Latest news with #NorthDivisionFinal
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
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.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Amerks head coach on Laval: ‘We believe we're a better hockey team'
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) – After Friday's win over Laval in Game 2 of the North Division Final, Amerks head coach Michael Leone said, 'We believe we're a better hockey team.' While Laval had the advantage over the Amerks in the regular season, Leone added he doesn't care what Laval's record is. So before they hit the road to Quebec, the Amerks spoke on why they think they're the better team in the playoff series. 'I think you've got to believe, if you want to win, that you're the better team,' Leone said. 'Just our overall team speed and the way we're relentless on the puck, the way we can skate, I think those are things that have been evident all year. We just can smother teams in a different way, for sure physical, but just the pace that we can play with.' Captain Mason Jobst said Laval is 'extremely talented,' but still believes that when his team plays within its style, it has a good chance to win. 'I think that we've shown at times that when we play our game and stick to our plan and win battles and what not, that we can dominate at times,' Jobst said. Josh Dunne also touched on the team's identity playing a large factor into their playoff success. With the recent win, the center is confident in his team's abilities. 'We trust our style of play and our game and our identity, and I think all year we've been saying that when we get to that, we can beat anybody,' Dunne said. 'A lot of our game isn't focused on necessarily what the other team can do or what they have, it's what we can do and how we can play our game.' When goalie Devon Levi was asked what makes the Amerks the better team, he noted that although Laval finished above them in the division standings, the records don't always determine the outcome of the game. 'The best team doesn't always win, it's the team that plays the best in a given game,' Levi said. 'I think that going out there, we're going to give it our all. We're going to have fun. We'll see who the better team is after this series, and it's exciting to go out there and prove it with the guys to go and compete and fight every day.' Although Laval is the better team on paper, Levi added that being second to them in the North Division standings only adds motivation for his team to go on the road and win the North Division Final. The Amerks will look to pull ahead in the series in Game 3 on Wednesday, May 21st at 7 p.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Amerks drop wild Game 1 with Laval
Oliver Kapanen tipped in the game winner with less than five minutes to play and Laval won Game 1 of the North Division Final in Rochester Wednesday night 5-4. The game was tied four different times. The last came courtesy an Isak Rosen snipe with 8:42 left that erased a one-goal Amerks deficit. However, Rochester could only muster two shots on goal after Kapanen's go-ahead score. 'We've got to play better,' Rosen said. 'I think there was too much high and lows in our game today, and that's why we lost. When you played against such a skilled group, you've got to be on your toes all the time. I think that's where we lost the game today a little bit.' Kale Clague got Rochester on the board first with an early power play goal. The Amerks defenseman has now scored in all four playoff games. 'I just think we need to manage the game a little bit better,' Clague said after the loss. 'We know it's a long change in the second period, but we just need to get pucks in, be able to out-change them. Like you said, we got caught a couple times and that cost us, but we'll watch it.' Following Clague's goal, Laval answered with a power play blast of their own from Logan Mailloux to break Devon Levi's scoreless streak at 166:35. A David Reinbacher goal with less than two minutes to play in the period made it 2-1 Laval. Rochester got the first two of the second. Clague fed Konsta Helenius in the slot to make it 2-2 less than two and a half minutes into the period. A John Dunne wraparound put Rochester back in front four minutes later. The Rocket netted two more in the final six minutes of the period. First, Brandon Gignac dented twice all alone the slot to get even at 3. In the final minute of the period, Alex Barre-Boulet punched in a rebound to push Laval in front a goal. Levi made 29 saves, but allowed five goals or more in a game for the first time since early January. It was also the first ever AHL playoff loss for Amerks head coach Michael Leone. 'The margin for error is really small against a team like that, you know, you don't want to beat yourself when you've got to manage games,' Leone said. 'The first goal was, they're on a change and we turnover the puck, they end up scoring in the first one. That third one, you know, we don't get multiple changes, they get one. Those things are really important at this time of the year.' Game two is set for Friday night in Rochester. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
