Levi, Amerks sweep past Syracuse
The Amerks posted a second consecutive 4-0 win in game three of their Atlantic Division semifinal series to finish a sweep of the Syracuse Crunch and advance to the division finals.
Levi stopped all 30 shots he faced for his second straight shutout. He has saved the last 78 shots he's faced and has a scoreless streak of 156 minutes and 31 seconds. A streak he will take into round two.
'We have the best goalie on our team in the AHL,' defenseman Kale Clague said. 'As long as we play solid defensively, he's going to bail us out on the couple chances we might give up. He's done it all year.'
'He's just so good. We have so much confidence in him,' Mason Jobst said. 'It doesn't feel like he's scrambling at times. He's in the zone right now.'
Rochester got on the board in the first period with less than five minutes to play when Jobst got free on a breakaway and somehow muscled the puck–and himself–into the net.
Syracuse kept their net clean in the second period, but Clague dented twine from the point 95 seconds into the third. It was the third straight playoff game where the defenseman scored a goal.
Six minutes later, Zach Metsa flipped one on net from the point and Jobst tipped it in for a 3-0 lead. The Amerks defense absolutely shut the door from there. Despite facing elimination and trailing the entire period, Syracuse managed only eight shots on goal in the third.
'I gotta give credit to our D-core. Syracuse is a big, heavy team. I've heard all about it, but our guys gave up no goals in two games,' head coach Michael Leone said. 'It's the goalie (also) for sure. Credit to Dev. He got the game puck today. When you look at how hard we defended, we gave up two goals in the series.'
Brendan Warren closed out the series with an empty net goal 78 seconds before the horn.
It was the first time Rochester swept Syracuse in a playoff series since 1997 and the first time an Amerks goalie had back to back playoff shutouts since Mika Noronen back in 2000.
'I think that the team played unbelievable this series,' Levi said. 'I haven't been watching for 25 years, but I'm sure this is one of the better teams that has been (in Rochester) in a long time. Credit to the group. It's been a great few games.'
Next up for Rochester is the winner of the series between the regular season division champs in Laval and Cleveland. Laval won game one on Wednesday night. If the Rocket do match the Amerks round one sweep, they would close out the Monsters on Sunday. A potential game five in the series would be Friday, May 9th.
Laval would have the home ice advantage against Rochester if they advance, but the Amerks would get three of five at home if Cleveland is the opponent.
That's a concern for next week. This weekend will be about rest and excitement regarding an Amerks team that looks like they will very difficult to eliminate.
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