Amerks kick off three game weekend with victory over Marlies
- Victor Menendez
- Mar 28
- 5 min read
By: Mateo Ortiz
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Rochester Americans began the final weekend of March with a divisional matchup at home against the Toronto Marlies. Despite some second period miscues, a two goal first along with a three goal third period was enough for Rochester to get past their division rival.
Less than two minutes into the contest Rochester got the scoring underway as right winger Carson Meyer tipped in a shot by fellow forward Olivier Nadeau to give the Amerks the early advantage. This was Meyer’s 13th goal of the season, while Nadeau was credited with his 10th assist of the campaign.
With 14:09 remaining in the first, Amerks center Matteo Costantini redirected a shot from defenseman Zac Jones which snuck past Marlies goalie Dennis Hildeby to give Rochester a two goal advantage. For Costantini, this was his third goal of the season and his first since February 18th which came against the Charlotte Checkers. Meanwhile for Jones, this was his 43rd assist of the season, which places him in fifth place in total assists in the AHL. Among defensemen, Jones is leading the AHL in assists, five ahead of second place Jack Achan of the Colorado Eagles.
Through one period of play, shots on goal were even at 10 apiece with Toronto possessing the final three shots in the first, Rochester did not have a shot on goal in the final 7:24 of the period.
Just under two minutes into the second period, Toronto nearly broke into the scoring column. However, Amerks goalie Devon Levi denied the Marlies leading goal scorer Benoit Olivier-Grouix right in front of the crease keeping the score at 2-0.
Just past the eight minute mark of the second period, Amerks left winger Anton Wahlberg went top shelf on Hildeby to put home his seventh goal of the season and give Rochester a 3-0 lead. This was Wahlberg’s first goal since January 30th which came against the Hershey Bears. Amerks center Konsta Helenius, who recorded a hat-trick in the Amerks victory on Sunday against Hartford, was credited with the primary assist. Defenseman Gavin Bayreuther was credited with the secondary assist on the Wahlberg goal.
The Marlies got into the scoring column with 6:26 remaining in the second period, as center Landon Sim broke away from the Amerks defense and recorded his second goal of the season in his eighth career AHL game.
With 3:40 remaining in the middle frame, Toronto cut the Rochester lead down to one as right winger Borya Valis went five-hole on Levi to put home his 12th goal of the season on the power play. Defenseman Henry Thurn recorded his 18th assist of the campaign, the secondary assist was credited to defenseman Vinny Borgesi which ended up being his first career AHL point.
Through two periods of play, Rochester led the Marlies in shots on goal recording 24 compared to Toronto’s 21 shots.
Just 2:34 into the final frame, Amerks forward Trevor Kuntar broke past Toronto right winger Reese Johnson and put one past Hildeby to regain Rochester’s two goal advantage. The lone assist on the goal once again came from defenseman Gavin Bayreuther who recorded his first multi-point game with the Amerks this season. Bayreuther was acquired by the Buffalo Sabres back on January 23rd in a trade, he previously recorded three multi-point games in the AHL this season with his former team, the Chicago Wolves. Carson Meyer was later credited with the secondary assist, marking his second straight multi-point game, as well as his first multi-point streak of the season.
At the 18:58 mark of the third period, Rochester sealed the outcome of the game as Amerks forward Riley Fiddler-Schultz scored on Toronto’s empty net for his 20th goal of the season. This gave the Amerks a 5-2 lead in what would become the final score of the evening’s contest. In terms of shots on goal, Rochester also beat Toronto in the category with 37 shots on Dennis Hildeby compared to Toronto’s 29 on Devon Levi.
For Rochester, this is their first multi-game winning streak since February 6-14th when Rochester defeated the Springfield Thunderbirds, as well as the Utica Comets twice at Utica. After the game, Anton Wahlberg discussed how much of a confidence boost this win was for this team heading into the final few weeks of the season. “It’s huge, especially now at the end of the season,” Wahlberg said. “We’ve got to treat every game like a playoff game, and tonight we did.”
This game marked defenseman Zach Metsa’s first game in an Amerks jersey since February 20, after being called up to the Buffalo Sabres. At the time of the call-up to the Sabres, Metsa was on a four game point streak, and while he did not record a point in the match against the Marlies, forward Trevor Kuntar talked about how important he is to this team. “It’s awesome, he’s our captain, he’s a great guy, steady back there, and a great leader,” Kuntar said “It’s great to have him in the room and on the ice.”
For Rochester, this was the first of a “three-in-three” within the north division, with both matches on Saturday and Sunday being against the Syracuse Crunch. Head coach Michael Leone talked post-game about how crucial and tough this weekend matchup with the Crunch is going to be for this team. “It’s a different game, you’ve gotta manage the puck, you’ve gotta play physical, you’ve gotta get to the inside of the rink,” Leone said. “The guys get up for this game, we’re always ready to play and tomorrow’s gonna be a hard test.” Leone also mentioned how well Syracuse starts when they play at home, “They can overwhelm you in that rink, so we’ve got to make sure we are ready to go from the drop of the puck.”
The middle game of Rochester’s “three-in-three” takes place in Syracuse, faceoff against the aforementioned Crunch is scheduled for 7 p.m. The final match of the weekend for Rochester, also against the Crunch, will take place at the Blue Cross Arena. Puck drop on Sunday afternoon is scheduled for 3:05 p.m.
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