22-05-2025
Third period collapse sends Amerks to game 3 defeat
The Amerks spent over 42 minutes trying to get even with Laval in game 3.
The Rocket barely needed two to put Rochester behind again. And once they got the Amerks down, Laval buried them.
A three goal third period powered Laval to a 4-1 win over Rochester in game 3 of the North Division Final and a 2-1 series lead. The Amerks will be playing to keep their season alive on Friday.
Lukas Rousek's wrister 2:46 into the third period knotted the game at 1 after the Rocket scored in the game's opening 15 seconds.
Two minutes and change later, Florian Xhekaj sent a backhand over Devon Levi's shoulder to restore the Laval lead. Amerks head coach Michael Leone thought that goal was one Levi would like to have back.
The go-ahead goal particularly stung because the Amerks had been rewarded for confidence in themselves just a couple minutes earlier.
'The vibe in the locker room was just kinda 'stay in it'. We were gonna find a way to get one eventually. We're too good of a hockey team not,' Jack Rathbone said. He had an assist on the Rousek goal. 'When we did, just tough to give up one. Little deflating to give up one that quickly.'
The Rocket doubled their lead 65 seconds later when William Trudean fed Laurent Dauphin for a tap-in at the back post. Joshua Roy jumped on a rebound just after the halfway point of the third to close out the scoring.
Levi faced only five shots in the third period and stopped just two. Rochester outshot Laval 32-20 for the game. It was the first time all year Levi allowed three goals or more in three consecutive games.
'Third period to me, it feels weird. Felt like we were in the (offensive) zone quite a bit and generated a lot of opportunities,' Mason Jobst said. 'I just feel like they were very opportunistic. Any little mistake we made, they capitalized.'
Rochester now must win two consecutive games in Quebec to advance against a Laval team that lost 12 times at home all season. Jobst said the focus is not winning two games. It's just about winning one on Friday in game 4.
'To me, it wasn't a 4-1 hockey game. They made a nice play on the (go-ahead) goal and got a little momentum in that five minute segment,' Leone said. 'I really liked a lot of the things we did. Now our back is up against the wall. We're going to need the same effort (Friday), but I thought we did lot of good things.'
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