GAME PREVIEW: AMERKS BEGIN WEEKEND AT HOME WITH FACE-OFF AGAINST SENS
Rochester looks to remain atop the AHL
Feb 21, 2025
By Andrew Mossbrooks | @ Mossbrooks48
The first-place Rochester Americans (31-14-3-1) face a pair of Canadian adversaries over the weekend, beginning Friday night against the Belleville Senators (21-17-3-4) at Blue Cross Arena
The Amerks have won three straight against the Senators and are 3-1-0-0 on the season against Ottawa’s AHL affiliate. Friday is meeting five of eight on the season. After tonight, Rochester won’t face Belleville again until April, where they’ll meet three times over six days to wrap up the season series.
LAST TIME OUT
Devon Levi made 26 saves Wednesday night to secure his fourth shutout of the season as the Amerks dropped the Cleveland Monsters by a 4-0 final to move atop the AHL standings.
Noah Östlund scored twice in what was his first career multi-goal game, while Zachary Metsa and Brett Murray both found the back of the net earlier in the game. The win improved the Amerks’ record to 11-8-2-1 on home ice as Rochester continues to dominate Cleveland in the season series, winning six of the seven contests played against the Monsters.
Meanwhile in Utica, Belleville was amid a 2-2 game in the third period when the Comets ran away with it, dropping the Sens by a 5-2 final. Stephen Halliday, who leads Belleville in scoring, picked up his 15th goal of the season Wednesday. Leevi Meriläinen made 22 saves in the loss, ending his three-game win streak.
Despite the loss, Belleville has points in seven of its last 10 games, going 5-3-2-0. They enter the weekend two points back of Syracuse for the fifth and final playoff spot in the North Division, though the Sens have three games in hand on the Crunch and are tied with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Texas for fewest games played across the AHL.
NO DENYING NOAH
Despite missing two months of the season due to injury, Östlund has had a masterful rookie campaign to date. The 20-year-old Swedish native has amassed 16 points (7+9) in 28 games, with 14 of those points coming over the last 14 contests.
“I think the game has slowed down a little bit,” said Östlund following Wednesday’s win over Cleveland. “I feel like I have more time with the puck and can make those plays like I'm used to in Sweden, but I didn't do at the beginning of the year here in North America.”
For over a month, Östlund has centered Rochester’s top line consisting of he, Murray, and leading scorer Isak Rosén. Between the three of them, the trio has scored 54 goals and 45 assists this season.
“He's (Östlund) a special player,” said Amerks head coach Michael Leone. I've been fortunate to coach a lot of highly talented players and several high draft picks and I think the one thing I respect about Noah is his approach to every shift. We talk to the group about playing the game the right way and he’s a prime example of that. We’re lucky to have him.”
BEAUTY IS THE BEAST
Levi is one of just five goaltenders across the AHL with four or more shutouts this season and is the youngest of the five, reaching the milestone at just 23 years old. The second-year pro’s 2.26 goals-against-average is fourth-best in the league, while his save percentage of .915 is sixth-best.
“I think I'm pretty confident in the ability to bounce back from a bad game,” said Levi after his shutout win over the Monsters. “Personally, you know, it's a little bit of extra motivation to come out and kind of try to help win the game for the boys, especially after the game against Laval. But whether you’re coming off a good game or a bad one, I just really try to stay the same. It helps mentally prepare for the next shot and the next puck and just get ready to stop it.”
Levi has gone 2-0-0 against Belleville this season after owning a 3-4-0 record in seven appearances against them in 2023-24.
BEATING UP BELLEVILLE
The one-sided season series hasn’t just shown up through wins and losses, but how the wins and losses have stacked up. Rochester has outscored Belleville, 21-9 through four games. While the Senators won on opening night in Rochester, the Amerks have since put up seven, eight, and four goals, respectively in the games that followed.
Rosén, along with Kale Clague and Konsta Helenius, have led the way in point production throughout the season series with each player banking six points. Helenius has three multi-point games against Belleville, while Rosén and Clague each have three goals against their interdivisional foe from the Great White North.
The Senators roster includes a pair of familiar faces to Rochester with Jeremy Davies and Malcolm Subban. Davies spent the last two seasons in an Amerks jersey, accumulating 58 points (23+35) over 132 games Subban, meanwhile, posted personal-bests in wins (20) and appearances (39) before helping the Amerks to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2023.