AMERKS ON CUSP OF PLAYOFFS AFTER NAVIGATING THROUGH MARCH
Amerks get battle testing, surviving 5-4-1-1 month as Calder Cup Playoffs loom
Apr 1, 2025
By Andrew Mossbrooks | @ Mossbrooks48
The Rochester Americans (39-18-4-3) finished the final full month of the team’s 69th AHL regular season and enter April with a magic number of three as they look to secure a playoff berth for a sixth straight postseason.
March was a foreign month for this season’s Amerks, as the team at one point hit its longest winless streak of the season. A lot of one-goal outcomes went against the red, white, and blue, but the back half of the month saw them bounce back as they emerge from March playing winning hockey yet again.
ROCHESTER SABRES: A
One of the reasons for Rochester’s struggles during the month is also one of the team’s greatest success stories from March, and that is watching its players graduate from the AHL to playing for the Buffalo Sabres in the National Hockey League.
Five skaters from Rochester were recalled to the Sabres during the month of March, with four seeing ice time. Isak Rosén and Tyson Kozak both remain in Buffalo entering April. From March 23-27, Kozak posted a three-game point streak for the blue and gold, including a goal in Winnipeg against his hometown team in front of family and friends. The third-year pro scored again March 27 against Pittsburgh on a night where Rosén registered his first NHL point.
Earlier in the month, Josh Dunne was recalled and took on his first NHL fighting major against Florida’s A.J. Greer. Dunne would receive multiple callups during the month.
Later in March, Brett Murray would appear in three games for Buffalo, and last weekend, while he did not play, Jack Rathbone traveled to meet the team in Washington as he earned his first recall with the Sabres.
NET GAINS: B+
Devon Levi and Felix Sandström have been one of the top performing tandems in the league this season. The pairing continued to manage the workload in the crease during March.
While the veteran Sandström only appeared in two games, the 28-year-old won both of them, topping Syracuse on back-to-back Saturdays as Sandström continues his career best nine-game win streak. The Gavle, Sweden, native shows a 12-4-1 record on the season and hasn’t lost since Dec. 6, 2024. Sandström’s nine consecutive victories have all been road wins.
While Levi faced some adversity early in the month by losing his first four starts, the 23-year-old roared back by nabbing the team points in four of his final five appearances. This included last Friday, where the Sabres’ prospect posted a 28-save shutout over the Bridgeport Islanders at Blue Cross Arena.
Levi continues to lead the AHL in shutouts with six, while his 22 wins are first in the North Division. The All-Star goaltender also ranks fifth in goals-against average (2.23) and sixth in save percentage (.917).
RESILIENCY: B+
As stated above, March wasn’t the kindest month to the Amerks. There were third-period breakdowns. Each of their six losses were one-goal outcomes. The team was down 2-0 twice to teams they would go on to beat. It wasn’t a smooth path, but it may have been a necessary one.
Players throughout March openly talked during media availabilities about the struggles being good to have now rather than a month from now come playoff time.
At one point, Rochester had gone winless in five straight, something the team hadn’t done all season. In the end, however, the group banded together with the pieces they had to go 4-0-1-0 to wrap up the month and get back on track.
APRIL SYLLABUS
The final countdown is on. Rochester stares at an eight-game slate that separates them from where they are now and entering the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs.
Five of the team’s eight remaining contests take place at Blue Cross Arena, and seven of their remaining games come against North Division adversaries. The only team outside of that picture is the first team on tap to begin April. That comes this Wednesday when the Springfield Thunderbirds enter the Flower City. Following that, the Amerks play three straight against a hungry Belleville Senators team looking to sneak their way into the playoffs once again.
Rochester is three points shy of securing a playoff berth, but also just three back of the first place-Laval Rocket, a team the Amerks will face one more time come April 11.
The Senators are just a point out of playoff positioning. Aside from them, every team the Amerks face currently hold down playoff spots.