Rochester, N.Y. (WGR 550) – Lindy Ruff got to see the first on-ice action of some of the players he’ll be coaching on Friday, as the Rochester Americans opened the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs with a 3-2 win over the Syracuse Crunch.
It started with Devon Levi making 35 saves, including two in the final seconds when the Crunch fired two shots directly in front of him. And despite being down on the ice, he made two great saves.
Rochester got its three goals on Friday night from three high-end Swedish players in Anton Wahlberg (2023 second-round pick), Noah Ostlund (2022 first-round pick) and Isak Rosen (2021 first-round pick).
Rosen’s goal came just 2:22 after Syracuse had overcome a 2-0 deficit. It was just a compete play, as Rosen went to the net and battled for position to tip in Zach Metsa’s point shot. He had wanted redemption, because he was on the ice for both Syracuse goals.
Last season in 14 playoff games, Rosen had four goals and four assists for eight points.
The goal came at the 10:21 mark of the third period, and the Amerks locked it down after that to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-5 series.
Friday was my first AHL look at both Wahlberg and Ostlund after spending most of the regular season playing in Sweden. They didn’t disappoint.
Both players have also been teammates for Team Sweden, including the 2024 World Juniors tournament, where they won the silver medal on home soil.
Ostlund says he’s never seen Wahlberg pull off a move like he did to give the Amerks a 1-0 lead just 1:01 into the game.
The 6-foot-3 winger came down the left wall and left Crunch defenseman Chris Harpur in the dust. As he came through the left circle, Wahlberg put a move on defender Sean Day, and absolutely embarrassed him as he approached the net. The winger gave goalie Brandon Halverson a backhand deke and it was in the net.
Walhberg played nine regular season games with Rochester after his season in Sweden ended, and the 18-year-old had a goal and three assists.
Later in the period, Rochester had a power play that head coach Seth Appert said was awful. They got nothing going until there was 16 seconds left in the man advantage.
Lukas Rousek caused a turnover on the left wing wall, and laid a perfect pass to the right circle to Ostlund, and he one-timed a shot for his his first professional goal.
Ostlund played two regular season games after his season ended in Sweden, and he had no goals and one assist.
Levi was very solid until he let in a bad goal that leaked through him at 13:21 of the second period. The 22-year-old goalie was mentally tough after that, and really held the lead for Rochester with numerous good saves in the second period.
This season in Rochester, Levi was spectacular, going 16-6-4 with a 2.42 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage.
Last year, Rochester played Syracuse in the second round and lost the first two games on the road. They then reeled off three-straight wins to win the series. The Amerks now have a four-game playoff winning streak against the Crunch.
I’ve heard a lot about the Sabres' two Russian prospects in winger Viktor Neuchev (2022 third-round pick) and defenseman Nikita Novikov (2021 sixth-round pick). Both had an assist in their first playoff games, and I thought both had good games.
Novikov seems solid on the back end, and even when he makes mistakes, he’s not bad at getting back into position. He was on the ice for both Crunch goals, but they were circumstances goals and not his fault.
Game 2 of the series is in Rochester on Sunday afternoon.
