AMERKS END FEBRUARY AS BEST IN THE AHL
Rochester goes 8-2-0-1 to enter March with top record in the league
Mar 3, 2025
By Andrew Mossbrooks | @ Mossbrooks48
The Rochester Americans (34-14-3-3) enjoyed another successful month as the AHL’s 2024-25 regular season hits the home stretch. The Amerks picked up points in nine of 11 February outings and dominated on home ice towards the end of the month.
Now, with 18 games left in Rochester’s season, the Amerks sit atop the AHL with 74 points and are aiming to end the season as the best team in the American Hockey League for the first time in 20 years when the team finished with 112 points in 2004-05.
DOMINANT DEVON: A+
Devon Levi continues to flourish and do things Amerks fans haven’t seen from one of their goaltenders since the days of Ryan Miller wearing the red, white, and blue.
Levi, 23, is near the top of the AHL in every statistical category of significance for goaltenders. The second-year pro is tied for the league lead in shutouts with five, tied for third in wins (19), owns the fourth-best goals-against-average (2.19), and is fifth in the AHL with a .919 save percentage.
The high point of February for Levi came after he reached his lowest. After being pulled for the first time in his AHL career on Feb. 16 against Laval, Levi responded three days later with a 28-save shutout against the Cleveland Monsters.
Three nights after that, the goaltender stood tall for 65 minutes, plus stopped five Toronto shooters in a 1-0 shootout victory to preserve his streak. The next time Levi surrendered a goal came in the second period of Rochester’s 5-2 win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Feb. 26. Levi made it 159:16 between goals, which helped him earn AHL Player of the Week honors.
Levi’s five shutouts are the most an Amerks goaltender has had since Miller posted a franchise-record eight during the 2004-05 campaign. Levi also tallied his third assist of the season during the game against the Penguins, making him the first Rochester goalie with more than two assists since Andrew Hammond pushed three helpers across during the 2019-20 season.
HOME ICE ADVANTAGE: A
For much of the first half of the 2024-25 season, the Amerks were immaculate on the road and subpar on their own sheet of ice, scraping by while hovering underneath a .500 record at Blue Cross Arena. That narrative began to change in January and carried through February.
The Amerks went 5-2-0-0 in the Flower City last month and will carry a four-game home winning streak into March come their first game of the month at Blue Cross Arena on March 12. The Amerks ended February with a season-long five-game homestand where the team finished 4-1-0-0.
Fans were treated to numerous promotional nights in addition to the wins, including Sensory Friendly, Valentine’s Day, and the long-awaited return of Teddy Bear Toss Night, which was the first the Amerks had hosted in over a decade. The promotion drew massive success as the largest attended game on home ice in February with over 8,000 Amerks fans in attendance and more than 2,000 bears collected.
BEST OF THE BEST: A+
There’s nothing like being on top.
During Rochester’s quest for the number one spot in the North Division, it became apparent the team wouldn’t be satisfied there. The Amerks continued to roll wins until eventually not only superseding the Laval Rocket for the top spot in the North Division, but taking over the AHL as a whole. The Amerks were the first team to reach 70 points and currently lead the league with 188 goals.
As mentioned earlier, Rochester has had much of its success on the road. That trend has been a constant this season, with the team owning 20 wins away from home ice to lead the league. The Amerks are not only chasing the chance to finish first in the AHL for the first time in two decades, but also within reach of breaking their franchise record for road wins. The 2018-19 and 1998-99 Rochester Americans both earned 25 road wins on the season. If this current iteration of Amerks can win six of its remaining seven road games, they will post the best road record in the 69-year history of the franchise.
MARCH SYLLABUS
For a fourth straight month, the Amerks will play an 11-game slate to push them through the last full month of regular season hockey before reaching April, and inevitably, the Calder Cup Playoffs.
To get there, the Amerks will have to survive a schedule that sees nine of their 11 games against teams currently in playoff positioning. Rochester will get another taste of the Atlantic Division with four home games against the other side of the Eastern Conference. Providence comes to town March 14, which is sandwiched between a pair of home games against Charlotte on the 12th and 21st, respectively. Rochester also welcomes Bridgeport to the Flower City on March 28 for the first time since the Islanders and Amerks opened the 2023-24 season in Rochester.
Additionally, the Amerks will play host to Utica and Syracuse on back-to-back Sundays to close out the month.
Before any of the home hockey, however, the red, white, and blue travel to the Great White North for two pivotal games against the Rocket who are fast on the tails of Rochester. Those games take place March 7 and 8 to wrap up a four-game road trip for the Amerks.