering the game.

It was a physical game with helmets flying. The Amerks’ Jiri Kulich had the first goal just over four minutes into the game. The next goal came in the third period from the Amerks’ Lukas Rousek. Minutes later, the Bears scored but the Amerks had the final say with goals from Michael Mersch and Lukas Rousek.

Rousek, who make his debut last season, scored the goal with less than two minutes left in the game off an assist from two other players. Amerks Head Coach Seth Appert said the team is excited to continue its playoff journey.

“This group is just phenomenal and I love coaching them,” he said. “We got a great group of men in that locker room that are just awesome to be with every day. So it’s nice that this bus ride isn’t our final ride in terms of we still have things ahead of us, which is awesome.”

Amerks started the series in Hershey, winning their first game 5-1 but falling 0-2 in the second game. After that, the Amerks returned home and lost game three on 2-4 on Saturday, then fell 2-4 again on Monday before winning game five in Hershey.

The Amerks made it to the semi-finals of the playoffs after sweeping the series against No. 1 seed the Toronto Marlies.