Amerks fall to Bears, 1-0; Eliminated from Calder Cup Playoffs

ROCHESTER, NY (WHEC) – The Rochester Americans were eliminated from the postseason on Friday night after falling to the Hershey Bears, 1-0 in game six of the Eastern Conference Finals.

That's it. The Amerks season comes to an end.

They fall 1-0 to fall to Hershey in six games.

Longest run for Rochester in almost 20 years.#CalderCup | #AHL

— Jackson Roberts (@JrobertsTV_) June 3, 2023

Though Rochester outshot Hershey, 24-19, the Amerks failed to capitalize on multiple offensive opportunities in the game including a critical five-on-three in the 2nd period.

“I thought we outplayed them tonight. I thought we had the better of the scoring chances. I thought our team play was awesome,” said head coach Seth Appert.

Shane Gersich netted the lone goal for Hershey, which won three of four games in the series at Blue Cross Arena. Malcolm Subban stopped 18 of 19 shots for Rochester but it was Gersich’s quick flick off of a rebound 12:40 into the period that made the difference.

Rochester, which reached the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in nearly 20 years, got to this point by overcoming a 2-0 series deficit to the Syracuse Crunch in the North Division Semifinals before sweeping the Toronto Marlies in the Division Finals.

“To not get to come and practice or have another game with them is probably worse than anything,” said Appert.

They took the first game of this series before dropping three straight. With a win on Wednesday, they needed two more to reach the Calder Cup Finals.