'Physical' and 'nasty,' Murray's return to Amerk lineup was just in time

It didn’t take long for Brett Murray to announce his return to the Rochester Amerks last Saturday in Syracuse.

The big winger, who had missed a month’s worth of action with an undisclosed injury, was lined up for the opening faceoff in Game 4 and when the Crunch player next to him tried to get better position, Murray was having none of it.

The two players started jostling and jawing and the referee had to pause the faceoff to get the two of them untangled and lined up where they belonged. Mind you, this was on the opening faceoff, the clock hadn’t even started ticking and already, Murray was letting the Crunch know he was back.

“Whoever the player was, he was cheating into the draw and I just tried to make it a fair fight,” Murray said with a shrug of his shoulders. “It was hockey.”

It was hockey Murray’s way - tough, gritty, don’t give an inch of the ice to the opponent because every inch matters when your season is on the brink, as it was for the Amerks.

And so, after that start, it seemed so appropriate that Murray would score the game-winning goal in overtime, an ugly one where he was vying for position just outside the blue paint looking to clean up a rebound, and that’s exactly what happened.

Mason Jobst took a shot from the top of the right circle that looked like it hit Syracuse’s Shawn Element who was trying to move Murray out of the way. The puck dropped to the ice and before Crunch goalie Brandon Halverson could locate it, Murray swatted it into the net to extend the Amerks’ season.

“I was standing net front, I think Mason shot it,” Murray explained. “I just spun around and when I looked down the puck was sitting there and sometimes you gotta be lucky and I was able to tap it in.”

Murray’s return to the team was felt at the beginning, at the end, and certainly throughout the game and without him the Amerks might have already packed up their lockers for the season. Instead, they’re hosting the do-or-die Game 5 Friday night.

“I said this last year that he willed us back into the (Syracuse) series in Game 3 with how physical he was, how nasty he was, how good he was offensively, and we just felt that from him tonight,” Amerks coach Seth Appert said.

Last year, the Amerks dropped the first two games in Syracuse in this same round, the North Division semifinals. One loss from elimination, they routed the Crunch 8-5 at Blue Cross Arena as Murray had a goal and two assists. That victory changed the series and Rochester went on to win the final two games to advance.

“We’re a better team with him in the lineup,” Appert said. “We’re a stronger team, we’re a tougher team, braver. We don’t have a lot of big power forwards, we have (Michael) Mersch and Murray, and what you saw in him I’ve been saying it for years. He’s one of the most important pieces of our group.”

Interestingly, the Amerks survived Murray’s absence just fine in the regular season. He got hurt on April 3 against Cleveland, yet without Murray the Amerks still went 6-1-2 to finish in second place, one point ahead of the Crunch which gave Rochester home-ice for this series.

But it was clear in the two overtime losses in Games 2 and 3 that the Amerks badly needed Murray back, even though he’s not 100% healthy.

“It was touch and go,” Murray said of his return. “I think it’s just a feeling out process, felt good today, thank God we didn’t go any longer because I would have been feeling pretty sore. It feels great to be back battling with my teammates. We’ve created such a special bond here and watching my brothers fight without me was difficult. But getting back in the lineup today and winning in such dramatic fashion just brings us closer.”

The Amerks looked cooked in Game 4 when they entered the third period down 3-0. Instead, it was the Crunch who were cooked because having expended so much energy to open that margin across the first 40 minutes, they looked tired the rest of the way and the Amerks pounced.

Brandon Biro scored 19 seconds into the third, Joseph Cecconi scored a rare goal at 10:20 when he steered home a sweet pass from Lukas Rousek, and then Biro got the tying goal at 14:48 off another beautiful pass by Rousek, his third assist in the period.

Finally in overtime, Murray scored the kind of goal he specializes in. A dirty, grinder goal, the kind that win playoff games.

“He brings a different element to the game, gets right into it right away, didn’t waste any time,” Biro said, speaking first of the opening faceoff kerfuffle. Regarding the goal, Biro added, “I wouldn’t have expected a goal from him going in any other way. That was awesome. It was a huge boost having him back in the lineup.”

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which comes out every other Friday during the offseason, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester Americans vs Syracuse Crunch: Brett Murray return key