(WGR Sports Radio 550) - For 40 minutes Wednesday night in Laval, one goal was scored between the Rocket and Rochester Americans in Game 3 of the North Division Final.
It only took Luke Tuch, younger brother of Buffalo Sabres winger Alex, 15 seconds to tip in his first goal of the playoffs to give the Rocket a 1-0 lead.
Devon Levi made a huge save in the second period, but only had 16 saves on 20 shots overall in the game.
Early in the third period, Lukas Rousek scored in his second-straight game, as Isak Rosen beat two Rocket at his own blue and got the puck up to Rousek at the red line. He found Jiri Kulich coming down the middle at full speed, and with two defensemen coming towards him, he dropped it for defenseman Jack Rathbone, who quickly relayed it back to Rousek.
In six playoff games this year, Rousek has two goals and four assists for six points.
Kulich has points in five-straight games, scoring two goals and six assists for eight points. That puts him ninth in league scoring.
However, just 2:11 later, defenseman Zach Metsa had a bad turnover that wound up in the back of the Amerks' net for the second time in two games. This one happened at center ice when he got double teamed by Owen Beck and Florian Xhekaj.
The Amerks desperately needed a big save from Levi, but Xhekaj came through the right circle and roofed a pretty backhand by the stunned goaltender. Levi would want that one back.
After that, the Rocket took over. On the next two goals and for the third time in the game, Rochester totally lost its defensive structure.
Only 1:05 after Laval's second goal, winger Anton Wahlberg couldn’t stay with his man William Trudeau through the left circle. Then Kale Clague and Noah Ostlund were both late getting back to the wide-open Laurent Dauphin at the top of the crease. Dauphin scored his fifth goal in seven playoff games.
A little over five minutes later, Laval left no doubt, as Clague, Vsevolod Komarov and captain Mason Jobst got outworked by two Laval players behind Levi. It came back to the right point, and David Reinbacher passed the puck to Brandon Gignac in the right circle. He handed the puck right to Clague, who was in great position in front, but the puck rolled off his stick, and Jobst couldn’t tie up Joshua Roy, who backhanded the puck past Levi.
The Amerks will now face elimination on Friday night in Laval.
After having a fantastic series against the Syracuse Crunch, where he wasn’t even scored on in the final two games and gave up two goals in the three-game series, Levi has struggled mightily against the AHL’s best team in the regular season.
In three games this series, Levi has given up 12 goals against his hometown squad, and has gone 1-2 with a goals-against average of 4.07 and a save percentage of .836.
Overall in the playoffs, Levi is 4-2 with a 2.35 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage.
If Rochester is going to cause a fifth and deciding game, Levi will need to come up with more big saves on Friday than he has so far in Games 1 and 3.
Amerks head coach Mike Leone likes to see shot volume and he quite often gets it from his team, including Wednesday. He likes the shot volume because he says it causes chaos, which benefits his team.
Leone got that volume Wednesday against Cayden Primeau, who made 32 saves on 33 shots faced. Back in Game 1 in Rochester, Primeau won 5-4, but was much better in his Game 3 win.
In the series, Primeau is 2-0 with a 2.50 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage.
In addition, Clague lost his five-game goal scoring and points streak, and his five goals and four assists for nine points in six games is now fifth in league scoring. His five goals are second overall in the AHL.
Faceoff for Game 4 in Laval is set for 7 p.m. on Friday.