Amerks advance to North Division Final
- Sharvani Regmi
- 5 hours ago
- 2 min read
By: Sharvani Regmi
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The Rochester Americans secured a commanding 4-0 victory over the Syracuse Crunch at Upstate Medical University Arena on Thursday. With the win, the Amerks advanced to the AHL North Division Finals. Rochester avenged its 2024 playoff heartbreak against Syracuse by sweeping the Crunch in the series which included back-to-back shutouts by Amerks goaltender Devon Levi.
“I think they [Syracuse] were great, two shutouts in a row… to beat that team, I got a lot of respect for their organization, their staff, they play really hard,” Amerks head coach Michael Leone said. “And I just thought our guys rolled it out. I mean, if you would have told me at the start of the series that we would have outnumbered them in net-front goals, that's probably their game. But I thought it was incredible.”
With 4:09 remaining in the first period, center Mason Jobst intercepted a pass and scored on a breakaway, giving the Amerks a 1-0 lead. The only power play of the period went to Syracuse after center Konsta Helenius was penalized for hooking. Rochester managed six shots on goal in the opening frame, while Syracuse had nine but couldn't convert.
The score remained 1-0 through the second period, despite the Amerks firing 11 shots and the Crunch 13.
“I thought the second half of the game; we took over,” Leone said. “I think the best part about it was the first two games, I thought we were okay, but we won. And then we finally got to our game, and I thought we tilted the ice, and guys were incredible, the sacrifice, the effort.”
Defender Kale Clague doubled Rochester’s lead early in the third, slapping the puck into the net less than two minutes into the period. Clague has now scored in all three playoff games against the Crunch, an impressive streak in his first Calder Cup playoff appearance.
“There were times throughout the throughout the game, obviously, that they kind of suffocated a little bit but we obviously expect that in this rink,” Clague said. “It's hard to win in this building, just like stuck to the game plan, and they break, eventually.”
Jobst scored the third goal for the Amerks by redirecting a pass from defender Zachary Metsa with 12:15 left in the final frame. With just 1:18 remaining, left winger Brendan Warren sealed the win, slotting the fourth goal into an empty Crunch net.
Rochester’s defense was dominant throughout the series, allowing only two goals across three games-tying them with Cleveland (1939) and Pittsburgh (1951) for the fewest goals (two) conceded in an AHL playoff series. Levi became the third Amerks goalie to record consecutive playoff shutouts, joining Mika Norman (2000) and Bobby Perreault (1957).
“I was able to see, you know, still fighting through things, but our defense really picked up 60 [minutes] well today forward's blocking shots,” Levi said. “I think it was a complete line again.”
The Amerks will face the winner of Laval vs. Cleveland in the North Division Final.
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