LEVI POSTS LEAGUE-LEADING SIXTH SHUTOUT IN WIN OVER ISLANDERS
Rochester wins third straight and fourth in its last five
Mar 28, 2025Devon Levi was a wall in net, posting 28 saves to secure his league-leading sixth shutout as the Rochester Americans blanked the Bridgeport Islanders by a 6-0 final Friday night at Blue Cross Arena.
GAME SUMMARY PHOTO GALLERY POST-GAME REPORT
The Amerks have won three straight to improve to 38-18-3-3 on the season, sitting six points back of Laval for first in the North Division and inching closer locking up a playoff spot for the sixth straight year. Bridgeport remains dead last in the AHL with a 14-43-4-3 record.
A dozen different Amerks registered points on the night, with Zachary Metsa scoring the opening goal 1:33 into the contest that held up as the eventual game-winner. That was followed with goals from Mason Jobst, Riley Fiddler-Schultz, Noah Östlund, Josh Dunne, and Graham Slaggert as six different goal-scorers found the back of the net for Rochester.
Levi stopped all 28 shots he faced to not only secure his 22nd win of the season, but also his AHL-best sixth shutout of the season. The second-year pro is the first Amerks netminder to lead the AHL in shutouts since Martin Biron in 1998-99. The 23-year-old appeared in his 100th professional game as well while also adding an assist.
FIRST PERIOD
It took all of 93 seconds for the red, white, and blue to draw first blood, with Metsa scoring his sixth goal of the season on the team’s first shot of the game. Rochester’s alternate captain drew a turnover against Bridgeport’s defense, then cruised into the right-wing circle before ripping a shot over the blocker of Islanders goaltender Henrik Tikkanen for the 1-0 lead.
Jobst doubled the lead 8:22 into the opening period, corralling a pass from Konsta Helenius while entering the zone. The rookie forward slid the puck to Jobst, penetrating the zone and skating through the slot before taking a wrist shot that went under Tikkanen’s glove, gaining Rochester the 2-0 advantage.
Special teams were again prominent throughout the night, starting with Rochester’s first power-play of the contest. While on the man-advantage late in the period, Fiddler-Schultz was bumped a pass in his own zone from Nikita Novikov, then skated through all three zones before dishing a shot from off the wall that squeaked through five-hole to give the Amerks a 3-0 advantage entering intermission.
SECOND PERIOD
Another three-goal period included a pair of shorthanded goals for Rochester, starting with Östlund’s 16th goal of the season 10:22 into the period. The sensational rookie picked off a pass in the neutral zone, then skated through on a breakaway to beat Tikkanen for the Swedish forward’s third shorthanded goal of the season.
While still on the penalty kill just over two minutes later, Dunne, who returned from his latest recall to Buffalo earlier in the day, scored off the wall from an apparent harmless shot that eluded Tikkanen, ending his night as goaltender Hunter Miska jumped in for relief.
The new Isles goaltender didn’t stop the scoring onslaught. Just 2:29 into Miska’s time in goal, Slaggert entered the zone, flicking a puck off the netminder that ricocheted back to Slaggert at the side of the goal, allowing the fourth-year pro to slam home his 11th goal of the season, making it 6-0.
THIRD PERIOD
The focus was to simplify in the third and the Amerks did just that.
Rochester played shut down defense to limit the Islanders to five shots in the third, though there were numerous scoring chances, including a two-on-one where Cam Theising flew a pass across to Liam Foudy, who was denied by Levi going into the splits.
Levi would add four more saves in the frame to preserve the shutout and send Rochester to its third straight win.
STARS AND STRIPES
Östlund’s second-period goal extended his point streak to five games (5+2) and has 27 points (15+12) over his last 26 games … The Amerks scored two shorthanded goals in a game for the first time since Nov. 2, 2019 … Rochester is now third in the AHL with 13 shorthanded goals ... Levi leads the AHL with six shutouts … Rochester ends its season series with the Islanders sweeping the two-game set.
UP NEXT
The Amerks begin a home-and-home series to wrap up the weekend and season series against the Syracuse Crunch. The first encounter comes at 7:00 p.m. Saturday, March 29 at Upstate Medical University Arena and will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV on FloHockey.
Goal Scorers
BRI: None
ROC: Z. Metsa (6-GWG), M. Jobst (17), R. Fiddler-Schultz (10-PPG), N. Östlund (15-SHG), J. Dunne (10-SHG), G. Slaggert (11)
Goaltenders
BRI: H. Tikkanen – 16/21 (L) / H. Miska 19/20
ROC: D. Levi – 28/28 (W)
Shots
BRI: 28
ROC: 41
Special Teams
BRI: PP (0/3) | PK (4/5)
ROC: PP (1/5) | PK (3/3)
Three Stars:
1. ROC – D. Levi
2. ROC– Z. Metsa
3. ROC - G. Slaggert