Amerks season in review
- Mateo Ortiz
- 5 hours ago
- 6 min read
By Mateo Ortiz
The Rochester Americans 2025/2026 season came to a close on Sunday evening after a loss to the Toronto Marlies in game three of the best-of-three North Division first round series. The Amerks went through many ups and downs throughout the regular season, from injuries to transactions, the team had to fight till the very last day of the regular season just to get a chance to play in the Calder Cup playoffs. Here's a quick recap of the past six months for the Amerks.
Strong start:
Rochester spent the majority of the first quarter of the AHL season in the top half of the North Division. This included a 7-2 start for the Amerks which included two wins against the eventual regular seaosn champion of the division, the Laval Rocket. The Amerks would maintain their above .500 record through the end of November despite going 5-7 in the month. The month was capped off with a thrilling 4-3 win over the Syracuse Crunch in which defenseman Zac Jones scored the game-winning-goal with thirteen seconds left in regulation. The win kept the Amerks at pace in the division as they were in a three-way tie for first place in the North Division with a 12-9 record heading into December.
An odd way to end the calendar year:
Rochester ended 2025 with a 16-10-4 record. Rochester played six overtime games in December, something that had only occurred once in the previous 21 games beforehand, a 4-3 OT win against the Cleveland Monsters on October 25th. The Amerks went 2-4 in those overtime games which included a shootout loss to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on December 13th. The month ended with three straight games that had to be decided after regulation. Highlighted by a 3-2 OT win against the Belleville Senators where Isak Rosen scored one of the highlight goals of the season for the Amerks performing a wraparound goal on Sens goalie Hunter Shepard to seal the victory for Rochester.
Much of the same to start the new year:
The Amerks played only north division opponents for ten of their twelve January contests, a month which they ended up going 5-5-1-1 in. Goalie Devon Levi recorded two shutouts in January, one on January 14, against the Syracuse Crunch, and the other on January 23, against the Utica Comets. While very much still in playoff contention at the point in the season, Rochester was starting to slip behind in the race for first in the division, dropping into fourth place in the division by the end of the month at a record of 21-15-4-2 for the year at that point. Cracks were starting to show for the roster however, as call-ups to the Sabres and injuries were becoming very prevalent heading into the second half of the season, affecting roster chemistry and affecting the team roster as a whole.
A second half collapse:
Despite a 3-1 record at the halfway point of February, the winning would not stay for long. The Amerks ended the month on a five-game losing streak, putting them at a below .500 record for the first time all season. The month ended with a 9-3 loss to the aforementioned Rocket. The losing streak continued into March as Rochester would drop their next four contests all of which came against north division opponents. The losing streak came to a halt on March 13, as the Amerks defeated the Toronto Marlies in overtime 4-3 to end their nine-game skid, the longest of the season. Following another two-game skid, the Amerks won their first game in regulation in a calendar month with a 6-3 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack. During the majority of the losing streak, Rochester was without their captain Zack Metsa who was called up to the Buffalo Sabres. They would also be without their star forward Isak Rosen for the rest of the season, as on March 6, he was traded by the Buffalo Sabres to the Winnipeg Jets for defensive assets for the Sabres. The Amerks also lost defenseman Nikita Novikov as he was loaned to the Ontario Reign for the remainder of the season. Rochester ended March winning three of their final four games heading into the final month of play at 28-25-9 with a playoff spot still on the line.
The final month:
Rochester kicked off the month of April with two straight losses to the Charlotte Checkers and Belleville Senators respectively. On April 4th however, the Amerks would stun the league-leading Providence Bruins defeating them 2-1 in overtime on a night in which the team celebrated their hall of fame broadcaster for the past 40 seasons Don Stevens. The Amerks would win their next two games against Cleveland in overtime and Syracuse just two nights later to bring their record to 31-27-9 with five regular season games remaining, needing only three points to clinch a spot in the playoffs. However, Rochester would end the season on a five-game losing streak in which they were outscored 24-9 in those final five contests. Four of those five losses came against Atlantic division opponents, with the lone exception being a 2-1 loss against the Monsters on April 17th in front of a sold out Blue Cross Arena, the first and only sellout of the season for the Amerks. Despite the skid to end the season, the Amerks had 72 points with a 31-31-6-4 record. Compared to the 71 points that the Utica Comets had with a 30-31-6-5 record, which meant Rochester would clinch the final spot in the North division playoffs on the final day of the season on April 19, with a 5-4 overtime loss against the Hershey Bears.
Playoffs:
In the playoffs Rochester would face the Toronto Marlies, a team they had went 3-3 against in their six-game regular season series against them. Rochester would quickly fall behind in the best-of-three series with a 5-0 loss in Toronto. The Amerks would even up the series just two nights later with 4-0 win in front of their home fans to force a decisive game three Sunday afternoon in Toronto. Despite being behind for the majority of the contest, Rochester was within one in the final two minutes of game three, but a Toronto empty net goal with 1:30 left in regulation solidified a 4-2 win for the Marlies and ended the Amerks season.
Final stats:
Amerks center Konsta Helenius had a breakout second season scoring 21 goals along with 42 assists, leading the team with 63 points. Just one point behind was Zac Jones who put up 10 goals but had 52 assists, leading not just AHL defenseman in the category, but the AHL as a whole, beating Texas Stars forward Cameron Hughes by one assist, in what was also a breakout season for the former New York Rangers prospect. Isak Rosen who was traded as previously mentioned only played 37 games for the Amerks after being called up multiple times to the Sabres throughout the season, he finished the 2025/2026 campaign for the Amerks with 25 goals and 18 assists, totaling 43 points. Defenseman Jagger Joshua played the most games for Rochester this season, playing in 71 of 72 regular season contests as well as all three playoff games. Joshua also racked up the most penalty minutes on the team with 101 total minutes spent in the penalty box. Center, Trevor Kuntar spent his third season in the AHL with the Amerks and played 70 of 72 games, one less than Joshua and broke out as well, putting up 21 goals and 16 assists, the most in his three-year AHL career. For goalie Devon Levi, it was a down year for him, after an all-star season in 2025. He ended 2026 with a 23-20-12 record with a 2.93 "Goals Against Average" (GAA), and a .904 save percentage.
Next season:
Rochester will kick off their 71st season at home on Friday October 2nd against an opponent 'to be determined'. The full schedule will be released during the mid-summer.
If you would like to dive deeper into individual games from the 25/26 season, please read the many game recaps on our website 891thepoint.com.
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