AMERKS TAKE DOWN MARLIES FOR SECOND STRAIGHT WIN
Meyer, Bayreuther each record two points in 5-2 win over Toronto
Mar 27, 2026The Rochester Americans (27-24-5-3) built a 3-0 lead in the second period before defeating the Toronto Marlies (32-22-5-5) by a 5-2 score Friday night at The Blue Cross Arena.
GAME SUMMARY PHOTO GALLERY POST-GAME REPORT
With the win, Rochester finished the six-game season series with the Marlies by posting a 3-3-0-0 record, which included a perfect 3-0-0-0 mark on home ice. The Amerks outscored the Marlies by a 13-8 margin in comparison to a 5-13 mark on the road.
Carson Meyer (1+1) and Gavin Bayreuther (0+2) both recorded a multi-point effort for Rochester, which has won back-to-back home games and three of its last four dating back to Mar. 13.
Matteo Costantini, Trevor Kuntar, Riley Fiddler-Schultz all scored in the win while Olivier Nadeau, Jake Leschyshyn, Zac Jones, Konsta Helenius, and Jagger Joshua each registered an assist.
Goaltender Devon Levi improved to 19-16-8 on the season as he made 27 saves in his 43rd appearance, which is most in the AHL. The Quebec native has won back-to-back starts for the second time since the turn of the new year to move within one more win or his second straight 20-win season.
Borya Valis and Landon Sim both scored for the Marlies while goaltender Dennis Hildeby (7-6-5) stopped 32 shots of the 36 he faced.
FIRST PERIOD
Moments after the opening face-off, Nadeau pressured a Marlies defenseman, who had the puck between the circles inside his own zone. The blueliner attempted a breakout pass but it was picked off by Meyer. The veteran forward quickly gave a pass to his right for Leschyshyn then sprinted towards the top of the goal crease. Leschyshyn gathered the puck and centered it, allowing Nadeau to fire a shot from between the dots. Meyer reached out his stick while tangled up with a Toronto skater and redirected his 13th goal just 1:33 into the contest.
Shortly thereafter, Rochester doubled its lead as Costantini finished off Jones’s pass along the ice to the back post for his third of the campaign at the 5:51 mark. The goal came after Jones fired a shot from the left point and Helenius gave a return feed for the offensive-minded defenseman.
Following the goal, each club successfully cleared off a hooking fraction before the conclusion of the period.
SECOND PERIOD
Midway through the middle frame, Bayreuther fired the puck from the left point before Wahlberg redirected it on net. The rebound was also stopped by Hildeby after Costantini attempted to score his second of the night, but Bayreuther retrieved the puck again to maintain possession in the offensive zone. The veteran defenseman pushed it to Helenius atop the blueline, and the latter slid it to his right for Wahlberg to tuck over the shoulder and under the crossbar from the right face-off dot at the 8:01 mark.
Toronto scored a pair to make it a one-score game before the intermission break on Sim and Valis’ markers less than three minutes apart.
THIRD PERIOD
The Amerks, who were unable to score on a carryover power-play, drew another one almost immediately after the previous one expired to start the third period.
On the man-advantage, the club could not seem to generate much until Bayreuther retreated behind Levi after Meyer poked the puck free from the corner. After slowing the pace of play, Bayreuther snapped a long outlet pass ahead to Kuntar, who stepped onto the ice seconds prior, as he was positioned by the benches. The Buffalo native coralled the stretch pass before racing in behind the Marlies defense and beating Hildeby on a breakaway just 2:32 into the period.
Later in the stanza and trailing by a pair of goals, Toronto pulled its netminder with just over two minutes left in regulation. With the puck was along the boards in the neutral zone, Joshua forced a turnover before Fiddler-Schultz capped off the 5-2 win, hitting the empty net for his 20th goal of he season.
STARS AND STRIPES
Carson Meyer (2+3), Matteo Costantini (1+2), Olivier Nadeau (0+3), Anton Wahlberg (1+3), and Jagger Joshua (1+2) all have points in three straight games … Konsta Helenius (3+2) and Jake Leschyshyn (1+1) have a point in back-to-back games … Since making his Amerk debut, Rochester shows a 17-0-2-0 record when Helenius has notched a multi-point game while also outscoring the opposition 89-39.
UP NEXT
The Amerks close out the month of March with the front-end of a home-and-home series with the Syracuse Crunch beginning on Saturday, March 28 for a 7:00 p.m. puck drop. All the action from Upstate Medical University Arena will be carried live on The Sports Leader 95.7 FM/950 AM WGR Rochester as well as AHLTV on FloHockey.
Goal Scorers
TOR: L. Sim (2), B. Valis (12)
ROC: C. Meyer (13), M. Costantini (3), A. Wahlberg (7 – GWG), T. Kuntar (16), R. Fiddler-Schultz (20)
Goaltenders
TOR: D. Hildeby – 32/36 (L)
ROC: D. Levi – 27/29 (W)
Shots
TOR: 37
ROC: 29
Special Teams
TOR: PP (1/5) | PK (4/5)
ROC: PP (1/5) | PK (4/5)
Three Stars:
1. ROC - T. Kuntar
2. ROC - C. Meyer
3. ROC - G. Bayreuther