AMERKS DOUBLED UP BY PHANTOMS IN ALLENTOWN
Rochester comes up short in Lehigh Valley to close out Atlantic Division road swing
Nov 19, 2025The Rochester Americans (10-7-0-0) scored a pair of power-play goals in the third period but ultimately couldn’t overcome a 2-0 deficit in what became a 4-2 loss to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (10-4-1-1) Wednesday at PPL Center.
Despite the loss, Rochester finished its three-game trek through the Atlantic Division with a 2-1-0-0 record while scoring five of its 11 goals on the man-advantage. The Amerks will return to the Flower City on Friday sitting in a three-way tie for first place in the North Division with Laval and Syracuse.
Viktor Neuchev (1+1) notched a goal and an assist in the final period for a multi-point game while Carson Meyer (1+0) pushed his point streak to three games after missing the first 14 games of the season. Konsta Helenius, Zac Jones, and Jake Leschyshyn all added an assist in the defeat to close out the scoring for the Amerks.
Goaltender Devon Levi (7-3-0) made his 10th appearance of the season, stopping 18 of the 21 shots he faced. Levi remains tied for the league-lead with seven victories this season.
Christian Kyrou and Jacob Gaucher both recorded a goal and an assist for a two-point outing while Denver Barkey and Zayde Wisdom capped of the win for Lehigh Valley. Goaltender Aleksei Kolosov (6-2-1) made 23 saves in his ninth contest of the campaign.
FIRST PERIOD
In the opening period, the teams traded chances and felt each other out as they combined for 15 shots in the frame, over half of which came in the second half of the stanza.
Neither team capitalized on its lone man-advantage as Levi and Kolosov both kept the game scoreless.
SECOND PERIOD
Moments after the Amerks were able to successfully clear off their second penalty of the night, the club had generated some offensive time before it was cleared out of the Phantoms zone.
As the Rochester defense tracked the puck after it escaped the offensive zone, the potential icing was waved off, and Lehigh Valley forced a turnover to the right of Levi. Cooper Marody picked the pocket of an Amerk before spotting Alexis Gendron, who jumped into the play off the bench, with a pass. The forward patiently waited then dished a cross-ice pass that ricocheted off Kyrou’s glove and pinballed under the crossbar to break the stalemate at the 4:21 mark.
Six minutes later, the Phantoms doubled their lead as Carl Grundström broke the puck up the left wing to Ty Murchison inside the left dot. Murchison slapped a pass to his defense partner and Kyrou fired a long-range shot for his second goal of the season as bodies were crashing towards the Amerks’ crease.
THIRD PERIOD
Facing a two-goal deficit to start the final period, Rochester drew a hooking infraction just 2:13 into the frame.
As Jones carried the puck up the ice from behind his own net, the offensive-defenseman exchanged a quick pass with Leschyshyn as the duo crossed the blueline. Jones then tucked down the left slot before centering a feed atop the point for Helenius. While the Finnish product took a stride, he laid a perfect one-time pass for Neuchev to blast in the far face-off dot.
Lehigh Valley countered back immediately after the goal just 61 seconds later as Barkey was the recipient of a net-front pass from Kyrou and steered in his sixth of the campaign.
Later in the period and again trailing by a pair, Rochester forced another Phantom into taking an infraction with just under four minutes left in regulation.
On the ensuing man-advantage, Helenius had the puck in nearly the exact spot as when he setup Neuchev earlier in the frame. The 19-year-old connected with Neuchev again, but the latter’s attempt caromed wide of the cage. The forward, who drew the penalty moments prior, played the puck in front for Meyer to chip overtop the right pad of the Lehigh Valley netminder to cut the deficit to one.
The Amerks tried to force the contest beyond regulation and despite several looks with the extra-attacker and Levi on the bench, the Phantoms sealed the 4-2 win with Wisdom’s tally at the 19:31 mark.
UP NEXT
The Amerks return home from their Atlantic Division road swing on Friday, Nov. 21 when they host the Bridgeport Islanders at 7:05 p.m. for the only time this season at The Blue Cross Arena. All the action from downtown Rochester will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM The Fan Rochester as well as AHLTV on FloHockey.
Goal Scorers
ROC: V. Neuchev (5), C. Meyer (2)
LV: J. Gaucher (2), C. Kyrou (2), D. Barkey (6), Z. Wisdom (4)
Goaltenders
ROC: D. Levi– 18/21 (L)
LV: A. Kolosov – 23/25 (W)
Shots
ROC: 25
LV: 22
Special Teams
ROC: PP (2/5) | PK (4/4)
LV: PP (0/4) | PK (3/5)
Three Stars:
1. LV - C. Kyrou
2. LV - D. Barkey
3. ROC - V. Neuchev