AMERKS COME UP SHORT IN SEASON SERIES FINALE TO BELLEVILLE
A flurry of first period goals powered the Senators to a 5-2 win over Rochester
Apr 3, 2026A flurry of first-period goals by the Belleville Senators (26-31-8-1) put the Rochester Americans (28-27-5-4) in a 3-0 hole they couldn’t climb out of in what became a 5-2 loss Friday night at The Blue Cross Arena.
GAME SUMMARY PHOTO GALLERY POST-GAME REPORT
The win moves the Sens to within four points of the Amerks for the fifth and final playoff spot in the AHL’s North Division, yet Rochester has two games in hand on Belleville, which won for the second time in three games.
Anton Wahlberg and Olivier Nadeau scored in the first and second periods, respectively, for Rochester, which finished the seasons-series with a 4-3-1-0 mark against Belleville.
Konsta Helenius (0+1) extended his career-long point streak to six straight games (4+7) dating back to Mar. 22, while Trevor Kuntar, Brendan Warren, and Isaac Belliveau all added an assist.
Goaltenders Devon Levi (20-18-8) and Scott Ratzlaff (4-4-1) combined to stop 14 of the 19 shots they faced with Levi drawing the starting nod, his fifth in the last six for the Amerks. Levi was dealt with the loss before Ratzlaff came in for the final 52 minutes of regulation.
Belleville’s leading point-getter Arthur Kaliyev (1+2) added three points for a multi-point effort for Belleville. Philippe Daoust (0+2) and Xavier Bourgault (2+0) both registered two points in the victory.
Netminder Jackson Parsons (6-3-1), who was recalled from the ECHL earlier in the day, made 31 saves in his 12th appearance of the campaign while winning his sixth overall.
FIRST PERIOD
While the Amerks had the best chance to open the scoring less than 100 seconds into the game as Matteo Costantini rang a shot off the right post, the rebound caromed to the stick of Jamieson Rees. After advancing the puck to Belleville captain Garrett Pilon, the duo raced up the ice for an odd-man rush towards Levi. Pilon skated across the blueline down the left wing and instead of making a return pass to Rees, he zipped a shot past Levi’s glove 1:44 into the contest.
Belleville doubled its lead on Bourgault’s first of two goals on the night before Tomas Hamara extended the score to 3-0 four minutes later. The second of the two tallies put a premature end to Levi’s night as the Amerks allowed three goals on four Belleville shots despite outshooting the Senators 10-4 at that point.
The Amerks managed to get some momentum back after Ratzlaff replaced Levi before drawing a hooking penalty with seven minutes left in the frame.
On the ensuing power-play, Zac Jones carried the puck into the Belleville zone before it eventually made its way to the left corner for Kuntar, who has four points (2+2) over his last five contests. The Buffalo native handed the puck to Helenius, who then slid a cross-ice feed for Wahlberg to convert and get Rochester on the scoreboard with his eighth of the campaign.
SECOND PERIOD
While the Amerks had 1:17 of a carryover power-play, the club was able to make it a one-goal game shortly after it had expired.
Following a loose puck behind the Belleville net, Jake Leschyshyn forced a turnover inside the zone, allowing Warren to intercept. The longest-tenured Amerk slid it to the left point for Belliveau to collect as he skated to the circle and sent a shot on net. Before the shot reached Parsons, Nadeau reached out his stick and redirected it past the blocker for his 10th of the season.
Over the remaining 16 minutes of play, Rochester outshot Belleville 12-7 but went into the intermission trailing 3-2 despite several grade-A scoring chances.
THIRD PERIOD
Early in the final frame, Ryan O’Rourke broke the puck out from behind the Belleville net for Kaliyev near the penalty boxes. The Senators’ leading point-getter waited patiently before providing a breakaway outlet for Daoust. While Daoust was denied by Ratzlaff, he gathered his own rebound from the corner and centered a pass that pinballed off an Amerk and finished by Kaliyev at the 2:57 mark.
The Amerks appeared to cut into the deficit four minutes later, only to have the goal waved off by ruling of a kicking motion.
Rochester had another chance to make it a 4-3 score as they gained a power-play at the midway point, but the club was unable to find any success.
Ratzlaff was pulled in another attempt for late-game heroics, but Belleville sealed the 5-2 score.
UP NEXT
The Amerks welcome the Atlantic Division champion Providence Bruins to The Blue Cross Arena on Saturday, April 4 for the only time this season. All the action will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM WGR Rochester as well as AHLTV on FloHockey.
Goal Scorers
BEL: G. Pilon (8), X. Bourgault (19, 20), T. Hamara (4 – GWG), A. Kaliyev (37)
ROC: A. Wahlberg (8), O. Nadeau (10)
Goaltenders
BEL: J. Parsons – 31/33 (W)
ROC: D. Levi – 1/4 (L) | S. Ratzalff – 13/14 (ND)
Shots
BEL: 19
ROC: 33
Special Teams
BEL: PP (0/3) | PK (3/4)
ROC: PP (1/4) | PK (0/3)
Three Stars:
1. BEL - X. Bourgault
2. BEL - A. Kaliyev
3. BEL - P. Daoust