Amerks scrap out opening night win to start 70th season
- Aiden Locke
- Oct 10
- 5 min read
By: Aiden Locke
ROCHESTER N.Y. — The Rochester Americans opened their 70th anniversary season at home against the Toronto Marlies and scrapped out a hard fought 4-to-3 victory. Rochester paid homage to the past on opening night with special edition 50’s themed jerseys to celebrate game one of 72 for the 2025-26 AHL season.
The Amerks look a bit different than in recent years following the departures of last year's captain Mason Jobst, forward Brett Murray, among others. Rochester’s third leading scorer and assist leader from last year, defenseman Zach Metsa was named the team’s captain for the 2025-26 season on Thursday October 9.
"I thought he was great," Amerks head coach Michael Leone said. "Nothing's too much for him, he was the captian of a national championship winning team, he stays even keel. He's the captain but it really doesn't change how he operates."
Metsa captained Quinnipiac to its first ever National Championship in 2023.
Rochester’s first 11 games of the new year will be played against North Division foe, with seven being played on the road.
Despite some of the roster movement and early challenges, Rochester came out of the block firing on all cylinders in the first period. A fast and physical pace was set by the Amerks, allowing goaltender Devon Levi to remain relatively clean early on, thanks to a strong effort in the defensive zone by the Amerks.
Forward Isak Rosen, who scored 28 goals in 24-25, opened the season’s scoring for Rochester. Rosen fired a one-timer on the power play from the right circle at the 18:48 mark. The late first period goal allowed Rochester to take the lead into the first intermission. Defenseman Zac Jones and forward Noah Östlund were credited with assists on the goal.
"I just wanted to shoot a lot," Rosen said. "I've talked about it before but I just want to shots from everywhere and the power play to to break them down and then get second and third chances from there and I think we did a good job of that."
The second period provided an explosion of offense. Rosen netted his second of the night in similar fashion to his first also on a power play. Assisted by Östlund and Jones once again for Rochester’s second of the night.
"It was great to get it (the power play) going right away, I think it's a really skilled unit," Rosen said. "Jones is really good at the point... It's a lot of options I think that we have on that unit."
Rochester’s third unanswered goal of the game was provided by newcomer forward, Tyler Kopff. Kopff was joined by forward Graham Slaggert on a two-on-one rush, Kopff faked a pass to his teammate and buried a toe-dragged wrist shot which gave Rochester a 3-to-0 advantage through the first 26 minutes of action.
Toronto’s offense finally came to life midway through the second period. Forward Borya Valis scraped his way into the front of the net to get Toronto on the board. Toronto’s extra pressure helped force a turnover in the offensive zone leading to the goal.
The Amerks responded just a couple of minutes later. A huge open ice hit from Rochester defenseman Jack Rathbone, who had multiple on the night, caused a turnover just inside Rochester’s zone. The puck floated toward the center line which was recovered by rookie defenseman and ninth overall pick in the 2025 NHL draft Radim Mrtka. He tapped it up to an uncovered Brendon Warren fresh off the bench which the forward took advantage of. An easy breakaway chance followed and he scored the Amerks fourth and eventual game winning goal of the night.
"I just got on the ice and the pack just kind of squared off to the middle so I grabbed it and I knew the guy was on my back so I skated as fast as I could and just made a quick little move and was fortunate that it went in," Warren said.
"I thought we did a lot of good things last year but I think we could take our game to another level with some more jam and some more intensity and that swagger you have when you're not going to be pushed around," Leone said
Mrtka was credited with his first professional point in his first career start for Rochester. Mrtka's status for the 2025-26 hockey season is still up in the air as he is eligible to return the WHL where he played for the Seattle Thunderbirds.
"It's definitely amazing, it's good to be here and i'm just trying to learn," Mrtka said.
Toronto forward Logan Shaw put the Marlies second goal of the night on the board with just over a minute remaining in the second period. Shaw won a battle in front of the net and received a nice pass from forward Matthew Barbolini, his goal shrunk Rochester’s advantage to 4-to-2 by the end of the second period.
The third period only saw a single goal scored, again in front of the net by Toronto. Valis scored his second of the night in a similar fashion to his first. Toronto continued the period with a strong offensive push but Rochester held on despite being outshot 10-to-3 in the third period. The Marlies put together a strong comeback effort but ultimately fell short.
Toronto outshot Rochester 27-to-26 by the final buzzer. Special teams proved important with Rochester converting twice in five chances on the man advantage while the Marlies couldn’t convert either of their two power play chances. Rochester was able to tap into an extra gear of physical play on opening night which proves to be a positive sign for the 2025-26 campaign.
"I'm fully confident is this group and I knew we'd be ready to play," Leone said. "The third period they pushed a little bit but I loved the way we skated and competed."
The Amerks entered this season as the youngest team in the AHL and took down the AHL’s oldest squad to start the new season 1-0 for the 35th time in team history.
The Amerks head up north to conclude the home-and-home series on opening weekend of the AHL season. The Amerks and Marlies will go at it again on Saturday October 11, with puck drop in Toronto scheduled for 4 p.m.
Comments