Rochester, N.Y. (WGR 550) - It was a battle that came down to the final day of the regular season for the North Division in the American Hockey League standings.
For the Rochester Americans, it was a mish-mash of combinations they needed to win the North Division title for the first time since the 2004-05 season. The simplest way for Rochester to clinch the division was to win Sunday against the Utica Comets in regulation, and they hope for a regulation loss by the Cleveland Monsters against the Toronto Marlies.
Rochester did its part on Sunday afternoon, downing the Comets, 3-2, thanks to a pair of goals from forward Isak Rosen, which included the game-winning tally with 13:55 remaining in regulation after defenseman Ethan Prow tied the game at 2-2 just 30 seconds prior.
Amerks goalie Devon Levi locked it down for Rochester from there, as he stopped all 15 shots faced in the final 20 minutes. Levi ended his afternoon with 31 saves on 33 shots faced.
However, Rochester could not get the help needed to win the division, as they Monsters were able to down the Marlies, 3-1, later in the day Sunday to end the season as the No. 1 seed in the division thanks to a tie-breaker over the Amerks.
That means the Amerks will finish the 2023-24 season in second place in the division, setting up a matchup with the Syracuse Crunch in the North Division Semifinal Round starting Friday night at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester.
The second-round series will mark the sixth meeting in the postseason between the I-90 rivals, and the second year in-a-row after Rochester defeated Syracuse in five games last year during its historic run to the Eastern Conference Final.
The Amerks secured their fifth-straight playoff berth by virtue of Utica’s overtime loss to the Providence Bruins back on April 12, marking the team’s 49th appearance in the 68-year history of the franchise.
Rochester will host Games 1 and 2 of the best-of-five series on Friday, April 26 and Sunday, April 28 at Blue Cross Arena. If necessary, the series will return to Rochester for a decisive Game 5 on Friday, May 10 at Blue Cross Arena.
The Amerks were led offensively this season by Rosen, who scored 20 goals and added 30 assists for 50 points in 67 games played. He finishes tied for the team lead in scoring with Mason Jobst, who accounted for 22 goals and 28 assists in 64 games.
Despite missing a stretch of the season due to the IIHF World Junior Championship, and then going through an extensive scoring slump upon his return to Rochester, winger Jiri Kulich still finished the 2023-24 season as the Amerks' leading goal scorer with 27 goals in 57 games played. That was also good enough to put Kulich in a tie for 12th overall in AHL goal scoring this year.
While Levi started his 2023-24 season in Buffalo, he still managed to get 26 games played in the AHL with Rochester, going 16-6-4 with a 2.42 goals-against average and a stellar .927 save percentage. His save percentage was second-best in the entire league only behind Hershey Bears goalie Hunter Shepard, who finished the year as the AHL's best goaltender.
If the Amerks are able to down the Crunch in the North Division Semifinal Round, they will then go on to face the winner of the other divisional semifinal matchup between the Monsters and the winner of the opening round series between the Marlies and Belleville Senators.
