Jiri Kulich scored his fourth goal in four games to help lift the Rochester Americans to a 4-3 victory against the Toronto Marlies on Thursday in Game 1 of their North Division final series at Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto.
Kulich’s power play goal gave Rochester a 4-1 lead with 17:53 left in the game and was part of a big night for the Amerks’ special teams. Rochester was 2-for-3 with the man advantage and its penalty kill held Toronto to 0-for-4 and scored a shorthanded goal.
Isaak Rosen’s power play goal with 1:02 left in the second period had given the Amerks a 3-1 lead.
The Amerks trailed 1-0 but got a shorthanded goal from Kohen Olischefski with 11 minutes left in the first period and then took the lead for the first time on a deflection by Brett Murray with 1:44 left in the first.
The Marlies tried to get back into the game in the third period as Blandisi scored with 12:04 remaining.
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Toronto then pulled its goalie with 3:45 remaining and Kyle Clifford tipped in a shot in front to cut the lead to 4-3 just seconds later.
The Amerks were in a unique situation as Brendan Warren was sent to the locker room because the team submitted the incorrect roster and Warren was not on it. Rochester then was down to nine forwards late in the game as Linus Weissbach was not on the bench.
Game 2 is at 4 p.m. Saturday in Toronto with Game 3 shifting to Rochester on Wednesday.
