AMERKS SEASON ENDS IN GAME 3 LOSS TO MARLIES
Rochester's historic 70th anniversary season comes to a close following 4-2 loss in Toronto
Apr 26, 2026The Rochester Americans (1-2) managed to cut a pair of two-goal deficits in half, but ultimately came up short in a season-ending 4-2 loss in Game 3 of their opening round series to the Toronto Marlies (2-1) Sunday evening at Coca-Cola Coliseum.
GAME SUMMARY PHOTO GALLERY POST-GAME REPORT
The Amerks, who saw nine different skaters make their professional playoff debuts in the three-game series, were eliminated with the loss. The defeat dropped Rochester to 7-4 in must-win contests dating back since the start of the 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs.
Konsta Helenius and Olivier Nadeau each scored in the loss for Rochester, while rookie Radim Mrtka notched his first-career playoff point with an assist. Anton Wahlberg and Riley Fiddler-Schultz also notched an assist to close out the scoring for Rochester.
Goaltender Devon Levi made 35 saves in his third straight start of the playoffs and fourth dating back to last Sunday’s regular-season finale at Hershey. The Quebec native, who came up short from backstopping the club to the North Division Semifinals for the third straight playoffs and fifth overall, stopped 35 of the 38 shots he faced.
Veteran Logan Shaw, who was held to one point (0+1) in the first two games of the series, scored twice while Ryan Tverberg and William Villeneuve rounded out the scoring for the Marlies, who advance to face the Laval Rocket in the second round.
Goaltender Dennis Hildeby, who posted a 10-8-5 record during the regular season before backing up in Games 1 and 2, stopped 29 of the 31 shots he faced to earn the win.
FIRST PERIOD
Early in the opening period, Rochester had the puck inside the Marlies zone before a turnover allowed Jacob Quillan and Tverberg to retrieve it in the neutral zone. The duo skated towards Levi on an odd man rush, where Tverberg beat Levi with a shot under the left pad just 2:12 into the contest.
The Marlies continued to pressure the Amerks as they held a 10-2 shot-advantage at the half-way point of the frame, but Rochester began to counter back as they drew a power-play.
Despite not capitalizing on the man-advantage, the visitors registered six shots.
Shortly afterwards, the Amerks were whistled for back-to-back to penalties, giving Toronto an extended 5-on-3 opportunity with 2:45 left in the period.
Rochester’s shorthanded unit of Jake Leschyshyn, Jack Rathbone, and Vsevolod Komarov protected Levi as he only was forced to make a pair of saves on the successful kills.
Despite being outshot 16-8 in the first 20 minutes of play, the Amerks went into the break down a goal.
SECOND PERIOD
Less than four minutes into the middle stanza, Toronto had possession of the puck inside the Amerks zone. Dakota Mermis grabbed the puck at the left point and rimmed it around the boards for Vinni Lettieri to quickly center for Shaw, who was stationed atop Levi’s crease to double the Marlies lead at the 15:11 mark.
Rochester almost countered the goal two minutes later as Komarov burst down the Marlies zone with the puck and tucked behind the net. As the rugged blueliner wrapped around the net, he just caught the outside of the post before Hildeby was able to push off and get his skate on the puck to preserve the lead.
The Amerks nearly saw their deficit swell to three as Benoit-Olivier Groulx snuck behind the defense, but Levi turned aside the Marlies’ leading goal-scorer from the regular season.
Rochester used the momentum from its netminder’s potentially game-saving stop as Mrtka broke up a Marlies’ play near the penalty boxes and then quickly fed Helenius, who was behind the defense. The AHL All-Star took a few strides as he felt the back-check to his left and snapped his second goal of the playoffs at the 9:54 mark to cut the deficit in half.
While Toronto was able to restore its two-goal lead on Shaw’s redirection on the power-play, Rochester pushed back with one of its own before the end of the frame.
After Chris Douglas drew a holding infraction, Wahlberg played the puck into the offensive zone and gathered it behind the cage. The Swedish forward gave it Fiddler-Schultz, who absorbed a hit along the wall from two Marlies, allowing Wahlberg the opportunity to grab the puck again and center a net-front pass for Nadeau to steer into the net with 3:36 left in the period.
Rochester trailed 3-2 going into the break after scoring its first goals on Toronto ice in over 130 minutes of play dating back to Jan. 3, 2026.
THIRD PERIOD
In the opening half of the third period, both goaltenders made several Grade-A stops to keep the contest a one-goal affair.
Each team successfully cleared off a penalty before Levi was summoned to the bench with just under three minutes left in regulation as the Amerks attempted to find the equalizer. Despite the extra skater, the club’s effort was unsuccessful as Villeneuve sealed the win with an empty netter to seal the 4-2 win.
Goal Scorers
ROC: K. Helenius (2), O. Nadeau (1)
TOR: R. Tverberg (1), L. Shaw (1, 2 – GWG), W. Villeneuve (1)
Goaltenders
ROC: D. Levi – 35/38 (L)
TOR: D. Hildeby – 29/31 (W)
Shots
ROC: 31
TOR: 39
Special Teams
ROC: PP (1/3) | PK (3/4)
TOR: PP (1/4) | PK (2/3)
Three Stars:
1. TOR - D. Hildeby
2. TOR - L. Shaw
3. ROC - D. Levi